Affiliate Marketing FAQ – 6 Questions We Hear All The Time
Despite being a key marketing channel for many brands since its rise to prominence in the 1990s, affiliate marketing can still be an unknown quantity to a lot of retailers who would actually really benefit from working in the channel. At Fuel Affiliate, we have been trying to introduce brands to affiliate marketing since we began work in 2017, and some questions pop up time and again in the early stages of conversations. Below we have answered the most asked ones for you.
1. What Is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate Marketing is a process in which a company earns a commission by promoting the sale of another merchant’s products. The affiliate company advertises the third party product via blogs, social media, video ads and so on with the aim of driving sales to the merchant’s door. If this leads to a successful sale of the product, the affiliate takes a bite of the profit.
2. How Does Affiliate Marketing Work?
Four essential components are involved in the process of Affiliate marketing. These are the merchant, the network, the affiliate, and the customer.
The process of course has to start with the product. This could be anything ranging from sports equipment to a lifestyle service. The affiliate then promotes the product on their website. This might be achieved by promoting a special offer, reviewing the product in a blog, or perhaps linking to the product on social media. Within this promotional material, there will be a link to the seller’s website. If the customer clicks on the link, the affiliate network records the transaction, the seller confirms the sale was valid and the affiliate earns their commission.
3. How Does It Benefit A Business?
Partnering with a trusted and well-known affiliate company can drastically increase a business’ reputation and audience. Having your product mentioned by an established third party will increase consumer confidence in your brand and open up your business to a broader audience which it may not otherwise have had access to. This is why affiliate marketing can be particularly beneficial for smaller, lesser well-known websites as it allows them to be seen amongst larger, more established companies and compete with them.
Ultimately, these factors will help drive more traffic to your website. The more affiliate websites that link to your website, the more likely you are to increase the number of visitors.
A strong affiliate marketing network is fantastic for strengthening brand presence and reputation, however, it’s also just really cost-effective. With an affiliate marketing program, your business saves money where it might otherwise be spending on a full-scale marketing campaign. Additionally, if you’re only paying your affiliate commission based on valid sales, the responsibility is on them to market your product successfully and drive sales directly to your door.
4. Where Can I Find Examples Of Affiliates?
Affiliates can be found in a whole range of different websites from blogs, to cashback sites to online communities. To give you a few examples, below are some of the affiliate networks that we work with at Fuel.
Some affiliate websites, like cashback site Quidco, will focus on promoting cashback rates alongside strong offers.
Here, Quidco is acting as an affiliate for GymWear, Forbes and Lewis and Waves by advertising special discounts on their September fashion page. Every time a successful sale is made via this promotion Quidco will receive their commission.
Alternatively, affiliates might promote their partner product via a blog or other written content. For example, the website SilverSurfer’s is advertising products for ‘McAlister textiles’ by discussing their products in a dedicated reviews section of the site.
5. How Do Affiliates Make Sales?
Affiliates make sales by creating a successful lead for a sale via their promotional materials. Usually, affiliate websites will have a dedicated brand page for the seller they are working with where they will create content that links to products. Often this will involve promoting special deals and discounts that appeal to the target audience, however, this isn’t always the case. Affiliates will promote any of the brand’s products through a variety of methods such as blogs or email marketing.
6. What Sort Of Brands Engage In Affiliate Marketing?
It serves the interests of many different brands to engage in affiliate marketing. As we mentioned before, for smaller brands affiliate marketing is a particularly effective way to be seen by a larger audience via an affiliate network. This is great for new brands who are just starting out and are looking to build their brand identity and awareness. Big brands may also choose to engage in affiliate marketing to reach a wider audience by promoting discounts and special offers.
For more details on how Fuel can get you set up with your own affiliate marketing program please do not hesitate to get in touch with us by calling 01752 987909 or emailing Seve Catindig-Stagg at seve@fuel-growth.com. Alternatively, if you’d like to make our SEO guy happy, you can submit an enquiry through our contact us form.
