What is affiliate marketing: becoming a successful affiliate marketer

 

Affiliate marketing is one of the oldest online side hustles with people doing it from as far back as 20 years ago. People have been making a killing as affiliate marketers and have even quit their jobs because it supports them full-time. In fact, you may find many of the websites you visit, have affiliate links either in their text or in their images and they have probably been making thousands of dollars off those ads alone. You too can be like them and even surpass them. You too can make loads of money promoting products you use every day as an affiliate marketer. But before you do let's give a simple guide into affiliate marketing in 2022.

Firstly, what is affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing is an agreement where a publisher promotes a company's products or services to its audience using an affiliate link and in return, the publisher receives a commission for any successful interactions made with their links like a purchase or a sign-up for a free trial. So basically you are getting paid to tell someone about a product/service you love to use and convincing them to try it for themselves.

So how does it works?

As a publisher, your role is to share the affiliate link with as many possible buyers as possible. You can share the links/images/videos on your blog or social media platforms like TikTok or landing pages or email lists.

Once a person clicks on the link you have shared they will be redirected to a page meant to entice them into performing the desired action which could be making a purchase or downloading a product or signing up for a program. 

When they make the desired decision, the company will be able to track that customer's journey begins from your affiliate link then you will receive your payment as agreed.

How do I make money through this?

So depending on the program you join, you could get paid per click, per sale, per lead, or per action. 

Some programs pay a fixed price regardless of the action made by the customer e.g. XYZ company pays its affiliates a fixed rate of $50 per action made by the customer whether it's a sale or a subscription.

Other programs let the brands determine what they will pay their affiliates. It can be as low as %2 per action or as high as % 80 per action. 

You could even be reimbursed with a gift card from certain brands.

Where can I get started?

Well, there are lots of affiliate programs for you to join and most of them are free so getting started requires no upfront costs whatsoever.

Depending on the niche you want to pursue, you have a variety of programs you can join, even for products you may use every day like Jumia, Netflix, and Grammarly.

but I suggest trying out these 5 affiliate programs as a starting point;

1. Jumia affiliate program.

Jumia is essentially an online marketplace where several vendors list and sell their products like kettles, shoes, smartphones, and candy. It is probably the most-known online store in Uganda right now, so what better place to start from there. 

Jumia's affiliate program is called JForce and it is free to join. You can make as much as a 9% commission from promoting their products depending on the product's category/niche.

But Jumia's program works a little differently, instead of just promoting the product through custom links and banners, you have to place an order for your customer in order to earn your commission.

Join the Jumia Affiliate program now

2. Clickbank

This is one of the oldest and most recognizable affiliate programs on the internet right now. It is completely free to join and you can make as much as 75% depending on the product. With a range of niches and products to choose from, Clickbank makes itself a great training ground for new affiliate marketers to test the waters.

To make money on Clickbank, you can use a custom-generated hop link or use other promotional resources like banners, videos, and landing pages to promote the product on your chosen platform. Depending on the vendor, you can get a plethora of promotional tools to no promotional tools at all.

Join the Clickbank affiliate program now

3. Rakuten

Rakuten is a major eCommerce platform hosting several brands like Macy's, Target, Netflix, and Samsung. Through their affiliate program, which is free to join, you can promote the products of these major brands that you use and love. 

Rakuten affiliates' earnings vary from brand to brand making it seem more like a marketplace for affiliate marketers to browse through the variety of brands they can work with. On Rakuten, affiliates can apply to promote products for brands and have to wait to receive a confirmation email from the brand accepting them as their affiliate. Affiliates can earn as much as 15% commission on products they manage to sell through their platforms.

Rakuten's added benefit is that affiliates can receive private offers from brands maybe because they have performed well according to the brand's guidelines

4. Shopify

Shopify was one of the biggest social media trends during 2020 because it is an amazing eCommerce platform that allows you to build a professional online store to sell your products or services on. It was most especially preferred as a dropshipping platform. With that in mind, no wonder they want to find people to share their great service.

Shopify's affiliate program pays their affiliates for getting people to sign up and pay for any of their 3 plans. Affiliates also aren't paid on commission but rather a 150$ fixed bounty for any successful referral made.

Join the Shopify affiliate program now

5. Commission Junction or CJ

CJ is another OG in the affiliate marketing world with over 20 years under its belt, it is another household name in the affiliate marketing world and imagine it is a free platform as well. On top of that, CJ hosts significant brands on its platforms like Disney, Nike, and Microsoft which could pay you, the affiliate, hundreds of dollars to make a single sale.

Once your account is created, you can browse through the different advertisers and choose whichever promotional tool on offer you will use to attract customers to them. It could be text links, flash links, or creative banners, it's up to you how to make use of these tools.

Join the Commission Junction's affiliate program now

Why should I become an affiliate marketer?

There are probably a number of times you have recommended a product or service you enjoyed to someone for free but imagine doing that and receiving rewards for it. Imagine creating content for a brand you have used religiously and getting paid to do it. Imagine being able to make money from the content you made 2 years ago every day. 

Affiliate marketing is not another online scam meant to take your money rather it does not even take any money from you to start. You just need a good internet connection and a laptop or phone to use to promote the products. But it isn't as simple as sharing a photo and that's it, you have to actively market your content to make a sale and at times you are on a time limit to do so.

Tips on becoming a successful affiliate marketer

• Learn the product you want to promote.

It helps to know what problem the product solves so that you can easily make content promoting it. It is way easier to talk about a product you have tried and love using than to promote a product that has a high commission. 

People can tell if you have a connection with your product and depend on that connection to decide whether they will make that purchase or not, so taking the time to read up on the product wouldn't be a bad thing.

• Give it time

Some people make money off the first product they try, while others make their first dollar off the 50th product they try. You will probably have to try a lot of products before you find the one you are good at selling. Just like in dating, you will have to kiss many frogs to find your prince.

• Create quality content that helps

It's not about making content to sell the product, it's about making content that offers them a possible solution to their problems. You are more likely to insight a purchase from them if you can tell them why this product can make their life easier, for example, writing an honest product review that not only highlights the pros of using the product but also the cons. 

• Stay aware of the latest trending topics

People are easily influenced by the latest trends in the world like, during the lockdown when Shopify was trending as a great eCommerce platform for dropshipping worldwide with a 30-day free trial that allowed you to set up your store easily. Imagine Shopify affiliates during that time were making a killing cause many people wanted to start dropshipping on Shopify. So it is ideal to know what people like right now in order to generate sales.

• Keep track of your performance

You need to know how you are performing, what products you are selling best, what channels work best for you, and how much you are earning from each channel. This will help you identify your strengths so that you better focus and invest in what works for you plus your audience. Some metrics you could track are; the number of clicks on a link/image, the number of purchases through links, total revenue through links, affiliate conversion rate, and return on ad spend

Conclusion...

     Affiliate marketing is a great side hustle to start at no cost but it requires lots of time to see the fruit of your labor. You can make millions off of affiliate marketing and never have to work again, all you need to do is dedicate time and know what you want to promote as well as how you will promote it.