Affiliate Marketing is a strategy where you hire an affiliate in the form of either individual or company. This affiliate would try to bring in more customers for you in return for money. It is a method of tapping the untapped market.Suppose you have a product which is not being used by certain section or you want to increase the presence of your product in that segment. Then, affiliate marketing is one of the ways which you can prefer.
The most popular way in which affiliate marketing is used is by the use of Internet. Search Engine Optimization helps in getting required recognition and helps in reaching you towards your target audience. Suppose you are a company who is into the business of manufacturing and selling shoes and you wish to target the young males of the country. You have an affiliate in the form of an e-commerce who would help you in reaching your target audience by optimizing search engine results by putting your products on top.
Any effort by an affiliate to bring prospects to the business would count as affiliate marketing. It could be a blog published by the affiliate describing the features and asking the users to check it out or affiliates emailing there customers about the business.
There are however certain things you should keep in mind while choosing an affiliate. The affiliate should not be operating in the same market as your business else that could prove to be a disaster for your business. Any marketing done by your affiliates should generate more business to you and should not hamper your brand because of any “marketing gone wrong” thing.
It could also act as another way to make money. By posting, blogging or SEO about their business you could be making much more money than advertisements on your website or blogs. In the end isn’t it all about the money?
