What is Affiliate Marketing? A 2023 Guide to Getting Started with this Type of Digital Marketing

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is like a referral program. If you refer someone to a business and they make a purchase, you get rewarded. The more people you refer, the more people who purchase from those you refer, and the more rewards you get. The rewards, also known as affiliate earnings, could be a bonus, commission, or other types of incentive. You might also get bonus content (like eBooks), such as discounts or exclusive access to products or services.

Affiliate marketing is about partnering with other businesses to help promote their products or services to your audience in exchange for rewards. It's a great way to attract more people to your offer and make extra money.

This article will cover the basics of affiliate marketing, finding the right partners, and strategies for making the most of your affiliate relationships. We'll also provide tips for getting the most out of your affiliate partnerships. With this information, you'll be ready to start making money with affiliate marketing.

The Three Types of Affiliate Marketing Explained

Unattached Affiliate Marketing

Unattached affiliate marketing promotes products or services in a niche without knowledge or experience. They are just trying to make money by directing people to the product or service without any real connection.

It is an advertising strategy where you pay for ads to get people to your website or product. It doesn't involve connecting with the people who will buy from you, so you can get more people looking at your offers quickly, called impressions. However, it can be a gamble since you're relying on paid ads to bring in customers instead of building relationships with them over time. This can lead to lower conversion rates than other types of affiliate marketing.

In this type of affiliate marketing, traffic/reach is the focus rather than a higher conversion rate.

Related Affiliate Marketing

Related affiliate marketing is the traditional affiliate marketing type. It is referring someone to a store or a website. You tell them about a product, and if they buy it, you get a commission.

With related affiliate marketing, it's upselling someone about a product but also recommending other products through links to go with it. If they buy the main product, you recommended and some related products using your link, you get a commission for all of them.

Involved Affiliate Marketing

In Involved affiliate marketing, the affiliate tries to establish a deeper connection between the affiliate and the product or service they're promoting. They review the product through the actual usage of the product or services. They are usually subject-matter experts or the key-opinion leader in a particular niche. They act as a brand ambassador. They put their reputation and image at stake.

What Are The Different Types of Affiliate Marketers?

Bloggers and Influencers

Bloggers and Influencers must have different accounts from different social media platforms. They must have experience creating creative content in a specific niche and promoting brands' products. They must also have their affiliate website where they can keep their content for multiple channels, like eCommerce stores, to keep their followers updated and connected with all of their work, no matter where it’s posted.

If you are an influencer or blogger, let your followers know when you get paid or receive something free from a company in exchange for talking about their product. This is called affiliate disclosure.

YouTubers

YouTube affiliates typically have a large YouTube following, reliable info/reviews, and an affiliate relationship with a product-related company. YouTubers must also attach links in video descriptions, websites, and social media posts to promote products and earn commissions.

Search Affiliates

A search affiliate is like a middleman between companies and websites. They help companies advertise their products or services on websites, and they can track how their ads perform. They can ensure ads are placed in the right places and help optimize ads so that more people click on them. They may also provide other services like web design and SEO to help make sure the ads get seen.

Review Sites

There are two types of Review Sites. Product review sites are like reviewers who tell you about the best gadgets or appliances to buy. They inform you what to look for, what to avoid, and their overall opinion of the product. Service review sites are like asking your friends for advice about who to hire for a job. They'll tell you their experience with that service provider so you can make an informed decision.

Coupon Sites

Coupon sites provide a way for brands to get more customers by offering discounts and helping brands show up higher in search engine results. But they can also be expensive since they charge a commission, which can hurt a brand's profits if not managed carefully.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is like sending a personalized letter to your customers. You create the message's content to introduce new products or services or offer discounts or promotions. Instead of relying on websites or ads to reach your customers, you directly connect with them through email. You can tailor the message to each customer, so you can make sure it's relevant to them, and it's more likely to get their attention.

Big Web Properties

Big web properties are like huge digital magazines or websites that get a lot of visits. They usually have over a million people coming to them monthly, and brands can use them to advertise their products or services. These sites can be an excellent way for brands to find potential customers because many people are already looking for what they offer. These sites can offer different types of ads, like ads within the content or banner ads, so that brands can reach their ideal customers.

How can Beginners Start Affiliate Marketing in 2023?

Pick a platform and specific niche

In affiliate marketing, picking a platform and your specific niche is important since this will be your playing field in the business. You must understand your audience to convey your message and convert them into paying customers. Proper research of your niche, target audience and platform will increase the chance of your success in this type of marketing.

Focus on your strengths and interests to increase your chances of success. Making the most of what you have will easily influence your audience. Specialize in one platform at a time to be familiarized with your audience and competitors. Only expand when you already have success.

Build an audience

Building an audience is very important. They are your actual consumers that you are trying to convince and influence. Your audience is your potential and current clients, competitors, partners, sponsors, and other stakeholders. You need to build your content with consideration for your audience. Proper copywriting, appropriate images, and age-sensitive materials can be tweaked for your audience.

To do this, you need to research and monitor your competitors. What do they post, when do they post, how do they write, and how frequently are they writing? From your competitors, you will already have an idea of what works and what's not.

