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How Do Affiliate Marketing Programs Work?

Posted on | by Ben Shepardson

To those unfamiliar with affiliate marketing programs, the whole concept is often shrouded in mystery. How does it work? Why is it necessary? Is it worth the time?

Truth be told, many marketers don’t give affiliate marketing the respect and attention it deserves. This is partially because many marketers believe it’s synonymous with referral marketing, which is something they’re likely already doing. But the two terms are not interchangeable, and the differences are better understood once you learn how affiliate marketing programs work.

This blog post will give you an overview of the mysterious inner workings of affiliate marketing so you can decide if it might be right for your business.

Let’s dive in.

What is Affiliate Marketing?

First things first: affiliate marketing is the practice of having other people (affiliates) promote your products in exchange for a commission if their promotion results in a sale.

Affiliates can promote your products via their own website, blog, or social media channels. When someone clicks on their affiliate link and makes a purchase on your website, you give them a percentage of the sale.

Affiliate marketing is referral marketing in a sense, but instead of using word of mouth, every referral is automated online. Where referrals usually come from friends or family, sales that come from affiliate marketing may have no personal relationship with the person who referred them. That’s because anyone can click a link and be directed to a product on your site without the affiliate’s knowledge.

In short, affiliate marketing has also been referred to as passive income, meaning there’s not much hands-on required once you begin your affiliate marketing programs. This is one of the elements that make affiliate marketing one of your biggest ROI powerhouses in your entire strategy.

An In-Depth Look at the Business Side of Affiliate Marketing Programs

There are a lot of moving parts to affiliate marketing programs, some of which are likely more technical than you need to know to make your program successful. But for education’s sake, this article includes a little deep-dive knowledge to help it all make sense.

The Basics

Let’s use Amazon as an example, as they arguably have one of the best affiliate programs in existence.

You can register to become an affiliate marketer with Amazon by clicking a link and signing up. It’s absolutely free to join. Once you register, Amazon will email you your assigned affiliate ID. This ID is how Amazon knows who made the referring sale.

Once you have an ID, you can choose products from Amazon’s website to promote on your social media channels, website, or blog. For example, if you wanted to promote a particular book, you might write a book review post on your blog and include a link to where readers can purchase the book on Amazon.

The link you include to the book will also contain your unique affiliate ID so that Amazon will credit you with any sales resulting from people reading your book review.

Once a user clicks the link and makes a purchase, you will be credited with a percentage of the sale, which they call Advertising Fees (Amazon currently pays up to 10%).

The best part about affiliate marketing is that payments are performance-based. You’re not wasting valuable advertising dollars on the wrong audience or hiring an inefficient marketing agency. You pay only for real customers who make real purchases, not engagement that never results in conversions.

The Semi-Technical Stuff

On the affiliate marketer’s side, there isn’t much technical knowledge required since Amazon provides everything they need. Marketers can use Amazon’s linking tools and copy and paste their ID to earn their commissions without much effort.

But you’re not Amazon.

They’ve got the advantage of highly skilled developers and a budget to match to create a sophisticated, automated program that does all the hard work for them while they enjoy a boost in sales.

The good news is you don’t have to be Amazon to have a solid affiliate marketing program, nor do you need your own personal army of developers.

Affiliate marketing software gives you a turnkey program that gives you and your affiliates a seamless, near-effortless experience. You can promote your program on your own channels, or take advantage of your software provider’s established network.

Much like Amazon’s case, potential buyers will click the affiliate’s link and be directed to your website. Your software will document the visitor’s session ID, which is a fancy term for a number assigned to each unique visitor that enters your site. If a visitor from an affiliate link makes a purchase, your software will credit their account and handle the payout.

There’s one other technical consideration when working with affiliate marketing programs, and that’s determining how to handle visitors that click an affiliate link, don’t make a purchase, but later revisit your website and complete the transaction.

Amazon’s one-day cookie means a potential buyer has one day to make a purchase in order for the affiliate to receive credit (there’s an exception to this rule). On the other hand, Target offers a generous seven-day window, while other brands may offer more or less.  It’s a choice you’ll have to make yourself.

Why Affiliate Marketing Programs Work

The biggest reason affiliate marketing programs work is because they provide a win-win for both the business and the affiliate.

