Affiliate marketing for beginners
This is a detailed toolkit for affiliate marketing for beginners. There is no doubt that affiliate marketing is a great way for beginners to start a side business. With it, money can be earned by promoting products from other businesses. To promote a product/service, marketers can place links in their social media posts or blog articles. Alternatively, they can dedicate an entire website for that purpose.
What is affiliate marketing? (Affiliate marketing business model)
Affiliate marketing is a type of performance-based marketing in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor/customer it receives from the affiliate’s own marketing efforts (Brown, 2009). Affiliates can do this through a blog, social media posts, videos, or other online content.
Affiliate marketing is a popular business model for internet marketers. Affiliates are compensated for driving sales to a company. Compensation may vary from one company to another, but the typical commission is 5-25% of the purchase price.
Affiliate marketing commission rates
Affiliate marketing commission rates will vary depending on the type of affiliate program. Some companies offer a flat commission rate for everything, while others may offer different rates for different products. For instance, Amazon provides different commission rates for different products and services on the basis of two criteria i.e. direct qualifying purchase, and indirect qualifying purchase (Amazon, 2022).
However, Palmer (2020) reports that Amazon reduced affiliate commission rates for several products in categories such as furniture, and home improvement.
Affiliate marketing examples
There are many platforms that provide affiliate marketers with opportunities to promote products and services from many companies. The biggest names currently in the market are Commission Junction (CJ), ShareASale, Clickbank, LinkShare, and JVZoo.
However, may people would say that Amazon Associates is the best affiliate programme for general websites as the commission rates are high and joining it is mostly a pain-free process.
On the basis of how much money they make from affiliate marketing, Pat Flynn, Finch Sells, Missy Ward, Shawn Collins, Zac Johnson, Ian Fernando, John Chow, and Kirsty McCubbin are some of the best affiliate marketers in the world.
Benefits of affiliate marketing for beginners
Affiliate marketing can be an excellent way to generate additional income for small and large businesses. Its benefits, when done correctly, are many. The best thing about it is that it can be done from anywhere with just a few hours of work per week. There are no expensive offices to rent and no employees to manage. All that is needed is a computer and internet connection.
Another benefit is that affiliates do not have to do anything themselves, apart from promotional activities. For new businesses or for those who may need a break from their current workload, this is perfect because they can still generate income without doing anything. This type of marketing also allows them to promote other people’s products or services without having to actually produce anything themselves.
How to start affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is a great way to make passive income. However, it does take time to succeed in this business. Here are some tips for how to start affiliate marketing today.
The first stage would be to join an affiliate network. With a large variety of affiliate networks to join, selecting one that offers a large range of options would provide the best opportunity to offer a wide variety of products and services on a blog or website. As mentioned above, some of the best affiliate programmes and networks in the world are Amazon Associates, Commission Junction (CJ), ShareASale, Clickbank, LinkShare, and JVZoo.
After signing up for an account, affiliates can browse through the available offers and find ones that relate to their blog’s topic. Some networks allow affiliates to create links for specific products and other businesses allow affiliates to create links with specific keywords in them (i.e., ‘clothes’). That way, whenever customers follow those links and buy something, affiliates get a commission.
Once the sign-up is done and links are placed in the sites, affiliate marketers must focus on promoting the products/services. They must drive lots of traffic to their sites so that at least a small portion of traffic may purchase the items.
It may be difficult to attract a lot of people, particularly if the blog is now. Therefore, affiliate marketers need to use both search engine optimisation (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) to make their sites popular.
Summary of affiliate marketing for beginners
Affiliate marketing is a promising business model for new entrepreneurs who are looking to make money online, but do not want to start a business from the scratch. Indeed, it can provide them with a steady stream of income, as all that is needed is to find the right products to sell and promote them online.
However, affiliates must note that it is very important to choose affiliate programs that are well-suited to their skills, interests, or specialisation. It is because they need to be seen as credible to the potential customers.
We hope the article ‘Affiliate marketing for beginners’ has been a helpful read. If you have liked it, please share the article link on social media to support our educational work. You may also like reading:
Advantages and disadvantages of affiliate marketing
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Last update: 14 January 2023
References:
Amazon (2022) Operating agreement support, available at: https://affiliateprogram.amazon.co.uk/help/node/topic/GRXPHT8U84RAYDXZ (accessed 09 February 2022)
Brown, B. (2009) The Complete Guide to Affiliate Marketing on the Web: How to Use and Profit from Affiliate Marketing Programs, 1st edition, Florida: Atlantic Publishing Company
Palmer, A. (2020) Amazon slashes commission rates for program that gives publishers a cut of sales, available at: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/14/amazon-slashes-commission-rates-for-affiliate-program.html (accessed 11 February 2022)
Author: Joe David
Joe David has years of teaching experience both in the UK and abroad. He writes regularly online on a variety of topics. He has a keen interest in business, hospitality, and tourism management. He holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies and a Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing Management.