Many marketers believe that affiliate marketing is a way to make money online without having to worry about running your own successful business. The concept is simple: you promote a product or service and when someone clicks a link or buys a product that you’ve collaborated on, you earn a commission.

While affiliate marketing is certainly a viable strategy, is it the right choice for every business? Let’s look at the pros and cons.

Pros

There are a lot of benefits to joining the affiliate program. For one thing, you don’t have to worry about producing a product or service that people want. The onus is on you to come up with a compelling reason for someone to click a link or make a purchase, but the responsibility of generating revenue falls on someone else.

In addition, you join an established network that already has a presence everywhere online. Because affiliate marketing is kind of a catch-all category, many products and services can fit into it. This means that you (probably) won’t have to go out and find products that fit a niche. You can utilize a tool like Shopify to easily get started with an affiliate marketing business.

Cons

There are a few things to consider if you decide to go down the affiliate marketing route. One key con is that you have to invest a lot of time and effort to get your products or services recognized by potential shoppers. You’ll have to build up a significant social media following, create content, and find affiliates that will agree to promote your products or services for you.

Another con of affiliate marketing is that you’re not necessarily building customer loyalty. People are likely to click on links, make purchases, and then quickly forget about you. They won’t have an emotional connection to your brand like they would with a physical store or a brand they’ve used before.

Overall

Most businesses and marketers see affiliate marketing as a quick and easy way to make money online. While it can be used as a standalone form of marketing, it’s usually implemented as a complement to other marketing efforts. Because it is such a versatile tool, many brands use affiliate marketing as a way to gain trust and build credibility with potential customers.

When deciding whether or not to use affiliate marketing as a way of marketing your product or service, you need to weigh the benefits against the cons. If you choose to go down the affiliate marketing path, you’ll need to put in a lot of work, but at least you’ll be able to rely on the network and the partners that are in it to help you grow your business.