The company benefits from only having to pay advertising fees on actual sales. Another benefit many companies don’t consider is the boost in SEO by earning backlinks and more website traffic. It’s also your chance not only to earn sales, but also to earn more loyal customers after the sale.

Of course, the affiliate benefits too by receiving advertising fees in exchange for their promotion. This gives affiliates a chance to monetize their blog without the hassle of setting up credit card portals, paying for ads, or shipping products. There’s minimal effort involved, and the return can be quite rewarding.

If you want more proof that affiliate marketing works, look no further than some of the best affiliate programs on the internet. Ebay, Target, Jet, and Walmart all offer handsome rewards for directing online sales, with Target’s potential rate topping off at a whopping 8% for apparel items. Most of the top paying affiliate programs are tiered, which means your rate will depend on categories (baby, shoes, household, etc) and the number of sales you’re responsible for in a given time period.

In Closing

Now that you understand how affiliate marketing programs work, how will it fit with your business? Partnering with the right affiliate software provider can make all the difference in your program’s success. Take a free test drive of LeadDyno’s affiliate marketing software and discover how easy it is to build a better business.

The LeadDyno Affiliate Network

How to Start Successful Online Affiliate Programs

Posted on | by Ben Shepardson

Online affiliate programs are arguably the easiest way to grow your profits. These programs, also known as affiliate marketing, have existed for years, yet remain severely underutilized by brands and blogs looking to expand their audience.

The good news is that anyone can start using online affiliate programs to add passive revenue to their business, and for less effort than you might think.

This guide will show you everything you need to know about online affiliate marketing and how it can help you grow your business:

online affiliate programs

What is Online Affiliate Marketing?

In case you’re not wholly familiar with the term, online affiliate marketing is the practice of having users promote your products in exchange for a commission if they’re responsible for you making a sale.

For example, someone who is a big fan of one of your products might want to include an affiliate link to the product on their own web page or blog. Then, when one of their audience members clicks the link and makes a purchase, your affiliate will earn a commission for the sale.

Affiliate links are different than typical backlinks because they’re unique to each affiliate marketer. This way, you know exactly who was responsible for the sale and can pay out accordingly.

Best of all, the right online affiliate marketing program means you’ll never have to lift a finger once you put it into action.

Getting Started with Online Affiliate Programs

Companies of all sizes and industries can benefit from affiliate marketing, whether you’re a worldwide brand like Apple or a solopreneur like Medium.com blogger Benjamin Hardy. In either case, the process stays about the same.

Step 1 – Find an Online Affiliate Marketing Service Provider

Because each link needs to be unique to each affiliate marketer, you’ll want to use an online affiliate programs provider that offers a turnkey solution. The affiliate software handles everything from generating login credentials to creating user-specific links to hosting dashboards that help users track their commissions.

Some companies opt to set up a direct revenue share without using an affiliate service, but this presents a couple problems:

First, companies not using a dedicated affiliate service may lack time-saving automation that tracks everything for them. This means you might need to become more hands-on with the program, which can eat away at any profits you gain from affiliate marketing.

And second, you’ll be responsible for every aspect of your program, including finding affiliates to market your products. Starting an affiliate program is useless until you have people promoting you, and it can take time to build a strong network of marketers on your own.

Step 2 – Decide Which Products You Want to Include and How Much You’ll Pay

Amazon allows you to promote any item they sell, while other companies may only make certain products eligible for affiliate marketing commissions.

It’s up to you to decide which model makes sense for your business.

There are a couple things to consider here:

First, offering commission on every product you offer seems like a logical choice: the more products available, the more likely you are to make a sale, right?

Not exactly. The problem is that you task your affiliate marketers with choosing which items they want to promote. Imagine how difficult it would be to try to market every item on Amazon on your own blog! However, some affiliate marketers like the flexibility in having a huge inventory of products to choose from.

Another downside in marketing every product is having to figure out your profit on each item and then calculating how much you can afford to pay your affiliate marketers. You won’t want to offer top dollar commissions on an item where your margins are low. This isn’t necessarily a difficult task, but it can be time-consuming depending on how many products you’re hoping to promote.

