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Affiliate marketing Basic Affiliate Tools

Affiliation is a popular business model often used in today’s online marketing. It involves establishing business relationships between companies or individuals to promote products and earn a commission on their sales. In order for an affiliate campaign to  be effective, various affiliate tools are used. What are the basic affiliate tools?

Affiliate marketing – what is it?

To understand  affiliate marketing and refer to affiliate tools, it is worth learning about the mechanisms of affiliation itself. Affiliation – literally translated from Latin (Latin affilatio) – means “adoption” or “incorporation into the family”. In practice, it is a behaviour consisting in establishing and maintaining positive contacts and cooperation by an individual, group or organisation with other groups and organisations. 

In online marketing, affiliation is about establishing voluntary cooperation, the aim of which is to achieve measurable benefits for all parties involved. In the simplest terms, affiliation is about earning money by recommending. The publisher (the owner of a given website or social media profile) receives a commission on the sale of recommended products online from the advertiser’s store, and the advertiser earns money because they sell more in their store thanks to the publisher’s referrals.

An affiliate campaign, on the other hand, can be described as a strategic plan (affiliate strategy) that is based on a partnership between affiliates and advertisers. As part of these activities, affiliate partners typically use specially provided affiliate links to promote the advertiser’s products or services on their websites or social media. Therefore, the advantage of affiliation is the ability to take advantage of the reach of already existing websites, which translates into reaching new customers. Affiliation does not require you to own your own product or store goods.

Affiliate marketing is therefore a multi-model business structure that benefits advertisers, users, and publishers alike. These types of solutions make it possible to increase visibility on the web, maximize sales of products and services, as well as build brand reputation and develop a competitive advantage. What are the basic affiliate tools used in  the affiliate strategy, e.g.  by the ONAFFILIATE agency?

Basic Affiliate Tools

Basic affiliate tools support publishers’ promotional activities, but also allow them to earn money by recommending a product. The basic affiliate tools used in affiliate campaigns by individual affiliates, but also by affiliate agencies,  e.g. ONAFFILIATE, include:

• Affiliate links: these are special links that contain the unique identifier of the affiliate. When a user clicks on such a link and makes a purchase, the affiliate receives a commission. Affiliate links are used primarily on blogs and YouTube channels, podcasts and thematic websites or discount websites. They are also used in search engines and product comparison websites. It’s the perfect tool for making money in social media (Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok), email marketing and SMS campaigns, as well as in SEO activities and recommendation systems.
• Product widgets are tools that allow you to display specific products in the form of an interactive widget on an affiliate’s website. They feature images of the products with the name and price. They have automatically embedded affiliate links that lead to products on the advertiser’s website.
• Banner rotators are popular tools that allow you to rotate different banner ads on an affiliate’s website. Banners are an effective medium of information. They are especially useful when promoting products and services that have been included in a sale, promotion or other special event. It’s a good idea to create rotators that rotate and promote several products. A recommended tool for earning money in places such as: blogs, thematic websites, information portals, websites in a situation where the affiliate has access to html code.
• XML files: contain information about the products available in a given online store. The affiliate can use these cookies to display up-to-date product information on their website. These are so-called data feeds with images, descriptions and product prices. Publishers typically download XML files in their entirety or only for specific product categories. XML files allow for instant compilation of offers, which is why they are recommended for use in product search engines, price comparison websites or product recommendation systems.
• Discount codes are unique – they allow users to get a discount on the purchase of a particular product. The affiliate can share these codes with their users to encourage them to make a purchase. Discount codes are the best way to increase the number of visitors and buyers. They enable consumers to save money. This promotion channel is developing very dynamically, and many Internet users start shopping by searching for attractive discounts and promotions.
• Affiliate platforms allow affiliates to find and manage affiliate programs from different advertisers. Affiliate platforms act as intermediaries between advertisers and publishers (affiliates). These places bring together advertisers from a wide range of industries and connect them with affiliates. Thanks to this, advertisers can expand the sales channel of their services and products, and publishers can earn money on the generated reach. Besides, the company in question provides the affiliates with marketing tools, in exchange for which the affiliates promote their products or services on their websites or in other ways. Affiliate platforms also have their own conversion counting system, which tracks users’ traffic on an ongoing basis and provides both parties with the necessary statistics on sales and visits to specific subpages.
• Link tracking tools m.in. Bitly, Google Analytics. With their help, you can track conversions: when a user clicks on an affiliate link and makes a purchase or other action on the advertiser’s website, the link tracker records this conversion. Besides, link tracking tools provide affiliates with detailed reports on the performance of their campaigns, such as the number of clicks, conversions, commissions earned, etc.

All of these tools are designed to make it easier to manage  your affiliate campaigns and help you  achieve better results in your affiliate marketing efforts – both for individuals and for the affiliate agency.

Is it worth working with an agency when it comes to affiliation?

It all depends on whether the agency specializes in affiliation, i.e. whether it is strictly an affiliate agency and whether it can effectively counteract fraud. If the answer is 2 x yes, it is worth working with such a company. One of them is the ONAFFILIATE agency.

Why?

1. The agency has a proven and controlled database of publishers who are worth cooperating with;
2. ONAFFILIATE affiliate has the know-how and experience to optimize operations;
3. It has tools at its disposal that enable the detection of unfair practices.

