Everything You Need to Know About Affiliate Marketing

• You don’t have to deal with customers

  
  
  : Managing and retaining customers can get problematic at times. Fortunately, as an affiliate, you don’t have to worry about any customer-related issues. Anytime you get a sale- or after-sale-related query, you can simply pass it on to the merchant’s customer service team. Of course, you can always opt to respond to merchandise-related questions, as it can boost your SEO.

• You get performance-based income

  
  
  : While some may consider it a drawback, you have the opportunity to earn as much as you can — it all depends on how much time and effort you are willing to put in.

Drawbacks of Affiliate Marketing

• You are dependent on existing affiliate marketing programs

  
  
  : Since you don’t own affiliate marketing programs, you are entirely dependent on the merchant’s rules and have to abide by their conditions. A program that looks attractive in the beginning may later become less competitive and lucrative.

• You have no control over your competitors

  
  
  : While the level of competition depends on the industry, aggressive affiliate marketers from the same niche can put up fierce competition, which can be dangerous to your performance.

• You won’t have repeat customers

  
  
  : Once a referral is made, chances are that a repeat purchase will not be made through your channels — most likely, they will go directly to the merchant, unless they get better a deal with you, which again will depend on your contract with the merchant.

• There is no guaranteed income

  
  
  : Pay based on performance can be tricky, and no one can predict how much money one will be able to make.

• Affiliate links can be hijacked

  
  
  : Although, this doesn’t happen often, there have been cases where affiliate links have been hijacked and the hacker has stolen someone else’s commission.

How to Start an Affiliate Marketing Business

Follow these steps to start an affiliate marketing venture:

Step 1: Begin with what you know

: Start by listing your favorite products, tools, apps, etc. — things you use regularly — find out if the companies that make these products offer affiliate partnership programs.

Next, research these brands, their various offerings, and their top selling points. Once you determine which program is right for you, join it. Then, start creating campaigns.

Step 2: Start an affiliate website

: Once you know what’s right for you, set up a website. Most affiliate programs prefer affiliate marketers who have an affiliate site and will want to look at it before partnering with them. This is because they want to ensure the website and content won’t hurt their brand and reputation.

Step 3: Look for various affiliate programs in your chosen niche

: To find the top affiliate programs in your niche, you will have to invest a significant amount of time. You can use search engines such as Google or Bing, and type in “your keyword + affiliate” to start.

Step 4: Track your performance

: It’s extremely important to streamline your campaign tracking and monitor your performance regularly and correctly. For this, set up a Google Analytics account to monitor your visitors’ on-site behavior.

Often, merchants also provide their affiliates with several monitoring panels so they can track their campaign’s performance via an affiliate dashboard.

Step 5: Execute creative strategies

: Once you set up your performance tracking dashboard, you can focus on framing compelling content for your marketing campaigns. How you go about it is totally up to you — you can offer product comparisons, review your favorite products/services, submit content to third-party sites, record and upload YouTube videos or publish gripping content on your blog — make sure you focus on the highest quality.

At the start of your affiliate marketing journey, if the commissions are not what you want them to be, don’t get discouraged. Come up with different online campaigns to increase your reach, constantly improve and adjust your strategies and test out various approaches. With time, you’ll figure out what works well and what doesn’t.

Author

Neha De

Neha De is a writer and editor with more than 13 years of experience. She has worked on a variety of genres and platforms, including books, magazine articles, blog posts and website copy. She is passionate about producing clear and concise content that is engaging and informative. In her spare time, Neha enjoys dancing, running and spending time with her family.

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