This is the complete tutorial on how to start with affiliate marketing in 2022. Everything is explained for beginners to quickly understand and get started.
Affiliate marketing has become one of the easiest ways to make money online. But it isn’t always that simple!
You can try your hands on affiliate marketing for three years and not make a dime. But you can also make your first $1000 from your first affiliate marketing try.
The ease and speed with which you can generate money as an affiliate marketer are dependent on the foundation you establish. It also depends on the strategies you employ.
In this how to start with affiliate marketing in-depth tutorial, I will show you everything you need to know about affiliate marketing. What Affiliate marketing is, and how to start right.
I have broken everything down in an easy-to-understand manner.
Let’s dive right in.
The following are what you need to know in learning how to start with affiliate marketing
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1. What is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a branch of Digital Marketing that involves the following set of individuals that carry out these cycles:
THE AFFILIATE MARKETER
An affiliate marketer is an individual interested in promoting goods, products, or services for a particular owner or company. This individual will earn a commission on each successful sale made.
It follows that Affiliate Marketing is focused on results. The more persons you (as a Marketer) refer to the product, the more potential commissions you earn and vice versa.
Affiliate Marketers are also called Publishers.
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THE MERCHANT
An affiliate merchant is an individual or company that leverages affiliate marketing to increase the sales of its product/service. Some use it to boost brand awareness.
For example, Elegantthemes is a company that produces WordPress Divi themes used to design web pages.
Elegantthemes decides to leverage Affiliate Marketing and allows me (Affiliate Marketer) to help them promote the Divi theme. I make money on every person that buys Divi theme through my referrals(successful sales). In this instance, Elegantthemes is an Affiliate Merchant.
THE NETWORK
Affiliate Network is a company that helps Affiliate Merchants coordinate their affiliate sales and transactions.
They recruit Affiliate Marketers and act as the link between the Affiliate Merchants and the Affiliate Marketer.
Examples of Affiliate Networks are Commission Junction, JVZoo, and Clickbank.
Now, imagine that Eleganthemes only want to focus its attention on the production of beautiful WordPress themes. It does not want to worry about the marketing aspect of the business.
So, Elegantthemes can approach an Affiliate Network (say Clickbank) to act as the interface between it(Elegantthemes) and me (Affiliate Marketer).
Meaning that;
- Elegantthemes (Affiliate Merchant) only creates WordPress themes.
- I as the affiliate marketer am responsible for promoting the Divi themes from Elegantthemes, and bringing in customers.
- Clickbank (Affiliate Network) is responsible for signing me up. They help me receive my payments from Elegantthemes for every sale I can bring in and pay me. They manage the whole marketing process.
Affiliate Networks are not required in every Affiliate Marketing Process.
If a product owner can control its marketing, there will be no need for a Network to act as the middleman between the Merchant(product owner) and the Affiliate Marketer.
This is the essence of affiliate marketing.
A good understanding of the process I explained above describes how all Affiliate Marketingprocess works.
It also explains how you can begin to earn from affiliate marketing.
So, as a newbie, how do you get started with Affiliate Marketing?
First things first, decide on what product you want to promote
Choosing your preferred product to promote is a simple decision to make. Just ask yourself the simple question;
What range of products/services do I have the capacity to promote?
- What product or service do I have good knowledge about, or what product or service am I willing to improve my knowledge around?
Sometimes, you already have sufficient knowledge about a product or service. In such instances, research to know if such a product is a profitable niche for you in the long run.
For instance, I am a web designer and blogger, so it is easy for me to choose to promote a range of products/services that solve website design problems.
So I could decide on the product or range of products around the web hosting, WordPress themes, plugins, SEO tools. etc. (Or I can concentrate on advertising a single product, such as plugins).
Just think
If you want to follow this step, consider picking products and services that you already know.
Also, consider what you currently do and build it up from there.
Beginner Affiliate Marketers may find it challenging to pick products based on their expertise. But it is never a barrier to starting.
Just pick a product or service that you like to use. Begin to gather some knowledge about it. You need not know too much to start.
We all learn more when we practice, so taking action is the best way to know more.
Interestingly, more than enough products and services are available online for Affiliate Marketers to promote.
With some check around, you will find different products and services you easily can promote.
What promotional tools are available for me at this time?
Affiliate marketing is one of the easiest ways to make money online because everything you are doing as a marketer is done online, almost on automation.
To become a great Affiliate Marketer, you do not need to leave the comfort of your own home.
As a result, before deciding to begin promoting a product or service, you should think about the tools that are already available to you.
Build an audience
If you want to sell with affiliate marketing, you will have to build an audience. You will need to build the right audience for the kind of product and service you want to promote.
Imagine trying to sell a wheelchair to someone who is not crippled or has any cripple friend or relative. That will be a failure from the start.
Therefore, you want to access the right audience. The right audience has needs for what you want to promote and can afford it.
What Affiliate Merchant/Network should I join?
Many Affiliate Products/Networks are available to join, but not all of them will work for you.
Different products/Networks have their conditions for recruiting Affiliate Marketers. You must know the rules guiding a particular program before signing up.
Before joining, research the payment history of Affiliate Networks. You want to carefully do your homework and ask questions before deciding on which Network/Merchants to join.
How affiliate marketing works
Apply for approval with your Merchant/Network, and you will be assigned a unique affiliate link.
This link is what you will use to promote your products.
Anyone who clicks your unique link will be redirected to the website or landing page of the product. If you make sales through that link, you get a sales commission.
Your job as an affiliate marketer is to promote your affiliate link in your unique way. The more people see your promoted link, the more chances you will have to make more commission.
That is how you make a sale with affiliate marketing.
What promotional tools are the best to convert sales
There are numerous ways to promote affiliate product links. You also have access to marketing tools to make affiliate promotion easy for you.
What marketing tool to use will ultimately depend on your promotional method and your audience focus.
But there is a promotional tool that stands out from the crowd, having a blog.
Affiliate blog
It will be difficult for you to convince anyone that you are an affiliate marketer without having a blog.
These days, most affiliate networks require having a blog compulsorily before you can be approved to promote their product. The reason is simple, a blog is the most effective way to attract a willing audience.
Why you need a blog
Many affiliate networks kick against spamming and will not want marketers to spam the internet with affiliate links. This makes having a blog, or website a blog essential.
Thank heavens, getting a website can be one of the easiest things to do these days!
You do not need to be a web designer to set up an affiliate marketing blog. It’s easy to set one up with the smallest of budgets.
Some materials can help you set up an affiliate WordPress blog, including MartBlogger
Remember, you are not trying to design a website for a Fortune 500 company. You only need some tools on the website to help you with your affiliate marketing objectives.
Set up your affiliate blog with this in-depth tutorial
READ: Complete Guide on How To Set Up Your Affiliate Blog
HOW AFFILIATE MARKETING WORKS. STEP-BY-STEP
- Decide on the product/service you want to promote as an Affiliate Marketer
- Know which Affiliate Merchant/Network to join and work with
- Take note of who you want to reach out to and how you want to reach out to them.
- Decide on the marketing tools to use in connecting with your audience.
The beauty of Affiliate Marketing is that you can start making money immediately after reading this article if you take action!
Conclusion
Affiliate marketing has become one of the best ways to make money online. It involves a cycle between you as an affiliate marketer, promoting products and services for an affiliate merchant. Your affiliate merchant pays you an affiliate commission for every successful sale made.
As described in this article, you can set up an automated system and work from home. If you do things right, you can start earning even on your first try.
Make sure to use effective promotional tools to promote your unique affiliate link and choose the right audience to target.
I’m doing it, thousands of people are doing it, so you too can!