Affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing strategy where businesses reward affiliates (partners) for driving traffic or sales to their website through the affiliate’s marketing efforts. Here’s a breakdown of how it typically works:
- Affiliates: These are individuals or companies who promote products or services on their platforms, such as websites, blogs, or social media.
- Merchants: These are the companies or individuals that own the products or services being sold. They set up affiliate programs to reach a larger audience through their affiliates.
- Affiliate Networks: Sometimes, merchants use networks to manage their affiliate programs. These networks act as intermediaries between merchants and affiliates, providing tracking, reporting, and payment solutions.
- Tracking: When an affiliate promotes a product, they use a unique tracking link or code provided by the merchant or network. This link tracks when a user clicks it and whether they make a purchase.
- Commission: Affiliates earn a commission based on the action generated by their marketing efforts. This could be a percentage of a sale (pay-per-sale), a fixed fee per click (pay-per-click), or a fee for every lead generated (pay-per-lead).