Driving traffic to your affiliate page/partners is essential. The more traffic, the more chances of conversion. Post only high-quality contents to attract and spark curiosity. You can use an editorial or content calendar to plan properly. Consider following the six "STEPPS" of viral content: Simple, trusted, effective, pleasureful, performable, and sticky.

Register for an affiliate or referral program

Looking for and signing up for a referral or affiliate program is essential. This is the platform that will give you the earnings. They are the merchants offering commissions based on the confirmed and successful conversion that came from yours. You must also create a landing page to execute your affiliate marketing funnel. You can also this for your paid advertising.

Don't forget to analyze your efforts to see which are effective.

Choose which items to promote

Choosing products and services that fit your brand and values is key to successful affiliate marketing. You don't need to select them all. You need to select which best fits your style and audience. Different type of project requires different strategy for selling them.

Research these items to add value to your content and be transparent with your audience. You need to disclose that you are an affiliate of the brand, and buying through your link will give a certain percentage, commission, or sale. Promote your links through social media, email marketing, or PPC advertising.

Create amazing content that promotes your affiliate items

Research the topic, create an outline, write a compelling copy, and add visuals. You may even want to add a video. Once you have finished creating your content, you should share it on popular social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. This way, people interested in the topic you are sharing can easily find it when they search online.

You also need to customize your sharing strategies based on the platform. Short forms like TikTok, Youtube Shorts, and Facebook/Instagram Reels use a different video format. The Instagram post uses a square format, and the links are disabled in the description. Things that need to be considered when doing your content sharing/seeding.

Enhance and track

To start affiliate marketing in 2023, you must enhance your strategy based on your data tracking. You also need to make sure that the affiliate program platform in which you're participating is connected to your affiliate landing page or PPC effort to make sure you can track your metrics such as clicks, conversions, sales, and other website metrics.

This is also to make sure that you're getting paid correctly.

Get paid

Depending on the metrics agreed upon between you and the affiliate program, you earn your credits or commission through vouchers, cash, credits, and other forms of compensation. This is based on the trackers installed or integrated with your links and platforms. Some use promo codes for the last of the tracking platform as the basis of affiliate sales.

Should Your Business Work with Affiliates?

Benefits of an Affiliate Network

• Access to a large pool of customers & merchants

• Easy setup and management of your affiliate programs

• Tracking tools to monitor performance and optimize campaigns

• Access to advanced features, such as multi-channel tracking and dynamic creatives

• Experienced advisors can help optimize campaigns for success

Disadvantages of an Affiliate Marketing Network

• Unscrupulous affiliates try to trick companies with false/stolen info, pay for ads on high-ranked sites, and install malicious software to redirect searches

• Affiliate networks have strict rules on lead generation, limiting the content promotion

• Less control/exposure than other ad channels

• Affiliate links can compete with other ads for consumer attention

What to avoid in Affiliate Marketing? - Bad Practices

Click Fraud

Click fraud is a malicious practice where someone falsely clicks on an advertiser's ads or links to mislead the company into thinking that more people are interested in their product or service. This can lead to them wasting money on resources and making less money than they could have. It can also damage the company's reputation if it's found out they were involved in the fraud.

Cookie Stuffing

If you visit a website through an affiliate link, a tiny piece of data (called a cookie) is stored on your computer. The cookie can be used to track where you came from. When you get to the website, the cookie's owner can see that you came from the affiliate link, and they can reward you with a commission for referring you. This is done using a single-pixel iframe or other methods.

Typosquatting

Typo squatting happens when someone buys a website address with a typo or two, similar to a famous company's, and redirects it to their site. Businesses must ensure affiliates are reputable to avoid scamming via typosquatting, as it could help them get more customers and make more money.

Purchase AdWords and Adware

Purchasing AdWords and Adware are like having a personal assistant for your business, helping you reach potential customers. Your website can show up in search results and earn sales commissions. An affiliate network helps manage and track your marketing program, providing a dedicated manager for optimal results.

Affiliate Marketing Trends to Look Out for in 2023

Trends that marketers should watch for in affiliate marketing in 2023 include:

1. Growth of digital and mobile platforms: Digital and mobile platforms are becoming increasingly popular for people to shop online and access information. This means businesses must have a strong presence on these platforms to reach their target audiences and succeed.

2. Increased focus on customer experience: Marketers must figure out how to give customers what they want while achieving their sales goals. This means considering individual needs and preferences and providing services tailored to each customer.

3. Rise of automated systems: Automated systems such as chatbots can quickly answer questions and solve problems without needing a human to intervene. This means that customers can get their questions answered and get their issues resolved quickly.

Conclusion

Affiliate marketing is a way to make money online by promoting products or services from other companies. When you become an affiliate, you sign up with a company and get a unique link you can share with your audience. If someone clicks on your link and makes a purchase, you get a commission for the sale.

It takes a bit of work and dedication to be successful, but if you follow the steps in this guide, you can start making money with affiliate marketing today.

We at Slaterock Automation can assist you in your affiliate marketing efforts with our deep experience with digital marketing, SEO, Wix Website Development, and content creation. We can set up your landing pages and do your PPC in no time! Contact us today to learn more.

Contact Slaterock Automation Today