AFFILIATE MARKETING
Why Successful Businesses Embrace Affiliate Marketing

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Even though the marketing world has seen some significant new trends and technologies, one strategy has impressively risen in popularity in recent years: affiliate marketing.
While affiliate marketing has been around for years, it has recently taken a front seat in the media as a “side hustle.” Millennials and Generation Z have taken a recent liking to the idea of earning money passively, and affiliate marketing has proven to be a tried and true method for doing so.
And why is it so popular? I’ll give you two big reasons:
- It’s easy for brands and businesses to manage.
- Financially speaking, it’s a win-win.
Let’s break down how affiliate marketing reached this point and the benefits your brand could miss.
Related: 5 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Boost Their Visibility with Affiliate Marketing
The origin of affiliate marketing
First, a little history lesson. If you didn’t know, the concept of affiliates came from the PC Flower and Gifts founder, William J. Tobin, originating in the late 1980s and early 1990s. But it wasn’t until Amazon that the program became more fleshed out and open to the public.
Amazon’s idea was to allow individuals to promote their products and earn commissions on sales generated through their referrals. This concept, of course, was revolutionary as it introduced a performance-based marketing approach, where brands only paid for actual results, such as sales or leads.
Over time, this model gained traction, and when paired with our current technological advancements, it became a mainstream marketing strategy that brands couldn’t afford to participate in.
Related: 3 Tips to Get Started with Affiliate Marketing
The reasons behind the craze
Enter the current day, and affiliate marketing has exploded in popularity. Its current rise can be linked to several key factors.
First, the exponential growth of e-commerce over the past decade has been a significant motivation for affiliate marketing, with more people shopping online than ever. More online shopping has created more opportunities for creators or affiliates to promote the products and services they love while also gaining a little commission.
For marketers and brands — especially small businesses – affiliate marketing is attractive thanks to its low cost and low barriers to entry. On a tight budget, affiliate marketing is a great way to maximize ROI without breaking the bank.
Top that off with the rise of dependency on social media for creators and brands – specifically influencer marketing. It’s easier than ever for people to build an audience online and generate more revenue both for themselves and for brands through the simple process of promoting products and services.
With all that in mind, it’s no surprise the affiliate marketing industry is growing so rapidly, being worth over $17 billion today. Now, let’s look at why the rise of affiliate marketing is a win for brands.
Related: When the World Goes Dark, Will Your Business Keep the Lights On?
Benefits for brands
Brands have much to gain from participating in affiliate marketing and a lot to lose by ignoring it. Here are just a few of the reasons why…
Firstly, it is a great extension of their marketing team — using their affiliates to connect with new and eager audiences at a lower cost.
Secondly, it enhances a brand’s credibility. Positive reviews and recommendations from trusted affiliates can significantly boost a brand’s reputation.
Consumers tend to trust product endorsements from individuals they follow and admire. Think about it – when was the last time you purchased something solely because you saw it in a video or a photo?
Furthermore, affiliate marketing can improve a brand’s SEO efforts. Backlinks can act as roads to your website. With backlinks ranging from a variety of affiliate websites, you end up creating a large roadmap of products that ultimately lead to your website and improve your visibility efforts.
What’s next for affiliate marketing
With all of that said the future of affiliate marketing looks highly promising.
We will likely see a surge in personalization efforts. With tracking systems and the evolution of content marketing, brands can tailor their affiliate marketing strategies to individual consumer preferences to deliver a more personalized and engaged shopping experience.
Additionally, we have seen new social media platforms pop up quickly in recent years — the more, the merrier. More platforms = more opportunities for success.
Lastly, the future of affiliate marketing will be shaped by evolving consumer preferences and online shopping behaviors. With an increasing number of consumers relying on online platforms for their shopping needs, affiliates and brands will continue to have new opportunities to drive interest and improve ROI.
As brands continue to realize the benefits of this marketing strategy, it is likely to remain a prominent fixture in the marketing landscape. By leaning on their affiliates, brands can expand their reach, improve credibility, and drive revenue while providing affiliates with a profitable and flexible income source.
So, should your brand embrace affiliate marketing? The answer is clear: YES!
AFFILIATE MARKETING
Best deals this week: Get up to 40% off brands like Xbox, Hydro Flask, KitchenAid

