What is Affiliate Marketing and How Does it Work?

Affiliate Marketing as an industry is one that is emerging and becoming more and more popular to engage in. From companies that have built their brands around this form of business to influencers using their clout to sell products, affiliate marketing can be seen everywhere these days. But what is it? How does it work, and how do you get started?

A good place to start when beginning a conversation with regard to affiliate marketing is with a definition. While there are plenty out there, the simplest and best way to explain it is this: it is the process by which an affiliate earns a commission for marketing another company or person’s products. 

The big appeal in this form of marketing is that in it lies opportunities for people to make a commission without having to conceptualise, create and test their own products. Rather, affiliate marketers can use the work of others to create work for themselves. 

Simply put, affiliate marketers can be thought of as the middlemen between businesses and their customers. Affiliate marketers, in turn sell products that are not theirs, and get a percentage of the profits that are received for the number of units that they sell. 

Now that you have a feel for what the practice is, you may want to know exactly how it works. Say you would like to start affiliate marketing. You have an interest in bodybuilding and know the ins and outs of weight lifting. You do some research and find out that USN has a fantastic affiliate programme. 

With this new found knowledge, you approach them, speak of your interest in promoting their products, and officially join their affiliate programme. You will then need to choose which offers or products that you are interested in promoting. Once you have a good idea of what you are looking to advertise, the next step is to become an expert in the products or offers that you are looking to market. 

Soon after you have selected the offers and/or products you plan on marketing through your platform, you will receive what is known as an affiliate link. An affiliate link is a special URL that enables businesses to track the traffic and conversion of their affiliates. 

Your next step is to promote the products and offers on a platform by using the affiliate link. This can be done through the use of a blog, a website, or social media. 

Forms of affiliate marketing can be seen wherever you look these days. Influencers on youtube, facebook and instagram posing with the latest and greatest products have littered the social media feeds of millions. 

What’s more however is that you don’t need to be famous to make affiliate marketing work. Blogging has been a popular practice for years, and creating websites through tools like wordpress means that anybody can go ahead and establish themselves on the web. With the help of some basic SEO (search engine optimisation) knowledge, and patience, you could have yourself a phenomenal source of income. 

There are plenty of affiliate marketing platforms out there, covering all kinds of industries. From health products to betting sites, you are bound to find an industry that appeals to you, and one that you can advertise.