Everything you need to know about affiliate marketing

Sahl Tuesday,01 Aug 2023

What is affiliate marketing and how do you earn?
introduction
Are you looking for a way to profit from the Internet without having to create your own product or service? Do you want to take advantage of the power of the web to promote other offers and get rewarding commissions? If your answer is yes, then you are in the right place. In this article, we will explain to you what affiliate marketing is, how it works, what are the steps needed to start a successful marketing campaign, and how to earn from it.

What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a type of marketing business that is based on revenue sharing between the advertiser or merchant and the publisher or sponsor of affiliate programs. Simply put, the marketer promotes and markets a product, service, or any commodity belonging to the merchant through his electronic channels, such as his website, blog, social media accounts, or mailing list, and upon success in promoting and selling it, he earns a profit in exchange for completing this process.

Commission marketing is not new at all, it goes back thousands of years, since the beginning of the fields of industry, trade and investment. But with the advent of the Internet and e-commerce, this field has flourished and has become one of the best and most prominent ways to profit by working online all over the world.

How does affiliate marketing work?
The commission marketing process involves three main parties:

Merchant: He is the owner of the product, service or commodity that he wants to market and increase its sales. It is also called a seller, company, or brand.
Marketer: He is the person who promotes the merchant’s product, service or commodity through his electronic channels. It is also called a publisher, sponsor, partner or broker.
Customer: He is the person who interacts with the content provided by the marketer and clicks on links or advertisements that transfer him to the merchant’s website and purchases the promoted product, service or commodity.
The commission marketing process takes place through simple steps:

The merchant establishes an affiliate marketing program and specifies its terms and conditions and the percentage of commission he will pay to marketers for each successful sale.
The marketer joins the affiliate program and gets their own link with an identifier code that they use to track the source of the visitor and the sale.
The marketer uses his own link to create attractive and useful marketing content for the customer, such as articles, videos, photos or podcasts, and publishes it through his electronic channels.
The customer accesses the marketer's content and reads, watches or listens to it, and if he is interested in the promoted product, service or commodity, he clicks on the marketer's own link.
The customer is transferred to the merchant's website, where he can view more details about the product, service or commodity and make the purchase.
The purchase process is recorded in the tracking system, linking the link between the marketer and the sale, and determining the commission value that will be paid to the marketer.
The marketer receives his commission from the merchant at a specific date, according to the terms of the commission marketing program.
What are the benefits of affiliate marketing?
Commission marketing has many benefits for both the merchant, the marketer, and the customer, and the following are some of these benefits:

Benefits of affiliate marketing for the merchant:
Achieving the highest amount of sales: The merchant can significantly increase his sales by taking advantage of the efforts and skills of marketers who present his offers in an attractive and convincing manner to target customers.
There is no risk for the merchant or the advertiser: the merchant pays a commission only when an actual sale occurs, and therefore does not have to pay any advance or fixed amounts to marketers or advertising media, and does not bear any losses in the event that the desired results are not achieved.
Benefits of affiliate marketing for the marketer:
Profit from home in huge and amazing proportions: the marketer can profit from the Internet without the need to create a product or service of his own, or store, ship or provide technical support for it. All he has to do is choose the products or services that suit his interests and audience, and promote them in a professional and ethical manner. The marketer can also get high commissions of up to 50% or more of the sales value in some programs.
Absence of any risk or responsibility: The marketer bears no responsibility towards the merchant or the customer, as he does not participate in the sale process itself, but merely refers the visitor to the merchant's site. Also, the marketer does not bear any losses in the event that a sale does not occur, as he does not pay any amounts to the merchant or the advertising media.
No capital is needed to start the business: the marketer does not need to invest large sums to start his marketing campaign, he can join commission marketing programs for free, get his own link and free marketing tools, and start publishing marketing content through his electronic channels that may cost him a little or nothing.
Manage work from anywhere and at any time without restrictions or conditions: the marketer can work from anywhere he wants, whether it is his home, cafe or beach, and at any time that suits him, whether it is morning, evening or night. The marketer can also choose the programs he wants to join, the products he wants to promote, and the methods he wants to use, without any restrictions or conditions being imposed on him by the merchant.
Benefits of affiliate marketing for the client:
Obtaining valuable and useful information: The customer can obtain valuable and useful information about the products or services he is looking for, through marketer content that provides him with a comprehensive, objective and honest view of the advantages, disadvantages, benefits and prices of these products or services, and helps him make a better purchase decision.
Obtaining exclusive offers and attractive discounts: The customer can obtain exclusive offers and attractive discounts when purchasing products or services promoted by the marketer, as he is provided with a special link containing a discount code, free gift, additional guarantee, free shipping, or other advantages that Increase his satisfaction and loyalty.
What do you need to start your own affiliate marketing business?
Starting your own affiliate marketing business does not require you 

A lot of requirements, it is a simple and easy activity that does not require previous experience or an accredited certificate. But there are some steps that you must follow to ensure the success of your marketing campaign and increase your income.

