How To Succeed In Affiliate Marketing? – By Saksham Khanda, Founder of Ink Revenue
The internet has become more accessible to people around the world providing opportunities that never existed before. Entrepreneurs are able to make money by doing very little, while others struggle to get off the ground. However, affiliate marketing for beginners in 2023 could put you well on the way to success.
Affiliate marketing allows people to benefit from selling products and services without spending any money. An individual simply promotes products among his audience and earns a share of the revenue when they buy something through that affiliate link.
It has become one of the most popular marketing methods for entrepreneurs looking for easy startup strategies that will help them grow their income quickly.
Affiliate marketing is an online business model where you promote a company’s products through affiliate links or banner advertisements on your website. If any of your random website visitors click on the affiliate link/banner, and then makes a purchase, you will receive a commission for that sale. Anyone with a computer, a good internet connection and a willingness to learn new skills can follow this affiliate marketing business model. To promote physical or digital products for a business, you must first apply to an affiliate marketing program.
5 Easy Steps to Become Successful in Affiliate Marketing
To be successful in affiliate marketing, we must follow these five easy steps:
Start With What You Do Best
A person who best monetizes their content makes millions. The best way to get started is to write about a specific product content that you know about. Think about your content, the topics and trends you have already written about, and how you can find products that are relevant to your target audience. If you believe in the products you write about and they are connected to editorial content then it will be easier to create and much easier to monetize.
Write Valuable Content
Content is the key to success. Sit down and figure out what makes your content different. You need to know what your unique selling point is to your target readers and why they would come to your content over anyone else’s. Check your engagement statistics, understand the content that gets read more than others, and start repeating that format.
Firstly, it has to be quality content and secondly, to make it commerce content, you have to engineer the content so that you can help people start their buying journey.
Share the Content Everywhere
When you start with content it is really important to think about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and how you can make your commerce content rank well in search engine results. When you start producing very specific content related to products or marketing, you can use very specific keywords, which are exactly what search engines look at when deciding to rank content prominently in search engine search results. Theme posts around these special keywords and you should see your organic traffic start to increase as yours get indexed the most, and people search for them on different social media platforms.
Keep Trust Front of Mind
Trust is key to affiliate success. Audiences need to trust you’re making genuine recommendations about what they should buy and are savvy enough to tell when you’ve sold them up the river.
So when you write commerce content keep a few things in your mind :
a. Think about whether you would genuinely buy the item
b. Consider if you like the brand and its products
c. And in an ideal world, make sure you’ve tested the product and know it’ll be perfect for what your readers are looking for
Readers can tell when you believe in a product or brand because your enthusiasm will be evident in your writing. The better the quality of your recommendations, the sooner people will start to trust you as a place to learn about the products they want to buy and will start purchasing based on your recommendations.
Become Data-Driven
Once you start using affiliate marketing strategies to make money, you will start generating data that you can use to inform your affiliate strategy and help you make more money. Merchants will pay a fixed commission to publishers when they are directly responsible for driving sales. So when looking for products you want to review, keep in mind the commission rate the merchant is going to pay you. The better the rate, the more money you’ll make if you drive sales.
It’s better to think about conversion rates as well. A merchant may offer a high commission rate, but if their conversion rate is low, it means people rarely buy their products and this reduces your chance of making a sale.
Conclusion
Affiliate marketing is all about taking your destiny into your own hands. The correct strategy is the key to being able to steer one’s ship into that part of the ocean where a certain kind of calmness can be found, which pervades the atmosphere as the ship moves calmly along.
Ever wonder how businesses work? What goes on behind-the-scenes? How Google makes money? Or how there’s a McDonald’s a stone’s throw from wherever you are! Every business follows a certain style of working. And that style is its business model.
A business model is a framework that defines how you generate long-term value in terms of revenue by providing value (products/services) to your customers. Here, comes an exhaustive but hopefully not exhausting list of business models that various companies have adopted and modified according to their needs. I bet my non-existent Cadillac that you have heard of them.
These are the oldest and most basic business model types. They were popular before the time of computers and spreadsheets. All subsequent models evolved from:
Manufacturer: Conversion of raw materials or assembly of pre-made parts into finished goods is the job description here. The sales can be taken care of by the parent company or outsourced. Say, cement manufacturers.
Distributor: This person acts as the in-between for manufacturers and retailers/customers. For example, auto dealerships.
Retailer: Through a physical or online location, the retailer purchases products from the manufacturer/distributor and sells them to the public.
1. Hidden Revenue Business Model
“Google, Facebook“ I’m sure you wonder how the owners of Google and Facebook are oh-so-rich when you have probably never paid a cent to use their services. Consider google. It charges its users not in money but in data. The keywords searched are sold to the highest bidder who then sends you ads relevant to your searches.
Also, the ads you see on many webpages are ‘spaces’ rented out to advertisers. Every click or action pays the website owner a commission. Google has adopted an advertising business model within a hidden revenue model. Facebook works similarly using targeted ads.
“Buzzfeed, Medium, Google” This model is used by firms/companies that have a wide user base or user traffic. They sell digital space to advertisers. The revenue is generated by three modes- cost per click (CPC), cost per thousand (CPT), or cost per action (CPA). This model works only if the content generated engages and retains the audience. There is a tradeoff between user experience and the need to generate revenue. There is also the issue of trust. The important thing is to never sacrifice quality chasing clicks.
