Affiliate marketing is a type of performance-based marketing in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought by the affiliate's own marketing efforts. The industry has four core players: the merchant (also known as 'retailer' or 'brand'), the network (that contains offers for the affiliate to choose from and also takes care of the payments), the publisher (also known as 'the affiliate'), and the customer. The market has grown in complexity to warrant a secondary tier of players, including affiliate management agencies, super-affiliates and specialized third party vendors.
In affiliate marketing, the merchant provides an affiliate program to affiliates, who then promote the merchant's products. The affiliates are paid a commission based on the sale or action made through their own marketing efforts. The merchant creates the affiliate program, and affiliates can join and promote the merchant's products.
There are many benefits to affiliate marketing for both the merchant and the affiliate. For the merchant, affiliate marketing can help to increase sales and drive traffic to the merchant's website. For the affiliate, it can provide a source of income and a way to promote products that they are interested in.
One of the main benefits of affiliate marketing is that it is a cost-effective way for merchants to reach a wider audience. This is because affiliates are only paid when a sale or action is made, so the merchant does not have to pay for advertising unless it is successful.
Another benefit of affiliate marketing is that it allows merchants to track the performance of their affiliates and see how well their marketing efforts are working. This can help merchants to identify which affiliates are performing well and which ones may need to be removed from the program.
Overall, affiliate marketing is a great way for merchants to reach a wider audience and for affiliates to earn a commission by promoting products that they are interested in.