Affiliate Marketing VS Digital Marketing | Monk Mantra

Let’s make one thing clear, both are marketing initiatives and both have one end result for the marketer. Both are considered as effective marketing strategies and both can be a good investment if you know what you’re doing. Marketing in general will never get outdated, as big companies need marketing teams or agencies to do the necessary research on their target market while producing results in sales and exposure. Eventually your optimum goal is to promote and sell.

‍Distinguishing Affiliate Marketing and Digital Marketing

The distinction between affiliate and digital marketing is that affiliate marketing is a type of advertising strategy, in which the more captivating you make your customer, the more profit you earn.

Whereas in digital marketing there are many methods for advertising products on different online platforms.

Digital marketing is a broad term that refers to many strategies used to sell and advertise products on various platforms.

Affiliate marketing is a type of online marketing in which the marketer makes amends based on the number of products sold.

‍What is Digital Marketing? 

Digital marketing leverages business channels provided by the internet to promote and advertise products and ideas. It is basically an optimized form of internet marketing.

Digital marketing entails using websites, search engines, emails and social media to connect with viable customers and advertise your product. In contemporary times digital marketing is essential for building brand awareness and identity.

It is essential for brands to have their own websites or at least some digital presence through social pages to reach out to their customers. Digital marketing is characterized by using digital schemes to study and construct marketing strategies and further apply them online.

It provides a wide range of options, that allow the disposal of ideas and campaigns on both paid and free channels of promotion. The different types of digital marketing include:

1. Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization or SEO is done to organically increase the traffic on websites, blogs and infographics by improving ranking on search result pages. There are three types of SEO: on-page, off-page and technical SEO.

2. Content Marketing

The process of creating content specifically to boost brand awareness. Content marketing is done to build good relationships with the target audience to provide quality content through posters, brochures and infographics. Blogs also act as effective content marketing tools.

3. Affiliated Marketing

A form of marketing which is commission based, that pay the marketer on the products sold through the channel. Some common ways include YouTube host ads and social media account promotions.

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What is Affiliate Marketing?

It is a form of marketing in which affiliates earn profits, by engaging and promoting other people’s products. Sales here are tracked through affiliate links.

It is imperative for an affiliate marketer to know the right demographic he has to access to and the product that would be useful for the said demographic. Affiliate marketing is generally an assistive strategy to redirect customers to the broader channels of marketing or product sales.

The three important components of Affiliate marketing are:

1. The vendor

2. Affiliate marketer

3. The Customer

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1. The vendor

The vendor is the product owner or creator. They might or might not directly get involved in the product marketing. They provide the affiliate marketers with commissions based on the sales generated by them.

2. Affiliate Marketer‍

Such marketers are also known as publishers as they publish product details on the platform where they have a following. Affiliate marketers usually pick and choose products which are relevant to the demographic they have access to.

3. The Customer

People who purchase products are knowingly or unknowing influenced by affiliate marketing structures. A customer might come across a product through a blog or a post put up by an affiliate marketer. This way he becomes a part of this design.

Main Differences Between Digital Marketing and Affiliate Marketing

• Digital Marketing comprises of the tool and techniques used to advertise and promote with the use of internet, while affiliate marketing is the use of relationships and associations to promote a product.
• The primary agenda of digital marketing is to increase traffic and digital brand awareness, which can be associated with profit-making whereas affiliate marketing is commission-based marketing where the marketer is paid in terms of the products promoted.
• Digital marketing makes use of the tools such as SEO, emails and social media marketing to achieve their goals, while in affiliate marketing the principle of audience reach of the marketer is used. 
• Digital marketing is a broader concept while affiliate marketing is a part of digital marketing techniques.

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Conclusion 

Marketing in the digital domain is very essential for brands these days. Digital marketing designs offer holistic solutions to venture your brands into digital platforms, for both sales and brand awareness, whereas affiliate marketing is a highly focused technique of digital marketing where marketers get a commission for promoted products.