What is Affiliate Marketing? Description
Affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing strategy in which individuals or
businesses (affiliates) promote products or services of another company (merchant) and
earn a commission for each sale or action generated through their promotional efforts.
It is a promotion method that can be used to reward partner companies for
introducing new clients. It can be seen as a digital form of franchising or
as an electronic joint venture. The Merchant normally delivers advertising
banners and web links to their affiliates. Also the Merchant grants a commission.
Normally in return for a click-through to their website, subscription to their
service, or purchase of their products which is generated via these links.
Affiliates place a tracking code for these ads into their web pages. Each
time a visitor on the affiliate's website clicks towards the website of the
Merchant, that transaction is registered online. Compensation for the Affiliate
may be made based on:
- Pay per click. A certain value for each visit.
- Pay per lead. A certain value for each registration or for each
qualified registration.
- Pay per sale. A certain value for each customer or sale.
Origin of Affiliate Marketing. History
Affiliate Marketing can be seen as the modern variant of paying finder's
fees to individuals or organizations who introduce new prospects or clients
to a business. In July 1996, Amazon launched an associates program that
became a huge success.
Usage of Affiliate Marketing. Applications
- Online advertising.
- The approach is most effective when placed in context with quality content.
- Some third parties such as LinkShare, Commission Junction and also Google
offer affiliate networks and provide services such as tracking, reporting,
affiliate recruiting, payments, sending out end-of-year tax forms, and responses
to webmaster queries.
Strengths of Affiliate Marketing. Benefits
For the Affiliate:
- Offer additional products or services to their visitors.
- The opportunity to earn money from their niche audience by up selling
or cross selling. Without the need to invest in logistics, financial fulfillment,
or back office administration.
For the Merchant:
- No payment is due to an Affiliate until certain results are achieved.
- Typically low-cost and cost-effective.
- Targeted advertising into appropriate niches.
- To get a measurable means of advertising their products or services.
- Extend reach of brand.
Limitations of Affiliate Marketing. Disadvantages
- The success of affiliate marketing relies on the performance, quality and dedication of the affiliates.
- Some affiliate marketers have been accused of spamming to promote their
programs. Either in the form of email spamming or by creating multiple websites
with the purpose of generating artificial traffic from search engines (spamdexing).
- Websites made up purely or predominantly of Affiliate links are usually
regarded negatively as they do not offer any quality content.
- Note that most people don't purchase during their first visit to a website.
A cookie can ensure that a referral is registered. If the referred person
makes a purchase on a future visit, the original referrer will still be
credited for the sale.
Final Remark
At the top and bottom of this page, you can see a remarkable example. You
can find some well-known Affiliate Marketing companies which advertise here
themselves via this method.
Forum discussions about Affiliate Marketing. Below you can ask a question about this topic, share your experiences, report a new development, or explain something.
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10 Affiliate Marketing Tips Increase affiliate marketing success 1. Provide unique content. Good, unique content is King.
2. Have a holistic website theme. Ensure your logo and graphic...
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Types of Affiliate websites Marketing, Strategy The different types of Affiliate Marketing websites can be categorized as follows:
• Comparison shopping sites and dire...
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Introduction to E-Marketing | Internet Marketing E-marketing, Web Marketing, Affiliate program, Search engine optimization, Email campaigns, Mobile marketing This presentation covers the topic of E-marketing, divided into various subcategories. It consist of the following secti...
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