Today, on the internet, there are many e-commerce stores that offer customers various products and use many different ways to market their goods and services. From social media marketing, Search Engine Optimization to Google Adwords, there are multiple ways through which companies fight for consumer attention. One of the newer methods of promoting your business is affiliate marketing. This is a form of paid advertising that lets you publish your advertising content on websites related to your industry/products. It is very different from usual online advertising, which is based on cost per clicks. Under an affiliate marketing program, you only pay a commission from actual sales. Therefore there are no monthly/annual costs involved. This is a very practical advertising model that has drawn the attention of a lot of startup businesses on a budget. It is a low risk system as you are only paying out of your profits. There is no loss.
The process of setting up an affiliate program has also been simplified a lot in recent years. Where once you would have to contact all potential online sites that would be willing to publish your content, today all that work is done for you through affiliate marketing networks. These networks give you access to a collection of websites that would be suitable for your products. All in all there are a few steps you have to follow to set up an affiliate marketing program-
Decide on the marketing message – In affiliate marketing you have greater control over your advertisements content. Carefully decide what you want published all over the internet. Would you want to feature some of your products or focus more on brand messaging?
Decide on your budget – Affiliate networks charge you a percentage commission of the sales they get for you. So what part of your profit can you pay them? Also, some networks also charge a one time sign up fees for their services.
Decide on the affiliate network – There are many available on the internet but they tend to cater to specific geographic areas. Take a look at their clients and publishers before deciding on a choice.
Register for use – Signing up with a network will involve submitting details of your business type and your website to the network. As affiliate marketing is a complex and flexible method of marketing, some of the finer points of the program will have to be discussed in a meeting. Be sure to find out about the different methods through which the network can help promote your business before finalizing the relationship.