Affiliate Marketing 101: What It Is and How to Get Started

We’re known by the company we keep, and this is true for brands as well. 

More and more, brands want ambassadors with good characters whose values align with their overall message. Brands are paying attention to their ambassadors’ public perceptions and reputations.

As more regular people use social media and the internet to build huge personal platforms, affiliate marketing has quickly become a must-have solution for these brands, and affiliate marketing software is the way to go for these brands. It helps advertisers track and manage affiliate marketing campaigns.

Affiliate marketing helps reduce a brand’s pressure to find the perfect spokesperson. It also increases the likelihood of success as affiliates are often vetted by networks or agencies. Unlike celebrity endorsements or influencer marketing – strategies that typically have a few people or one person acting as the face of a brand – affiliate marketing is a strategy without limits. 

Affiliate marketing programs allow marketers, or “affiliates,” to take their income into their own hands. This strategy is, in some instances, referred to as a form of passive income for those who endorse products.

By this, we mean affiliates aren’t always actively selling to make money. They put their strategies in motion, and any sales that come through their site drive income. It’s as close to easy money as you can get.

How does affiliate marketing work?

Affiliate marketing is pretty straightforward. A company looking to promote or sell a product will reach out to an online creator with a sizable platform and following. The business pays the creator an agreed-upon commission rate to promote their products to their audience through promotional codes, affiliate links, or ads.

Once the affiliate marketer and the merchant agree on the payment terms, the affiliate marketer then creates content promoting that product. The affiliate marketer will include affiliate links provided by the merchant to promote the product. Affiliates are credited and ultimately paid through tracking associated with their affiliate links.

Here’s what an affiliate marketing transaction looks like from start to finish:

• An affiliate marketer displays an ad promoting a product or service from an affiliate merchant on their website, blog, social media platforms, or email newsletter.
• Potential customers click the ad or link to learn more about the offer from the affiliate merchant.
• The customer is tracked via a specific tracking code attributed to the affiliate marketer who promoted the referral link.
• The customer makes a purchase and continues through the payment process as normal.
• The affiliate merchant marks that the purchase was made through an affiliate link and works to validate the sale.
• Once the sale is validated and completed, the purchase is credited to the affiliate marketer, who then receives a commission from the affiliate merchant. 

Using affiliate marketing software, the affiliate merchant can track the number of purchases made through the affiliate. This data helps marketers determine the effectiveness of their affiliate marketing relationships and properly attribute affiliates for their work. 

When a business enters into an affiliate program agreement with a creator, it is essentially paying for access to that influencer's built-in audience. Businesses recognize that it takes years of time and effort to organically build a niche audience. For many companies, the choice between investing in building a new audience and working directly with a creator who already has that audience is less appealing (and more expensive) than working directly with a creator who already has that audience.

Types of affiliate marketing channels

The first and most obvious step to becoming an affiliate marketer is building an audience and a platform. Anyone with a sizable digital platform and an audience can get into the affiliate marketing game. It doesn’t matter whether your audience comes from a hobby blog, a YouTube channel, or an Instagram account.

Here’s a look at some of the most popular affiliate marketing channels. 

Social media platforms

Social media influencers are one of the most popular ways to promote affiliate links. If you’ve built a sizable following on social media, affiliate marketing is an easy way to monetize your audience.

You might be surprised to learn how few followers it takes to monetize your social media accounts. Micro influencers can have as few as a thousand followers and be eligible to work with brands. 

Switching from a personal account to a business account is about balance. You don’t want to risk alienating your audience or making them feel like you’re spamming them. When it comes to creating affiliate content on social media, it’s smart to test the waters first. 

Start by posting unsponsored product review content on your channel and giving honest reviews. Don’t ask your followers to buy anything yet. After a few months of this pattern, start mixing in affiliate marketing content with your other posts. Always include an affiliate disclosure in your posts to let your followers know that you get paid commission off products purchased through affiliate links.

Youtube channels

As the second largest search engine next to Google, YouTube has its own set of rules when it comes to affiliate marketing. YouTubers make the bulk of their revenue from displaying ads within the videos on their channel. The more popular a channel gets, the more views their videos receive, and the more money they make off the ads. 

A YouTube Affiliate makes videos with the aim of persuading the viewer to purchase the product featured in their video. Like affiliate marketing through a blog or other social media channel, the YouTube affiliate is paid a commission based on the number of sales made using their affiliate link. These links are often placed within the video description box for the corresponding video.

YouTube affiliate marketing is appealing because of the low barriers to entry. You only need 1,000 subscribers to be eligible to monetize your channel through their program. Like with any monetized channel, the more your channel grows, the more views you get, and the better chance you have of your audience using your affiliate links. 

Blogs

Personal blogs are one of the biggest drivers behind the affiliate marketing boom. What makes a personal blog perfect for affiliate marketing is the ability to optimize for search. 

