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The digital and social media landscape has vastly changed marketers’ jobs. Affiliate marketing and influencer marketing are two such channels that continue to gain in popularity, with no signs of a decline any time soon!

Although affiliate marketing has been around for a long time, it has opened up a world of opportunity for marketers with increasing numbers of businesses getting in on the action. So, what exactly is affiliate marketing?

Read on, or you may like to listen to this episode of the Revitalise and Grow podcast where we talk about how affiliate marketing can benefit your business and whether it might be right for you.

What is affiliate marketing?

Simply put, from a brand’s perspective, affiliate marketing is promoting your product or service on a third-party website/platform who earn a commission every time they make a sale. In other words, publications, magazines or influencers are given a unique link to your product or service, which leads consumers to the respective website. Each affiliate is then rewarded for each sale made through the channel as a thank you for leading their audience to your link and making a purchase.

There are primarily three types of affiliate marketing:

1. Unattached – this is when the product or service is not directly related to the advertiser and there is no connection between the customer and platform. Perhaps, one of the least effective types, but a great tool to generate additional income.

2. Related – related affiliate marketing is when the advertiser cannot personally vouch for the product or service but is relative to their niche so there is a higher likelihood of capturing the interest of the brand’s target market.

3. Involved – this type involves advertiser’s influence over their audience to sell a product, usually one they can vouch for having personally used it. This type is perhaps the most difficult to build but delivers the most credibility.

What is influencer marketing?

Influencer marketing is a channel most marketers are now well-versed in and have seen first-hand the impact this strategy can have on campaigns. Both small scale and global brands are now allocating budgets for influencer marketing, where they collaborate with one or a few suitable content creators to improve brand awareness, recognition and visibility. Luckily, there is an influencer out there for every niche, which makes the idea even more feasible for brands to connect with their target audiences through a person they trust!

Influencer marketing is also a segment that the regulatory authorities are keeping an eye on in terms of ethics. It is crucial for brands to be mindful when working with influencers to make sure there are formal contracts in place and ads are disclosed properly to make sure consumers are not being misled. The Advertising Standards Authority in the UK stipulates that every paid or gifted product/service mentioned by influencers must be disclosed with #ad or a clear paid partnership icon.

Both influencer and affiliate marketing campaigns can be highly effective tools for small and large businesses alike, with a variety of options available. In the initial stages both tactics have low entry costs as businesses can choose to give a smaller commission on their sale, lowering the out-of-pocket expense for affiliate marketing. Similarly, many micro-influencers are happy to review or recommend products without a monetary payment by gifting them the product. Thus, both can be used in a cost-effective way.

For well-established brands, a wide array of options is available to utilise these tools, such as working with macro influencers to create mass brand awareness, or engaging with complex media affiliate programs on platforms that have highly relevant web traffic. For both options, however, the key is choosing the right platform and influencer to ensure that impressions are being made on the brand’s target audience.

If you’re looking to build an affiliate or influencer programme in to your marketing plans but need some help and advice to make it happen, request a call back or apply for one of our FREE Revitalise & Grow sessions and we’d love to discuss with you further how we can help.