To make money with affiliate marketing, not only should you know affiliate marketing itself, but also the best practices of digital marketing, like, for example, customer psychology. On the other hand, applying digital marketing principles to affiliate marketing without any change might not be a good idea.
So what makes affiliate and digital marketing different, and what are the overlapping parts that you can adopt?
Read on to learn more about the differences between digital marketing and affiliate marketing, and how you can navigate both avenues as a marketer or entrepreneur.
What Is Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing is an umbrella term that encompasses all online marketing efforts, from raising brand awareness to making sales. It includes SEO, paid ads, email campaigns, and affiliate marketing, among countless other efforts.
In contrast to offline marketing, online marketing allows you to track campaigns with the highest precision, from the first website visit to the final purchase. Advanced software will provide you with data-driven insights into user experience on your platform. Then you can refine your efforts, reach the right audience, and drive more conversions.
What Is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing, a subset of digital marketing, is a performance-based business model in which an affiliate (publisher) promotes a third-party product or service to users, encouraging them to take action.
However, it’s not the same as digital marketing, and here’s why.
The Difference Between Digital Marketing and Affiliate Marketing
Campaign Reach
Digital marketing covers any online promotion – everything from brands running their own advertising campaigns to influencer partnerships, affiliate programs, and more. This flexibility gives marketers plenty of room for experimentation.
Affiliate marketing, in contrast, is more narrowly focused. Even though it uses the same tools and promotes goods on the same channels, affiliates usually work toward a single goal and must follow the restrictions set by the merchant.
- Some advertisers may ask publishers to drive brand awareness and pay for each unique visitor on their website, while others may focus on lead generation and pay only for the contact details of qualified users. Likewise, some merchants may ask affiliates to use only SEO and email marketing while restricting social media traffic and ads.
As an affiliate, you have to follow the rules of your affiliate program. As a digital marketer, you are free to choose the companies you work with and the traffic channels you focus on.
Product Ownership
Another key aspect of the digital marketing vs. affiliate marketing comparison is the product ownership. A digital marketer – anyone who promotes products or services online – may or may not own the product, while an affiliate marketer is never a product owner (remember, affiliates always promote third-party products).
For instance, in service-driven niches such as insurance, home repairs, or solar, affiliates often focus on lead generation by collecting a user’s contact details. In e-commerce, the end goal is usually a direct sale.
Depth of Expertise
No matter which side you lean toward in the digital marketing vs. affiliate marketing debate, you need to stay on top of trends and tools.
To become a thriving marketer, you should have expertise in:
- Channel-specific strategies: Learn how to adapt content to each platform, respecting its rules, and what the best practices and user expectations are for a chosen channel.
- Conversion optimization: Craft strong calls-to-action (CTAs), design landing pages, and optimize the sales funnel to maximize conversions.
- Data analysis: Use analytics tools to identify hidden patterns, detect weaknesses, and make data-driven decisions to make your campaigns even more effective.
- Creativity and testing: The market is constantly changing, so you need to regularly experiment with your promo to make it even more persuasive
- Marketing psychology: Understand what drives people to act, how to use emotional triggers, and how to tailor messaging to different audiences.
Digital marketers apply these skills on a larger scale, building long-term brand presence, running omnichannel campaigns, and experimenting with diverse content formats. On the other hand, affiliate marketing narrows the focus, requiring the same knowledge but usually under tighter advertiser guidelines.
Audience
As a digital marketer, you need to regularly conduct research to zero in on your best audience. As markets evolve, you may find that the audiences you initially overlooked may end up generating the most revenue.
For example, a skincare brand might start by targeting women in their 20s but later discover strong interest among men in their early 30s seeking a simple beauty routine. As a digital marketer, you will explore new ways to promote your products by creating lead-nurturing campaigns to reach completely new audiences.
As an affiliate, though, you are limited to the rules of the chosen program. But then again, many affiliate programs allow publishers to leverage multiple channels and experiment with lookalike audiences, giving you more flexibility.
Costs
If you are an independent digital marketer who has decided to launch your own agency, you are the one in charge of covering all related expenses. You’ll need to pay for all tools, paid ads, potential collaborations with freelancers, etc. Thus, you should look for ways to start a successful marketing business with the lowest possible investment.
As an affiliate marketer, though, you only need high-quality content, and you can get substantial help from your advertiser in shaping your promotional strategy. For example, at Profitise, we provide our affiliates with JavaScript lead generation forms that can be easily integrated into your website in just a few seconds.
Digital vs. Affiliate Marketing: Which Career Path To Choose
| Digital marketing career (working for a company) | Affiliate marketing career (working for yourself) |
| You are an employee of an established business | You work independently or collaborate with other freelancers |
| You promote products or services chosen by your employer, regardless of your personal preferences | You choose affiliate programs and promote items that you personally like |
| You have a stable salary and receive advertising budgets from the company | Your earning depends on the results of your campaigns. Even if you earn less than expected, you still need to cover essential business expenses (tools, content creation, etc.) |
| You focus on long-term growth and building brand awareness | The primary focus is to increase conversions |
| Predictable career path, social guarantees, teamwork, and stability | Full independence and freedom, but also full responsibility |
If you want to have a stable occupation with a predictable career path, think about becoming a digital marketer for an established business. But if you want to become your own boss with unlimited earning potential, then affiliate marketing is the way to go.
Monetize Your Traffic with Profitise
Profitise is a leading insurance and solar affiliate network for affiliates who are selling quality web leads and phone calls. With hundreds of businesses already joined and even more to come, Profitise is the go-to place to monetize your traffic.
With Profitise, you get:
- Embeddable JavaScript forms to generate qualified insurance and solar leads
- Large lead market to sell your traffic instantly
- High price for your web and call leads
- Free assistance from your affiliate manager
Sell leads with Profitise as an affiliate.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the main difference between digital marketing and affiliate marketing?
Digital marketing is a broad strategy for promoting brands and products online across channels, which can be performed by the brand itself or by other parties. Meanwhile, affiliate marketing is always done by third-party publishers according to the rules set by their advertiser.
Are digital marketing and affiliate marketing the same?
Digital marketing is a broad promotional approach, while affiliate marketing refers to a business model where publishers promote specific third-party products or services, encouraging users to take a specific action.
Can I use only digital affiliate marketing channels?
Yes, you can focus exclusively on digital channels in affiliate marketing. Most affiliate campaigns rely on online channels such as social media, SEO, email marketing, and paid ads. While you can use offline methods, not so many advertisers ask you to run such campaigns.