Step 1: Choose a good product, service or offer
Choosing the product, service or offer that you will promote is one of the most important factors affecting the success of your marketing campaign. It is not enough to choose any product or service that you find in commission marketing programs, but you must bear in mind some important points, such as:

Demand and competition: You must choose a product or service that has a great demand in the market, and many customers are looking for it, but at the same time it does not have intense competition from other marketers, so that you can stand out and reach a larger audience.
Quality and trust: You must choose a product or service of high quality, gain the trust and satisfaction of customers, and provide real value to them, so that you can build a good reputation as a marketer, and increase conversion rate and referrals.
Commission and conditions: You must choose a product or service that offers you a rewarding commission, commensurate with your efforts and marketing costs, and not be too low or too high. You should also take into account the terms of the affiliate marketing program you are joining, such as the validity period of your link, the method and time for paying commissions, and cancellation and return policies.
Step Two: Have a good source of visitors
Having a good source of visitors is another important factor for the success of your marketing campaign. It is not enough to write great marketing content and put your own link in it, but you must ensure that this content reaches a large audience interested in the product or service that you are promoting. Therefore, you must choose an electronic channel through which you can publish your marketing content, interact with your audience, and increase traffic to your link. Here are some of these channels:

Website or blog: You can create a website or blog in a specific area related to the product or service you are promoting, provide useful and interesting content to your visitors, and include your own link in it. You must take care of the search engine optimization (SEO) of your site or blog, so that it appears in the first search results, and attracts targeted visitors.
Social media: You can use social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube, to create affiliate accounts, pages or channels, provide engaging and engaging content to your followers, and include your own link. You should take care to increase the number of your followers and keep them engaged, and use viral marketing strategies to increase the reach of your content.
Email: You can use email as an effective affiliate marketing tool, as you build a mailing list of people who are interested in the field you are promoting, and send them periodic emails with valuable content and your own link. You should take care of increasing your mailing list and maintaining a good relationship with your subscribers.
Step Three: Have the tools to do your job successfully
Landing Pages Builder (continued): You can use tools like Leadpages, Unbounce, or Instapage to create, design, and test professional and effective landing pages, with no coding or design skills required.
Tracking and analysis tool for the results of advertising campaigns: It is a tool that helps you track, measure and analyze the performance of your marketing content and your private link, and know the number of visits, clicks, sales and commissions that you achieve, sources, keywords, geography and devices that come from them, and other important indicators. You can use tools like Google Analytics, Voluum or ClickMeter to track and improve your marketing campaign.
A tool to view advertiser pages that are not available in your country: It is a tool that helps you view advertiser pages that may be blocked or unavailable in your country, so that you can ensure the quality and validity of the product or service you are promoting, and identify competitors and the most successful pages. You can use tools like VPN, Proxy or Tor to change your IP address and access any site you want.
A tool to view competitors' campaigns: It is a tool that helps you monitor and analyze the campaigns of other marketers in the same field or program in which you are promoting, so that you can know what works and what does not work, take advantage of their strengths and weaknesses, and innovate in providing better and more attractive offers. You can use tools like SpyFu, SEMrush, or SimilarWeb to see what your competitors' campaigns are.
Fourth step: online payment method
An online payment method is another important factor for the success of your marketing campaign. This is the method you will use to receive your commissions from merchants, and therefore it should be easy, secure and compatible with your country and currency. Here are some of these methods:

PayPal: It is one of the most popular and widely used online payment methods, as it allows you to create a free account and link it to a credit card or bank account, and receive and send money easily, quickly and securely. PayPal also supports multiple currencies and countries, and charges reasonable transaction fees.
Payoneer: It is one of the best alternatives to PayPal, especially for marketers in countries that are not supported by PayPal, as it allows you to create a free account, get a prepaid credit card, and receive money from many sources, such as affiliate programs or free sites or online platforms. Payoneer also supports multiple currencies and countries, and charges reasonable transaction fees.
Skrill: It is one of the oldest and most popular means of online payment, as it allows you to create a free account and link it to a credit card or bank account, and receive and send money efficiently and securely. Skrill also supports many currencies and countries, and charges low transaction fees.
Summary of ideas
Commission marketing has many benefits for both the merchant, the marketer, and the customer, as it increases the spread and sales of products and services, and generates continuous income for the marketer.

Cain without having to create their own product or service, provides valuable information and exclusive offers to customers. Starting your own commission marketing business does not require many requirements from you, you just need to follow some simple steps, such as:

Choose a good product, service or offer
Have a good source of visitors
Have the tools to do your job successfully
Online payment method