Many media brands work with digital revenue models, in addition to subscriptions and the more traditional forms of advertising. One of these digital revenue models is affiliate marketing. In this article we describe what affiliate marketing is and how editors of (online) magazines can use it to earn more from online reach.
How affiliate marketing works at magazines
Affiliate Marketing is a revenue model for the editors of online magazines, blogs, influencers and other digital content platforms. Editors write about advertisers’ products and place links on their sites to webshops that are affiliated with an affiliate network. Handy for visitors to these sites, who – after reading an article – become interested in products and want to buy products immediately. But also useful for the editors themselves. The online magazines, blogs or digital content platforms where the links are placed earn from all traffic to the webshops or receive a percentage of the products sold. Affiliate marketing is growing in popularity as a digital revenue model. Especially since little sales effort is required to deploy this revenue model.
What do you need to start with affiliate marketing
If you want to earn something from affiliate marketing, having a large reach is important. After all, as a media brand you only earn if enough visitors to your online magazine or content platform click on the links of the products. If you have very little traffic, the amount is proportionally low. If you really want to earn some money from affiliate marketing, you must have a lot of traffic. It is also advisable to place the product links in an editorial context (see examples below), so that you use your influence as an online magazine or content platform to convince people and attribute them to the purchase.
Working with an affiliate network
In addition, as an editor you need access to an affiliate network, where you can find products, create the links and where it is calculated how many people click on the links and what percentage of the purchase – usually between 3% and 8% – for the editorial is intended. As an editor, you simply register with an affiliate partner or network. When you register, it is often checked whether you are a serious media brand, influencer or content platform and whether you have any reach.
Sign up with an affiliate partner or network
Affiliate marketing is an agreement between an online magazine and an affiliate network or affiliate partner. With Partners you should think of brands such as Bol.com, Amazon or Coolblue, large e-commerce platforms that are only too happy to collaborate with online magazines. The content platforms form, as it were, the ‘digital showcase’ for their merchandise. And they are rewarded for that. You also have special affiliate networks, such as Awin and Tradetracker, which are technical platforms that collect advertisers’ merchandise and make it available to editors. These platforms also help generate webshop links of products. These links are provided with codes (sort of like UTM codes work), so that the platforms can see exactly where traffic to the webshop comes from. They also calculate the reward based on the amount of traffic (leads) brought in or a percentage of the purchase amount per transaction. This amount is transferred monthly to the account of the publisher or editor. That’s handy. So as a media brand you don’t have to do much technically.
Overview affiliate partners and networks
partnerplatform.bol.com
partnernet.amazon.nl
Coolbleu.nl/affiliate
Awin Access
Tradetracker.com
Affiliate marketing: influence with the right target group
Affiliate marketing is successful if you have a large group of engaged users as an online magazine, influencer, blog or content platform. Loyal readers who regularly visit your platform because they feel involved in the stories and articles. Affiliate marketing offers good opportunities especially for special interest, because the products described can be very relevant to your specific target group and can respond to their specific needs.
Please note: affiliate marketing is more than just promoting products. The conversion of the product links is much higher if you, as an editor, write independently and honestly about products. Consider, for example, reviews, product comparisons, unboxing, price comparisons, or lists of comparable products that offer a solution to a described problem. Here the term applies: contextual commerce: product links are in the context of editorial, high-quality articles, of which the mentioned product is a logical part.
Examples of media brands that are successful with affiliate marketing
Affiliate Marketing is used by various magazines. Below you see some examples. The links take you to the pages and you can see how the product links are incorporated in the content.
Elle: Trends and Shopping
The fashion glossy Elle describes various trends on her site and collects beautiful products, so that the described trends also receive shopping tips. Here’s an example of the trend: long denim skirts.
Today’s parents: testing and comparing products
Products are regularly tested and compared on the website of Ouders van Nu. This is done independently and the results from the test are interesting for (future) parents who are orienting themselves on the purchase of their baby or children’s layette. In this example: the best baby monitors of 2022.
Tweakers Pricewatch
Looking for a new gadget? After reading reviews you have made your choice. But where is the product most beneficial? Tech platform Tweakers keeps track of the prices on a daily basis (via an automated system), so as a user of the site you can see exactly how much gadgets cost at different providers. For example if you are looking to new airpods.
Listen to our affiliate marketing podcast
In the new podcast of Bladendokter an episode is devoted to new digital revenue models, in which affiliate marketing is discussed in detail. In this podcast, Carolien Vader van Bladendokter talks to Hilde Tholen, editor-in-chief of Ouders van Nu and Koen Crijns, deputy director of DPG Special Interest Media. At Ouders van Nu, 70% of all income now comes from digital and the site reaches 10 million visitors per month. Affiliate Marketing accounted for almost half a million euros in income in 2022. Listen to the podcast via this site or listen through Spotify.