January 07, 2022

What Are Affiliate Marketing Programs and How Can They Earn You Money?

You’ve probably interacted with an affiliate marketer at some point in your recent history.

Whether you consume product recommendation videos on YouTube or follow influencers on Instagram, you’ll have come across an affiliate marketing link – you may not be aware of doing so.

What Are Affiliate Marketing Programs and How Can They Earn You Money?: eAskme
What Are Affiliate Marketing Programs and How Can They Earn You Money?: eAskme


This article will lay out what affiliate marketing programs are and detail how you can make the most of them generate extra cash.

We also let you know the best affiliate programs of 2021, helping you become a successful affiliate marketer.

What is affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing is the strategy by which a person generates online revenue for themselves and the brand they’re marketing.

Any affiliate marketer will be a member of an affiliate marketing program.

Typically, the program will provide the affiliate marketer with a unique link – it’s this that the marketer then uses to promote a company’s services and products.

Every time a member of the public clicks on the affiliate link, that affiliate can earn money – this is called an affiliate commission.

What are affiliate marketing programs?

Affiliate marketing programs are the companies that facilitate this exchange between the affiliate marketer and the brand whose service or products the marketer is promoting.

There are different kinds of affiliate marketing programs. These can be broken down into five main types: social, search, content, coupon, and email.

Although the concept of affiliate marketing predates Amazon, it was the retail tycoon which brought it into the mainstream in 1996.

Whether they’re a vlogger, blogger, influencer, or otherwise, the affiliate marketer would put links to Amazon products on their content, which then generates that marketer money, depending on their affiliate contract.

Examples of good affiliate marketing programs include Amazon, Etsy, and eBay.

How can affiliate marketing programs make you money?

Different affiliate marketing programs will pay you differently and at different calendar times.

If you’re looking to become an affiliate marketer, you’ll need to do your research to ensure that the program you’re looking to join earns you money in a way that suits you.

Typically, these are the three ways that you can expect to get paid by affiliate marketing programs:

Pay per click:

This relies on the affiliate marketer creating engaging, focused content that encourages audiences to click on the affiliate link.

The affiliate marketer is paid based on increased web traffic, but their pay depends on the program to which they’re connected.

Pay per sale:

This is the most common payment process used by affiliate marketing programs.

After a consumer purchase the product to which the affiliate marketer has directed them, the merchant will then pay that marketer.

The payment is contingent on a successful sale.

Pay per lead:

This is more complex than either of the above processes, as it’s based on the marketer converting what’s called ‘leads’ rather than sales.

In a digital marketing language, ‘leads’ are potential customers interested in what a company has to offer.

If an affiliate marketer is paid per lead, they’re paid for the number of people they send to a consumer’s website who then consent to receive a service or product – like a newsletter, for example.

Still have any question, do share via comments.

Share it with your friends and family.

Don't forget to join the eAskme newsletter to stay tuned with us.

Other handpicked guides for you;

7 Ways to Grow Instagram Audience for Business