Online Marketing Pro

Is affiliate marketing real?

The myth that affiliate marketing is a scam or offers a low value source of traffic and sales is simply not true. The reality is that affiliate programs can be as high value as those running the affiliate program make it.

Throughout my 12 years in the industry, I’ve worked with affiliate marketing in many different ways — from affiliate, to freelancer, to in-house management of Shopify’s affiliate program.

Today, I’m putting all that knowledge to work, and walking you through the foundations of the affiliate marketing space, what kinds of affiliate marketers exist today, and how you can get started with affiliate marketing.

You may also like: Affiliates 101: What is the Shopify Affiliate Program and How Can You Successfully Apply

Old school affiliate marketing challenges

Even prior to working with an affiliate program, it was clear to me that affiliate marketing offers a strong opportunity for businesses to quickly expand their reach to fresh audiences, and acquire new customers through partnerships.

Although affiliate marketing has proven itself as a viable customer acquisition channel, to this day I still encounter individuals that react to the word “affiliate” like it’s a dirty word. I completely understand given some of its shadier history.

Old school affiliate programs experienced pain and fraud due to the popularity of black hat methods, such as cookie stuffing, typosquatting, spam, black hat SEO, link-farms, trademark infringement, spyware, and brandjacking (sounds scary, right?).

The better performing affiliates during that time were mostly limited to coupons and deal sites, some content sites, and general business development referrals.

Many brands with affiliate programs couldn’t determine if their affiliate traffic was incrementally lifting sales or just milking the brand’s marketing spend. Neglected affiliate programs can still suffer the same issues outlined above, however, the affiliate programs of today now offer more value than ever before.