Affiliate schemes are a relatively low-cost and low-risk way for online businesses to get other website owners and online influencers to promote products, since payment is usually only made 90 days after a successful purchase is tracked (i.e. after the risk of a chargeback or refund has passed).
Some affiliate schemes are “in-house” whereas others use a third party platform to provide a measure of reassurance to both merchant and affiliate that tracking and payments are being handled in a transparent and accurate manner.
An affiliate network is a service which connects retailers (primarily online retailers, or those who have an online store, but it can extend to those who have only a bricks and mortar sales outlet!) with affiliate marketers, in order to facilitate this relationship as a third party.
Its worth quickly understanding what affiliate marketing is before delving into the networks who provide such services.
Affiliate marketing is a form on advertising which is Paid on Results. The precise result being sought depends upon the aims and objectives of the retailer, but usually it is CPA (Cost Per Acquisition), or CPL (Cost Per Lead).
With Cost Per Acquisition, the thing being acquired is a customer: or sale. So the most basic idea is the marketer is paid a flat fee or a percentage fee when a sale is initiated based on their link or banner or other marketing promotion.
In the above situation, it is plain that two things are necessary for an affiliate program to be successful: trust and tracking. For this, enter the affiliate network.
The network provides the technology to track clicks, impressions, conversions, sales and everything else – and handle the finances – in order to maintain the trust between the marketer and the retailer.
The marketer wants to be paid. The retailer wants real sales to be encouraged without (things like) brand bidding on trademarked terms; or saying outrageous claims to encourage sales; or things like this. These are the types of things a good affiliate network will iron out for clients on both sides of the fence.
The following are affiliate networks which either operate today, or did in the recent past:
There are other services, but these are some of the bigger, and better known, examples.
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