Affiliate marketing is a strategy where an individual (the affiliate) partners with a business (the affiliate merchant) to introduce or sell a product or service. The affiliate advertises these products or services and receives a commission in return – a commission can based on various criteria such as advertising period, clicks, leads or orders received. In simple terms, affiliates help to sell other people’s products or services.

In contrast to other forms of online marketing, the remuneration for affiliate marketing is performance-based. If you, for example, have a website and work as an affiliate, you only receive a commission if the internet user you refer does something specific on the company website – such as buying a product or service.

To sell a product or service online, a seller needs potential customers or a network. Unlike in stationary trade, however, potential customers do not just happen to walk past the shop – the business needs to make online shoppers aware of their offers. Affiliate marketers can help achieve this by providing the necessary traffic through different forms of online advertising. That means higher brand reach, more brand awareness and, in the best case, more customers for the affiliate merchants. Many affiliates use their websites or social media audiences to advertise the company’s
products and services.

Pay per Sale (also Cost per Sale)

The affiliate only receives a commission when a customer has bought a product via his affiliate link.

Pay per Lead (also Cost per Lead)

The affiliate receives a commission if a previously defined action is completed. This action can be signing up for a newsletter, ordering a catalog or filling out a form.

Pay per Click (also Cost per Click)

The affiliate receives a commission as soon as the target group clicks the affiliate link or advertisement. This form of compensation is often calculated as a thousand-contact price.

How much money you can earn from affiliate marketing depends on the traffic on your website or the size of your social audience or followers. The higher the traffic or the more followers you have, the more money you potentially earn.

Rule #1: Use the right platform/s

Above all, you need a platform on which you can place your advertising content and affiliate links. The best way to do this is to have a website or blog. It’s also possible to do affiliate marketing via YouTube, Facebook or Instagram. However, you’re often subject to the regulations of the social media channels. On Facebook, for example, users are not allowed to share their affiliate links on third-party sites or posts. If you don’t have a website yet, it makes sense to create one.

Our tip: Focus on your website, but don’t share affiliate links exclusively on it. Also include your social media channels, especially if you have more reach on YouTube or Instagram than visitors on your website.

Rule #2: Generate reach

If you don’t have reach yet, you need to build some. In case you already have traffic on your website or followers on social media, it’s still important to work on increasing your reach. Why? Because the more people you reach with your content, the more potential customers you can generate for the affiliate merchant – and earn more money through commissions.

Our tip: It’s important to understand the needs of your audience. Try to put yourself in their shoes. After all, blank advertisements have little chance of success. You should, for example, know which target group is addressed and with what intention they visit the website, watch the video or read a blog post.

Rule #3: Build trust

Affiliate marketing is also known as referral marketing. People buy something through your affiliate link if they’re convinced of your content and trust you. Authenticity and trust are therefore essential for your success as an affiliate marketer. How do you achieve that? For example, it could be helpful (but not necessary) if you represent certain expertise in your affiliate niche. This can be achieved through well-prepared content with added value so that your product recommendations do not appear to be the main focus. Try to provide value and help your audience and the rest will follow.

Our tip: In addition to good content, a good layout, easy navigation, and honest information can create trust. Especially the latter is very important. So don’t try to sell anything to your visitors but recommend it.