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Digital Marketing 101

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What Is Digital Marketing?

Put simply, digital marketing (also known as affiliate marketing) is where you promote somebody else’s product or service, by referring traffic (people), in return for a commission in the event that a product or service is then purchased. This commission is payable to you by the product owner and does not impact the price that the buyer actually pays. As a result, everyone benefits from the transaction.

Digital Marketing Benefits

Beginner Friendly
Can Be Automated
Flexible Model
Global Potential
Laptop / Phone & Wifi
Low Start Up Cost
No Customer Service
No Payment Processing
No Product Fulfilment
No Stock Required
Passive Income
Recurring Revenue
Unlimited Potential
Unlimited Product Choice
Work Anytime
Work Anywhere

Chris Statham

Digital Marketing Expert

As you can see from this Digital Marketing 101 overview, it’s a pretty cool business model! Furthermore, anyone can do this.

Numerous Promotion Methods
Model Has Stood The Test Of Time
Digital & Physical Products
Proven Business Model

Digital Marketing 101

Proven Business Model • Replicate Success

Digital marketing (otherwise known as affiliate or referral marketing) is simply a process whereby you advertise a product or service on behalf of a third party, and when a sale is subsequently achieved you then receive a commission for the referral. Referrals are tracked via you own unique affiliate link.

As mentioned in the previous section, when you join a digital marketing program you will receive your own unique ‘tracking’ link. This link is personal to you and when a potential buyer clicks on it, the product owner knows that it is yourself that has made the referral. Therefore, any subsequent sale made through this link will be accredited to you and a commission awarded. There are many different ways that the tracking process works, but that is the general principle.

Once a sale has been allocated to you there is then a deferral period, typically between 2 to 6 weeks, when you must wait for release of funds to be approved. This deferral period is required to ensure the funds in question are cleared and in particular any subsequent refund requests are duly processed prior to pay out. Consequently, payment varies depending upon the partner but the majority either pay via PayPal or direct bank transfer. Furthermore, the majority of commissions are paid in US$, as this is the most widely accepted and recognised global currency for digital marketing.

Almost every established online company has a digital marketing program you can promote nowadays. If you go onto a website and scroll to the footer at the bottom, you will usually see a link for a program if one exists. It will usually say Affiliate Marketing, Digital Marketing, Referral or Partner Program. You can then apply to join via that link. Some companies run their own programs, whilst others run them through an affiliate network. For example, you can search networks such as ClickBank, CJ Affiliate, Impact Radius, JV Zoo and Share-A-Sale.

The cool thing with digital marketing is the model is highly flexible and can therefore accommodate most personal preferences. You can promote products and services across social media sites such as YouTube, Instagram, FaceBook, Pinterest, Twitter, TikTok or perhaps start your own website blog. Additionally, you can run paid ads or utilise free organic traffic instead, go on camera or stay out of sight, the options are endless.

When considering who to partner with you should give this matter careful consideration. Remember, you will be investing a lot of time, effort and potentially money (if you run paid ads), so choosing the right partner is crucial. Review their terms carefully: how and when will you get paid, how much, do they offer recurring commission, what restrictions exist, how long is their tracking cookie. Likewise, another good indication of potential partner suitability is the quality of support material they provide to affiliates. Do they provide banner ad templates, email swipes, other product documentation? Equally, do they run promotions to support affiliates or offer additional incentives.

I usually always email the affiliate manager before joining to see how quickly they respond…or whether they even respond! If they do not reply to someone offering them potential new business, then this does not bode well if you have to raise any issues with them later down the road. Furthermore, this also starts to build relationships, which is also important if you want to run a successful digital marketing business.

There are many ways to start digital marketing. It’s a proven business model, however it’s extremely important to implement everything correctly and in the right manner. Many people fail with digital marketing because they get their affiliate links and ‘spam’ them across the internet, without putting the right processes in place first. You can obtain the requisite knowledge to start digital marketing from many sources, free ones such as YouTube to the many paid courses available. However, you need to be selective as there is much information out there which is outdated and incorrect.

I have tried many such options and, for me, the best digital marketing training I have seen is the 15 Day Business Builder Challenge. It is where I am seeing the most people succeed and achieve the quickest success, because it provides all important structure and beginner friendly guidance right from the outset. Furthermore, the challenge also offers the potential to do high ticket digital marketing too.