We have all seen the word affiliate or affiliate code on social media quite regularly. You will usually find celebrities and influencers mentioning their code or the fact that they are making advertised post under some posts, and there they will be promoting a product, and then asking you to either click a link in their bio or to use a certain code during checkout, and in a lot of instances, there is an incentive to use the code/link for the customers, and that is usually like 5-15% discount on their full purchase or something.
You can find people promoting all kinds of products from skinny teas to vitamins, hair treatments, workout plans and so on. These are just a few of the things that you will find people promoting through this affiliation process. Of course, if you still have your concerns, or if you want to learn more about affiliate marketing, how it works, and how you can potentially take advantage of it, then you can keep on reading this article for a more detailed description.
Marketing through affiliations can be best described as the process where a person promotes a product for a company, and then for each purchase that is made of the product via the affiliate link, the promoter tends to get a portion of the profit. So, this allows the promoter to earn a small portion of money with every purchase. More purchases, of course, means more money, and if you are a good promoter, you can end up earning a ludicrous sum of money over time.
In this entire process of marketing, there are several parties involved every time, and this includes:
The Merchant/Vendor
The merchant or the vendor is essentially the creator of the product that is being offered. Now, your Merchant can be a huge company that is internationally recognized, or it can be a small, indie company that is just starting. So, your merchant can essentially be anyone with a product to sell in this scenario. It is very important to know your merchant and to actually know and use the product well before actually promoting the said product.
The Affiliates
The Affiliates consist of the people, group of people or company that is being used to promote the product. The affiliates will usually post the product online, and then try to convince and push the vendor’s product to the customers, and will try to promote it the best that they can. If customers do buy the product using the affiliate’s code or link, then the affiliate gets to earn a small profit or commission for every individual purchase that is made by using their code or link. The affiliates can promote the product on different social media platforms, on their websites or blogs and so on. So, the affiliates are kind of like the advertisers and sales representative for the vendor.
The Consumers
Of course, if you want to keep this system up and running, you will need consumers that will buy the merchant’s product and keep things going. If a consumer likes the product, then they can spread the good word by talking to people in their social circle and hence lead to more purchases and more profits and so on.
These three parties are essentially involved in this entire marketing strategy, and if done correctly, all three parties can benefit immensely from this.
The network can also be considered to be a part of this equation. The network is the middleman when it comes to how the vendor and affiliate operate financially. The network essentially helps to keep track of the purchases that are being made via the affiliation process and will let both the vendor and the affiliate keep track of the numbers.
If you want to take part in this process and want to become an affiliate yourself, then you will have to follow a couple of steps:
- The first thing you need to do is to have an online presence or audience. So, you need to increase the number of people that are following you on different social media platforms, and for that to happen, you have to become a regular poster and keep track of trends and see what kind of posts are attracting more attention for you.
- Always tag different companies whose products might be present in your posts, as this will help get their attention over time.
- Even if companies do approach you, do not promote a product immediately. You must try the product and see whether or not it is working or doing what it claims. This way you have a better idea about the product, and you know whether or not it works.
- Being transparent about affiliate content with your followers is always appreciated, and promoting products that you believe in will also help you garner positive attention overtime.