Friday, December 1, 2023 5:33PM

An image of Xbox, KitchenAid mixer, Hydro Flask and Airtag.
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As a participant in multiple affiliate marketing programs, Localish will earn a commission for certain purchases. See full disclaimer below*
Christmas is coming, and with that comes some great weekly sales for your holiday and Christmas gift shopping. Below, we’ve rounded up the five best deals you can shop for right now. Like all sales, the discounted rates mentioned below may go up at any time, so make sure to fill your carts up soon before they expire. Each deal is also vetted by our team of deal experts, so you know the products you’re buying are either top-rated, staff favorites or from a brand we trust.
Best deals of the week

Anker Soundcore 2 Portable Bluetooth Speaker
Highly affordable yet mightily powerful, the Anker Soundcore 2 will solve all of your speaker needs without breaking the bank.

KitchenAid Ultra Power Hand Mixer
One of the bestselling products during Amazon’s Black Friday week, the KitchenAid Ultra Power Hand Mixer is currently still on sale for all your baking and whisking needs.

This amazing value deal for the 4-pack AirTag is perfect for the family to keep track of all their belongings.

The Hydro Flask stainless steel is on sale for all your water needs throughout the holidays.

Xbox Series X – Diablo IV Bundle
The Xbox Series X Diablo IV Bundle is one of the bestselling Walmart items this past week, so get your bundle at its lowest price just in time for the holiday season.
By clicking on the featured links, visitors will leave Localish.com and be directed to third-party e-commerce sites that operate under different terms and privacy policies. Although we are sharing our personal opinions of these products with you, Localish is not endorsing these products. It has not performed product safety testing on any of these products, did not manufacture them, and is not selling, or distributing them and is not making any representations about the safety or caliber of these products. Prices and availability are subject to change from the date of publication.
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AFFILIATE MARKETING
With Its Novel Affiliate Model, The Sporting News Bets on Lifetime Value

Sports publisher The Sporting News raised $15 million in Series A funding in September, in large part because of the unique affiliate marketing model it employs.
The company, like a growing number of sports media newsrooms, generates revenue from referring its readers to sportsbooks and gambling operators.
But unlike traditional affiliate models—where retailers like Amazon pay publishers like Wirecutter on a cost-per-acquisition basis each time a customer makes a purchase—The Sporting News uses a revenue-share structure, meaning that it receives a percentage of the lifetime value of the new customers it sends to gambling operators.
“When it comes to delivering a customer to a platform with a longer use case, it is short-sighted to take a one-time fee,” The Sporting News CEO Rich Routman said. “If I send someone to a streaming platform, and they spend $10 a month for five years, why would I take a $20 bounty? I’ll take $2 a month for five years.”
The model enables The Sporting News to act more as a long-term partner to the sportsbooks it works with, sharing in their successes by generating revenue when their referrals spend money. This year, the sports-betting industry in the U.S. is projected to generate $7.62 billion in revenue, according to Statista.
Interest in this kind of model has risen as publishers look to diversify their revenue streams.
While affiliate marketing and commerce are critical in these efforts, they are challenging because publishers have to stack up thousands—if not millions—of individual purchases to make the operation worthwhile.
But revenue-share models let publishers generate recurring income from the customers they generate while placing the onus on them to source quality referrals—a dynamic similar to performance advertising.
Potential in other publishing sectors
The revenue-share model is commonplace in Europe, where the sports-betting market is more mature. The Dutch firm Better Collective, for instance, projects 2023 revenues of $345 million, according to company filings.
But it’s rarer in the U.S., where gambling on sporting events became legal federally just five years ago. So far, only sports publishers have embraced the model, as it functions best in industries in which customers have high lifetime values.
But there is no technical reason why it wouldn’t suit other media companies with similar market dynamics, such as software sales or subscription services, said Bryce Widelitz, vice president of publisher innovation at partnerships management platform impact.com.
AFFILIATE MARKETING
How Creators Are Powering Social Commerce

Storyboard
In the ever-evolving landscape of social media and shopping, a profound shift is underway as retail giants like Amazon and Walmart, along with social media platforms such as TikTok and YouTube, rely on creators to delve deeper into social commerce.
At the forefront of this transformative journey are creators, emerging as pivotal players in steering the course of social commerce.
From Walmart launching its own creator marketplace to the emergence of TikTok Shop, here are the key developments.
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