Is influencer markeitng the same as affiliate marketing?

So, I have this question in my head for a while now, Is influencer marketing same as affiliate marketing? Let start by understanding each concept and then see what are the similarities and the differences.

1. Influencer marketing:

It is a form of social media marketing involving endorsements from influencers, people and organizations who possess an expert level of knowledge and/or social influence in their respective fields, says Wikipedia.

So, to be an influencer marketer, you need to show a certain expertise in your field. And it is more calculated in the number of people that you can reach and convince to take an action. Most influencer network will not accept you if per example, your Instagram account has less Than five thousand followers.

How is influencer marketing done?

You need to create a community around your brand. And companies will check if your audience is compatible with their products. If your posts or content comply with their requirements and the level of engagement that you get.

If your brand is what they are looking for, you guys will be in business. You will receive guidelines in what they want, how the endorsement should be done. Because most of these companies have their own in-house social management team, they can design the whole campaign and you will have to do as it is planned. Only a little give the influencer the opportunity to create or contribute to the campaign. And it is mostly accepted for influencer with lot of successful experience.

And you will get paid according to terms both parties will agree on. You can get a one time payment, some are paid by clicks generated or by sales generated. I like the coupon code system, where you advertise a product and give a discount code to your followers to buy. It is one of the most use system for those who are paid based on sales generated and for the influencer it is also a good way to create engagement with your audience.

2. Affiliate marketing:

I think there are other ways of doing affiliate marketing but I will only talk about blogging because it is what we learn here at wealthy affiliate and it is the most sustainable way to do it.

So, for a blogger to start with affiliate marketing, you need to have a blog that has some content and exist for some times already. Myself I started to add affiliate program after a moth of creating content. Some will argue that it is too early but that is a debate for another day.

How does affiliate marketing work?

After creating your blog you need to apply to a company offering affiliate program or to a affiliate network. Here at wealthy affiliate we have the possibility to find affiliate program related to our posts in Jaaxy or browse from the affiliate programs button in our dashboard.

When you find what you would like to promote, you can apply for it. The provider will take time to review your application and you website to see if they can work with you. The requirement can vary from one affiliate program to the other, some want you to have a bit traffic before, others do not want you to market their product alongside a competitive brand, and I have seen lately others who do not allow you to promote their product through email marketing.

So, you will have to comply to their conditions in order to be accepted. Some also provide content for you to post in your blog but most of the time you are free to create your own content. You will be provided with texts links, banners and other promotional material to display in your website. You are also allowed to create paid advertisement in order to increase your sales.

Because, an affiliate marketer is paid a commission on the sales generated or leads provided. Depending on the product you can get either a commission a cost per action (lead). I prefer a commission because a cost per action is a one time payment and a commission it is one effort with endless fruit. As long as the person keeps buying using the product, you will get paid.

3. Similarities:

- Both uses influence. Because an affiliate marketer, by creating an opinionated content about a product, influences you to buy or not. And an influencer marketer does the same.

- They are both recommending a third party product. They do not own the product at all.

- They both have to comply to the terms and conditions of that third party in order to get paid.

- They can both be paid based on sales generated.

4. Differences:

- An influencer is someone who is established in his/her field. Considered as an expert with a big community count to support that. But anyone with zero experience can become an affiliate marketer, after finishing your training at wealthy affiliate, you are already an affiliate marketer.

- Influencer marketing mostly done on social media but affiliate marketing done via a blog can expand to social media in order to increase their awareness and website traffic.

- An influencer has hard time creating passive income. Because you take one contract at a time and sometimes you don't have any. But an influencer marketer can create passive income. If we follow our training at wealthy affiliate, we are able to create SEO friendly content that will be getting organic traffic and making passive income.

Together:

Influencer marketing and affiliate marketing can work together. I have seen affiliate marketer who has grown a great community on social media become influencer marketer or influencer marketer use their large community to market affiliate product.

Using both strategy can help you increase your revenue significantly. As an online business owner, you can contract an influencer to advertise your business. Now, because you can not have an influencer to advertise your affiliate product, you can have your website and brand advertised to get more traffic. And when people visit your website they can buy your affiliate products.

And an influencer can add some affiliate products to market to her audience as long as it is in the same niche Then the content she usually shares.

I think both are strong marketing strategy to consider in our online businesses. And remember we are all online influencer.

Thanks