The Different Types Of Affiliate MarketingAffiliate marketing programs
has never been as popular before as it is today. Why? There can be a
number of reasons. The most probable reason, however, could be the fact
that the benefits of affiliate marketing have become clearer to a lot
of people now than they were before. Today,
both the merchants and the affiliates can see clearly that affiliate
marketing can work for both of them. The merchant sees affiliate
marketing today as the chance to advertise their products at a lower
cost. The affiliates, on the other hand, sees affiliate marketing as an
easy way of earning profits online by doing what they like most, and
that is by creating websites. Just as the popularity of affiliate
marketing has shifted into greater heights, so has the people's outlook
about it changed. No longer is affiliate marketing considered today as
an alternative method for the merchant to advertise his products, or as
a source of additional income for the affiliates. For merchants and
affiliates alike, affiliate marketing is now considered as a main
source of profits and revenues. So the question now is what type
of affiliate marketing will work best for you? Are all affiliate
marketing programs the same? Are the benefits the same? Or are there
affiliate marketing programs that work better than the others? There
are actually different types or classes of affiliate marketing, and the
number of types will depend on how one will classify them. The most
basic affiliate marketing programs, however, falls under two
categories: pay-per-click (PPC), and pay-per-performance (PPP). . Pay Per Click (PPC) PPC
is the most popular type of affiliate marketing for affiliates with
small websites, and probably the easiest way for them to earn money. In
this affiliate marketing type, the merchant pays his affiliate whenever
a visitor is referred to his site, that is whenever someone clicks
through the merchant's banner or text ads. The affiliate gets paid a
certain amount even if the visitor he referred does not purchase
anything from the merchant's site. However, typical fees for PPC
affiliate programs are small, usually not exceeding a dollar for every
click. . Pay Per Performance (PPP)
PPP affiliate
marketing is the most popular among merchant and is also the most
lucrative type for the affiliates. In this type of affiliate program,
the merchant only pays the affiliate whenever his referral translates
into an action-that is whenever the visitor he has referred actually
buys something from the merchant's site or when the visitor becomes a
lead. This means a lot of savings for the merchant. On the other hand,
it becomes the most lucrative type for the dedicated affiliate, for
commissions in PPP affiliate marketing usually comes in the range of
15% to 20% of the actual product sales. Pay-per-performance
affiliate marketing can be further classified into two popular types:
pay-per-sales (PPS) and pay-per-lead (PPL). o Pay Per Sale (PPS) In
a pay-per-sale type of affiliate marketing, the merchants pay the
affiliate a certain fee whenever the visitor he has referred to the
merchant's site actually buys something from the merchant's site.
Affiliates are often paid on commission basis, although other merchants
would opt to pay a fixed fee. But no matter what the basis of the fee
is, it is generally higher than the fee paid to affiliates in a
pay-per-click affiliate program. o Pay Per Lead (PPL) The
pay-per-lead type of affiliate marketing is a slight variation of the
PPS type and is often used by insurance and finance companies and other
companies who rely on leads for their company to grow. In this type of
affiliate marketing, the affiliate is paid whenever the visitor he
referred to the merchant's site fills up an application form or any
similar form related to the business of the company. Compensation for
this type of affiliate marketing is based on a fixed fee whose rates
approximate that of the fixed fee in the PPS type. Aside from
these three specific types of affiliate marketing, a lot of other
affiliate marketing types exist. If the classification is based on the
depth of the affiliate network, it can be classified as single-tier,
two-tier, and multi-tier affiliate marketing. There is also another
type of affiliate marketing that pays the affiliate each time the
customer he has referred purchases something from the merchant's site. . Single-Tier, Two-Tier, and Multi-Tier Affiliate Marketing These
types of affiliate marketing are based on the different levels or tiers
in the affiliate network by which payments are made. In a single-tier
affiliate marketing program, the affiliates are only paid based on the
direct sales or traffic he has referred to the merchant. All the
previously mentioned affiliate marketing types (i.e. PPS< PPL, and
PPC) fall under the single-tier classification. . In two-tier
affiliate marketing programs, the affiliate is not only paid for the
direct traffic or sales that he refers to the merchant's site, but also
on every traffic or sales referred by various other affiliates who
joined the affiliate program through his recommendation. Multi-tier
affiliate marketing works the same way, although the affiliate gets
additional commission for a wider number of affiliates in different
tiers in the affiliate network. . Residual Income Affiliate Marketing In
residual income affiliate marketing, the affiliate gets paid not only
once for every customer he has referred to the merchant's site. Rather,
the affiliate is also paid whenever the customer he has referred
returns to the site and purchase another product. Compensation for such
type of affiliate marketing is based on either sales percentage
commission or fixed fee basis. The different affiliate marketing
types would virtually work differently for merchants and affiliates
alike, and each would generally have their own list of benefits. Which
type of affiliate marketing will work best for you? It is not really
for me to tell. Rather, it is for you to choose which type of affiliate
marketing program will suit your needs and characteristics best.
|