Are you a natural-born salesperson? Are your friends always asking where you got your bag, sofa, or glowing skin? Are you so passionate about a certain cause or innovation that you get others excited about it, too?
You could be an awesome affiliate marketer.
Let’s take a step back. What is affiliate marketing? It’s a type of content marketing that allows brands to partner with influencers (or natural salespeople like you) to promote their products or services to a particular target audience. That audience could be your social media followers who are pumped about the same things as you and love your good sense in fashion (or otherwise).
Since you already have sway with your audience, you’re missing out on some easy income, which means it’s time to learn how to get your start in a successful affiliate marketing partnership.
How does affiliate marketing work?
In affiliate marketing, you earn a commission from the e-commerce sales of products you promote or a certain amount for clicks on a link. In the tech world, you can get paid for the number of installs of software you recommend. Commission rates vary depending on how many posts you make, how much you sell, or how wide your posts reach.
Some social media platforms, like Instagram, make it easy for you to get started with internal affiliate marketing programs. These programs allow you to sign up to influence in a particular niche. Most affiliate marketing opportunities run through third-party sites. They partner you with companies in your content area so that you can start promoting these businesses wherever you see fit — whether that’s in a Facebook post or a YouTube tutorial.
How exactly do you promote these brands? Usually, they’ll give you an affiliate link or send you products to show off — but the content should be true to your brand and niche. Make it your own!
Is affiliate marketing passive income?
Not entirely. You’ll have to do some work to post links and promote products, so it’s not a truly passive income. But if you work in a niche you’re excited about, it shouldn’t feel like work.
Whatever you do, read up on payment percentages and terms before getting started. And, remember: the going may be slow at the start, but that won’t be forever.
What are the different types of affiliate marketers?
You may already have a niche, but take things one step further by deciding what type of affiliate marketing strategy suits you best (or at least, brush up on your industry terminology). There are three main categories of affiliate marketing:
- Unattached: In this type of marketing, you’re a fish out of water. You don’t advertise in your niche, so you aren’t necessarily knowledgeable about what you’re promoting. This may make it harder for you to push products to your audience, but where there’s a will, there’s a way. Feel free to use a disclaimer that states you’re an affiliate, so people won’t assume you’re an authority on the goods you’re promoting.
- Related: This category is the kind of marketing we’ve been talking about most in this article: the kind where you use the following and authority you already have to pitch a retailer’s product or services (without doing much work).
- Involved: In this model, you go deep. This type of marketing isn’t about posting a referral link but about sharing your personal experience with a product in testimonial-style advertising. You work with products you’re genuinely excited about and have personally used, so you do know what you’re saying.
