What Is Affiliate Marketing And How Does It Work?

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Affiliate marketing has been around for years, since well before the rise of the internet and is quickly becoming one of the most popular ways to make money online. But what is affiliate marketing? How does it work? And could you be making money from it? Let’s take a look at the answers to those questions.

What is affiliate marketing?

Making sense of affiliate marketing isn’t too difficult if you think of it as simply being paid for your recommendation and in essence, affiliate marketing is a commission-based referral scheme. For example, a company may use affiliate marketing as a way to gain new clients, paying the referee a small commission for each new client that they bring to the business. Originally, affiliate marketing was conducted through word of mouth, with sellers making a commission from door to door sales and telephone calls. Now, with the invention of the internet, the affiliate market industry has grown to a whole new level and it is easier than ever for companies and affiliates to make big money doing it.

How does affiliate marketing work?

The success of affiliate marketing lies in the human psyche and the truth is that people are more likely to purchase something recommended to them by a friend, colleague, or person that they trust (such as a digital influencer) than they are from seeing an advertisement from the company itself. Digital affiliate marketing plays to this strength enticing affiliates to recommend products or services with the promise of a commission and persuading consumers to purchase items because they feel a greater degree of trust with the affiliate than they do with the brand alone.

The internet truly has been the driver behind the recent success of affiliate marketing as it has made it easier than ever for influencers to reach large audiences and to share their recommendations via links that contain unique tracking codes ensuring that the affiliate earns a commission from any sale conducted through them.

Could you be making money from affiliate marketing?

Whether you are a business seeking new customers or an affiliate seeking new affiliate marketing opportunities then there’s money to be made.

For the business
Affiliate marketing gives businesses a driven sales force that they needn’t employ in house and is a very effective way to promote a business. Motivated by commission these people want to make a sale because they want to make money and as such, they will promote your company or product to thousands of people without it costing you a penny. As a business, all you need to do is look after your affiliates by paying them their owned commission.

For the affiliate
There are now numerous affiliate programs out there ranging from those run by huge corporations such as Amazon down to independent retail stores such as Coconut Lane. There are also now affiliate networks who compile these affiliate programs under one roof, taking a small cut of your commission on the side, but putting affiliates in contact with hundreds of affiliate programs and making it easier than ever for them to share their recommendations with their audiences.

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