The Internet has brought new possibilities for advertising and made it easier to monitor its effectiveness like no other medium before. In the Czech Republic, a very neglected part of online advertising is affiliate marketing, which we will introduce in this series. First, we will focus on the basic concepts associated with affiliate marketing, in other parts we will analyze the situation abroad and in the last part we will compare the situation in the world with the Czech market.
What is affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is a form of online advertising in which merchants offer webmasters (affiliate partners) a financial reward for bringing a visitor to perform a predetermined activity on the seller’s website (for example, purchasing a product or service, registering a newsletter). In Czech, the term commission sale is often used for affiliate marketing, but it is not completely accurate, because the reward does not always have to be paid only for arranging the sale.
Webmasters can embed an affiliate code link in their sites, in emails, discussions and forums, or directly in contextual search engine advertising. They are rewarded when a visitor clicks on a link and then buys something on the merchant’s website, for example. However, because the purchase is not always made immediately after clicking on the link, visitors usually stay for a certain period of time (for example, using a cookie). The period for which the user cookie is valid is usually around 30 days. A hot new feature of some programs is also the award of a commission after simply displaying the advertisement, which also captures cases where the customer, for example, enters the address manually. Make a visit to www.james-scholes.com/evergreen-wealth-formula-review for the understanding of the Evergreen Wealth Formula.
The beginnings of affiliate marketing
Amazon, who introduced its program in 1996, is generally considered to be a pioneer in affiliate marketing. However, many witness webmasters are well aware that affiliate marketing was used on some erotic sites, for example, long before 1996. But Amazon was the first to attract a large number of operators. They are ordinary websites and use their potential. Today, Amazon says it has more than 900,000 sites working with it.
At the end of the 1990s, affiliate networks gradually began to emerge – portals offering technological solutions for the operation and management of affiliate programs. Today, these networks provide most of the open programs abroad, and few companies manage the program on their own. The situation is the opposite in the Czech Republic. The reasons that contribute to this will be discussed in more detail in the third part of this series.
The Additional Options
In addition to ready-made technology solutions, affiliate networks offer access to a large number of website operators. They also sponsor the program in their own name, which should at least partially guarantee affiliate partners that they will actually receive the earned commissions. The networks take part of the commission paid for their services.