How Does Affiliate Marketing Work?

Table of Contents

Introduction

That unholy cry of your morning clock wakes you up when you want to sleep some more. You snooze it but it keeps coming back at you again and again until you get out of your bed.

And especially on Mondays. I mean Mondays should not even be in the calendar right? (Our friends in the Middle East wouldn’t agree though. They would want Sunday out of the calendar as Sunday is the first day of the week there!)

But you have to get up, dress up, and reach your office in time or your boss will be all over you for being late. Well, admit it, the boss is going to flip at some point one way or the other anyway.

So, why do people do all these things every day for their whole life? Because they don’t have an alternative.

Or do they?

Many people get up when they want to get up. They dress up (or don’t) whenever they want to (or not). You might be thinking they must be filthy rich millionaires or their spoiled brats.

Nope!

The people we are talking about have worked hard in their lives. They didn’t win a lottery or discovered a gold mine.

Well, they kinda did, but it is a different kind of a gold mine.

That gold mine is called passive income through affiliate marketing. Through that, they have established passive income sources. Those sources now give them the much-desired freedoms and financial independence.

In this article, we will answer the question, how does affiliate marketing work and how people succeed in earning through affiliate programs.

You have already read about Affiliate Marketing in the first article of this series. But, we will give a brief introduction to newcomers.

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate Marketing is a dream income method where you get rid of your boss, the banal routine. It also rids of the fear of becoming jobless during crises like COVID-19.

We at SPI will teach you everything with our affiliate program and provide you with all the courses and resources necessary.

As per the definition by Investopedia.com,

“Affiliate marketing is an advertising model in which a product manufacturer or service provider pays third-party publishers to generate traffic or leads to the company’s products and services”.

In simple words, if you are an affiliate marketer, you get yourself associated with a company and promote its products online. When a buyer purchases the product through your referral link, you get a commission from the seller.

Many companies provide affiliate programs which we’ll discuss in a minute.

It is a substantial part of the online business.

According to Business Insider, 15% of e-commerce revenue can be attributed to affiliate marketing.

How Does Affiliate Marketing Work?

Now that we have defined and described Affiliate Marketing, we move towards the process and find out the answer to the question, “how affiliate marketing works”.

Simply speaking, there are three major parties in an affiliate marketing process.

1- The Affiliate Company

We first describe the affiliate company that provides with the affiliate program. This is the manufacturer of the product or the provider of a service.

In traditional marketing, the company wants to gain more customers and increase their sales.

So they use different platforms to maximize their reach. In affiliate marketing, the company offers a commission to the website. That website channels the traffic towards the company’s website. In the process, both parties benefit.

Examples of the affiliate links it depends on the niche that you choose lets say digital products Expand cart, Shopify, and Siteground, or selling products Amazon, …etc

2- The Customer

The second party is the buyer. The process is somewhat like traditional marketing. In affiliate marketing, the customer decides to purchase the product after seeing the reviews online.

The difference is the content. In affiliate marketing, the marketer gives all the relevant details and alternatives to the customers. The customer chooses from the range of products reviewed on the website.

3- The Affiliate Marketer

The affiliate marketer is the bridge between the customer and the seller company. They provide all the details on their website and product details. Also, they add their recommendations and user experiences.

This helps the customer get a detailed overview of the product and helps them make an informed decision.

How Does Affiliate Marketing Benefit Each Party?

You might be wondering why a company would offer a commission. And, why an affiliate would put so much effort into helping in selling someone else’s product. The question has a one-word answer.

Money!

Everyone benefits in terms of money. (Or time, but that too is money remember!)

The company makes money as there is an increase in sales. More people are now online than ever and the reach of the internet is increasing day by day. Online shopping is also on the rise and people want to purchase products sitting on their couch.

Traditionally, a customer would go to a supermarket and buy the product herself/himself. It eliminated the risk of the product being faulty or a misfit. With online shopping yet, the customer cannot check the product themselves.

The solution to that problem is checking the reviews of the product. The affiliate helps in making an informed decision. The affiliate does all the research and includes user reviews to help the customer avoid a product that does not suit their needs.

The company’s sales go up,

The customer gets the best product,

And the affiliate gets a commission for the sale.

In short, everybody wins!

The process is evolutionary as the customer rewards the company and the affiliate both with their trust. If the marketing is ethical and based on the quality of the product and honest reviews by the affiliate. The website earns the reputation for being accurate and helpful that increases its revenue on time.

