‘Pay for Performance’ marketing, popularly known as Affiliate Marketing is one of the most gainful means of building reputation and making money online. In the previous post, we got acquainted with the basics of Affiliate Marketing, now one of the most established modes of Web-based marketing. Here are the various beneficial elements that can make it mutually beneficial for both merchants and affiliates:

1. Traffic holds key in the online world, as the merchant can get the benefit of a potentially much larger user base. He is able to expand the business – with each participant added to an affiliate program. This allows the merchant to sell more services and products in a focused and cost-effective manner.
2. A merchant is able to create further lucrative avenues thanks to affiliates for attaining the goal of enhanced reach, increased traffic, greater leads, and enhanced sales. No surprise, many merchants seek proactive affiliates who would be a perfect fit for their respective business domain.
3. The affiliate is trying to locate the best niche to focus energies on, whereas the merchant is constantly thinking of striking a profitable partnership. A third-party seller, forum, directory, or blog that has the capacity to draw targeted traffic will always be in demand.
4. On the one hand, affiliates promote a business, without being an employee. The relationship lets them be their own boss. On the other hand, it frees the merchant from the overhead costs usually associated with an inflated customer-service or sales team.

Though it successfuully increases product sales or generates more leads in most cases, as with any business model, there are some tricky areas to consider and negotiate before forging a partnership for online Affiliate Marketing. Let us find out some of the vital aspects to be looked into before opting for an affiliate program:

1. An affiliate program’s initial cost, depending on its scope needs to be factored in before going ahead with it. It is best to work out the framework right from the start, so as to meticulously plan your affiliate approach.
2. The merchant’s inability in certain cases, to monitor the validity of clicks, leads, or perhaps sales can lead to some differences over metrics. Also, it is not always easy to enforce how one’s service or product is represented.
3. There is a possibility of some affiliates exaggerating copy to convince online visitors to click-through. Though it’s up to the merchant when it comes to closing the deal, and not the affiliate, the former will invariably face customer’s ire should the final product/service fails to live up to the hype created by the affiliate.
4. Inflated expectations remain a concern for a merchant for whom it’s advisable to put in place some checks and balances in place. The independent affiliates will take over after initial set-up. The return on investment (RoI) can be greatly enhanced with a proper monitoring protocol and a good tracking system. So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and start reaping the rewards…

In the next post, we shall know about some of the major Networks that make an integrated and comprehensive program.