When choosing an agency, it is also worth paying attention to the affiliate platform it uses – whether it is a modern tool or an older equivalent – less efficient in activities and data analysis that shows a more complete picture of the campaign and its effectiveness.

Affiliation is one of the ways to make money online. To make it possible at all, and thus profitable for publishers, the so-called affiliate marketing tools were created for its needs. The basic ones include: affiliate links, product widgets, banner rotators, XML files, as well as special systems for managing and distributing discount codes. Are there additional affiliate tools that publishers use? Which ones does Onaffiliate recommend?

What is affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing  is a marketing strategy in which a company compensates one or more partners (affiliates) for each customer attracted by their own marketing efforts.

In practice, affiliate marketing is when an affiliate promotes a company’s products or services on their website, blog, social media channels, etc., and then receives a commission for each conversion: sale, sign-up, or other action performed by a customer who clicked on a given affiliate link.

Affiliate marketing is beneficial for both businesses and affiliates. Here are some examples of some of the benefits:

• Opportunity to earn large sums of money: Publishers have unlimited earning potential. Some affiliates in high-yielding niches can earn significant sums of money every day.
• Low startup costs for publishers: Starting an affiliate business really comes with minimal upfront costs. All you need is cheap hosting, a domain name, and any software or tools that will help you write or generate graphics for better conversion.
• Increase online visibility: Affiliate marketing allows you to increase your online visibility, maximize sales of your products and services, as well as build your brand reputation and develop a competitive advantage.
• Control over your own income: This model is ideal for people who want to gain control over their own income.
• Performance-based advertising: Affiliate marketing is an advertising model that allows businesses to reward third parties for generating traffic and leads4.

To achieve optimal results, any  marketing strategy, including affiliate strategy,  requires proper planning, management, and the ability to use the marketing tools available.

What are affiliate marketing tools?

For an affiliate strategy to  be effective, publishers have a variety of affiliate tools at their disposal. Affiliate marketing tools make it easy to earn money by recommending thousands of products from different brands, from different categories. Publishers make money by choosing products from hundreds of different online stores, and advertisers sell more as a result. What is also very important, thanks to the advanced, but generally available marketing tools that have been created for the needs of affiliation, affiliate campaigns of products and brands are carried out in an unobtrusive and discreet way. It is also a more effective way.

The basic affiliate tools are:

• Affiliate links
• product widgets,
• banner rotators,
• XML files,
• special systems for the management and distribution of discount codes.

But that’s not all. Affiliate links or widgets or banners need to be placed somewhere. However, placing an advertisement in a specific place will not bring a measurable profit. To start making money, you need both  an affiliate strategy and an affiliate campaign using additional tools popular in online marketing.

Additional Affiliate Tools Necessary for the Publisher

What are these tools? Publishers need to have specific tools at their disposal to succeed in affiliation. You can always ask for a hint, e.g. from the Onaffiliate agency.  

Here are some additional and at the same time crucial tools that are useful in effective affiliate marketing:

• Publisher’s website: A website is an important tool in affiliation. This is where affiliate links, advertising banners or product reviews are placed. The same applies to social media channels – here the publisher must have their own profiles, preferably with a certain number of followers.
• Tracking tools: Tracking tools are essential for monitoring the effectiveness of a publisher’s affiliate efforts. And this includes link tracking tools that help you track clicks on affiliate links and monitor campaign performance, or the use of affiliate platforms that allow affiliates to find and manage affiliate programs from different advertisers.
• Affiliate campaigns that help promote products or services and drive traffic to a website. This is where it is worth investing in the right SEO tools and good content marketing. Why? Because search engine optimization (SEO) and content marketing (content marketing) are crucial for increasing the visibility of a website and attracting organic traffic.

Affiliate plugins – what does Onaaffiliate recommend?

Affiliate plugins are tools to make money online and effectively monetize your online activities. They support  the affiliate campaign, facilitate the promotion of products and services available in the affiliate network. Thanks to affiliate plugins, the affiliate gains access to the user panel without having to go to the affiliate network’s website. So you can easily start advertising at your convenience, without leaving the page you’re currently browsing. By using the plugin, the publisher gains access to the most important elements of the panel:

• list of affiliate programs,
• Statistics
• notifications.

In addition, by using the plugin, the affiliate gains access to various types of advertising creations, such as banners, mailings or affiliate links, which can be generated directly from the extension. The plugin also gives you access to exclusive coupons from well-known brands. It’s worth remembering that some of them aren’t available anywhere else.

Here is a list of the most popular affiliate plugins:

• AffiliateWP: This is a business partner management system that stands out for its functionality and is simple to set up.
• Post Affiliate Pro: This plugin comes with all the key features such as commission tracking, campaign management, banner uploads, and report generation.
• Affiliates Manager: With clear instructions, installing and using this plugin is a breeze.
• Affiliates: This is another popular affiliate plugin.
• Ultimate Affiliate Pro: This plugin offers a number of advanced features to manage your affiliate program.
• WordPress Affiliate & Referral: This is a simple and effective way to make money by referring new users from a website powered by WordPress.
• YITH WooCommerce Affiliates: Allows you to automatically create affiliates based on orders made by the customer.

Choosing the right plugin depends on the individual needs and business goals of the affiliate, and the effectiveness of all tools depends on many factors. These include: a well-developed marketing strategy, a selected target group, and the type of products or services. In order not to get lost in the maze of tools and activities, you can ask for support offered  by Onaffiliate affiliate agency.