There is no right or wrong answer here. Whichever route you choose, make sure it fits your business model and will help you reach your goals.

Step 3 – Build Your Affiliate Marketing Network

One of the best parts of partnering with an affiliate service provider is that there’s an existing database of marketers who are already promoting products for other companies. The magic starts happening immediately after you set up your affiliate marketing program, giving you the potential to see an ROI shortly after engaging in affiliate marketing

In addition, you can embed a sign-up form on your own website to recruit customers to promote you or email existing customers asking them to create an affiliate account.

When a new user signs up, they will receive a unique referral link so they can start marketing your products right away. Offering incentives like affiliate marketing to those who can attest to your products give you a competitive edge of sorts. They’re familiar with your company and can give their audience honest feedback, which could lead to higher conversions.

The LeadDyno Affiliate Network

Step 4 – Track Sales and Engagement

Once you begin your affiliate marketing programs, you’ll rarely have to do much else with it. However, it’s important you keep your finger on its pulse to see how the program is performing.

There are two things to look for here:

First, are you getting sales through your affiliates?

And second, do you have a high level of engagement from your affiliates?

Anyone can sign up to become an affiliate for your business, but enrollments aren’t what create sales. Engagement is.

If you rack up on the number of affiliates but aren’t seeing the results you expect, check in to see how often they’reusing their affiliate links and where they’re posting it. You might try sending encouraging email drip campaigns or useful resources to spur activity.

Just as you stay in touch with your customers, it’s equally important you stay top of mind with your affiliate marketers.

Wrap Up

Affiliate marketing can be one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies you’ll ever invest in, especially if you’re using a service to facilitate the entire program for you. Take a free tour of LeadDyno’s affiliate program today to see how easy it is to boost your revenue.

Affiliate Marketing Training With LeadDyno 3.0 “Sneak Preview”

Posted on | by Pero

All week I’ve been hosting our daily affiliate marketing training webinars from our brand new “LeadDyno 3.0” interface! It’s the biggest new release since we launched our 2nd version back in early 2013.

LeadDyno Live Demo Sign Up

I’d love for you to check it out today. To access it, just log into your LeadDyno account and select the new interface option in the upper-right.

Let me know what you think. I’m looking forward to your feedback and further feature requests, so that we can prioritize our 2016 efforts accordingly.

Join Me For a LeadDyno 3.0 Product Tour

Our daily webcasts now feature our new interface. If you’re interested in a primer,please sign up for a session here.

I’ll show you exactly how I use the new LeadDyno to help our own affiliates market our product, and I’m happy to take your Q&A and demo whatever you want to see on the fly as well. Again, here’s the link to sign up for one of our affiliate marketing webcasts.

LeadDyno Live Demo Sign Up

Watch a Quick 3-Minute Demo Here

Has it been awhile since you thought about your affiliate program? If so, here’s a quick 3-minute video that reviews all of the features you’ll see in the new LeadDyno interface:


Share Our Release News & Earn 30% Recurring Commissions

Like you, I “invest” a lot of money advertising on Google Adwords and Facebook. They’re all pieces of our marketing puzzle, but I’d rather give money to our partnersthan these two nerd havens.

Nothing against them personally, but I’ll take a qualified lead from an affiliate partner over some rando who clicked on an internet ad any day of the week.

That’s why we pay a generous 30% recurring commission on all sales that you send our way. And if you’ve joined me for one of my webcasts, you know that I love to say that “newsy” items play great on social media.

So help us promote our new release by joining our affiliate program or logging into your affiliate dashboard right here:

