Affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing strategy where creators, influencers, and entrepreneurs earn money by promoting a product or service for a retailer.

Affiliates encourage their audiences to visit an online store or marketplace through affiliate links that track where a user came from. While most affiliates get paid when their referrals lead to a sale, some programs also reward leads, free-trial signups, website clicks, or app downloads.

An affiliate network is a platform that connects affiliates with brands and provides tools to generate and manage affiliate links.

Now, let's talk about how to get started with affiliate marketing. Choose a platform and niche. Build an audience. Sign up for an affiliate program. Choose products to promote. Create remarkable content that promotes your affiliate products. Optimize and track. Get paid.

There's tons of competition online and in affiliate marketing. To be the best, you'll need to stay up on the affiliate marketing trends, not only in your vertical but with marketing in general. If you're a master of social media, you don't want to be left behind when the next TikTok hits the scene.

There are no real restrictions on what products an affiliate marketer can promote as long as it can be purchased online using an affiliate link. Physical products, digital products, services, and events are all suitable for promotion. Product or offer owners need to simply offer up an affiliate link and affiliate sales can start taking place.

According to Authority Hacker’s affiliate marketing survey, the average affiliate marketer earns $8,038 per month. However, the average monthly income for an affiliate marketer with less than one year of experience is only $636. So, don’t expect to be successful right away. Affiliate marketing takes time.