Affiliate Marketing : A beginner's guide to passive income

 Affiliate Marketing : A beginner's guide to passive income

Would you like to earn money from the consolation of your home? If the answer is yes, affiliate advertising is a brilliant opportunity. With the advancement of technology and the Internet, more and more people are generating resources online without giving a product or service of their own in return.

How do they do it? Through affiliate programs.

But you should know that it's not just about placing a couple of ads on the Internet or sending a couple of emails. To earn that extra money each month with affiliate marketing, you have to understand exactly what it is and how it works.

That's why, in this blog, we'll tell you all about this strategy that thousands of companies around the world use. Even, according to Statista, in 2022, US companies alone invested nearly $8 billion in affiliate marketing. Let's get started!

How does affiliate marketing work?

Before we look at the more practical aspects, we need to ask ourselves: what is affiliate marketing? It is a type of marketing that is performance-based.

This means that a company rewards one or more affiliates for each conversion generated by their marketing efforts.

In other words, affiliate advertising is the promotion of different businesses' services or products in exchange for a commission for every sale made.

And normally, those commissions are a percentage of the sale fee, so the extra high-priced services or products you promote, the better the commission may be.

This marketing model is a way in which companies outsource their marketing actions to a third party or affiliate. It is a more and more used method amongst groups, as is the use of influencers to boost logo visibility.

Next, let's assess the step-by-step technique of the way affiliate marketing works.

Company or trader

A company or merchant offers a specific product or service. Its objective is to generate greater positioning and brand awareness, as well as to increase sales. This is where the affiliate comes into play.

Partnership with the affiliate

Once the company or merchant is clear about its objectives, it partners with an affiliate, also known as an editor, who will promote that product or service to achieve the company's objectives.

How? Through various marketing actions, which we will see in more detail now.

Marketing actions by the affiliate

The affiliate uses various content marketing strategies to generate sales and thus earn commissions. It can be a website, a blog, a newsletter, or social networks such as YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, among others.

All promotions are done with special tracking links. In an article about the most innovative tablets of 2023 on their blog, for example, the affiliate can share a purchase link from one of the companies on the list.

Affiliate Marketing Tracking

Through affiliate marketing software, the company tracks clicks, impressions, conversions, and sales, among others.

Commissions for the affiliate

When a potential customer clicks on special affiliate marketing links and makes a purchase, the affiliate earns a commission from the company.

The percentage of commission on sales, the payment method, and the payment term are defined with each particular company.

10 Advantages of Affiliate Marketing You Can't Miss

We've already reviewed what affiliate marketing is and how it works; now let's see what its main benefits are. Get ready because there are many!

1. More economical investment compared to other marketing actions

As an affiliate, you will not be required to offer any products or services of your own. The company or merchant will decide which products or services to deliver. Therefore, you will not have to invest time or money in creating the offer to be sold.

You will only need to promote that product or service with various marketing tactics.

In fact, you might be surprised to learn that affiliate marketing requires very little investment to get started and maintain. Let's look at some common options.

A blogger can use WordPress content management software for less than $10 per month.

There are also various marketing initiatives that can be carried out on social media, such as publishing relevant content on a specific topic or generating ad campaigns to attract clicks to a purchase page.

For example, YouTube, Meta (Facebook and Instagram), TikTok, Twitter, and LinkedIn are the ones with the most users.

Email marketing is also a good strategy in affiliate marketing. Several platforms, including Get Response, have affordable plans and templates to make this task much more user-friendly. And, most importantly, low-cost.

In Get Response's email marketing platform, you will find features such as:

• sending newsletters,
• automated emails,
• automated blog summary,
• autoresponders,
• pre-designed conversion funnels,
• inter alia.

And when it comes to design, it features easy-to-use tools, templates, images, and GIFs.

2. Low risk

Any problem with the product or service delivered will not pose any risk to you. This is because you do not sell it directly, but rather you are an intermediary who charges a commission for each sale.

However, getting a response or contacting the company can be a way to generate greater trust and credibility.

3. The company or merchant will be responsible for customer service.

Another advantage of affiliate marketing is that you won't have to communicate directly with customers. The company or merchant will be responsible for answering any queries that may arise.

4. Getting started is easier than you think and does not require an initial investment.

Being an affiliate marketer is easier than it seems. You don't need a large initial investment, a strong brand, or a significant capital reserve. You will need to do some marketing.

Something that can also help a lot with promotion is creating profiles on social networks where the target audience you are looking for for each product or service is located.

And, for that, you can create a website, a blog, or simply a landing page to generate conversions.

5. You can choose from a wide range of thematic niches.

There are countless segments and areas where you can do affiliate marketing, both for products and services.

For example, food, travel, car parts, and also services such as consulting and others.