LeadDyno Live Demo Sign Up

3 New Active Clothing Affiliate Programs (up to 15% Commission)

Posted on | by Pero
Here are 3 brand new affiliate programs for clothing products that just launched. Read on to learn how you can be the first to promote these:
  • Football gear
  • Premium kids’ swimwear
  • Men’s happy sacs
  Football Gear for 15% Commission Football is more than just a game.  It is a passion.  The dedicated time and practice put in by a team in preparation for a game is visible by the sweats, bruises and dirt buildup on boots.  The coach mentors each player that will strategically make up one functional team.  Defenders, strikers, goal-keepers – all cooperating and submitting to each other as they pass the ball on to their teammate.  Football is passion.  Football is discipline.  Tempi will support your passion with quality Danish design football gear such as t-shirts, shorts and socks that will equip you through your hours of spirited dedication to this sport. Affiliates earn a commission of 15% on sales.   Apply here to become an affiliate of Tempi.  
  Premium Kids’ Swimwear for 15% Commission Accomplished sports players started young.  When you read their biographies, you discover that they could play the sport before they could walk – it seems.  Particularly with swimmers.  Most swam out of their mother’s womb and the rest was history.  Starting your child young could set them on the path to sports success, and maybe even scholarships that could save you on that hefty education fund.  To help turn your little cherub into a champion, SuvimSports offers premium swimwear specially made for kids – boys and girls. Affiliates earn a commission of 15% on sales.   Apply here to become an affiliate of SuvimSports.  
  Men’s Happy Sacs for 10% Commission There are some problems only men experience.  Like sticking, itching and sweating scrotum.  If you live a very active lifestyle, then all of the above symptoms are times ten.  Thankfully, you don’t need to live with groin discomfort a day longer.  Introducing Happy Sacs, a bag for your boys.  No jokes.  This bag will keep your jock dry, comfortable and stick-free.  The high performance Happy Sacs are made for a man’s ultimate comfort.  Say goodbye to an itchy and sweaty groin.  A combo pack of three Happy Sacs for $18 will give you the happiest scrotum that you’ve always needed. Affiliates earn a commission of 10% on sales.   Apply here to become an affiliate of Happy Sacs.  
(And don’t forget you can browse 300+ more clothing affiliate programs right here, too).

5 Reasons to Kickstart an Affiliate Marketing Program

Posted on | by Pero
October 1, 2017 by 

Today, everyone knows how difficult it has become to start a new business venture. Generating sufficient capital, working over product development and recruiting the best team to manage the operations almost seems like a dream—one that’s extremely hard to achieve.

So, if you don’t have the resources but still wish to start working for yourself, then affiliate marketing is the perfect choice for you.

What is affiliate marketing?

While there are hundreds of ways of earning money online, affiliate marketing continues to be one of the popular ways.

Nearly  80% of brands utilize affiliate marketing today. While there are thousands of affiliate marketers who work from their homes, work their own hours, and live comfortably.

Affiliate marketing is the process of selling other people’s products and earning a commission over them. Affiliate marketers can choose a product that they like and promote it and in return earn a portion of profit for each sale that they make as agreed with the seller. This usually happens in three ways:

  • Pay-per-sale: In such a case, affiliate marketers get a fixed percentage of the selling price when there is a sale.
  • Pay-per-click: In this method, the affiliate marketers for every single visitor directed from the affiliate’s site to the seller’s website. The good thing here is that whether the sale is made or not, the affiliate gets paid anyway.
  • Pay-per-lead: In such a case, the visitor directed by the affiliate marketer has to give their contact information in order for the affiliate to get money.

Why you should start an affiliate marketing business

affiliate marketing business

You don’t sell what you don’t want to

Affiliate marketing allows you to decide the products you want to promote. Nobody can force you to promote products that you don’t want to, or work with people you don’t like. So, your honesty and integrity remains intact.

This allows you create and shape your career the way you want to. Added to this, you can promote products that you value personally.

It is best for people who like competition

The performance measuring and analytics offer a game-like feel as you compete against others while trying to get excellent performance for a service or product. It is fun to keep a check over how your site has been dealing with different content type, style, tone and ads.

It is a cheap business to start with

There is no start-up costs associated with affiliate marketing. So, all you need to do is sign up for an affiliate program after setting up a website.

It can develop into an awesome business

Affiliate marketing is a scalable business. Whenever you feel like you are doing great, but the burden is too much for you to handle yourself, you can hire people.

Despite this, your overhead costs stay low because neither you need customer support nor do you pay rent for an office.

After some time, you can even move towards making your own brand and hiring affiliates to promote and advertise it. Thus, you can introduce your own shipping and become a seller.

It is important for professional independence

Here, you are your own boss. You decide your own hours and where you work from. And there is no income ceiling.

So, if you are wondering how to start affiliate marketing, get in touch with LeadDyno. We offer affiliate marketing for beginners.