Affiliate Marketing
Sunshine Coast
Affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing strategy in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought about by the affiliate’s own marketing efforts. In this model, the affiliate is paid a commission for promoting the merchant’s products or services to their own audience, typically through a link or unique tracking code.
The affiliate is responsible for finding customers and promoting the merchant’s products, while the merchant handles the product creation, payment processing, and customer service. Affiliate marketing can be a cost-effective way for merchants to reach new customers and for affiliates to earn a commission by promoting products they believe in.
Imagine this scene; someone makes a product, it sells, and you sit at home and make money. For every product sold, you earn a percentage of the profit, for doing absolutely nothing (well, not exactly nothing, but you get the idea). This is what affiliate marketing is all about.
It is 2020, a time when you no longer have to work tirelessly and go flat on your back before you can be rich. By simply pulling the right plugs, and staying in the know, you can make ten times more than the average white-collar job man. One of these right plugs is the affiliate marketing plug.
What then is affiliate marketing?
Very simply put, affiliate marketing is the process of earning a commission on sales by promoting products or services for their owners. Look at it this way; you see a product, you like it (or maybe you don’t), you see a potential market in it, then you promote it on your own platform and for each product sold from your platform, you make a part of the profit.
Parties Involved in Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is not a one-man’s job. Factually, affiliate marketing consists of four main contributors;
Affiliate Marketing
1. The merchant
This is the product creator. It can be a brand, a vendor, a retailer, basically the one who produces the product to be sold.
The merchant can be an individual, for instance an e-book writer willing to reach more people and make more sales. The merchant can also be a major company interested in making more sales of their products. Some merchants want to be involved in the selling process, while others do not. The important thing is that the merchant plays a huge role in the affiliate market, being the one with the product or service to be sold.
2. The Affiliate network
This is the connecting point between the affiliate and the merchants. It is through this network that the affiliate will be able to find programs in need of their services. Simply put, a merchant in need of an affiliate service can find a willing publisher via this network, and a publisher can find a merchant via this network. This way, the network, merchant and publisher all earn money.
For instance, eBay, Amazon and The Home Depot are all affiliate networks. Amazon is a very popular affiliate network notable for its promotion of consumer products like books, toys and household materials. One of the reasons for the popularity of Amazon in the Affiliate marketing sector is that the process required to become an affiliate through their platform is minimal. You only need to sign up, create a link to the products and then attach them to your platform. If someone purchases through your link, you get a commission.
3. The Affiliate
This is the marketer of the product. It can be an individual with a successful platform where potential sellers can be found; it can also be a company. Some people can make hundreds of dollars from affiliate marketing, while others can make millions of dollars from the same affiliate marketing. It all depends on the product in sale, the platform and the convincing skills of the marketer.
4. The consumer
This is another major part of the circle. After all, without a buyer, there would be no sales. Without sales, there will be no profits for the merchants, and no profits mean no commission for the affiliate. The consumer can be gotten from social media networks, billboards, blogs, and just about anywhere.
The affiliate decides on whether to reveal the marketing system of the product. Some affiliates are transparent and will openly tell their customers that they are making the sales for a commission, while others will keep that bit of information to themselves. Either way, when you can make sales, you will have a commission.
Web Design for Affiliate Marketing
Benefits Of Affiliate Marketing
If there were no benefits for both the merchant and the affiliate, then discussing affiliate marketing in Australia this way would be pointless. If you are still wondering what the catch is (if more money does not seem like enough catch to you), then here are some extra benefits attached;
Here are some perks of affiliate marketing for the merchant
- A broader market: Where you cannot reach with your physical customers, or little online customers, a good marketer with the right kind of audience can get there for you. Imagine, for instance, that you produce and sell hair products, and you are affiliated with a popular hair blog that helps people resolve hair issues. After captivating people with their words, they have a starving audience, looking for solutions to their hair problems. What do you think would happen when the hair blogger leaves links to your products for the audience? Exactly!
- Boosted reputation: Being affiliated with a reliable site will relatively build your reputation, and everyone knows how important reputation is for a product or service seller.
- Increased traffic: Having multiple affiliations with reputable sites will certainly get the traffic to your page increased. This increased traffic can easily be converted to a potential clientele base.
Benefits of affiliate marketing for the affiliate
- Low-cost business opportunity
This is a very stress-free method of making some extra cash. You are simply doing what you do best, and making some money for it.
- No special skills/ expertise required
You do not need to have any extra skills except the obvious convincing skills. Also, most times, all the marketing materials you might need to make good sales are provided by the merchants and vendors.
- Limitless marketing strategies
There are no restrictions placed on you as an affiliate. You can put your links up on your blogs, your website, make a video on your Youtube channel and leave the link in your description box, whatever lucrative means you decide to use is fine, as long as you can pull the sales off.
How To Become An Affiliate Marketer
By now, you know how lucrative affiliate marketing in Australia can be. You have seen the definition, the parts involved, and the benefits for both you and your marketer. The next question is, how do you become an affiliate marketer? Do you need to be some sort of popular influencer? Is there a test you need to take? What exactly is required in this business?
Here, we have your answers. We have outlined four steps to take on this journey;
1. Review products in your niche
In whatever niche you operate, there are potential vendors. It’s just like the hair product example you saw earlier.