How to Get Affiliated?

Now you understand the process, you must be itching to find out what is the procedure to get affiliated with a company and earn money.

The process is not complicated at all. however, it cannot be explained in complete detail here and we will get to the bottom of it in later articles.

For now, just know that you need a website that you can use as a medium. There are different platforms including social media and YouTube channels. But, most of the affiliate marketing is through websites.

In short, the steps can be listed as under. In other articles, we will explain each point and how to do it effectively.

First, you need to choose a specific niche of your Business.
Second, decide on the product you want to promote.
Third, find a company that offers an affiliate program for that product.
Then, sign Up for that company as an affiliate.
After that, link your website to the company website.
Then, generate traffic through quality content and give effective information.
After that, the customer will click the link on your website and purchase the product from the company’s website.
finally, if the customer buys the product, you get the commission.

Who Succeeds in Affiliate Marketing?

We have added this topic just to make it clear that why some marketers put so much effort and still fail to earn. Although, many people ask the question of how does affiliate marketing work, but not many of them understand the things that make or break a successful career. The reasons are complex and need a detailed analysis but there are certain aspects you must never ignore.

Some of the reasons for success are:

Detailed research before choosing the product to promote

If you don’t do that, you might end up promoting a product that people don’t want or need. It is important to conduct market research.

Honest Reviews of the products

This is perhaps the most important factor. If your reviews are honest, your affiliate marketing is ethical and your customer ends up loving your content. Whatever they buy through your recommendations, they are satisfied and come back to you every time they need a new product.

Ethical Affiliate Marketing helps you establish a personalized relationship with the customer and they recommend you to their colleagues and friends as well. Thus a long term relationship is established which is mutually beneficial.

Timely information addition

Update the customers as soon as the product is available in the market. If you are late, someone else will get your place.

In short, people who keep the customer in mind when adding information about a product, succeed, and build a long term trust that establishes them as a brand in themselves.

Is Affiliate Marketing for You?

Affiliate marketing is for people who are interested in products, shopping, and marketing. It is virtually for everyone except for those who want short term gains or swindle money off of people.

These people do not succeed as they lose the trust of their customers pretty soon. For them, Affiliate marketing does not work no matter how much they try to succeed.

FAQs

Q.1 How to do affiliate marketing step by step in 2021?

Here are the basic steps to follow to become a successful affiliate marketer.

Find and join an authentic affiliate program.
Choose which offers to promote the products.
Obtain a unique affiliate link and high-quality content for each offer.
Share those links on your blog, content, social media platforms, or website.
Collect a commission and earn it anytime someone uses your links to make a purchase.

Q.2 How do affiliate marketers get paid?

Unlike other traditional transactions, affiliate marketing payments and programs are automatic. When you sign up for any affiliate program such as Amazon Affiliate Program, you provide your payment details, and you can automatically receive monthly payments without interference.

Q.3 Can you make money with affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing can be pure lucrative, but it takes a commitment of time and money both to make it a real business. Do thorough and authentic research before you jump on the affiliate-marketing bandwagon. Traditional advertisements and selling your products can help if your affiliate-marketing revenue dries up.

Q.4 Can I do affiliate marketing without followers?

Affiliate marketing without followers is nearly and likely to be impossible. In most cases in 2021, posting per day is not enough; you should think of posting an Instagram Story 4 to 5 times a day. Same as with Facebook – comment on other’s posts, use hashtags wisely and hustle.

Q.5 Is affiliate marketing an easy way to earn?

Although studies have shown that affiliate marketing isn’t easy, as you remember to foster relationships, focus on your niche, focus on a few key affiliates, and create a system that generates performance for both the advertiser and the companion, you can drive profit and conversions for your small business.

Final Thoughts

To sum it all up, we have described in sufficient detail how does affiliate marketing work and how to start in this field. We have also explained how it benefits all the major players and who succeeds in this field. With this information, you have the opportunity to get started.

We will discuss the process in complete detail and will help you establish yourself as an affiliate marketer. One thing is clear however, you can earn some serious money from affiliate marketing programs if you are committed and are considerate of customer demands and aspirations.

In the next chapter, we will describe the process of getting started in affiliate marketing. We will give you complete information to start affiliate marketing as a career.