3. Razor Blade and Reverse Razor Blade Model
“Gillette, X-box” The strategy here is to pair a dependent good with a consumable good. The former is sold at a very low cost and the latter at a high price.
Let’s take a look at these business model examples.
Gillette Its inexpensive razor and expensive blades. A periodic income is generated for the owner. The company revolutionized this business model and is aptly named.
Apple Apple’s products such as MacBook, iPhones, etc., are priced way higher than their manufacturing and any additional production costs but the additional features such as iTunes and the play store come at a nominal cost.
Razor Blade and Reverse Razor Blade Model
4. Franchise Business Model
“McDonald’s, Starbucks“ A franchise is an agreement between a franchisor and a franchisee. The latter buys the right to use the established name, trademark, operational strategy, and sell products under their name. The fee paid is known as the licensing fee and apart from that, the parent company charges royalties which is a percentage of gross sales. The former takes care of the overall and affiliate operation strategy such as products and advertising. A franchise is a much safer operation as compared to starting a business from scratch.
“Avon, Amway, Herbalife” There are no retail stores. An army of salespeople connected with the company act as links between the company and the retailer or customer. The product demonstration takes place in the customer’s home or any business setting of the salesperson’s choosing. He/she takes a cut of the sale made, while the parent company retains the rest.
6. Peer-to-Peer Business Model
“Airbnb, Uber“ This is the buyers-meet-sellers model. The company provides a platform for that. There is no physical inventory for which the company takes responsibility. Their only duty is to assure the users of their credibility. Therefore, this is a model of minimum responsibility and risk. Revenue can be generated in a variety of ways:
Charging a fee from sellers for using the platform
Charging a fee for advertising
Getting a cut of buyers’ successful transactions
7. Subscription Business Model
“Netflix, Digit, Dollar Shave” One of the more popular and successful business models. Periodically- say every month or year, an amount is charged. A subscription model implies a continued relationship with the customer. In order to retain your customer base, new and updated content must be provided regularly. A subscription is much more beneficial than pay-per-product or lifetime access as it generates steady revenue at manageable content updation costs.
Subscription Business Model
8. Freemium Business Model
“LinkedIn, Skillshare” Companies implementing this model offer a basic set of features for free to establish how their product works. It is one of the successful business models in India. This builds a relationship with the customer. If the user is satisfied, he/she may pay an amount to access the premium features of the product, have an ad-free experience, or utilize any such service the company chooses to provide.
Companies utilizing this model are often those which offer personal or business services. LinkedIn for example services HR as well as job-seeking professionals. The platform, for a fee, makes it more sophisticated for the users to meet their requirements.
9. Customization Business Model
“Nike, Tailoring industry” Customization took the industry by storm. There was no better way to make customers feel as if the product was made for them unless you actually made it for them. With the advent of 3D printing, customization has become all the easier with the availability of build-on-demand services. Every transaction is unique to the customer. Nike’s custom shoes are an example of customization on a large scale.
10. User-Generated Content Business Model
“Quora, Youtube, Reddit“ Content is generated by the users. But the users get paid neither do they pay. Their reward is recognition for their content. An advertising business model is used within the model. The revenue is generated as per the same. A system of ranking based on ‘likes’ or popularity attracts the user base.
User-Generated Content Business Model
11. Multibrand Business Model
“Unilever, Kering Group” One corporation owns many brands none of which are marketed in relation to each other or the parent company. Take Unilever for example. It owns over four hundred brands. You might have heard of Dove, Lipton, Magnum, and Pepsodent. See how diverse their product portfolio is?
The supply chain, marketing & branding strategy, and other key operations are centralized while product research & development, and other product-specific operations are decentralized to ensure creativity. The independent nature of this model allows the corporation to enter any market from ( economical to luxury ) without affecting its existing product range and sales. Unilever is the fourth largest advertiser in the world.
12. Attention Merchant Business Model
“Snapchat” This business model aims to capture human attention for extended periods. This again has an advertising business model hidden within. Snapchat with its face recognition and corresponding ‘filters’ managed to keep its users clicking ‘selfies” nonstop. They also gather the geographic data of the user after obtaining their permission. The data is theirs to use. This is a risky business model and is dependent on the number of consumers.
Business models are not mutually exclusive. More than once you have seen how one model is hidden in another. The aim is to find the model best suited for your business. The list does not stop here. Since every company has given it’s model a unique twist, it is safe to say there are as many business models as there are companies. However, I have covered the most well-known companies or list of business models and I hope you have a better understanding of how they work.
Business model meaning: A business model is a framework that defines how you generate long-term value in terms of revenue by providing value (products/services) to your customers.
2. What are examples of business models?
Business models example: direct sales, franchising, advertising-based, and brick-and-mortar stores are all examples of traditional business models. There are hybrid models as well, such as businesses that combine internet retail with brick-and-mortar stores or with sporting organizations like the NBA.
3. What is a startup business model?
A business model explains which consumer pain your startup chooses to relieve, why your solution works better than competing ones and how big a wedge a company can drive between what customers are willing to pay and the costs.
