How Do Affiliate Marketers Make Money?
For affiliate marketers, driving traffic and revenue for retailers is their bread and butter, but how do affiliate marketers make money?
The nuts and bolts of making money via affiliate marketing are quite straight forward. Drive traffic from your own platform to an eCommerce website, if that site delivers a conversion – a sale, sign up, apply for a quote, start a subscription – then you will be rewarded with some commission for your work.
What then comes into it, and often dictates how big an affiliate marketers commissions are, is how well they can make themselves stand out from the crowd.
We work with affiliates that use the full range of digital marketing tools to promote retailers, with display and search, retargeting and content creation just a few of the areas of expertise affiliate marketers can give great support in.
Identifying a key skill, something you become synonymous with as an affiliate is important.
Whilst it is easy to register as an affiliate, most networks charge no fee or a small fee that is refunded with your first commission withdrawal, because of the competition out there it is hard to emerge as a programme’s ‘go-to guy’ for a certain part of their programme. Being the preferred retargeting partner or cashback website of choice, for example, is a great thing but it can be hard to become this for retailers in such a congested marketplace.
There are certainly a number of affiliates that will tend to perform well across the majority of affiliate marketing programmes, I think we all know who they are, but underneath that there is a huge range of affiliates who are enjoying great success.
As we touch upon above, having a key skill is certainly a great way to start separating yourself from other affiliates, but we see some brilliant partners that not only have a niche way of promoting retailers but then stay sector-specific.
Producing great product reviews for a YouTube channel might make you a great destination for people looking to see the latest and greatest releases in all different sectors, but the example of someone like The Hoxton Trend shows how by focussing in on a sector and market, in their case premium and luxury menswear, you can start turning your traffic and content into a valuable commodity.
They’ve been able to position themselves as a trusted and honest reviewer, who is an expert in their field and therefore a key part of their followers’ decision-making process when it comes to deciding where to spend their hard-earned money when it comes to men’s fashion. Their passion has now become their full-time job, and as an affiliate that is a great place to be.
Selecting the right programmes to sign up too, based on the audience you attract and the skills you have is also a huge part of becoming a successful affiliate. A price comparison site with a focus and audience based around airport transfers is not, on the balance of probabilities, going to enjoy a huge success promoting women’s footwear. Whilst the appeal might be there to join as many programmes as possible, keeping that focus is vitally important to avoid developing a confusing solution.
Whether you are looking to create an additional revenue stream or looking to get into affiliate marketing full time, following the steps above can go a long way to helping you be successful. If you’d like to learn more about how affiliate marketers make money or would like to speak to somebody about improving your own affiliate offering, please feel free to reach out via our contact form or email seve@fuel-affiliate.co.uk.
