As I have already discussed in a couple of my earlier articles about affiliate marketing,affiliate network,etc. What is it and how it is one of the easiest way to earn money passively by selling others product or services. However it is confusing how to begin it.
If you are new to this kind of digital marketing and want to make profit by selling others products or services, then you should first decide on two options i.e whether to join an affiliate program or an affiliate network.
If you are confused in this topic, then let’s dive into details and discuss the difference between affiliate network and affiliate program.
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What is an affiliate network?
An affiliate network is a marketplace which acts as an intermediate between the affiliate(the person who wants to make a profit by selling others products) and the merchant(people those who own the products).
Affiliate networks set up affiliate marketing offering for affiliate programs so that affiliates can easily find out them and participate. By joining any affiliate network, you will be able to join a group of potential affiliate those will help in improving your online marketing strategy. It aims at allowing the affiliate program to reach more people.
Pros and cons of affiliate network
Pros of joining an affiliate network
After joining an affiliate program, it helps in growing your affiliate sales far more faster than creating your own affiliate program. You can directly start your affiliate marketing immediately. No need to search for affiliates, set up campaigns, no long research hours and enquires. You can start wining new customers directly as the affiliate network will take care of these for you.
Apart from affiliate access, there is no need to set up the platform, no need to find a good tracking software, communication and security. This will be taken care by the affiliate network.
You will also be able to measure the statistics of the network and their success with other brand and they will also give you tips and advice.
Cons of joining an affiliate network
The cost behind joining affiliate network is more. You have to pay for sign up and also affiliate network will take a cut of your revenue on your commission. Even sometimes you have to pay a monthly fee without a commission. As they are going to do the legwork for you, so you will have to pay the network its fee.
You should budget at least a few hundred dollars as a setup fee, deposit, transaction fee, and monthly minimum.
What is an affiliate program?
Most of the businesses launch their own affiliate programs. Affiliates join their program and promote their product or services. In return they get a commission for each sale. Affiliate programs comes directly from a company without any intermediaries. An affiliate program is a profitable way to boost a company’s marketing efforts.
How do affiliate program work?
- The first step to do affiliate program is to join a affiliate program. You should be able to join more than one program so that you can maximize your profit.
- After getting the approval the affiliate get instant access to a variety of offers coming from various niches.
- As an affiliate you got access to a ton of advertising assets that come with an offer: ad creatives, copy texts, landing pages, visuals, email templates.
- Upon joining an affiliate program, you will be assigned a unique affiliate ID. You have to attach the affiliate ID to every campaign you launch to promote a chosen offer. When the user buys the product or services via your campaign, the ID allows the network and the merchant to track that conversion back to you.
Pros and cons of starting an affiliate program
Pros of joining an affiliate program
Setting up your own affiliate program is the best way for your business. You have the control of almost everything. You can adjust your settings without worrying about external terms and conditions.
Although there is a startup cost, you don’t have to pay the sign up fees. You don’t have to giveaway a portion of your pay to third party network.
Cons of joining an affiliate program
However if you start your own affiliate program, then you have to reach affiliates. You can do this by reaching out to influencers and celebrities in your industry.
Setting up the program also takes some time. You’ll need to configure all the settings. You have to also learn how to use your choosen software to manage your affiliates.