Affiliate Marketing 101
What is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing strategy where businesses reward partners for driving sales through their marketing efforts. These partners are called affiliates.
Affiliates list or promote products (or services) through unique affiliate links that show where the visit came from. They earn a commission for each successful referral, thanks to that unique tracking link.
These links have major benefits for brands, too. You can see exactly where your sales are coming from, which partners drive the most sales, and prove the ROI of your marketing programs.
The Affiliate Model
The affiliate model is made possible with these three parties:
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Merchant (Brand): The business or brand looking to sell a product or service.
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Affiliate (Creator): The partner promoting the merchant’s product in exchange for a commission.
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Consumer: The end-user who purchases the product or service through the affiliate’s marketing efforts.
Affiliate marketing uses a partner’s reach and credibility to introduce or recommend products to a broader audience, making it a win-win situation for the business and the affiliate.
What is an Affiliate Marketing Platform?
An affiliate marketing platform is how businesses manage the programs they’re running. On these platforms, they can see tracked referrals, manage payouts to affiliates, and dig into the analytics to optimize their programs.
Some of the key functions you’ll find on an affiliate marketing platform include:
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Tracking: Monitoring the performance of affiliates through unique referral links.
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Management: Organizing affiliate relationships, communications, and terms.
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Payment: Automating commission payments to affiliates based on performance.
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Analytics: Providing insights into which affiliates and marketing tactics are most effective.
Some popular affiliate marketing platforms that facilitate these functions include Mavely, Rakuten, Partnerize, Ascend, AWIN, ShareASale, and Avant a Link.
While they all differ slightly, these platforms offer a similar set of tools to help businesses scale their affiliate marketing efforts efficiently.
How do Affiliate and Influencer Marketing Work Together?
Working with affiliates is a great way to track the ROI of your influencer marketing program.
Creators and influencers make the perfect affiliates – they have engaged followings, connect your brand to new audiences, and often develop lasting relationships with brands.
By setting up the influencers you already work with on your affiliate platform – or finding new ones who align with your campaign goals – you’ll be able to track the performance and prove the value of your influencer marketing program.
Your search for the perfect affiliate marketing platform is over. With ’s integration with Mavely, brands can track performance and manage campaigns with ease.
Book a demo to see how it works today.
