What Is Affiliate Marketing And How Does It Work?
Imagine waking up each morning knowing you’re wealthier than you were yesterday!
Affiliate marketing is a great way to build a passive income – genuinely allowing you to make money while you sleep!
Plus, affiliate marketing is continuing to grow at a rapid rate, and is predicted to keep rising much, much further.
Source: Astute Analytica
It’s a hot trend that isn’t going anywhere – except up!
And if you’re looking for a side gig or a way to make additional revenue, this would be the perfect option for you.
In this post, you’ll learn everything about affiliate marketing and how to get started today.
Let’s dive in!
What Is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a type of marketing where you get paid for promoting and driving sales to a product or service. You usually get paid a small percentage (a commission) for each sale you generate.
We can divide the whole affiliate marketing process from start to finish into five steps.
#1 – You Sign Up for an Affiliate Program
The first step is to find an affiliate marketing program or network that lets affiliates promote products and drive sales for profit.
There are plenty of popular affiliate marketing programs you can choose from.
We always recommend starting with Amazon since it’s the biggest and most reputable affiliate marketing program – and very intuitive too.
#2 – You Choose a Product
The next step is to choose a product you want to promote.
Ideally, you should promote products that you have real-life experience with – so you avoid promoting low-quality products that might damage your reputation.
If you don’t have experience with any products, you can look at the reviews.
And definitely take time to browse and watch video reviews on YouTube as well.
This will give you a better idea of what the product is about and whether it’s high-quality.
Also, make sure you check the Terms & Conditions of your affiliate network when choosing products, since some products may not be included in affiliate programs – or you may get lower commissions for promoting certain categories of products.
#3 – You Get a Unique Link
Now that you’ve selected the product, you have to get your unique link.
This is a link to the product that will help Amazon (or any other affiliate network) know that the sale has come from you.
Source: PPC Mode
#4 – You Promote It
After you get your link, it’s time to promote it. There are many ways to do this:
- Social media posts
- Pay per click ads
- Blogging
- Email marketing
We’ve found blogging and email marketing to be the most effective.
This is because with these two, there is lower cost per acquisition than with ads – and it’s easier to build a rapport with your readers.
In fact, we have a whole in-depth guide on blogging and email marketing for affiliates – check it out to discover how to promote your products the right way!
#5 – You Make Money
The last step is to collect the commissions from the affiliate marketing network.
As customers start buying products via your unique link, you’ll start to make money which you can then transfer to your bank account. Of course, with most affiliate marketing networks, there is a threshold you have to reach.
For instance, with Amazon, you have to make at least $100 to be able to withdraw the money – the minimum amount you can withdraw is $10.
The Pros and Cons of Affiliate Marketing
The affiliate marketing industry is estimated to grow to $40 billion in the next 8 years.
However, it’s also important to look at both sides of the picture – considering both the pros and the cons of affiliate marketing.
The Pros
Low Risk
Fortunately, affiliate marketing doesn’t require a big investment from the beginning.
Instead, all you need is to share affiliate products on social media – you don’t even have to create a website! You can also quit any time, and there are no strings attached.
Scaleable
Affiliate marketing is highly scalable.
You can start with only a few customers, and grow your business to thousands or millions without you needing to invest more money. All you do is to get more customers to click your links – and the affiliate network will do the rest.
Work From Anywhere
You’re not tied to your home – or any location for that matter.
All you need is a computer, or even your smartphone, and you can start making money and managing your affiliate marketing business.
The Cons
Highly Competitive
Affiliate marketing is on the rise – and the competition is too.
When it comes to generating traffic or creating promotional content, you might find it very difficult to get ahead of brands that have been doing it for years.
Not a ‘Get Rich Quick’ Scheme
Affiliate marketing takes time, especially in the beginning.
If you expect to make a few quick bucks in just a few days or weeks, this is not the way to go. In many instances, it takes several months to years to see substantial results.
No Control
You have no control or guarantees with affiliate marketing.
If you violate the rules of affiliate networks or the FTC (Federal Trading Commission), your account can get suspended or you might face penalties.
But, if you follow our advice, you can avoid these risks!
How Much Money Can You Make With Affiliate Marketing?
According to statistics, affiliate marketers can make around $59,000 to $150,000 a year.
However, that statistic is potentially a bit misleading…
That’s because this figure from Glassdoor relates to being employed as an affiliate marketer – which is probably not what you’re looking for. That’s why we should closely examine the salary of freelancers doing affiliate marketing.
Unfortunately, it does not look quite as bright as with employed affiliate marketers.
Source: Influencer Marketing Hub
As you can see above, over 57% of all freelance affiliate marketers make less than $10k a year. That’s certainly not enough to live on in most countries. But it’s definitely worth considering if you’re looking for a side job or additional income.
And of course, you don’t have to be average – and you shouldn’t strive to be either!
That’s why we’ve created tons of resources on scaling your affiliate marketing business and helping you drive higher revenue.
Check some of these out below and grow your income now:
- From Hobby to Hustle: How to Turn a Blog Into a Thriving Business
- The Complete Guide To Conversion Rate Optimization
- How To Write A Good Product Review That Sells
How to Start Affiliate Marketing
If you’re convinced that affiliate marketing is the right path, we’re here to support you.
You’ll now learn the step-by-step process of starting an affiliate marketing business, so you can be up and running quickly.
#1: Find Your Niche
When you’re choosing a niche, you should aim for something that:
- You’re passionate about.
- You have hands-on experience with.
