Affiliate marketing for beginners

Think of a website you have visited recently. Did a banner advert appear offering you a special rate on flights, cash-back on a purchase or a product price comparison? Welcome to the world of affiliate marketing.

By Dan Cohen, Market Unit Leader, Tradedoubler

In affiliate marketing a ‘publisher’ (essentially an individual or organisation with a website) acts as an outsourced digital sales team for your company, promoting your products in return for a commission.

They do this by carrying promotional adverts on behalf of an advertiser and if visitors to the website click on this advert, the link takes them to a site belonging to the advertiser.

Depending on the performance metrics agreed between the advertiser and the publisher, if the customer then clicks (perhaps to receive further information), watches a video, registers, signs up to a newsletter or buys something, the website publisher receives a commission for driving that action.

Why do it?

For an advertiser, affiliate marketing is a great way to get other people or businesses to promote your products and services and you reward them – usually with a commission payment – for each referral or sale.   It extends your ‘reach’ in terms of audience and, if well targeted, can provide a highly cost-effective, scalable and influential additional sales channel.

For a publisher, affiliate marketing offers some significant benefits.  Firstly, there is the opportunity to generate additional revenue.  For some organisations affiliate marketing represents their entire business (for example, price comparison websites); for others it is a useful way of making some money alongside their blog or core business activity.

Secondly, carefully selected ads can bring some big brand names on to your website and boost your association with them.   This can have a beneficial impact on your own brand reputation.

How do I become an affiliate?

There are two main routes:  you can either join an affiliate network run by an established affiliate marketing organisation, or you can apply directly to an advertiser (Google: [brand] + affiliate) to see if it has, and is accepting new members onto an affiliate programme.

Affiliate networks typically have relationships and programs in place with a number of advertisers and they can help you to select the right brands for your website.  They also tend to provide on-going support, development and revenue optimisation opportunities that are worth considering (see ‘Seek out the experts’ below.)

Click the link for part one in our guide to affiliate marketing

For more information visit tradedoubler.com