The Evolving Digital Market
The marketing world and its strategies are constantly changing and evolving as time progresses. The techniques that worked in the past are no longer relevant or making the cut. Digital marketing is the latest and greatest way to take your company to the next level and ensure your product or service is sold.The digital age and social media boom and influx in recent years have a lot of influence on the way the online market is currently. Social media and having a presence online is a way to stay current and to sell the product or service for your company. A new avenue and fresh approach many companies and businesses have taken are using affiliate links.
What are affiliate leads and how does it work?
An affiliate lead is a type of pay per lead marketing program. The advertiser pays the affiliate revenue they are working with based on the visitors or conversations of leads. In this case, the affiliate can also be an independent contractor. So, how many visitors take the desired action on a site to buy the specific product influences how much the affiliate gets paid.The customer is then brought to a specific URL, link, or coupon code. Finally, when the customer follows the affiliate link on the site as desired the advertiser is able to sell the product or service successfully. This action made by the consumer lines up with the affiliate agreement and the affiliate is paid. In affiliate programs, there is an agreement that breaks down the terms, the relationship between the parties, responsibilities, and restrictions between the affiliate and the advertiser. You need to ensure that the affiliate you choose helps does not hurt your company. Research and time need to be devoted to looking for a good culture fit that would not only increase sales but, represent your brand well.
Most of these programs ask the affiliate to agree to the terms of the affiliate agreement before moving forward and working with the program. The affiliate’s form of payment is mostly commission based depending on the company and its terms but, usually five to ten percent. The internet and online world has now become a place for businesses, content creators, celebrities, and social media influencers to collaborate. A customer trusts and likes to see an individual they admire sharing a new product with them. Simply put, it makes the product more relatable and real for your future customer. This is why affiliate leads have become a fresh and smart way to build trust with future customers, increase exposure, and increase revenue for the overall company.
What are a few examples of affiliate leads?
A few examples of affiliate leads are coupon codes, a specific link or URL that is being advertised that send the customer to the product, registering for a trial subscription, and downloading a whitepaper. Affiliate leads can range on its uses depending on the demographic, the product being sold to the specific consumer and the marketing budget that is set in place.
A very popular product that uses affiliate leads that are used on a variety of popular social media platforms including Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Snapchat is for detox or slimming herbal teas. These teas come from many different brands around the world are usually endorsed by celebrities or reality tv stars to increase the likelihood of customers buying the product and its popularity. By using this form of marketing it is a win-win situation for all parties involved. This signifies that the advertiser’s, the celebrity or endorser of the product, and the consumer benefit from the affiliate lead.
What are the some of the benefits to having affiliate leads for your site?
One of the benefits to an affiliate lead is through the relationship with the affiliate and the site. The lead is able to generate new traffic from the online world and the target demographic and hopefully achieve the goal of having potential customers for their product. Exposure is the goal of any marketing strategy big or small. Living in a digital age having a large online presence is key. Staying current on the right sites and social media platforms will allow you to grow as a brand and company.
New traffic to your site and company is a huge benefit. The affiliate lead will bridge trust between you and the customer which is vital for a consumer to take the next step and buy the product. The customer will more than likely return to the site and spread the information to others about your product.This is a win because the potential customer might not have otherwise had access to the product if had not been advertised and marketed through the affiliate’s website. In addition, with the ever growing and changing market of the internet the company may need to be looking for new affiliates to work with to match their target demographic. So, the method of marketing is constantly growing and adapting to match the current customer.
Tracking Results
Another benefit to affiliate leads is it is a way to track and gauge if your marketing efforts are creating revenue for your business. Tracking the performance will actually lower the amount you will spend on marketing and reduce the chances of wasting money and having bad ROI. So, when spending money on an advertisement or marketing campaign you want to ensure that the investment you are making into a new customer is worth it. Marketing is all about ROI. ROI means the return on investment that is relative to the investment’s original cost. ROI can be calculated with a formula. The formula is: the return of a specific investment divided by the cost of the investment, the end result of this is shown as a percentage or ratio. This formula can be used to track many marketing strategies. With this specific benefit, there is a level of transparency in which as a company you are aware of where your funds are going and how well they are performing.