What is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is a process whereby a website owner rewards one or more "affiliates" for each visitor or customer brought about by the affiliate's marketing efforts.

How does it work?

The affiliate marketing industry has four players:

• the Merchant (the website owner)
• the Network
• the Publisher
• the Consumer

Generally when using the word "affiliates" we are referring to a combination of Publishers and Networks. The market is now so large and complex that a secondary tier, Affiliate Management Agencies, has evolved. This is the role played by Adaptive Consultancy.

Managing Affiliate Programmes

Successful affiliate programmes require significant work and maintenance. Generating sales in a marketplace filled with competitors of equal quality and size makes it difficult for merchants to be noticed.

As internet marketing has become increasingly sophisticated, merchants need to meet significant requirements in order to be successful.

These requirements are often too onerous for most merchants to manage in-house. This is a service Adaptive manages on behalf of merchant clients.

Key Facts on Affiliates

• They act as intermediaries between publishers (affiliates) and merchants.
• They allow website publishers to more easily find and participate in affiliate programmes which are suitable for their website.
• They allow merchants to reach a larger audience by promoting their affiliate programs to all of the publishers participating in the affiliate network.