What is affiliate marketing and what are the main benefits of affiliate programs? Even if you haven’t experienced the benefits of affiliate marketing, you’ve surely heard of it. According to Forbes, the category now accounts for more than 15% of e-commerce sales, placing it on par with email marketing and ahead of social commerce and display advertising as a driver of e-commerce transactions.
What exactly is affiliate marketing, and how does it work?
Is it also appropriate for you? We answer your burning concerns in this blog.
What exactly is Affiliate Marketing?
A referral program is comparable to affiliate marketing (an associate program or referral program). We haven’t discovered a more concise explanation of affiliate marketing than this one provided by Pat Flynn, the founder of Smart Passive Income (SPI):
"Affiliate marketing is the process of earning a commission by promoting the products of others." You discover a product you like, promote it to others, and earn a percentage of the profit from each sale."
Affiliate marketing programs are built on revenue sharing. If you have a product and want to make more money, you can promote complementary products or services from another business, which will pay you for your referrals. Affiliate Marketing for Dummies is, of course, always accessible online, but it’s probably not necessary!
What precisely is eCommerce Affiliate Marketing?
eCommerce affiliate marketing merely extends affiliate marketing to the internet. A commission is earned when an online merchant promotes another company’s products, services, or website on their own website. It’s really that easy!
Today, e-commerce affiliate marketing is an increasingly popular strategy for increasing sales and generating online revenue that benefits both brands and their affiliate marketers. This has led to an increase in the number of companies joining affiliate programs—81% of brands now use affiliate marketing!
The sky is the limit regarding how much money you can earn as an e-commerce affiliate marketer. Perhaps you merely want a consistent, dependable income (many affiliate marketers are content to earn around $20K per year). That’s fantastic! You can also go all in, like Jason Stone. He began in 2014 and now has an incredible six million followers, earning him the moniker “Millionaire Mentor.” It’s all up to you!
What Is the Process of Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate programs can be set up in a variety of methods. However, most programs involve a business giving their affiliate partners a unique trackable code they can share with their customers and clients. The affiliate is rewarded each time the code is used to transact.
There are three typical commission structures for affiliate programs:
- Commission Structures Based on Purchase. When someone uses their code to transact on the merchant’s website, the affiliate partner is compensated.
- Commission Structures Based on Traffic. The affiliate partner receives a commission based on the number of people referred to the company’s website, regardless of whether those users purchase or take another action.
- Commission Structures Based on Customer Acquisition. The affiliate partner is compensated when their promotion assists the merchant in closing a new transaction or gaining a new customer.
The Amazon affiliate program, dubbed “Amazon Associates,” is one of the most famous. This affiliate marketing example uses a commission-based structure. Website owners and bloggers can become Amazon Associates for free, which allows them to promote Amazon products on their sites by making links. When one of their customers or site visitors taps on a link and purchases a product from Amazon, they will receive a referral commission.
The Advantages of Participating in an E-commerce Affiliate Program
Why would your e-commerce company want to participate in an affiliate program? Here are just a few of the many benefits of affiliate marketing.
1. Create an Extra Revenue Stream
Joining an affiliate program is a quick and easy method for e-commerce businesses to add another revenue stream—and what company owner doesn’t want to increase their overall revenue? With a referral program, you’ll receive an affiliate commission every time one of your contacts makes a transaction from your affiliate partner. So, by simply marketing their products or services on their behalf and recommending your contacts to them, you can start earning extra money right away! Check out our article, 5 Best Affiliate Marketing Tips That Will Make You Money.
2. Distinguish Yourself from Other Online Retailers
There is a lot of rivalry in the ecommerce market. Joining an affiliate program can help you differentiate yourself from competitors by allowing you to provide additional value to your customers. You’ll be able to connect them with the products and services your affiliate partner provides without going through the effort, cost, and hassle of providing them yourself. Customers will appreciate it when they can get a suggestion for a product or service they require from someone they trust, saving them the time and effort of finding a partner on their own. This can help you achieve better customer satisfaction scores and earn affiliate commissions!
3. Increase Your Reach
Affiliates exist in almost every industry and product category. So, whether you want to create a name for yourself in retail or carve out a niche in the woodworking world, there is a website for you. Moreover, many of these associates will already have a large visitor base. This allows you to be noticed within their circles with little effort or expense. You might even consider these partners an extension of your existing marketing or sales team!
4. Scale Your Company with Ease
Modern ecommerce business owners are constantly looking to expand their customer base, increase revenue, and make continuous improvements in order to keep up with changing consumer tastes and differentiate themselves from the competition. Joining an affiliate program can be beneficial! You can use that extra cash flow and revenue to expand your company when you create a new revenue stream through referral commissions.
