Who says a shiny new MacBook or a next gen phone are forbidden fruits, for students? You don’t have to be a billionaire or be EMI bound, to purchase these. Affiliate Marketing is the new-age fairy godmother to all money woes while in college. It provides a side income, introduces financial concepts like saving, investing and is also handy for a rainy day.
Affiliate marketing has increased exponentially in the last five years with over 50% traffic generating from smartphones. In fact, Amazon Associates leads globally with a 43.7% market share. By 2027, affiliate marketing expected to exceed $30 Billion.
Understanding Affiliate Marketing
In a nutshell, Affiliate Marketing means being a digital salesperson who promotes services or products of companies online and make sales. This is done using unique tracking links, social media and even Vlogs. You earn commission on every click, lead or sales. This commission may be a certain percentage of the sale or a fixed fees.
Why Affiliate Marketing is the Ultimate Glow-Up
- Choose your passion: Go for a product or service of your interest.
- Free Personalised Branding: Nothing works like a freebie! Your opinions become influencers and it’s a great move for your future career.
- Flexible: No strict rules, deadlines or time schedules. Can be done anywhere and anytime.
- Stress-Free: You can work independently, at your own pace.
Your Skills Level-Up
Instead of earning a certification in crucial workplace skills or technical skills, affiliate marketing does an on-the-job training. Here’s a checklist:
- Content Pro-Max: Whether copywriting, editing videos or speaking on-the-go, your content creation skills get an upgrade.
- Social Media Ace: E-mail campaigns, social media ads or even persuasive blogs give an insight into digital marketing skills.
- Data Analytics: By acing the numbers game, you’re learning a futuristic skill.
- Critical Soft Skills: Negotiation, persuasion, people-skills, strong communication are topline skills that are necessary for workplace.
The ‘Inside Edge’ Skills
- Agility, adaptability, creativity
- Understanding what people want/expect
- Social impact, tech savviness
- Learning to deal with challenges
Before you begin
An early bird gets the worm. You can zoom ahead with learning basics of video editing, graphic design. And copywriting. Familiarise yourself with keyword research, how to make meta descriptions and more. Improve your storytelling skills and figure out your target audience, their challenges and aspirations.
How to be an Affiliate Marketing Boss
- Identify your passion- Whether you’re a gadget or skincare freak, your authenticity and interest will shine through your online efforts. This will give an extra zing and create a happier bank account.
- Know your market- Don’t get swayed by big bucks. Ensure the product you’re marketing has a demand and isn’t saturated.
- Social Media Power- Harness this with engaging reels, relatable posts and links in the description.
- Blog it- An engaging copy and headline can beat a thousand pictures. Give tutorials, compare with other products and write a genuine review.
- Track- It’s wise to follow trends. But also experiment with different content formats and explore which links get maximum clicks.
Popular Platforms
- Flipkart Affiliate
- Cuelinks
- Amazon Associates
- BigRock Affiliate
- vCommission
- Earnkaro
Do’s and Don’ts
- Always disclose affiliate links to ensure you’re not banned online.
- Use multiple platforms instead of banking on one.
- Be consistent. Overnight success Read disclosure rules carefully.
- Don’t promote everything blindly. Choose wisely.
Future Trends
- Short form videos with byte sized content that captures everything.
- Hyper personalisation will drive the products and services markets.
- Content creation will tilt more towards AI and generative AI to create copies, images and videos.
- Micro influencers will occupy a sizeable portion of the market because of higher relatability and trust value.
Amity Advantage
- Ticket to the World Stage: Opportunities for internships and research with leading global giants.
- Toolkit for a Byte Hero: Design thinking projects that sharpen problem-solving and creativity.
- Innovation Playground: State-of-the-art labs where ideas move from concept to prototype.
- Placements: Consistently breaking records, Amity University Noida offers placements up to Rs 2 crore annually with opportunities in over 500 corporates, including Fortune 500 firms.
Conclusion
It’s wise to start small, do research, and stay consistent. It’s the secret to a good side hustle.
