Affiliate marketing is a variation of marketing that many companies all around the world make use of. They can generate revenue and engagement for the brand and reach countless numbers through this discipline at a much lower cost than what we might typically see in traditional marketing methods. Who is it who drives most of this action? The affiliate marketer.
Let’s take a deep dive into the role of an affiliate marketer and the position that they occupy within this sphere.
How does affiliate marketing work
Traditional marketing practices take place in-house within a brand or company. Even if they are outsourced to an external company, any ads and deals pushed out will appear to come directly from the brand or vendor themselves.
Affiliate marketing uses a third party who advertise the deals of the primary brand on behalf of them. This partnership between the publisher – the affiliate marketer – and the brand allows them to both make money. Crucially, however, the brand pays the affiliate through commission. While the affiliate might have to deal with some up-front costs, the brand does not.
Commission can be paid based on clicks, transactions, registrations, and a number of other metrics. Since the brand does not have to pay until they have seen results, and they do not have up-front costs to pay, it is a very cost-effective form of marketing.
How does an affiliate marketer drive interest and engagement?
Many affiliate marketers will have an existing site or page through which they can push content and offers from the brands that they are working with. Some might run a blog or could be a social media content creator – thus giving them a ready-made audience to pull on when creating content. They therefore need to pick affiliate partners to work with who will be able to offer something of value to their audience.
For example, many cooking blogs will be affiliated with Amazon. If they use a certain pan or utensil in a recipe, they will then be able to link to its Amazon product’s page. Should a reader buy the product through the blogger’s link, Amazon will pay them a small commission.
Others might be creating a site from scratch. If so, they will create pages that will detail offers within a certain niche. For example, an affiliate marketer might decide to specialise in iGaming. They choose to work with a certain network which means that they can push out offers across a variety of brands and sites whilst working with the one company.
Around the deals and offers, such a marketer might offer content to explain other aspects of gambling. They might explain how to play certain games, or could outline what to watch out for in upcoming events in the wider industry. As an example, if the marketer works with a sportsbook, they might offer predictions for major sporting events like Wimbledon or the Super Bowl, with a link to the sportsbook to then encourage readers to place a bet.
How does an affiliate marketer get their deals and offers?
So, how does an affiliate marketer know which deals and offers to use? The brands that they choose to work with will have a point of contact for them called an affiliate manager. This affiliate manager will provide them with all of the materials that they need for the campaign, from banners and graphics to the actual details of the offer itself.
In addition to this, the manager will also check up with the affiliate marketer to ensure that goals are being met. If the affiliate is struggling to generate engagement and revenue for the brand, the affiliate manager can help to steer them in the right direction, giving them tools and insights they could use to improve their results.
What is the role of an affiliate marketer?
Bearing all of the above points in mind, the role of an affiliate marketer becomes quite clear. They are the guiding hand between a consumer and a brand, connecting the two in a way that the primary brand specifies.
It could be through the purchase of a product, it could be a registration at the site, there are many actions that the customer could fulfil. However, it is the use of a certain link or discount code that tracks the involvement of the affiliate marketer.
For those who want to explore the world of digital marketing, there is no better position to do it from than within the affiliate industry. There are so many tools geared towards streamlining aspects of this practice, plus the chance to perfect SEO and content strategies for the best results.
Affiliate marketers help to guide consumers from A to B. How they choose to do so is up to them!
New to the world of affiliate marketing? Affiverse is here to help. We provide comprehensive and in-depth training to affiliate managers through our Affiliate Management Performance Program, as well as insights and knowledge that affiliate managers and marketers alike can make use of. Get in touch with us to find out more about how we can help you.
