Affiliate Marketing: the reason it is interesting for your business

Nowadays, the internet can be seen as a great ally of companies. After all, the ways to sell and publicize products and services in the online environment are increasingly improving, requiring digital entrepreneurs to have knowledge in digital marketing and know-how to take advantage of opportunities to succeed in their businesses.

In view of the facilities that the internet provides us with and the countless innovations that have emerged over time, today, everyone can sell and/or buy anything over the internet. I’m pretty sure you’ve already tried to sell or buy some used clothing, an object, or furniture on OLX, Facebook sales groups, or other online sales platforms and applications.

Selling and buying over the internet is, nowadays, an easy practice, very different from ten years ago, for example, when we didn’t have apps, platforms, websites, blogs, or social networks. But one of the great difficulties for companies, despite all this, is knowing how to increase their sales, making a profit with little expense in the online environment.

Several sales strategies have emerged, and one of them, which has been standing out more and more around the world, is Affiliate Marketing. Have you ever heard of it? In this post, we will explain everything you need to know about this strategy. It can help you increase your sales. Keep reading and find out how to implement it!

What is Affiliate Marketing and how does it work?

Affiliate Marketing is considered a digital marketing and sales strategy in which organizations affiliate with people or other companies that help advertise third-party products and services on the internet. In this way, there is mutual assistance in exchange for a commission when a sale is made as a result of the disclosure made by the affiliate. This disclosure takes place through advertisements on websites, blogs, and social networks of affiliates with the aim of selling the product or service of the company that hired them.

This business model is a great alternative for small entrepreneurs and anyone who wants to earn some extra income on the internet. Its implementation is relatively simple, easy, practical, and highly efficient for both users and large companies. Companies can also make a profit and reduce high costs by negotiating with affiliates who can diversify the promotion of their products and make more sales, impacting more customers.

For this cooperation in disclosure by affiliates to work effectively, the interested company creates the Affiliate Program, which is a system that controls the commissions paid to affiliates who make sales through disclosure on their websites, blogs, online stores, or social media. Affiliates access the platform, register, and generate exclusive links to be inserted in ads they make for the company’s products.

When someone is impacted by the affiliate’s ad on their website or social networks and clicks on the ad, the user is directed by the link to the company’s sales page. If the purchase is made, a percentage of the product’s value or service will be passed on to the affiliate as a commission on the sale. That’s why this business model is so interesting for companies and affiliates who adhere to it.

The advantages of adopting this strategy

Now that you understand what Affiliate Marketing is and how this strategy works, let’s explore the advantages of adopting it. One of the significant advantages for both companies and affiliates is the ease of joining this business modality, considered a two-way street.

For companies, the possibility of having several sales channels spread across the internet without spending on advertising production is quite appealing. The only investment to be made is in the Affiliate Program, but there is also the possibility of joining an existing platform to guarantee commissions from affiliates.

For affiliates, the significant advantage is being able to earn money on the internet through a super-easy business model to implement. They don’t have to worry about product creation, stock quantity, or delivery procedures. The only concern of the affiliate is with the dissemination of the product or service. They must use creativity to convince the customer to make a purchase.

As consumers on the internet are increasingly demanding and frequently change their behavior, affiliates must also be concerned about how to advertise and how to direct ads correctly so that the target audience is reached. However, everything can be done with practicality and low cost, the main points of attraction for affiliates to join this type of business.

Types of outreach to affiliates

Affiliates advertise products and services on their own channels on the internet, such as websites, blogs, and social networks, both organically (doing Content Marketing for a blog, for example) and through paid media (creating ads targeted to the company’s affiliate audience). There are several forms of disclosure that the affiliate can use, which can be negotiated between the seller (the company) and the affiliate (the discloser). Let’s talk a little bit about the main categories so that you can learn more about them.

1. CPC (Cost Per Click)

In this form of marketing disclosure, the focus is basically on getting the customer to click on an advertisement created by the affiliate. The affiliate must make every effort to entice the customer to click on the ad. It is not necessary for a sale to be made for the affiliate to receive a commission; all that is required is for the ads (on the affiliate’s website, blog or social media) to receive clicks – and they will be paid accordingly.

2. CPA (Cost per Action)

In this case, clicking on the advertisements is not enough for the affiliate to receive his commission. In addition to clicking on the ads, the user must perform an action on the ad page, such as registering, requesting a quote or even making a purchase. Unlike the CPC (where the focus is only on the click on the ad), the CPA demands a good media campaign and the affiliate’s effort to make the user interested in interacting with his ad page, performing an action, whatever it is.

3. CPM (Cost per Thousand Impressions)

This type of disclosure is based on a fixed amount that the affiliate receives, defined by the advertiser, who will make the payment whenever the ad reaches a thousand views, regardless of the number of clicks received or if any action is taken by consumers. This type of disclosure is interesting for affiliates who have some recognition in the digital environment, a good number of views on their websites, and good interactions on their social networks, as their ads can always be seen and, therefore, be paid on a recurring basis.

4. CPS (Cost per Sales)

As the name implies, in this modality, the affiliate earns only when the customer makes a purchase. They receive the commission from the generated codes or links that associate the sale with the dissemination of an affiliate ad. The commission is automatically processed.

Companies using Affiliate Marketing

The Affiliate Marketing strategy can be used by various types of companies that invest in internet businesses, such as virtual stores, online course institutions, tourism and accommodation companies, application developers, infoproducts, and electronics, bars, and restaurants, among others.

Companies can set up their Affiliate Programs or resort to existing affiliate platforms to sell their products and services in the commission system that operates on these platforms.

In Affiliate Marketing, participants are paid for the performance of their ads; that is, affiliates only receive a commission when the objective of their ads is achieved, whether it is CPC, CPA, CPM, or CPS. Therefore, affiliates are highly committed because the more results they bring to companies, the more sales are made, and the more commissions are paid.

Best affiliate platforms

The most famous and currently used affiliate program platforms are:

Hotmart: Considered one of the best options in the current market, it mainly works with online course sales. The platform provides an entire structure that defines the commission payouts to affiliates, with commissions that can reach up to 80%.

Monetizze: This platform has the possibility to link Google Analytics and is mainly focused on converting customers. In addition to organizing products with affiliates, Monetizze provides essential data and resources to improve conversion and, consequently, increase the commission acquired by affiliates.

Afilio: Created in mid-2008, this platform is focused on performance – the customer only pays after conversions of their products have been made. This brings more security to the client regarding the platform.

Eduzz: With a feature that allows you to recover abandoned or lost sales, Eduzz is a platform that does not let any lead pass through the process. It identifies the reasons why customers abandoned the purchase and establishes plans to avoid this in the future. Payment is made directly into the affiliate account, and the platform also arranges all the necessary documents.

Now that you have seen that Affiliate Marketing is a very efficient and interesting sales strategy for companies that want to increase their sales and for people who want to earn extra income, how about evaluating this idea for yourself or your business? You also know that Affiliate Marketing offers a series of benefits for everyone involved, so why not invest in it? Have you ever thought about it? If you still have questions, we can help you. Please get in touch with us!