Affiliate marketing income covers a broad spectrum. Some affiliate marketers will make a few hundred dollars a month and others who make six figures a year. The higher your number of followers, the more money you can make as an affiliate marketer.
If you are new to affiliate marketing or you do not understand affiliate marketing, you can read our previous article on the (introduction to affiliate marketing.) - LINK TO ARTICLE
Compensation software company Payscale reports that the average annual salary for an affiliate marketer is over $53,000, based on more than 7,000 salary profiles, with many affiliate marketers making significantly more.
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How are affiliates paid?
When choosing an affiliate program to promote, you will notice that there are different payment models. Businesses also call it a pricing model, payment model, conversion rate, or other variation. Regardless of the name, the payment model tells you which goals you'll get paid for.
For example:
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If you're promoting a software product, the action could be a free trial signup.
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For an affiliate marketer promoting physical products, the goal is likely to be a purchase. Pay per sale, where you earn a commission for every sale you make. It's a common payment model for e-commerce offers.
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Pay per share, which gives you a commission for a specific action. Many affiliate programs use this payment model because it is broad and can be applied to different offers: newsletter subscription, one click, contact request, form submission, etc.
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Pay per install, where you get paid for each installation generated by your website traffic. The goal of your content would be to promote mobile apps and software that people can download or install.
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Pay for every lead, which pays you every time someone signs up for something. It's a popular payment method because businesses use it for sweepstakes, lead generation, and other types of offers. Cost-per-lead bidding is common for beginners because it's easier to generate leads than it is to sell products to an audience.
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Pay-per-click is a rare payment system where you earn a commission for every click on your affiliate link. Big merchants use pay-per-click programs intending to build brand awareness. Customers don't need to register or purchase anything, just visit the merchant's website.
Steps to earn money.
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Choose the platform and method.
The first step is figuring out the platform you want to build your audience on. Affiliate marketers use different approaches and platforms. There are many affiliate marketing ideas that you can choose from based on different methods:
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Thematic and niche review sites.
These are sites that review products for specific audiences or compare a product line against its competitors. This method requires you to create review space-related content and post regularly to attract an audience.
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Digital content.
Digital content creators include bloggers, YouTubers, and social media influencers. They create niche content that resonates with a target audience. The goal is to organically introduce niche products that appeal to your audience. This increases the chances that they will buy, and you will earn an affiliate commission.
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Courses, events, workshops.
If you are an educator, you can integrate affiliate partnership offers into your events. No matter which path you take, authenticity and audience building are the two most crucial elements of affiliate marketing.
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Decide on your niche and audience.
When it comes to picking a niche, aim for something you're passionate about and familiar to you. This helps you present yourself as an authentic and reliable source of information to potential customers. By this, you can evaluate which products and brands you want to promote.
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Find your products.
To earn income as an affiliate marketer, your audience needs to connect with what you are saying. The items or services you promote should be products they want. If you get this wrong, it can hinder your success and diminish your credibility, as well as your audience.
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Choose your first affiliate program.
While brainstorming products or browsing affiliate platforms, the most important criterion to keep in mind is that the product should align with your audience, or the audience you hope to create. Ask yourself, is this something your target audience would find valuable? Does it fit your area of expertise? Also, make sure that the product or service you are promoting is suitable for the platform you are promoting it on.
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Tips to be successful in affiliate marketing.
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Trust is an important factor in your career as an affiliate marketer because people need to trust you enough to act on your recommendations. The extent of trust you'll need to make affiliate sales depends on your industry and the products you're recommending.
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Talk to a product expert. Another option is to interview other people who use the product or service or even interview the person who makes or sells it. Through this, your review can gain more depth, creating a narrative for the reader.
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Create a product tutorial. While your success with affiliate marketing may depend on the total size of your following, another way to drive traffic is by demonstrating a tutorial on the offer.
If you don’t pay attention to these steps and tips, it is most likely you would sign up to be an affiliate marketer but end up not making any money or barely enough money from this business.
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