AFFILIATE MARKETING: Everything you need to know!
Let's start from the beginning, first and foremost: what is Affiliate marketing?
You know when you bought something new, a gadget, tool, cleaning or beauty product, after you tried it, and if you liked it, you take the first opportunity to tell all your friends, all about it, and then you may say something like “you have to try it” or “You gonna love it” and wrap it up with information about the store you bought it from and what it costs.
That is Affiliate marketing! You don't own a company that manufactures whatever it is you bought, you don't own the store where it is sold, you are just referring your friend to the store to buy the product! Except when you do that via social media posts, on YouTube or in a blog, you get a commission every time someone buys the product via your affiliate link, which is provided to you by the company whose products you are referring to.
You can refer to as many products and services from as many companies as you want at the same time.
Now you know what Affiliate marketing is, and how it works, so let’s explore different versions of it.
High ticket vs. low ticket affiliate marketing.
There are high-ticket and low-ticket products and services.
What does that mean?
Simply: low ticket means products with low price or/and one-time-purchase products and services.
High-ticket products are products and services that have a long-term subscription and a high cost at the front end.
For an Affiliate that means a one-time small payment for a low ticket product/service purchase resp. Larger one-time payment and long-term (lifetime) monthly payments for a high-ticket product/service.
Does it make sense?
Now that you understand the difference between High and low ticket products, let’s talk about different ways of marketing.
Organic vs. paid marketing.
First, what is it?
Organic marketing is free marketing. It is when you present your chosen product on social media platforms or blog posts and through YouTube content without actual advertisement costs.
Paid is what it applies, you pay to advertise via Google ads, Facebook/Meta, Instagram, TikTok, etc. You create an advertising account, create an ad, and pay a fee to the platform to show your ad to your chosen type of customer/audience wherever you want in the world.
Pros and cons with organic vs. paid marketing: (this is a long one)
Let’s start with organic marketing:
While organic marketing is considered free in terms of money, it’s not entirely free. In order to affiliate, (refer) to a product or a service, you do need to purchase it and try it. Many large companies who offer expensive services and products won’t let you affiliate unless you are a customer yourself. Which makes perfect sense, since you can’t really talk about something you don’t know anything about. Still, from the economical point of view, it's a more appealing option.
And also incredibly time-consuming. What do I mean by that?
If you are brand new as a marketer on any platform, you are using to showcase your product/service, it will take a long time to establish your audience.
In order to “make it” you need to put a lot of new content out there. You’ll need to post, repost and add new content daily, build a large following, and engage with your followers (daily). Since posts/content quickly disappear and “chocks” among millions of other posts that are posted every second on any social media platform.
When and if you get traction, you still have to be “present” on a regular basis to maintain your audience. So, if you happen to take a vacation, you lose customers and sales.
Because if you are not posting for a few days, you want to be seen - if you are not seen, you don't exist. Since the content is “fresh produce”! ( No rest for the wicked) And you need a big chunk of patients before you see any return on the time and effort spent. But of course, if you like posting/creating content by all means go for it. Just keep in mind that it will take time until you start making a profit worth mentioning with this tactic.
How about paid marketing then?
Well, if you choose paid marketing it’s gonna cost you! In the front end; you need a home page, domain, email service, and ad account on whichever platform you choose. It takes some work, but it is a work you only need to do once, when it’s done it’s done and you won't need to think about it (unless you want to change something further down the line).
You create an ad, put it up on your ad account, and the platform/account provider runs your ad 24/7 in front of the customer who is most likely to purchase your product/service thanks to automatization and access to information you don't have, about things people search for on the internet. When you are paying for advertising, you choose where, when, and who you want to see your ad.
That is not possible if you are doing organic marketing, your content/posts appear more or less randomly in front of people who had at any point, for any reason and in any way interacted, reacted or liked your post, which is seldom going to give sales and can have rather unwanted consequences in a long run. So when it comes to engagement on social media, with paid marketing, it’s a whole different story, you can take vacation for as long as you want, and you will still make sales, you don't need to engage or post, and can still build a following through automated email subscriptions. Which you can use to promote other products and services to the same people. And profit starts coming in a lot shorter period of time.
So is organic or paid marketing better?
Honestly, the best is a combination of both for the highest return. Regardlessly of which method you are using, there are rules and tactics to follow. Every platform has their policies, you have to know and follow, and every company has theirs. Either way, whichever you choose, the key for success is marketing. You need to be a good marketer in order to succeed as an affiliate. To succeed with any type of digital/internet business really.
To be a good marketer, you need to understand your audience/customer. You have to know how to introduce your product/service in a way that will be appealing to the person who may be looking (and even some who are not) for that kind of product/service, so that they choose to use your link to make a purchase.
Ready for a career change but it feels overwhelming?
If you are serious about becoming an affiliate on a full-time basis but right now feel somewhat overwhelmed, thinking “Sh**t! I don’t know anything about any of this stuff” No worries, I got you covered.
I had no clue of any of this when I first came across Affiliate/Affiliate marketing as a possible profession and business carrier. I haven’t had any experience in marketing or business, and no understanding no'r interest for social media, or any other thing that I’ve mentioned you need to become a successful Affiliate marketer. But I learned, so can you.
I was fortunate to find this educational platform that offered not only marketing education, but also access and step-by-step guidance, and all tools needed to set up an affiliate business in record time. With live coaching - as an option, and a global community of like-minded people, help and support is only a click away at any time. That is not all, the company offers the possibility to “earn-while-you-learn” by becoming an affiliate. Seamless and straightforward all-in-one training and education that shortens and simplifies the process from zero-to-hero in an affiliate marketing world.
If you are ready to embark on your own Affiliate marketing career path, and write your own success story, click the button below. You will receive a 4-part video series that will take you through other possibilities besides Affiliate marketing, that can be automated to bring revenue 24/7 even when you are on vacation!
