What is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate Marketing is exactly what you think it is.
On one end of the marketing arrangement, an online retailer pays commission to an external website for traffic or sales generated from its referrals. On the other end, this is the process of earning a commission by promoting someone else product or service. By using an affiliate marketing link, a specific URL that contains the affiliate’s ID or username. In affiliate marketing programs, advertisers use affiliate marketing links to record the traffic that is sent to the advertiser’s website. This action is all part of an affiliate marketing program.
This can be done through popular blogging networks, Instagram influencers, or any way you can send an affiliate link. Think- podcaster leaving a link or telling you to use certain code at checkout for a discount. Or your favorite youtube letting you to “swipe up” to see where they got their new “favorite” product.
For a real-life example check out your favorite movie information center, Jamie Spencer, IMDB.com.
The huge online movie database IMDb.com, has information on thousands of films, actors, and producers. So there is a great opportunity to link out to merchants who can sell the items that are being researched on the site–specifically DVDs or streaming video. On each movie page within the site, the right sidebar includes a link out to Amazon. This is done in an automated way as the link takes referrals to a search page within Amazon displaying results for the movie title or Actor.
3 Tips to Jumpstart Affiliate Marketing
Now to get started with affiliate marketing, you will need to follow these 3 tips:
1. Vet All Affiliate Marketing Programs
There are so many programs out there that will do most of the grunt work for you. But make sure you aren’t throwing your money around.
2. Find your Target Audience
Marketers design strategies to meet the needs of the target market and use media channels and other touch points to best reach the purchaser.
3. SEO is the Key for Affiliate Marketing Efforts
While affiliate links will pusher consumers and buyers to you, you can still generate traffic organically. So be sure to fill your site with valuable and engaging content!
If you liked this Symboliq Media blog, check out these other related articles:
–Should SEOs & Content Marketers Play to the Social Networks’ “Stay-On-Our-Site” Algorithms?
–Social Media Marketing and Brand Awareness Campaigns
