What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is an online advertising channel in which advertisers (online merchants that sell products or services) pay publishers (independent parties that promote the products or services of an advertiser on their Web site) only for results, such as a visitor making a purchase or filling out a form, rather than paying simply to reach a particular audience. This “pay-for-performance” model is in essence the modern version of the “finders’-fee” model, where individuals who introduce new clients to a business are compensated. The difference in the case of affiliate marketing is that advertisers only pay their publishers when the new client introduction results in a sale or a lead, making it a low-risk, high-reward environment for both parties.
Last week, I had the good fortune of attending IIR’s Online Affiliates conference as a panel moderator. Of course, the panelists for “Product Placement Gets Context Centric” were great. • Stuart Watson discussed the power of Dynamic Trade’s DDI service (Dynamic Trade recently signed a deal with Inktomi). • CJ’s Todd Crawford explained how EnContext is helping merchants and affiliates find better points of integration. • Dave Louden from Affinia pitched its Product Placement Network, which we discussed in an earlier column. • SuperSig’s Peter Crofut pointed out that context happens in many places, including email. • For sales channel-based brick and mortar companies, Rick Wardell of iMediation offered a very robust set of solutions. Overall, the panel presented a fun collection of next generation affiliate stuff. And while the panel was all about the future of affiliate marketing, what struck me most was the incredible demand for just the basics. The cocktail hour after the first day’s
Affiliate marketing is a way of making money online by promoting the products of another company for a commission on each sale you generate. People who promote products in this manner are called “affiliates”, or sometimes “partners” or “associates”. Most affiliates promote products through their websites or email lists, but you’re not restricted to these methods: Basically, anywhere you can put a website address or a hyperlink can be turned into a promotional vehicle — the only limit is your imagination. Affiliate marketing isn’t a pyramid-selling scheme, and it’s not a tool for scammers and spammers. Affiliates are regular people looking to earn some extra cash from their websites, or individuals wanting a serious work-at-home business that they can perform from anywhere in the world, with serious earning potential. When we say “affiliate marketing” we’re actually talking about a bunch of things: • Finding good products to promote • Building websites • Conducting market research • Se