By creating SEO-driven blog content that mirrors the search results of your desired audience, you can attract people who are ready to purchase a product directly to your affiliate site. It’s easier to convince people who are already looking for a specific product to use an affiliate link than someone who just happens to stumble upon it.

Email newsletters also work wonders in tandem with your blog because they allow you to deliver content with your affiliate links directly to people's inboxes. This is just another proven tactic to help drive traffic and clicks to your affiliate site. 

Digital media and news websites

Affiliate marketing isn’t just for solopreneurs. Businesses with sizable followings can also leverage it to turn a profit. Since digital marketing changed the face of online media, digital media companies have found a way to turn affiliate marketing into a powerful revenue source. 

By using affiliate marketing alongside things like product round-ups, holiday gift guides, and more, these companies can leverage their large traffic numbers to directly connect consumers with products they are searching for, all while getting a little cut themselves. It’s a win-win.

How to become an affiliate marketer

Affiliate marketing is a great side-hustle. It’s one of the few marketing strategies that allows you to set something and forget it once it’s posted. Affiliate marketing content can make you money while you sleep, while you work your day job, and while you take your kids to the park.

Now, all of that doesn’t mean there’s no work involved. There’s plenty to know about becoming an affiliate marketer.

Choose the right affiliate program

Once you’ve built your audience and understand the rules for your specific platform, it’s time to start finding affiliate merchants to partner with and make some easy money. Getting started with an affiliate program is a lot like dating. Depending on which platform you’ve built an audience on and your niche, different platforms will work better for you.

It’s best to choose two or three platforms to get started with until you get comfortable with the process. Full-time affiliate marketers often have a roaster of five or more platforms they use to handle their programs. 

Here are some popular affiliate marketing platforms you can use to begin your search:

• AffiliateNetwork
• Amazon Associates
• AvantLink
• CJ by Conversant
• ClickBank
• FlexOffers
• LinkConnector
• RevenueWire
• Rakuten
• ShareASale
• ShopStyle Collective
• Shopify Affiliate Program
• Skimlinks
• YouTube Affiliate Program

Take the time to explore each platform and their benefits. Check which affiliate program will give you the best rates, which ones offer the most flexibility, and which ones have the most active users. All of these things will happen if you partner with more brands and get better affiliate deals. 

Find your content niche

Affiliate marketing works best when your content has a point of view and your affiliate promotions fit within that niche. Your niche is simply the type of content you create on your channel.

A good way to find your niche is to ask yourself what you’re passionate about. If you’re really into fitness, your niche could be an Instagram account for your yoga practice. Maybe you play sports outside of work, your niche could be a hobby blog reviewing your favorite golf clubs. 

Ideally, your audience will consist of other people with similar interests to your niche. This will make marketing your affiliate links to your audience easier. If they share the same interests as you and engage with your niche content, there’s a higher chance the products you promote will appeal to them. 

Negotiate your rates

New affiliates often want to know how much they should be charging for commission. The average affiliate commission rate is anywhere between 5% to 30%, depending on a few things. The size of your platform, the number of followers you have, website traffic, name recognition, and more can all impact your commission rates. 

Simply put, the more in-demand you are, the more you can charge.

Affiliates most frequently get paid on a percent commission of sales made. There are, however, a few paying structures that businesses frequently use to attribute and pay their affiliate commissions. Wondering how people get paid through affiliate marketing?

Most creators get paid commission based on one of the following payment structures: 

• Pay per sale: the affiliate makes a commission based on the number of sales made using their affiliate link or website
• Pay per lead: the affiliate makes a commission based on the number of leads generated through their affiliate link or website

• Pay per click: the affiliate makes a commission based on the number of times their affiliate link or website is clicked by consumers 

Create hyper-relevant content

Convincing people to purchase products through affiliate links is an art. It requires the ability to sell a product while speaking to the customers' needs. If you can create hyper-relevant content targeted at your audience's pain points, you can then easily introduce your affiliate product as the solution.

Answer these questions as a way to brainstorm new content ideas. You can also look in the comment section of your blog or social media posts for ideas. Followers often ask questions or seek advice from creators. Turning these questions into content allows you to solve a problem and plug your affiliate links. 

Affiliate marketing strategies

To maximize the effectiveness of affiliate marketing efforts, affiliates can employ various strategies tailored to their audience and niche. Some popular strategies include:

• Content Marketing: Creating high-quality content, such as blog posts, reviews, and tutorials, that naturally incorporates affiliate links. This strategy builds trust with the audience and provides valuable information.
• Social Media Marketing: Leveraging platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and X to promote affiliate products. Engaging posts, stories, and live videos can drive significant traffic and conversions.
• Email Marketing: Building an email list and sending targeted campaigns that feature affiliate products. Personalized recommendations and exclusive offers can enhance engagement and drive sales.

