At its simplest, affiliate marketing allows a brand to work with other businesses, publishers or creators and reward them when they generate an agreed result.
That could be a sale, lead, subscription, application or another measurable action.
For niche businesses, it can be particularly valuable.
Instead of trying to build an audience from scratch, brands can work with publishers and communities that have already gathered the right people and earned their trust.
Of course, the reality behind the simple definition is more complex.
There are different publisher types, payment models, tracking methods and ways to structure a programme.
The channel is also evolving. AI is changing product discovery, remuneration models are becoming more varied, and paid tenancy is playing an increasingly important role in many publisher relationships.
I’ll break all of this down in future videos.
What part of affiliate marketing would you like me to simplify next?