You can find your potential vendors on Youtube, blogs, or affiliate networks. This is an easy step because as a person, you have some preferred products you use for your niche, so you already know firsthand their benefits.
Once you get these vendors, you can talk to them for partnership deals, and if you are successful (and most times, you will be), then you can move on to the next step.
2. Build an email list with your prospects
If you are thinking; what, emails? Who still uses emails?
Then you probably need to make a research on email marketing and check the statistics.
Email was, is and will always be an excellent marketing platform. By collecting the email addresses of your prospective customers, you can reach out to them whenever you like instead of waiting and hoping they reach out to you.
Now that you have the emails, what do you do with them? Keep them engaged, supply important information to them, then subtly, but firmly (after you must have gained their trust to a level), send them your product links.
3. Be intentional about making sales
A live webinar is an excellent tool for sales.
You can plan a webinar for the product, inform people, get them to register and then go live on a set day. In this webinar, you can educate people about the product, give them more in-depth insights, and possibly show them a live function of the product. You can then discuss with your merchant and plan a discount for all the webinar attendees. And boom! Watch your sales grow.
4. Improve your affiliate marketing business
Once you get to a certain growth level, keep going.
There is always a new, more efficient way to make more sales. You can include paid ads to help your affiliate products reach a wider amount of target audience. You can also improve your SEO game, and consider Pay per Click (PPC).
In no time, you will be making more sales, getting more customers, spreading credibility and eventually opening more bank accounts.
Hot Market
So you see, affiliate marketing in Australia is a hot market trend in 2021, and there is no reason why you should not hop-in on this trend. Again, you do not have to be a big catch before beginning.
Simply start where you are, get intentional, and you will make sales. Having 100 potential clients and 90% buyers is better than having a thousand clients with a 2% buying population.
There are several reasons why affiliate marketing can be a great opportunity for both merchants and affiliates:
1. Cost-effective
Affiliate marketing is a cost-effective way for merchants to reach new customers and drive sales. Unlike traditional advertising methods, merchants do not have to spend a significant amount of money upfront on advertising. They only pay affiliates a commission when a sale is made, which means that they only pay for the results that they receive. This cost structure is often more budget-friendly for merchants, as they can manage their advertising expenses more effectively and avoid unnecessary costs. Additionally, merchants can choose to work with multiple affiliates, which allows them to reach a wider audience and increase their chances of making sales. Overall, affiliate marketing is a cost-effective solution for merchants looking to reach new customers and drive sales without breaking the bank on advertising expenses.
2. Increased reach
Affiliates have the ability to reach a large audience through their own marketing efforts, which is one of the key benefits of affiliate marketing. Affiliates can promote products and services to their own followers on social media, their email list, and their website visitors, among other channels. This allows merchants to reach new customers who may not have found their products otherwise.
By leveraging the reach of affiliates, merchants can expand their customer base and reach new audiences that they may not have been able to reach on their own. This increased reach can lead to more sales, as more people are exposed to the products and services that a merchant offers. Additionally, affiliates often have a strong connection with their own audience, which can help build trust and credibility for the merchant’s brand.
Overall, the increased reach that affiliates provide is a valuable benefit of affiliate marketing, as it allows merchants to expand their customer base and reach new audiences more effectively.
3. Performance-based
Affiliate marketing is a performance-based model, which means that affiliates are only paid for the results they bring. This means that merchants only pay affiliates when a sale is made through the affiliate’s referral link. This incentivizes affiliates to promote the products and services effectively and drive conversions, as they will only earn a commission if they bring in sales.
As a result, affiliate marketing can help merchants avoid paying for ineffective advertising. With traditional advertising methods, merchants often have to pay upfront for advertising regardless of the results they receive. This can lead to significant expenses for merchants, especially if the advertising is not effective. With affiliate marketing, merchants only pay for the results they receive, which helps them avoid unnecessary costs and ensure that their advertising budget is being spent effectively.
Overall, the performance-based nature of affiliate marketing is a valuable benefit, as it allows merchants to avoid paying for ineffective advertising and ensures that they are only paying for the results they receive.
4. Low risk
For affiliates, there is very little risk involved in starting an affiliate marketing campaign. Unlike starting a traditional business, affiliates don’t have to invest in creating their own products or website, or worry about manufacturing, shipping, or customer service. They simply promote the products and services of a merchant and earn a commission on any sales made through their referral link.
Additionally, affiliates only get paid if they successfully promote the merchant’s products, which means that they don’t have to worry about investing money upfront without knowing if they will see a return on their investment. This makes affiliate marketing a low-risk option for individuals who are looking to start earning money online or supplement their existing income.
Overall, the low risk involved in affiliate marketing is a significant benefit for affiliates, as it allows them to start earning money without having to invest a significant amount of time or money upfront.
5. Passive income
Affiliate marketing can provide affiliates with a source of passive income, as they earn commissions from sales made through their affiliate links. Affiliates can promote products from various companies, and earn a percentage of the sales made through their referral links. This type of income can be earned without having to actively engage in selling products, as the affiliate is only responsible for promoting the products and directing potential customers to the company’s website. With the right strategy and a large enough audience, affiliate marketing can provide a sustainable source of passive income.