Perfecting the Art of Marketing

With the trend switching towards digital marketing, the art of affiliate marketing and influencer marketing has become necessary to perfect. Over the years, traditional advertising through print media and televisions has died down due to the shift towards technology. Marketing has become more of a rat race, where competitors are always trying to one up on each other. In this competitive atmosphere, the tide has switched towards influencer marketing agencies and affiliate marketing agencies.

When we consider social media influencers vs. affiliates, we need to understand a simple difference. Social media influencers are people with a huge number of followers. Different brands target these influencers to reach out to their target audience because the influencers are considered a more credible source for the recommendation to come from. The loyal fan following considers the influencer’s recommendation to be reliable and consequently, the followers end up purchasing the brand’s products or services. On the other hand, affiliates usually partner with e-commerce websites. This allows customers to be redirected to the brand’s page once they click on the URL posted on the website.

How does it all work?

In more detail, affiliate marketing means that you become a part of an affiliate program and choose a product that is to be promoted. Upon your selection, you get a unique affiliate link which you promote through your social media forum. Once the customer is on the affiliate site to buy an item, he/she is redirected to the merchant site. If the customer ends up buying something from the merchant’s site, the affiliate is paid a specific share of the payment. (Refer to Services for details)

Let’s just take the example of Instagram influencer marketing and Instagram affiliate marketing. Instagram has become the most effective social media channel for advertising. This is the reason that most brands now usually use this platform to market their products and services. For instance, not many people would be following pages of dental or skin care brands. However, such posts are now becoming increasingly common through celebrity accounts, being labelled as sponsored posts, or with a hashtag to be followed, or with a suggestion to join a giveaway contest and so on. Similarly, instagram affiliate marketing means that these pages have the brand’s URL posted on their accounts, eventually redirecting the follower to the brand’s page that they are affiliated with.

What is the role of agencies?

Having established this difference, we can understand the role of an influencer marketing agency and an affiliate marketing agency. With the growth of digital media marketing, the role of these agencies has become increasingly important. The reason for this is that the two agencies basically take away the burden of marketing from the brands. They do this by acting as a link between the two parties, namely the brand and the affiliate/influencer’s channel. The advantage of this process is that the brands no longer have to see which influencer, blog or publisher focuses on their targeted audience or where the placing of the advertisement will be more effective, because they have someone else doing it for them. An added benefit that usually comes with these agencies, especially with affiliate marketing agency, is that they do not require you to make a payment until the targeted customers make a purchase or the campaign is finalized e.g through platforms like Influencer Hub.

Which form of marketing should you choose?

The question to ask here is which of the two should a brand go for? The answer to that is dependent on various factors such as:

1. Your goals as a brand
2. Your target market
3. Your budget

1. Your Goals as a Brand

If the goal of the brand is to create a hype regarding a sale or a launch event, then they should choose influencer marketing because it can have a quicker impact on potential customers. However, if the goal is routine marketing, then the business can opt for affiliate marketing.

2. Your Target Market:

Target market is a major factor when it comes to types of marketing. In today’s age, we notice that social media use is more centred towards the younger generation, the millennials. So if the product or service is more generalized towards the needs and interests of the younger generation, it is a good option to use influencer marketing. However, if you want that only a specific audience is targeted and the product or service is only meant for a particular group of people then it is wiser to opt for affiliate marketing.

3. Your Budget:

Your budget is a significant factor in determining what type of marketing you end up choosing. When a brand needs vast exposure and has a high budget, they should opt for influencer marketing. Influencers generally charge a greater amount of money; therefore they should be opted for if a brand has a high budget or if the influencer has a similar target audience as theirs e.g. sports related items could be marketed through a soccer player’s channel.

Affiliate marketing is a viable option when the budget is comparatively low. Affiliate marketing can at times give you the option of ending the campaign without charge as well. So if you think this might be a possibility, then the appropriate option is affiliate marketing. Moreover, affiliate marketing means that the affiliate has to be paid when a purchase is made from the merchant site. Therefore, the payment to be made is matched with an increase in the business’s revenue. 

Where to go from here?

The trend has greatly shifted towards influencer and affiliate marketing in the US. According to recent statistics around 15% of the revenue of different businesses comes from affiliate marketing programmes. Besides this, around 75% of the shoppers in the United States check different affiliate websites when making a purchase. With this shift and increasing dependency upon varying digital marketing techniques, it has become necessary for every brand to compete on social media forums as it is the only way to survive in the market.

Therefore, if you are looking for someone who knows how to keep up with digital media marketing requirements, you do not need to look any further. Influencer Hub is an affiliate marketing agency based in Tampa, Florida. We act as a bridge between different brands and influencers by connecting businesses with influencers that meet their needs and interests. Influencer Hub offers convenience and helps you customise the campaign to suit your requirements. One additional advantage is that there is no subscription fee and it’s free for you till your marketing campaign is finalized or a product or service is sold. Therefore, if you ever feel the need, contact us freely through our website.