For example, you could develop new products, buy new tools to improve your business processes or implement software to improve your ability to connect with customers. This will allow you to make improvements that will help your company grow and satisfy your customers!
5. Join an Affiliate Network of Similar Companies.
An affiliate network can be a wonderful place to meet other business owners and establish valuable professional connections. When you join a community of businesses devoted to assisting one another in increasing their customer base and revenue, you can achieve your business goals faster, attract more customers, and see higher profit margins while assisting other businesses in doing the same. It’s a win-win situation for everyone!
5 Best Affiliate Programs for Online Stores
Which e-commerce affiliate programs should you join now that you’ve learned about some of their advantages? Remember to select an affiliate program aligned with your and your customer’s goals and requirements. With that in mind, and in addition to the Amazon above Associates program, here are a few places to start exploring.
1. Scaleo
The affiliate program at Scaleo makes it simpler than ever to match your audience with the ideal partner. Simply sign up online to obtain a unique code to easily share with your contacts. Then, when one of them opens an account using your affiliate code and starts shipping with TFL, you’ll receive credit and begin earning commissions. Plus, with volume-based shipping methods, you’ll earn lifetime referral commissions every time they send through TFL!
2. Shopify’s Affiliate Program
Using your unique referral link, you can make affiliate commissions through Shopify’s affiliate marketing program for each user who joins up for a paid Shopify plan. You can save time and money by linking to blogs, webinars, video tutorials, tools, and automated funnels created by Shopify for your use. It’s an excellent affiliate program for e-commerce sites!
3. Dreamhost
Because of its low-cost options ($2.95/month) and high commissions (one-time payouts start at $65 or higher), the Dreamhost affiliate program is very popular for web hosting.
Bloggers and merchants promoting Dreamhost benefit from high conversion rates and access to text links and banners to promote the platform. Furthermore, their affiliate managers are well-known for offering exceptional customer service and support!
4. eBay Affiliate Network
You can use the eBay Partner Network to promote eBay products on your e-commerce site, social media platforms, blog, or website. You’ll earn affiliate commissions on every product sold through your link, and there’s an almost limitless supply of fascinating products to promote, such as popular trending items and daily deals.
5. Affiliate Program on Fiverr
With over 11 million users in 190+ countries, Fiverr is one of the world’s biggest digital service marketplaces. The Fiverr Affiliates Program pays you for every first-time buyer without referral cap and lifetime attribution. This adds significant value to your customers because you can link them with any freelancers they may require when their internal team is overburdened or require additional assistance during their busiest seasons.
Establishing an Affiliate Relationship with Scaleo
While an affiliate relationship is undeniably appealing to those seeking to increase recurring residual income online, you’re unlikely to succeed unless you join a reputable affiliate program. After all, you’ll only be able to make the high commission you seek if your customers want to buy from the company you’re referring them to!
That’s why the Scaleo referral program was designed with you and your clients in mind. But what distinguishes ours from the others? Here are three key reasons why forming an affiliate relationship can result in more value and higher profits for all parties involved.
1. It’s Simple to Begin Earning
We understand how busy you and your clients are, so we designed an affiliate program focused on speed and convenience. When you join, you’ll receive free resources to help you easily market and offer our services to the contacts in your database.
Your clients will benefit from the same simple processes and quick results once they sign up for our services. Our proprietary delivery software enables them to utilize our fulfillment capabilities in minutes rather than days.
2. Profits are increased because everyone is involved.
An affiliate partnership with Scaleo is a simple method for all parties to generate more revenue. Your work is finished once you’ve passed along your referral to your contacts, who sign up. With mass volume profit sharing, you’ll continue to make lifetime commissions on each shipment, resulting in an extra revenue stream with no extra effort!
Signing up for our services will also increase your clients’ profit margins. They can rapidly add branded products that complement their existing line by utilizing our on-demand service capabilities—without having to buy or store them themselves. They can also create customized packaging consistent with their brand to provide a more personalized experience that keeps consumers returning.
3. Our Affiliate Support is unparalleled.
Because it is just that—a partnership—our affiliate partnership is special. We recognize that if we all work together, we can all accomplish more and meet our business objectives sooner. We’re always accessible to chat or help you when you need it, which is why we conduct regular meetings with our affiliate networks to ensure we’re all on the same page and gain extra value that leads to quick wins. You can meet with Jelani at any moment to discuss your options.
