Affiliate marketing is a popular marketing tactic that can be employed both on the internet as well as off it. Affiliates are individuals who promote and sell company products and services and are paid a commission based on their performance. Offline affiliate marketing provides incentives for people to join and promote a business and can be in the form of multitier programs where an initiator is rewarded for each new affiliate he or she introduces to the business and sales outsourcing where individuals are paid for each sale they close or for set targets reached.
The World Wide Web is a hotbed of affiliate marketing activity and is carried out in numerous innovative ways, the most popular being search engine optimization, search engine marketing and the diversion of traffic through other websites.
A lot of companies have their affiliate marketing carried out and managed by affiliate marketing networks. Among the services provided, these companies track traffic or sales and make payouts to the companys affiliates. From an advertisers perspective, affiliate marketing networks provide hassle free affiliate management. An online affiliate marketing strategy requires a lot of maintenance which some companies might not have the skills or the time to carry out. Outsourcing this to affiliate marketing networks will make sure your online marketing strategy is reaching all outlined objectives as it should.
Joining online affiliate marketing networks hold great earning potential for interested and able individuals. These affiliate marketing networks delegate products to people who are then expected to market it online in anyway they can (provide d its legal and in line with company requirements).
Affiliate marketing networks have their own way of compensating their affiliates and can differ from network to network. The most popular compensation method among affiliates is the Click Per Impression (CPI) method where they get paid just by posting the company link or ad on their website or blog, the condition being customer viewing. Its popularity among online advertisers as well as its earning potential is waning however due to a lot of fraudulent activity taking place in order to increase earnings. Pay Per Click (another compensation method) requires one more step from the customer in order for the affiliate to earn the commission at the end of it. For the transaction to be complete, the customer needs to actually click on the link which leads to the advertisers website.
Some affiliate marketing networks employ a Click Per Action (CPA) method which is probably the most difficult from an affiliates point of view, but also the most lucrative. The CPA method requires an actual sale to take place through the link provided on an affiliates blog for compensation to be meted out.
Even though affiliate marketing is still not a solid marketing strategy due to fraudulent activity, affiliate marketing networks are gaining in popularity as technology smartens up to these unfair practices, and gaining a steady foothold in the online marketing universe.