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Affiliate
Marketing has been around
since the inception of the
internet. Affiliate
marketing has become
incrementally more effective
each and every year and is
now a multibillion dollar
industry. Without
question affiliate marketing
is now global, with major
brands such as Amazon,
Google and Facebook highly
engaged in the industry.
Affiliate
marketing is a pay for
performance marketing
technique where merchants
engage partners to promote
their products or services
in exchange for a
commission. This pay
for performance model is
what makes it particularly
attractive.
Typically
merchants either engage
affiliates directly or
through a third party
intermediary such as
Commission Junction,
Linkshare or Clickbank.
Key
Factors for Success
To be
successful merchants need to
engage the following:
-
Merchant's
Reputation -
Affiliates join a
particular program due
to the merchant's
reputation as a seller.
Timely payouts and a
strong brand in it's
particular niche is
critical as affiliates
rarely engage in short
term relationships.
-
Recruiting Affiliates
- There are hundreds of
thousands of affiliates
and reaching them is a
challenge. Using
third party networks can
help but promotional
advertising and
marketing is necessary.
As only 10% of your
affiliates will be
responsible for 90% of
the resulting sales,
constant dedication to
affiliate marketing is a
must.
-
Managing Affiliates
- Once the affiliate is
recruited, the merchant
must continually be
increasing the brand's
mindshare with the
affiliate. This
includes a personal
account manager,
performance incentives
and constant support of
the affiliate's
marketing activities in
terms of providing
adequate marketing
materials.
ZMD
Technologies works with
clients to establish, manage
and grow their affiliate
marketing activities.
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