What is affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing strategy where individuals (the affiliates) earn commissions by promoting a company’s products or services. Typically, affiliates earn their commissions for every successful sale or action made through a unique referral link. 

Affiliate marketing can be a win-win for all involved. The company gains more visibility and sales, the affiliate earns money by promoting products they believe in, and the customer gets access to products they may not have discovered otherwise. 

How affiliate marketing works 

Let’s use one.com as an example. If an affiliate promotes one.com’s hosting plans and someone signs up through their referral link, the affiliate earns a commission. The process is simple:  

1. The affiliate receives a unique referral link from one.com.  
2. They share the link via their blog, social media, email, or any other channels. 
3. A customer clicks the link and makes a purchase.  
4. The affiliate earns a commission from the sale.  

Affiliate marketing for beginners

If you’re new to affiliate marketing as a company, here’s what the process looks like from your side: 

• Affiliates find your company: Individuals who align with your brand and like your products will be interested in promoting them. 

• They enlist in your affiliate program: Once you have accepted them, they receive a unique referral link that allows you to track the sales they generate. 

• They promote your products: Affiliates use their own channels, such as blogs, videos, reviews, or ads, to show and market your products to potential customers. 

• You pay commissions: Each time a customer purchases through an affiliate’s referral link, you pay them a commission. 

Affiliates act as middlemen between companies and consumers. They work independently and focus on finding people who are genuinely interested in what you have to offer.  

One of the most effective tools affiliates can use is discount codes and coupons. If you’re selling highly sought after and unique products, you might not see a need to issue discount codes. However, if you’re promoting a product where price is a deciding factor for potential customers, discount codes can make a significant difference.  

Discount codes or coupons can help affiliates make that vital first sale, getting customers through the door so they can experience your brand and products firsthand. This initial engagement might be all you need for repeat business and stronger long-term customer relationships.  

How does affiliate marketing work?

As mentioned previously, affiliate marketing consists of the affiliate getting in touch with the consumer to convince the consumer to buy the products.  

These are different ways to handle affiliate marketing. As a business owner, you can decide how much you control this process:  

• Hands-off approach: You can leave it up to the affiliate to do what it takes to market your products and convince consumers to purchase. This can lead to more creative promotions, but it may be less aligned with your brand.  

• Guided approach: You can provide affiliates with resources such as brand guidelines, creative assets, and messaging templates. This will help ensure that your affiliates align with your brand while they can still build on their own marketing skills. 

A successful program can try to balance between the two. You can allow your affiliates their creative freedom while still offering them the templates and guidelines that will boost their performance. 

Common affiliate marketing strategies

Affiliates use many different channels and content to connect with potential customers. Here are some of the most common ways they market the products: 

Videos

Video content can be a powerful tool for affiliates. Have you ever spent time listening to product review videos on YouTube? Many people want to see a product in action and to know what others thought about it before making the purchase. Product reviews, tutorials, or unboxing content can all be highly effective for building brand trust. Businesses that provide affiliates with product samples or demo accounts can likely see stronger results in this area. 

Blog

Blogs remain a vital part of affiliate marketing. Affiliates can write in-depth reviews, comparisons, or ‘best of’ listicles to highlight your product’s features and make it stand out. These blog posts educate potential customers and boost your brand’s visibility on search engines (SEO). Provide your affiliates with technical details and excellent product images to strengthen their work.  

Paid advertising

Some affiliates invest in paid advertising to promote your products. This can include Facebook Ads, Google Ads, or sponsored placements on other platforms. Paid ads let affiliates reach more niche and targeted audiences, but they can be expensive. Offering competitive commissions can make it worthwhile for your affiliates to set up these types of campaigns. 

Social media  

Social media is one of the most accessible and engaging ways for affiliates to promote your products. Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook allow affiliates to share content quickly with a broad audience.  

Affiliates often mix product recommendations into their regular content, making promotions feel more natural and trustworthy. Encouraging affiliates to use branded hashtags or highlight limited-time offers can significantly increase reach and conversions.  

Why affiliate marketing works

Affiliate marketing works because all key players of this process win: 

• The company wins by gaining brand recognition, more traffic, and more sales.  
• The affiliate wins because all they need to do to earn money is to promote the product and get a commission for every sale.  
• The customer wins because they find a product they’ve wanted, usually for a discounted price. 

Many companies set a fixed commission, often ranging from 1% to 10% of the sale, depending on the industry. For example, if you sell a product for £500 that costs you £250 to make, you can offer affiliates a commission anywhere up to £250 without losing profit. 

Make sure that you’re aware of how much your affiliate spends on their promotion to make a sale. For example, if they market a product through Facebook to lead consumers to a sale, they’re probably spending money on advertising. Thus, if you pay them £25 for every sale they make while they’re spending £40 in total, they will not be happy. Setting fair, competitive commission rates ensures that affiliates can sustain their work and, in turn, will help you build lasting and profitable partnerships. 

How to find affiliates

You don’t have to recruit affiliates manually. There are affiliate networks that make it easy to connect with the right partners and manage your program from start to finish. Some popular platforms include: 

• Clickbank 
• JVzoo 
• ShareASale 

These networks will often manage it all for you, from finding the perfect affiliate for your needs to cost and payments. 

Keep optimising your website 

Once traffic lands on your site, it’s your job to ensure visitors convert into paying customers. Every time an affiliate drives a consumer to your website, you need to make sure that your consumer will go through with purchasing your products.  

Your website plays a huge role in converting customers. You should make sure to:  

• Improve your landing pages 
• Make your checkout process as easy as possible 
• Test and refine your site regularly to improve the user experience.  

If your affiliate continuously sends consumers your way, but these consumers are not buying, the issue may be your site, not their promotion methods.  

Affiliate marketing matters 

Affiliate marketing is one of the most cost-effective and scalable ways to grow your business. It rewards everyone involved and allows you to expand your reach without taking on all the marketing risk yourself. Test it out and reap the rewards!