Affiliate marketing is an easy concept to learn, but it can be overwhelming if you are new to it. So that you fully understand the information in this course, I would like to begin with some background information on affiliate marketing.
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is when you try to earn money by placing an affiliate link on your website, social media account, etc. and have people purchase a product through your link.
An affiliate is a person or business who promotes a product or service offered by other businesses, and you become an affiliate when you promote an affiliate product.
An example would be Amazon book sales, where you link to a specific book on your website and try to get people to purchase the book through your affiliate link. Amazon and other companies want quality affiliates under their belt, because they want all the help they can get to promote the products and services they are selling.
If you get someone to sign up through your affiliate link, you are then rewarded by the company for promoting their product.
This is what is known as a conversion. A conversion is when a person completes a specific action designated by the affiliate program. It may be when someone enters their email address on a company's website, when they make a purchase, fill out a form, or some other action through your affiliate link.
You can share an affiliate link with your audience in many different ways, such as:
1. By adding an affiliate link to your blog (you can do this by inserting a link within a blog post, page, email, etc.)
2. Promoting it on social media
3. Sharing it in a podcast or webinar
And more!
So, why would a company be interested in affiliate marketing?
Companies like affiliate marketing, because it can be a great way to promote their products, and they only have to pay a commission if there's a conversion.
Many companies like this option, because often they pay a lot of money for an advertisement but don’t actually receive any quality leads from it. With affiliate marketing, the company only pays if a sale is made or if they receive a lead.
This is great for online influencers.
For online influencers, affiliate marketing can be a great way to make money by simply reviewing or mentioning a product you already enjoy and love, in-turn your input influences others to purchase the product.
Affiliate income is also great, because you can create a post, review, etc. that may earn you money years down the line. With minimal work needed to maintain the article, it can be somewhat passive, which is what I love about it.
When it comes to affiliate marketing, there are just a few easy steps to get you started:
1. Find an affiliate product or service to promote that is relevant to your brand
2. Sign up and get approved for the product's affiliate program
3. Insert your affiliate link on your website or social media accounts
4. Refer people to your affiliate link and make conversions
5. Receive commissions for the conversions you make
We will talk about all of these steps and much, much more in the course.
See, you can do it!