Benefits of affiliate marketing

Several parties are involved in affiliate marketing, and each uniquely benefits from the process. When affiliate marketing is done right, both the merchant and the affiliate have something to gain. Understanding the benefits of affiliate marketing can help guide your strategy more effectively. 

Benefits for the affiliate

The biggest benefit of affiliate marketing for the affiliate is that they’re getting paid. While the specific percentages vary, affiliate marketers profit a certain portion of every sale that goes through their channel or website. As an affiliate, you work out with the merchant exactly how you will determine profits. Whether you’re paid per sale, per click, per lead, or per call, you profit as the merchant does. 

For the affiliate, this strategy is all profit with virtually no money down. You aren’t investing in the success of the product, nor are you paying for the upkeep or production of goods. There’s also no storefront necessary, which means there’s no rent to pay or light bulbs to replace.

Additionally, being an affiliate marketer helps you build your personal brand. The more efficiently you’re able to sell a brand’s product, the more likely it will keep you on or other brands will reach out to you for sales.

And finally, what most affiliates enjoy about the process is the relative autonomy they are given in what they’re selling. When you’re managing your own affiliate strategy, you get to choose which brands you work with and what products you push. You can sell products you’ve used, products you believe in, or products that simply seem interesting to you!

Benefits for the merchant

One of the main benefits for the merchant is having someone else do the grunt work of selling its product. Merchants are not limited to one affiliate, which means they can tap a global network of affiliates to sell their products anywhere in the world.

Affiliate marketing also helps brands build trust with buyers. Consumers are more likely to rely on a trusted source for brand information than they are an advertisement. In the current state of influencers and rampant review sites, we’re looking to real people’s opinions more than we are static advertisements or TV commercials. With your affiliates comes the trust of networks they’ve previously established

Another benefit for the merchant is the opportunity to join affiliate networks, which, again, do much of the grunt work for you. From finding affiliates to tracking pay to reporting on key metrics, these affiliate networks have a number of business-boosting features.

Affiliate networks, among other things, can even post advertisements for you that help locate affiliates who would make effective and professional brand ambassadors. So, not only are your products being advertised, but they’re being advertised by someone you can trust.

Affiliate marketing best practices

Affiliate marketing is different from any other form of marketing. It allows regular people to tap into the cash-rich e-commerce business by leveraging their personal platforms.

Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned affiliate, here are a few best practices to watch out for.

Disclose everything upfront

The FTC’s Endorsement Guides require anyone who gets paid to publicly review a product to disclose when they may be compensated for making a recommendation. Regardless of whether you’re a blogger, social media influencer, or even a celebrity, you must disclose to your audience when you are being paid to promote a product or service.

As an affiliate marketer, disclosure helps protect you from any legal trouble. An affiliate disclosure refers to how you inform your audience about your relationship with a brand you publicly promote. The only thing your affiliate disclosure must include is acknowledging that you are being sponsored or paid by a brand for promoting their products.

Be selective about who you partner with

When you first start with affiliate marketing, it can feel like any opportunity is a good one. But don’t be fooled. It’s your responsibility as a creator to ensure you’re only endorsing products that you actually stand behind.

Affiliate networks are built on purchasing power, and your audience will only buy things if they trust your endorsement. Pushing cheap or low-quality products onto your audience will cause them to distrust you, making it harder for you to build your affiliate network. No commission is worth losing the trust of your followers. 

Don't forget about your taxes

When you’re an affiliate marketer, the government considers you self-employed. That means you have to pay taxes on your affiliate earnings every quarter. Don’t let yourself fall behind on tracking your earnings and find yourself in a mess come tax season.

It’s always best to play it safe and set aside more money than you need to. This helps cover and surprise taxes, expenses, or charges that arise as you’re learning the ropes.

Most professionals recommend setting aside up to 30% of your freelance earnings in a separate account for taxes. That might sound like a lot of money, but remember, the cost of underpaying your taxes is much higher. 

Future trends in affiliate marketing

The affiliate marketing landscape is continuously evolving, with new trends shaping the industry’s future. Staying ahead of these trends can give affiliates a competitive edge.

Key trends to watch include:

• Influencer marketing: Collaborating with influencers to promote products is becoming increasingly popular. Influencers can offer authentic endorsements and reach niche audiences.
• AI and automation: Leveraging artificial intelligence and automation tools can streamline tasks such as tracking, reporting, and personalized marketing, enhancing efficiency and effectiveness.
• Mobile optimization: As mobile commerce grows, optimizing affiliate campaigns for mobile devices is crucial. Mobile-friendly websites and apps can improve user experience and conversion rates.

The next frontier of digital marketing

Affiliate marketing is a mutually beneficial relationship between brands and creators that allows regular people to make passive income on the side. With enough dedication, anyone can turn their personal platform into a monetized stream of income. 

Just getting started with affiliate marketing? Use partner relationship management software to facilitate communication with sales partners and affiliates.

This article was originally published in 2023. It has been updated with new information.