Something I mention in a lot of my posts but have not specifically explained yet is what affiliate marketing is. So, here is what affiliate marketing is to me.
In a nutshell, affiliate marketing is when someone promotes and sells another company’s products and services. It could be either online or offline, although I see the term affiliate marketing most often to refer to online marketing and sales.
An affiliate marketer is, from my experience, an independent contractor and not an employee of the company who makes the product or service. The affiliate does not create any of the products or handle any customer service.
The key job of the affiliate is to promote and sell. When a customer buys a product, the affiliate earns a commission from part of the profit.
To put it another way, an affiliate marketer is the salesperson. Some affiliate programs will have a sales quota to meet (these are hardcore affiliate programs), but most do not have any quota. And for the most part, anyone can be an affiliate. Even a total beginner in sales and marketing.
Affiliate marketing can be attractive because of the autonomy of the affiliate. The affiliate can promote products whenever and however he or she wants. It is a creative process where affiliates make a marketing/promotion strategy based on their experience and what they think will work best for selling the product.
Also, an affiliate marketer can be an affiliate for many different companies. They can join as many programs as desired.
On the other hand, for a company with a product or service to sell, ‘hiring’ an affiliate could be a good option if the company does not have any employees who promote and sell. Companies might prefer to have affiliates because they do not have to deal with traditional hiring, training, managing, and firing that would have to be done if the affiliate was an actual employee.
The company leverages the universe of independent marketers who make a living promoting and selling products online. Plus, the company only has to pay affiliate commissions when a sale is made, so the company pays the commission only when it also makes money.