Ways of earning money have transformed drastically over the last few decades. From routine jobs, the industry saw freelancing gain momentum, a rise in ‘influencing’ as a means of living and travel blogging to make money. Though these ways are unconventional, they provide substantial returns to those interested. With an ever-expanding industry that offers plenty of opportunities, we don’t have to settle for what we don’t like anymore.
Another such money-making strategy is ‘affiliate marketing’. The number of marketers who use affiliate marketing as a regular income source is growing and so is the number of e-commerce platforms. As per Google trends, the search volume for affiliate marketing has grown with 44% in a single year.
Companies like GrabOn have made it big in the affiliate market. The company started in 2013 and has gained momentous success in the field with focused blog posts creating a consistent way of income. Besides being a dedicated coupons and deals marketplace, GrabOn runs success in affiliate. Its story shows us that affiliate marketing can be an additional hand to a company’s business model.
Affiliate is a great choice for individuals too. People like Pat Flynn, John Chow, Rae Hoffman, Mark Ling, Kristy Mccubbin, have made it big in the affiliate scenario. Anybody, irrespective of their age, career, or location can start affiliate marketing as a full time gig or a side hustle.
What is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a revenue generating opportunity open to all. It consists of 3 key factors.
Advertisers —> Affiliate marketers (Publishers) —> Consumers
So, what’s the role of an Affiliate marketer and who can be one?
In order to understand Affiliate marketing, there are 2 terms you should be familiar with.
Publisher – individual or company that promotes products of a bigger platform
Advertiser – The platform that provides products to the publishers for promotion
Both the publishers and advertisers work hand in hand and are recipients of benefits obtained from affiliate marketing.
How does affiliate marketing work?
Publishers create affiliate links of products and promote them on their website or blog. Every time a user buys a product through any of these links, the publisher gets a commission from the overall cost of the product from the Advertiser.
Affiliates can choose which products they want to promote. Advertisers like Amazon have thousands of products and its affiliate program can help you earn up to 12% on advertising.. Similarly other platforms that allow affiliate marketing offer a bunch of products that an affiliate marketer can promote.
Mantra 1: Start with little. Many times people get carried away and start selling big ticket products in an attempt to earn more money. It is absolutely possible to do so, however, it is also important to establish your base which may take some time.
So, let’s see the different ways in which you, a publisher, can promote an advertiser’s product,
- Create a blogging websiteAffiliate marketers are no other people but marketers. Use your marketing skills and create a groundbreaking pitch for the products you want to promote. Publish blog posts more often than usual. Keep your content as informative as possible that makes a reader want to click on the link and buy the product.
- VideosVideos are a great way to communicate an idea. You can upload product videos on your blogging website or simply put them on YouTube. Users search for product reviews on YouTube more than anywhere else. When you make YouTube videos and increase your follower base, your audience will trust you and are most likely to click on those links (affiliate) in the description to make a purchase.
- Social MediaWho isn’t active on Social Media? You can use different strategies for promoting the products on different social media platforms. Some social channels allow direct sharing of links like Facebook, while some others like Instagram are more image centric. However there is a lot that can be leveraged in all social networking websites for affiliates. Just wear your social persona and start selling.
- Share inside your circlePeople trust the people they already know. You can use your WhatsApp groups and other circles to spread the word. And when one of your friends needs a new item and they are planning to buy online, you can swing right in and get a sale.
Getting started with Affiliate marketing:
The first step would be to sign up for an affiliate program online. Companies like Amazon, Flipkart, MakeMyTrip, BigRock, DGM, GoDaddy, eBay and many other companies have provided affiliate programs. Each of these platforms have their specific rules and standards of providing commissions on products. The commission could also be different for different items that you can promote. So choose the products wisely.
Mantra 2: DO not attempt promoting products that you don’t know much about or don’t use or like in general. Consumers are more likely to convert when they feel that they are getting the information from an authentic source. Once you understand the grip of gaining more clicks on your affiliate links, you can try out new and different products and increase your affiliate marketing channel.
Do you need technical skills for affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketers use blogs as an extensive tool to promote a product. When this blog is based in the WordPress domain, you would need to know about uploading content to WordPress, creating affiliate links from affiliate partners, and inserting videos. At the same time a minimal knowledge of SEO is a must too.
Remember you are competing with a lot of other competitors in your space who are promoting products through affiliate channels. So to land success, remain consistent, learn and improve your strategy every now and then. It takes dedicated efforts and a lot of time, but when you get it, you’re sure to have fun while you make some pennies sound.
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About the Author:
Aamer Hussain is a Content writer and marketer who’s worked with clients in over 10 different industries helping them gain an online presence and success in the online market. His current role as a Content Strategist is a fun-filled venture where he gets to learn new things and apply them to his work.