6. It's easy to scale.

A company only sells its own products or services. However, with affiliate marketing, you can promote products or services from one or more companies.

It only depends on you and your ability to carry out favorable marketing actions that translate into good commissions.

Remember that affiliate marketing is a performance-based, results-based technique. This is an advantage in itself, as it is an incentive to strive for better results.

7. You can earn high and recurring payments.

While each company defines how much they pay for affiliate marketing, it is common for them to pay between 20% and 50% on sales.

8. You create valuable and useful content that helps other people decide.

And not only will you make money, but you will also help other people make decisions. Through original and practical content, you will be able to guide people towards one product or another.

Social media posts, explanatory videos or tutorials, blogs, product reviews, success stories, and other marketing actions help in this task.

9. The terms and conditions of affiliate programs are simple.

Each affiliate program will have its own terms and conditions. They are generally simple and do not require knowledge of laws or anything in particular.

For example, a common condition among companies is that the affiliate cannot use the company name on the domain they choose for their promotional website.

10. Anyone can join an affiliate program.

You don't have to be an expert in a specific professional segment or have a high school diploma to take your first steps. Plus, it's free.

On the alternative hand, it's miles critical that you are capable of constructing a solid presence on the Internet, developing nice content to attract the attention of a target market, and generating visits to the links you promote.

As is well known, individuals who take part in an associate program are bloggers, YouTubers, virtual advertising professionals, virtual entrepreneurs, and others.

Disadvantages of working as an affiliate

We have already seen that being an affiliate has many positive points. However, we must not ignore the disadvantages. Let's review some of them that we should take into account.

1. It can be confusing for the company and the affiliate.

For an affiliate program to be successful, both the affiliate and the company must fully understand how it works.

If there is any confusion regarding the payment criteria or validation of custom links, this can lead to misunderstandings or problems that could hinder your results.

On the Get Response program page below, there is a list of frequently asked questions that will clarify any doubts you may have. Plus, we have a dedicated team of experts to answer your questions and support you with whatever you need.

2. You are first in the value chain but last to see rewards.

When you recommend a product or service, you will be the first in the chain to have contact with that potential client or buyer. However, it will then be the merchant or company that generates the sale and converts the client.

By leaving that lead in the hands of the company, you may be the last to see results. You may even get paid for that lead a month or more later.

3. Short cookie duration can create a win-lose

In general, affiliate marketing applications use cookies to track performance and sales.

For example, at Get Response we offer 120-day cookies for all affiliate programs. This gives time so that if a potential customer doesn't convert immediately, you can still earn the commission if they come back and upgrade to a paid plan.

However, there are some affiliate programs that limit cookies to less than 30 days, which is the industry standard.

4. Marketing managers of companies do not know the needs of affiliates.

It happens more often than we would like. Many times marketing managers of companies, who are in charge of affiliate programs, do not know how they work and their scope.

This can have negative consequences for the company, since the marketing manager will set conditions that can translate into obstacles for the affiliates.

And, for their part, affiliates may feel misunderstood and may not see an opportunity in that particular program.

5. The affiliate program must be based on trust.

It is clear that it will be up to the affiliate to generate traffic and sales. However, businesses and merchants play a key role in affiliate marketing.

They will be the ones who know the basis of the business, where the products and services come from, and make sure that everything is legitimate. In that sense, affiliates give companies a vote of confidence.

How to avoid the disadvantages of becoming an affiliate?

Like everything in life, being an affiliate has its sweet and bitter moments. However, as we have seen, there are more advantages associated with affiliate marketing.

Therefore, below we leave some points to take into account to minimize the disadvantages.

1.Promote products or services from reputable merchants or businesses.

As we reviewed earlier, affiliate marketing is based on the commissions you can earn. Therefore, it is key that you advertise and recommend products or services from merchants who are authorized and have good conditions.

That is, look for high commissions, cookie duration, conversion results, payment terms, and affiliate marketing software. All of these factors will vary from company to company, as well as depending on each sector or industry.

2.Continuously monitor objectives.

When you start working, set goals for what you could achieve and constantly monitor how close you are to achieving them. This will allow you to keep track of your objectives.

3.Look for new opportunities.

Don't settle for the first thing you see; research new opportunities, niches, companies, fields, etc. There are many affiliate marketing programs; explore and earn more money.

4.Stay away from companies or merchants that do not meet your goals or conditions.

Say goodbye to merchants or companies that are not in line with your goals or those that have unfriendly conditions.

Remember that this is a job, and you want to make money from it, so be sure to choose carefully which products or services you are going to promote.

5.Do not recommend products or services that you do not trust.

Sometimes, just to make money, we may promote a product or service that we don't trust. In the long run, this is a problem, because the demand for that offer may decrease, and you will have to apply to other programs.