Imagine a marketing program that can increases sales 10% to 25%--and you don’t pay a dime unless you get results. Sound too good to be true?"
That’s pretty much how affiliate marketing works. Through these online programs, you sign on with a partner that markets your product or service, often through a link or banner ad you place on their website. The affiliate then gets a commission based on sales, visits, or customers that result from those efforts. It’s the ultimate in pay for performance. “An affiliate partner will do a lot of the marketing for you. And you only owe money if they provide the outcome you want,” says Marty Fahncke, president of FawnKey & Associates, a consulting firm with expertise in affiliate marketing.
At the same time, successful affiliate marketing requires understanding some basics. Here’s what you should know:
Evaluate your affiliate marketing channels
Your affiliate can be anything from a website or enewsletter to a shopping portal, to name a few. Fahncke points to one client, a small business selling sunglasses, as a case in point. Perhaps their most successful affiliate is a website devoted to bicycling, which recently included an article about the product and a link to their site. The company pays the affiliate a 20% commission on sales. At the same time, however, the firm uses a variety of other affiliates. The bottom line: “You want a good mix of different types of channels,” says Fahncke.
How many? There’s no magic number.
Author: Anne Field
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