Marketing efforts come in different styles.  Affiliate marketing is when you hire another company or group of people to promote your product and you pay them a commission for each sale they have sent to your company. 

There is Minimal Risk

For a start up or small business, this means you don’t have to come up with a team or campaign.  With a good affiliate, they become the marketing department for your product or service.  You are paying on a commission basis, so if the sale is not converted, you owe nothing.  The affiliate is providing the personnel and efforts.  When they are successful, you are paying a portion of your profit, so you are not outlaying cash before the sale is complete.  So, for companies with a minimum budget, there is less risk of loss.

Start-ups, small and medium-sized businesses are all very fiscally challenged.  Every dollar spent needs to be worth the outlay.  Using a partnering relationship results in a significantly lower cost when compared to other advertising methods.

There are a number of ways to attract traffic to your website.  The greater number of visits, the greater the chance to convert to a sale and increase profit.  It makes sense to cast as wide a net as possible to attract more viewers on a daily basis. Check out these digital marketing tips for affilate marketers.

You Have Access to a Huge Audience

You get to choose the affiliates you want to work with.  That means you direct the focus of your brand, and the affiliates will do the legwork to influence targets that will find your product or service of value.  You can ramp up your affiliate program or downsize it with no cost because you are only paying a percentage of the sale and nothing upfront or on a regular basis.  That is why it makes sense to connect to an established e-commerce space that is deep on regular viewers and increasing traffic daily.

Affiliate marketing is shown to provide a higher return on investment.  You are steering your message through another company that has direct access to potential buyers.  Affiliates already have established an audience and frequently are associated with other affiliates in a network.  

By working with an affiliate, you have access to a far larger group of potential buyers and probably a niche that will be extremely interested in what you are selling.  This is exponentially larger than you could attract on your own, especially in a short time.  You are not finding the new customers you need to grow your business, the affiliates are.

Establishing and Maintaining a Strong Reputation 

Another major hurdle in business is establishing and maintaining a strong reputation.  While you may be well-known in immediate circles, using an affiliation will allow a larger portion of the population to learn about you.  It is important to recognize that choosing the wrong affiliate can backfire.  You need to do all the research and vet your potential partners to be sure they are a company with which you want to be associated.  Another caveat…the stronger the affiliate, the more likely they will charge higher fees based on their superior ability to attract customers.

Affiliates have the resources and connections to work with bloggers, social media, and influencers.  With this network already in place, you reap the benefits of all the hours necessary to implement a social media campaign and deal with the influencers who will promote your brand and increase recognition.  All of the additional exposure means you have a ready-made route for traffic to flow to your site.  Since influencers frequently have large followings in both general and niche products and services, you have the opportunity to use this advertising and hear immediate feedback.

Regular communication with your affiliate will allow you to switch focus when necessary.  If the affiliate does not have the flexibility to work with your promotional ideas, discuss why this won’t happen and alternatives.

Once you implement this plan, you will see an increase in potential sales.  Just be sure that the affiliate is not faking leads.