Return to Uzone News Portal
Uzone.id – It’s becoming common to see people with burning passion for fitness, travel, beauty, lifestyle, or even latest tech gadgets promoting products and services that they genuinely love. All thanks to affiliate marketing.
If you know little about affiliate marketing, it can turn those enthusiasms into profit. People can share their knowledge with others while earning a commission on every sale they make. The most interesting part is, no need to be a marketing guru – simply build trust with your audience, recommend products you believe in, and watch your passion shift into profits.
Affiliate marketing is now becoming one of the most common and successful online marketing strategies during this digital era. Individuals who promote other people’s products or services and earn commissions on every sale generated are called affiliates, and they play an important role in the affiliate marketing ecosystem.
For those of you who want to earn extra income, becoming an affiliate is one solution that can be considered. The key is to be willing to learn more to master social media and digital marketing. The more products you sell, the higher the commission you can get.
What is an Affiliate?
Wall Street Mojo stated that an affiliate is someone who works with a brand to promote their goods, but does not participate in producing them.
An affiliate is an individual who has a website, blog, or social media platform that is used to promote other people’s products or services. They collaborate with brands or merchants and get unique affiliate links that they can share with their audience.
The affiliate will receive a commission on the sale as soon as their audience clicks on that link and buys. So they’re only promoting it until a consumer buys one.
They are also often referred to as affiliate marketers. Affiliates generally work independently rather than working for a company.
Moreover, currently there are e-commerce and social commerce such as Shopee and Tiktok that offer affiliate programs. Qualified users can immediately register, then promote products to generate commissions on successful sales.
Differences between Affiliates and Influencers
Both earn income from social media by promoting products, what is the difference between an affiliate and an influencer? Actually, someone can be both at the same time to maximize profits.
However, there are still some main differences, namely the following:
1. Followers
One of the most striking differences is the number of followers. Influencers definitely have a high number of followers, even to enter the smallest category or nano influencers.
On the other hand, an affiliate is not required to have a large number of followers. On TikTok, for example, users can still join the affiliate program and are entitled to a commission even if they have no followers at all.
However, there are limitations to the features that can be used, such as not being able to display all products on their profile. Over time, affiliates can certainly attract a large number of followers and may shift their focus to become influencers.
2. Promotion
Affiliate participants can carry out various different content strategies. Starting from making video tutorials, product reviews, unboxing videos without showing their faces, and so on.
Most of them don’t think too much about the harmony of their feeds or the aesthetics of their profiles. Meanwhile, influencers tend to be more careful when creating product promotion content. Because, they have to maintain the niche, image, and relationships built with their audience.
3. Income
The last difference lies in the type of income earned. Affiliate marketers get commissions based on product sales, while influencers can get income from various sources. Starting from endorsements to commissions from products that are successfully sold.
When you join a Shopee Affiliate, for example, the income you will get is purely from people who buy products through your product links or links. Brands will not pay more for your promotional efforts.
4. Products
If you join an affiliate program, you will most likely have to spend your own capital to buy the products that will be promoted later. Especially if you want to sell products by creating organic and original content, such as video reviews and product unboxing.
This does not apply to those of you who prefer to promote products through links and photo or video content provided by the seller. On the other hand, influencers usually promote products that are given for free by the brand as part of a cooperation agreement.
Affiliate Duties
In general, here are the duties or job descriptions of an independent affiliate:
- Creating strategies to increase website traffic, viewers or content engagement.
- Creating content in various formats, from photos, videos, to website articles.
- Analyzing content performance and sales, then formulating better strategies.
- Adjusting marketing methods according to social media trends or consumer trends.
- Applying various advertising techniques, including using social media ads.
- Developing innovative and engaging social media campaigns to promote goods and services.
How to Become an Affiliate
If you are sure you want to become an affiliate, here is an overview of the steps.
1. Register or apply for a job
The very first step is to determine whether you want to be an independent affiliate marketer or work for a company.
If you want to be independent, you must first create an affiliate account on the desired platform, be it Shopee, TikTok, or both.
This is because ordinary users cannot join the affiliate program.
2. Choosing a product niche
Affiliate marketers in a company may not have to think about product niches.
Because, the products that must be promoted will definitely be different types, depending on the clients who are working with your company.
According to Workello, you may also be working on several different projects at the same time.
Now, for those of you who join an independent affiliate program, determine your own product or account niche, for example beauty, fashion, productivity, and so on.
This will greatly determine the next steps or strategies.
3. Determine the right marketing method
At least, there are 2 general methods that you can choose, namely marketing organically or through paid advertising.
It’s okay if you want to use social media ads to promote your content.
The more people who see the content, the higher the chance of your content reaching the right target audience.
4. Create and post content
When everything is ready, start creating your first content!
When you first start out, your content may not immediately go viral or generate a lot of sales.
The key is to be consistent and keep trying different strategies, until you find the best formula for your own content.
“The key to success in affiliate marketing is building trust with your audience. You need to provide value to them and recommend products or services that will truly benefit them.” – Michelle Schroeder-Gardner, Founder of Making Sense of Cents.
Benefits of Affiliate Marketing
1. Can be an additional income
Affiliate marketing can be a source of additional income. Just register yourself in the program, then promote related products in your own way.
Of course, citing Investopedia, you must have the commitment and time to promote related products.
2. Can work from anywhere
Nowadays, many people prefer to work from home, or from anywhere. No need to go to the office to earn money.
This is very possible for members of the affiliate marketing program. As long as you can sell products, the work location is not a problem.
3. Flexible working hours
In addition to a free place, your working hours are also flexible. As long as the product promotion runs smoothly, you will continue to receive income.
4. No need to create a product
When you want to sell, you have to create a product. What are the unique features of the product? What makes it better than other similar products?
All of that is certainly not easy. However, by learning and joining the affiliate marketing program, you don’t need to create a product.
Just sell what the company offers. No need to bother designing and handling the manufacture of the product.
5. Many channel options
Remember, you are only tasked with promoting a product. You can choose the promotion channel yourself.
Do you have a widely read blog? Do you have many followers on your social media?
Try using these media for affiliate marketing programs. In fact, as Shopify wrote, you can sell through podcasts. Just choose the platform that suits you.
“Affiliate marketing is not a ‘push-button’ solution. It takes focus and commitment, and a certain choreography to make it happen the way you want it to. But if you put in the hard work, you can build a loyal audience that trusts your recommendations,” said entrepreneur and affiliate marketing expert, Pat Flynn.
