Lots of people misunderstand affiliate marketing with scams. Well, these are definitely two completely different concepts.

Affiliate marketing is a trendy way to increase your influence and sales thanks to the help of supportive participants. 

So why do people think about it as a scam? Let’s take a closer look at this marketing strategy.

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing definition can be simply understood as paying someone to sell your products.

In particular, a user signs up for an affiliate program created by a retailer. This is an efficient way for them to promote and sell items to more consumers.

With unique links, participants of the program can send traffic back to the provider’s website. Here, visitors may complete desired actions such as purchasing items, signing up for newsletters or clicking on target locations. 

With a successful transaction, users will be paid some percentage of the sale. 

Affiliate marketing: how affiliate works
Affiliate Marketing: How it works

From the viewpoint of the marketing team, the affiliate program is a method to expand marketing activities through third parties who are paid only when the purchases are complete.

There are different way to measure the performance of your affiliate marketing program, such as:

  • Pay per Sale
  • Pay per Click
  • Pay per Call
  • Pay per Lead
  • Pay per Discount

4 irresistible benefits of affiliate marketing

Thanks to simple implementation yet bringing quick results, more and more store owners are following this new selling method.

In less than a year, the search interest for “affiliate marketing” grew by 44%. At the moment, 81% of marketers are taking advantage of affiliate programs. These affiliate programs usually drive more than 20% of the annual revenue of the business. 

Here we break down the four major affiliate marketing benefits.

Boost sales

Having many different points of sales gives you higher chances of introducing products to potential customers.

Participants of the program only receive the commission when the purchase is a success. So they will try their best to help you sell the items.

It’s a win-win situation for every party: Your store can increase revenue at ease, affiliates earn some extra money while customers get what they want.

Affiliate marketing: boost sale

Save cost

Have you ever been in this dilemma: Spending hundreds of bucks on your marketing campaign and receiving poor results? This is the risk that retailers need to consider thoroughly.

However, with affiliate marketing, you are witnessing a financial means of spending your money: You only pay the users when the transaction is complete. The sales are already there to evaluate.

You can adjust your rules according to the revenue, the numbers of participants, and the popularity of your products at the right time. This will help you create the most effective plan with the smallest budget. 

Create brand awareness and expand the market

Affiliate marketing is a quick way to make yourself stand out from the crowd of hundreds of online stores. Besides your usual advertisements, you get a team of enthusiastic salesmen who are ready to introduce your brand to more consumers. Potential visitors are easily exposed to new products or services if they come from a familiar name.  

Affiliate marketing: expand market

For local stores, an affiliate program can expand your influence to new regions. Beneficial conditions for affiliates will attract more partners to your business. Growing your market and customer base becomes simpler than ever!

Support SEO performance

For SEO, backlinks are a supportive tool to drive more traffic to the store. Thanks to the affiliate program, you can set numerous links and keywords at your participants’ content.

Your store can appear at various locations like blogs, social pages and websites. This will help search engines to find you faster and lead the right customers to the right place. 

Affiliate marketing: support seo

Toxic ways to transform affiliate marketing into scams

Although affiliate marketing brings lots of profits to the business, people still don’t have a good feeling about it. The reason behind this phenomenon is there are dangerous scams based on the idea of an affiliate program. Lots of consumers have been fooled and lost a huge amount of money for the criminals.

Below are three common frauds: 

“Get Rich” scheme

Have you ever read an ad that states: ‘Do nothing but get $1000/month’? This is the ad for a common scam to get people to register for a course or a job that promises to bring participants great fortune.

Yet, you may get involved in illegal works without knowing it! Moreover, to get the job, you must send an entrance fee at first and well, it usually vanishes in thin air immediately

Affiliate marketing: scams

Fake products or services

Some scammers lure credulous people to invest in an unreliable project. They can offer you a new product or service, and you need to send them a guarantee to receive these out-of-this-world items and a high rate of return on your investment. Usually, your money goes forever with nothing coming back.

Elders are usually the target of these scams.

Paid membership 

This is also an infamous scam all over the world. You were introduced to a group or a brand that has these amazing lines of products. However, you need to be a member to receive ‘amazing’ privilege, and most of all, recommend more people to join.

They will give you a commission for every new member. You must pay an entrance fee and constantly buy expensive products to maintain your position.

To avoid these fake affiliate programs, you should research closely the business you intend to invest in. If you’re looking for an IMPRESSIVE AND RELIABLE membership program, you can take a look at popular loyalty programs. Your customers will earn points for every purchase and redeem them for a discount the next time. It’s totally FREE to sign up and refer a friend to the products.

Numerous trustworthy brands with legal affiliate marketing are out there waiting for you to take new opportunities. Amazon is one of the most prominent names in this field. 

The success story of the Amazon Affiliate Program

Amazon is not a strange name to consumers as one of the biggest online retailers in the world. To expand their influence and support the sales of smaller brands, Amazon launches The Amazon Affiliate program or Amazon Associates.

Affiliate marketing: Amazon Associate
Affiliate Marketing: Amazon Affiliate program

You don’t need any fee to become an affiliate of Amazon. They introduce and advertise products from Amazon on their local sites. When customers click the links and buy the products, they will get commissions. 

There are only 4 steps to be a part of the business: 

  • Create a website or blog.
  • Visit the Amazon Associates homepage.
  • Build your Amazon Associates profile.
  • Create Amazon Affiliate links.

Store-owners love Amazon Associates because of their diverse and high-quality products. Amazon sells all kinds of items in all areas. No matter how small and new the niche you choose, Amazon will have the right merchandise for your customer file. Most importantly, they provide a stable commission, ranging from 1 - 10% divided by commodity types.

The effective program of Amazon has become an inspiration for many retailers to make the most from affiliate marketing. To be a part of the game, it’s crucial to prepare yourself for new challenges. A comprehensive affiliate marketing tool will be the first step to the growth of your business.

Magento 2 Affiliate helps you effortlessly build and manage the campaigns by setting different rules, accounts, and commission tiers. You have full control of your finance since you can follow participants’ behavior, generate discount codes as well as approve requests and withdrawals. With a user-friendly interface, kickstarting your affiliate program is super easy!

In conclusion 

Affiliate marketing is a trendy way to open up new possibilities for the business. When applying it correctly, you can gain huge achievements more than you’ve ever expected. It’s time to shed the light on the effective methods after a long time of hiding behind the myth of a dangerous scam.

We highly recommend using affiliate programs to boost your sales, especially for SMBs. Why ignore such a great way to quickly develop your brand?