Finding The Best Affiliate Programs For New Marketers

What are affiliate programs? Affiliate programs are a form of marketing in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for the referral of others. The word “Affiliate” derives from the Greek word Affilia, which means friendship. In its simplest form, Affiliate Program is a reward or benefit program based on friendship and/or rapport. The second most popular form of Affiliate Programs is Contract Program, where merchants offer incentive to affiliates who refer new customers and then pass on the merchants services and products to these new customers once they have been referred.

Affiliate marketing programs by definition offer the marketer a method for reaching out to potentially interested customers without spending valuable resources on marketing. It also offers the marketer’s product, service or information to potential customers at a low-cost or no-cost upfront while making some kind of commission when that customer makes a sale or performs some action. Affiliate programs offer many advantages over conventional forms of advertising. Below are a few common advantages that affiliate programs possess:

Easy Cash Flow. Affiliate Programs offer immediate cash payout. For most Affiliate Programs the payment is immediate. In the early stages of an Affiliate Program, an affiliate may refer a single customer and receive a one-time payout from that referred customer. As an Affiliate grows in the program, they can begin to receive higher payouts for each referred customer and each sale or performance of service or product transaction completed.

High Search Ranking Potential. Affiliate programs offer the best ranking potential. It’s important to remember that search engines place a heavy emphasis on websites with relevant content, as well as those with popular content. That’s why when you place affiliate links on your website, you should also include a strong, relevant and keyword rich description, making sure that you’re providing value to both your readers and the search engines. Keyword research tools can be utilized to help ascertain the best keywords to use for your Affiliate links.

Niche Affiliates. Affiliate programs which target a smaller, more niche audience are the best affiliate programs for beginners. Because these are a smaller target audience, the competition for these marketers is less intense and the chances of success much greater. Because Affiliate Programs are aimed at niche markets, beginners looking to make money online as Affiliate Marketers need to understand that their primary job will be to generate leads for the company, and not to actually convert leads into sales.

Popularity. Before getting involved with any Affiliate Programs, you should research and determine which programs are currently popular among Affiliate Marketers in your niche. Popularity is often a major indicator of whether or not an Affiliate Program will work best for you. It’s important to understand that there are certain methods of marketing which will create massive amounts of traffic, while others will produce results in a far shorter period of time. Popular programs are those which get massive amounts of visitors and those which generate leads which then turn into sales.

Popular platforms. Affiliate Programs which focus on a specific niche or market should focus on a particular platform. If you decide on a platform which does not have enough variety, or has a large amount of overlap, your results may suffer. It’s best to choose a program which targets a particular platform which bests suits your niche and the nature of the product/service that you wish to market.

Commission Rate. Some marketers prefer to offer a high commission rate, others prefer a low commission rate. There are pros and cons to each option, and it’s generally a good idea to learn about the various options so that you can choose an affiliate program which bests suits your financial needs. The higher commission rate, the more money that the affiliate will earn, but it can also be a challenge to find marketers who will commit to this program. The lower commission rate is generally provided by marketers who are brand new to the industry or have limited experience.