What Is Affiliate Marketing?

More About Affiliate Marketing

Did you know the idea of affiliate marketing has its roots in the offline world and was explored before the Internet? Consider the instance of a mechanic or other service professional giving you a discount for every referral you give that results in a new customer for them. This is the simplest instance of affiliate marketing in the real world.

With the advancement of the Internet, this marketing strategy evolved as a widely adopted business model. The rise of digital marketing and analytics has made it a multi-million-dollar industry. Currently, 15% of e-commerce revenue is attributed to affiliate marketing.

So, what is affiliate marketing? This advertising model on social media and other platforms involves individual or affiliates advertising brands by running banner ads, posting links on their social media, publishing articles, videos, and images, or sending emails to clientele.

Social media platforms offer higher conversion rates and also increase brand awareness. Due to these factors, affiliate marketing programs on the platforms present a win-win situation both for businesses looking to increase their online presence and affiliates seeking steady income.

Instagram stories are perfect for affiliate marketing as they have over 500 million daily users. As an affiliate, you can use the link sticker in Stories to direct people to the product. This approach differs from posts, where you have to place the link in your bio.

Affiliate marketing can be classified into the following types:

• Unattached Affiliate Marketing: The affiliate has no connection to the product/service they promote. They do not make claims about its use and hold no related expertise.
• Related Affiliate Marketing: The affiliate has a relationship to the offering. Their expertise in the niche makes them a trusted source of information, which in turn helps generate traffic. However, the affiliate makes no claims of the product/service use.
• Involved Affiliate Marketing: The affiliate has a strong connection with the product/service they are promoting. Either they are using or have used it and are confident about the positive experiences.

Affiliate marketing on social media is pretty easy. However, to see success, the advertising model requires you to know your target audience and what intrigues them.

See the example below for an affiliate marketer’s profile on Instagram advertising Amazon products: