In case you’re wondering, affiliate marketing is a type of performance-based marketing in which a business rewards, or “affiliates”, for bringing in revenue. Essentially, an online marketer will look for bloggers, journalists, and other content creators to promote their products and services.]

But why would someone want to get involved in online affiliate marketing?

1. Better Conversion Rates – When a product is affiliated with an established and reputable brand, consumers are more likely to purchase that brand when they visit a website associated with the affiliate program. In other words, affiliate marketing can lead to better conversion rates.

2. The Potential for Higher Payouts – Because there’s more demand for a particular product or service, affiliate marketing offers the opportunity for higher payouts when performing well.

3. More Freedom – With affiliate marketing, you set your own hours and are free to work remotely. In other words, you have more freedom and flexibility when engaging in this type of marketing campaign.

4. More Exposure – Since you’re essentially “peddling” the product or service of another brand, you can expose yourself to a larger audience. As a result, you have the opportunity to gain more trust and credibility with potential customers.

How Does It Work?

At its most basic level, affiliate marketing involves earning commission when someone clicks a product or service link (or opens a product advertisement on your website) and makes a purchase after doing so. When an affiliate sells a product or service that is affiliated with your employer or business, you’ll earn a commission.

The type of affiliate marketing you can engage in depends on what software or tools you are using to manage your website. For instance, if you’re running WordPress, you can set up affiliate marketing through WordPress plugins like WooCommerce.

With that said, here are three ways in which online affiliate marketing can help your business:

1. Better Conversion Rates

As mentioned, one of the advantages of online affiliate marketing is that it can lead to better conversion rates. When someone clicks a link or opens an ad on your behalf, you will earn commission (typically around 3%-5%) for that lead. But what does that mean?

In general, affiliate marketing can lead to 3% – 5% sales of related products and services. However, that rate can vary widely depending on a number of factors. For instance, if you’re running an eCommerce store or selling a downloadable product, you might see much higher conversion rates.

2. The Potential for Higher Payouts

Since affiliate marketing is essentially performance-based marketing, the opportunity for higher payouts exists when an affiliate performs well. This could mean a number of things. For example, if you promote a product that becomes wildly popular, you may see your earnings skyrocket. Naturally, you’ll want to take advantage of this opportunity and protect yourself from potential failure. That’s why you want to ensure you work with a reputable affiliate program that will not hesitate to pay you what’s due.

3. More Freedom

Another advantage of online affiliate marketing is that it gives you the freedom to work remotely. If you’re a business owner or entrepreneur, you may want to consider taking advantage of this and hiring freelance affiliates to do the same work as an employee.

With that said, you must be mindful of any potential risks that come with this type of arrangement. For instance, do you have a dedicated sales team you can tap into? Is the product you promote easy and practical to understand? These are all questions you need to ask yourself before going down this path. Remember, you’re essentially “peddling” the product or service of another brand, so always keep that in mind. Do proper research before agreeing to any terms and conditions. Finally, make sure you’re protected legally in case something goes wrong.

How To Get Started

If you’re interested in getting started with affiliate marketing, you have a couple of options available. First, you can create a blog for free. You don’t need to have a blog to do affiliate marketing, but it certainly doesn’t hurt.

If you’re new to the concept of affiliate marketing, you can check out How to Become a Blogger in 10 Steps and follow those steps to build your blog. Once you have a steady foundation in place, you can move on to the next step.

Alternatively, you can use a tool like Google Affiliate Marketing to get started. With this tool, you can create an account (with your company info) and get started earning revenue immediately. Just remember that you’ll need to be signed into your Google account before you can make use of this tool.

In summary, if you’re wondering about the advantages and disadvantages of online affiliate marketing, you’ve come to the right place. Now, let’s discuss how to get started on the right foot to make the most of this opportunity.