The combination of both of these things ensures you’ll enjoy your affiliate marketing journey since you’re promoting something you’re passionate about. Plus, you’ll be able to easily get into the shoes of your customers – which is a huge bonus!
It’s worth noting here that whilst you might question how important it is for you to enjoy your affiliate marketing topic, it is actually the foundation for success within this industry.
This is for two reasons.
Firstly, you’ll be spending an awful lot of time creating content on the subject. If you happened to choose “men’s brown socks” as your niche topic, how enthused are you going to be after six months writing about nothing else? Your lack of enthusiasm will inevitably show through, reducing the impact and engagement of your content, and consequently fail to engage your audience and convince them to click through on your links.
The second reason why enjoyment is important is that you will simply be more enthusiastic, and more likely to read about the topic, learn about it more, and come up with unique and interesting ways of looking at it, and promoting it.
So your enjoyment directly translates to happy, engaged customers, and a more successful affiliate business!
But when it comes to choosing your niche, make sure it’s an ultra-specific niche.
For instance, instead of choosing ‘shoes for men’, try to make it more specific, such as ‘shoes for active men over 50‘. This will minimize competition and make it easier to personalized content to your audience – which helps with driving sales.
Source: Startup Bonsai
#2: Select the Right Program
Now it’s time to choose the right affiliate marketing program.
There are plenty to choose from. However, if you’re just a beginner, we recommend going for Amazon – the most reputable and biggest affiliate network.
It’s beginner-friendly and offers over 3 million products to choose from, so you’ll easily be able to find the right products to promote.
Plus, Amazon’s reputation will increase the chances of you generating a sale. When customers see that reassuring ‘Buy’ button, with the Amazon logo, they’ll know that the transaction will be safe, and the delivery can be relied upon.
Also, they’ll almost certainly already have an Amazon account (310 million people do!), which means they’ll know they won’t have to enter their name, address, or bank details, as they’re already saved in their Amazon account.
#3: Choose the Right Product
The right product to promote should consist of these three traits:
- It’s genuinely helpful
- You enjoy writing about it
- You have hands-on experience
If you can find a product like that, writing content for it and promoting it will be a breeze. This is also why it’s beneficial to choose a niche in which you have hands-on experience.
In case you can’t find products like this, we suggest checking the Bestsellers on Amazon.
After that, take a closer look at the reviews.
Once you’re done, you should have a pretty good idea about the product – so you can start promoting it.
#4: Use the Right Promotion Method
There are plenty of methods you can choose for promoting your products.
- Social media posts
- Pay-per-click ads
- Blogging
- Email marketing
There’s no such thing as the best method – it’s all based on your preference.
We generally recommend sticking with the method you’re the most familiar with, since it will be easier for you to get up and running.
In case you don’t have any experience, we recommend blogging.
It’s low-risk to get started, there is almost no investment, and you have the freedom to write about the product and promote it however and wherever you want.
Quick sidenote: With AI, and ChatGPT in particular, such a popular tool at the moment, you may be tempted to use these tools for generating content quickly. We strongly advise not doing this. This is because AI cannot produce anything original – it can only rehash content it’s already found online. This reduces your chance to be original and stand out.
Also, ChatGPT can’t really write in a ‘voice’ that feels genuine and sincere, and won’t be able to base the content on any personal experience, feelings, or opinions.
Additionally, Google has made it clear that it wants to adapt its algorithm so that AI generated content is not promoted in the SERPs, instead preferring high-ranking content to be human written. Since many affiliate marketers are making this mistake, if you make sure your content is original, written/created by you, and doesn’t rely upon AI, then once Google’s AI-detecting algorithms improve and are rolled out, you could find your content rising rapidly above that of your AI-happy competitors!
Affiliate Marketing Tools
Affiliate marketing tools can massively speed up your affiliate marketing success.
They help you track performance of your campaigns, create more trustworthy looking links, and grow your brand the right way.
We definitely recommend taking a closer look at these tools.
- AAWP. The best tool for creating unique affiliate content, such as comparison tables, new releases, or product boxes.
- ClickWhale. The best WordPress link manager for shortening, branding, and organizing your affiliate links.
- Ahrefs. The best keyword research tool for finding topics your audience is interested in and for which you have a chance of ranking.
- Google Search Console. The best tool for tracking website errors, ranking positions, and traffic of your affiliate website.
- Google Analytics. The best analytics tool for learning more about your target audience, traffic sources, and overall website performance.
Conclusion – Ready to Start Your Affiliate Marketing Journey?
Affiliate marketing is a fantastic way to generate a passive income on the side, and become more financially independent.
To learn more about affiliate marketing, check these resources:
- From Hobby to Hustle: How to Turn a Blog Into a Thriving Business
- The Complete Guide To Conversion Rate Optimization
- How To Write A Good Product Review That Sells
Looking to scale your affiliate marketing business faster?
That’s precisely what we are here to help you with!
AAWP is our Amazon Affiliate WordPress plugin, which lets you create stunning affiliate content that will set you apart from competitors, and make it easier for your readers to choose the right product – and for you to increase your conversions.
You can choose various content types, including:
- Comparison tables. Comparing two or more similar products
- New Releases. Showcasing the top products from a product category you choose
- Single (or multiple) product boxes. Providing detailed information about one or multiple products.
Just take a look and compare the wealth of information we help you to include with the products you promote…
…as you can see, we’ve also solved the issues with Amazon’s small image sizes.
If you’re looking to stand out and become your reader’s go-to source of product reviews and recommendations, get started with AAWP today.
Start now with AAWP!
AAWP is the #1 WordPress plugin for Amazon affiliates who are serious about earning more. Get started today!