Affiliate Marketing (Affiliate Marketing) Concept and Analysis

Affiliate marketing is the Amazon bookstore in 1996 and pioneered a network marketing model, it is this marketing to help lay a network of retail bookstore Amazon brand status. Six years later, the marketing is not only enduring, but also participate in affiliate marketing as more and more enterprises, affiliate marketing to achieve sales continue to climb, according to Jupiter Communications, Inc. (Jupiter Communications Inc.) Of the research, online consumer market in 1998, total transactions amounting to 5.7 billion U.S. dollars, of which 11% is through affiliate sites introducing reached an estimated consumer market of consumers online in 2002 the total transaction value will reach 37.5 billion U.S. dollars, through affiliate sites introducing a deal will amount to account for 24%. Forrester research company (Forrester Research) estimates are also similar to this: in 2003 there will be 21% of B2C transactions reached through affiliate marketing. Strangely, for such an efficient network of marketing, our scholars rarely been examined, and domestic will be put into practice affiliate marketing business are few. In order to help our country to shake off the Affiliate marketing is a complete blank look, this article the concept of affiliate network marketing, advantages, and China to carry out the idea of affiliate marketing to make a preliminary study.

First, the concept of affiliate marketing

Affiliate Marketing (Affiliate Marketing) in Taiwan, is known as affiliate marketing, some Chinese scholars called the membership of its marketing. Because the formulation of membership marketing, easy and traditional marketing of membership marketing, confused, so this paper the formulation of affiliate marketing. Simply put, affiliate marketing is a web site all on their own Web site (referred to as affiliate sites, affiliate) on the promotion of another business site (known as the flagship website, merchant) of goods and services and on the basis of sales made to achieve a certain percentage of the commission of network marketing.

Affiliate marketing theory originated in the summer of 1996, Amazon Bookstore, an affiliate program launched (associates program), under this program, any Web site can apply to become Amazon affiliate bookstore site to promote their own Web site Amazon’s book business books, and based on the actual types of books sold, and have asked the level of discounts received 5 to 15% commission. The program, once launched, it caused a sensation in the industry. Then join the affiliate marketing program’s website more than the 4,000 the following year broke through 10000 in the summer, the summer of 1998 even reached 10 thousand, the latest figures show that by adding the Amazon Bookstore web site affiliate marketing program has exceeded the total number of of 500,000. It is these affiliated sites make the Amazon bookstore reputation earthquake, becoming the first online retail brands. In the Amazon bookstore, driven by competing online retailers starting to follow suit, the largest U.S. bookstore chain Barnes & Noble Inc. (Barnes & Noble) not only launched its own affiliate site system (affiliate network), also directed the Amazon Bookstore, affiliate marketing The weaknesses of the reform program, the program has been so successful, was eventually forced to amend its own Amazon Bookstore, an affiliate to join the program. In affiliate marketing, the company has achieved great success including eBay Inc. (eBay) and Electronic Toys Co., Ltd. (eToys) such a well-known network of retail enterprises. Today, the concept of affiliate marketing, has spread to the network development in all sectors of companies of all sizes, specializing in affiliate marketing services, web site (www.refer-it.com), people can find more than 6000 House is expanding its affiliate companies. Through the practice of many companies to explore, at present, affiliate marketing theory and the technology has become mature, and become optimistic about the many Internet marketing experts, network marketing.

It is worth mentioning is that affiliate marketing is different from the symbiotic marketing, affiliate marketing sales is actually calculated in accordance with the cost of a network advertising model (that is, Cost Per Sale model), while the symbiotic marketing (sometimes referred to as an alliance of marketing or co-marketing) refers to two or more independent enterprises to achieve the purpose of enhancing the market competitiveness of the resource or project on the cooperation of the marketing methods, we can see that the meaning of affiliate marketing to be much more narrow than the Symbiotic Marketing . Of course, affiliate marketing is also different from pyramid schemes because it does not hierarchical pyramid structure, and sales of the main part of the main site is still in isolation.

Second, the advantages of affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing more traditional network marketing has many advantages, we see it summarized as follows:

First of all, the main website can be through the development of affiliate networks to cost less in a relatively short period of time to establish their own online brand to achieve the rapid growth of online sales. By attracting a large number of sites to their affiliate marketing programs, the company’s flagship website can be many potential competitors into partners, such cooperation to avoid because of excessive competition caused a waste of social resources, especially in marketing costs on a pointless waste of In affiliate marketing, the competition among enterprises into a corporate affiliate networks competition. Use of affiliate marketing, the main site only to the actual generated sales of online advertising pay for advertising costs, so that advertising significantly increased the efficiency of input, so that the cost of acquiring new customers significantly reduced.

Secondly, an affiliate website can join the affiliate marketing program from a low starting point of the rapid changes in the contents of the Web site for e-commerce sites to realize revenue. Many content sites want to earn money by selling online advertising, but in reality only those who truly want to be the most popular site have the attention of advertisers, as compared with ordinary online advertising, affiliate marketing programs do not have access restrictions on the amount of the threshold, the main web site welcome All the site to plan a Web site can also be at the same time adding a number of affiliate marketing programs, which for a number of small Web site offers a rare opportunity to earn income

In addition, online consumers are from affiliate marketing to get benefits. Reduction in the main web site marketing costs led to lower total cost of goods, the main site there is more space to our customers, to provide customers with affordable goods. Affiliate web sites because of financial support, can give online consumers more and better content. Affiliate marketing also gives customers high-quality content in the browser may have more opportunity to find favorite goods.

Therefore, affiliate marketing is one the main site, affiliate sites, and consumers can benefit from all the network marketing.

3, for our country’s development affiliate marketing Thoughts

Compared with Europe and the United States, China’s affiliate marketing is still at a low stage of development, so far, affiliate marketing has been carried out and achieved certain results in nothing more MY8848, Dangdang bookstores, a few home, The reason I believe that China’s current the development of affiliate marketing, there are still three major bottlenecks:

E-payment bottleneck: affiliate marketing, the main site will require the commission income of affiliate sites to make timely settlement, which requires online payment of a certain size, but according to China Internet Network Information Center released data, China’s use of cash on delivery and Post Office **** such traditional means of online payment transactions accounted for more than half of the total trading volume. The development of electronic payment lag, restricted to carry out affiliate marketing.

Business Ethics bottleneck: Affiliate marketing is the main site and affiliate sites to promote and share the joint between the sales profits of the program, and asking partners can take on the basis of mutual trust and common development path, which requires participants, in particular, insist on the main site The standard of business ethics. In China, the business ethics are generally more indifferent, mercenary, treacherous things have occurred, so many business partners with each other to beware of, it is difficult to form a long-term alliance.

The market mechanism bottleneck: Using both can be trusted with the third-party service providers to cooperate to some extent the main site can make up credit deficiencies, but unfortunately, China’s modern market economy short time, the market mechanism is not yet perfect, able to provide marketing services in particular the lack of intermediate links, at present China has not yet appeared in the scale of affiliate marketing service providers.

So, although affiliate marketing has many advantages in theory and in foreign countries a large number of success stories, but in China’s development affiliate marketing there is still a long way to go. In practice, we should note the following points:

First of all, affiliate marketing, network marketing on behalf of our country for some time in the future direction of development of one, but its implementation should pay attention to whether the conditions are met, insist on rational analysis and avoid subjective aggressive. Planned affiliate marketing companies need to have excellent products and good reputation, and marketing services as much as possible and well-known to co-operate, otherwise, would be affiliate marketing program because they can not attract sufficient participation of affiliate sites fail. For the affiliate sites, you need to carefully select the main site, not only the main web-site operators to consider whether the products are competitive, but also take into account the main website adhere to ethical standards of the high and low, accepting good advice, of the, otherwise, it will do for others the wedding dress, can not be substantial in return.

Secondly, affiliate marketing services market, there is a huge business opportunity. Affiliate marketing requires not only software technology solutions, but also the credit intermediary services for those with an excellent reputation and well-known brand merchants, providing credit intermediary services to provide them with a transforming intangible assets into financial assets channels.

Finally, the relevant government departments should also play its function of supervision and management of the market, by providing training, support and other means to guide enterprises to timely adoption of advanced management methods of marketing, say, the Government can on their own website free of charge for the adoption of affiliate marketing model the way enterprises to establish links.

To sum up, affiliate marketing is a promising and efficient network of marketing, our scholars should be given more attention to their enterprises should be actively to look for business opportunities, let us hope that China’s affiliate marketing period of great development The early arrival.