Affiliate vs Digital Marketing: Why The Distinction Matters

In today’s highly competitive market landscape, investing in marketing is no longer a choice but an absolute necessity. Marketing (especially in the online space) is a key practice that lets potential customers become aware of your brand and the products or services you offer. And out of the many marketing strategies in use today, we will be looking into two of the most prevalent and relevant strategies used by all kinds of businesses today: digital marketing and affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing is among the beginner-friendly online marketing models today, and many confuse it with being the same as digital marketing, which is not precisely the case. To set foot into the world of online marketing, it is crucial to understand how these two practices differ so you can make informed decisions when developing the marketing strategy to meet your goals. And so, without further ado, let us now dive into the nitty-gritty between digital marketing and affiliate marketing.

Comparing The Definitions

Digital marketing is generally regarded as an umbrella term covering all online marketing practices. As a broader discipline, it includes several different components, which include affiliate marketing to a certain extent. A more concrete definition is that it is a type of marketing that utilises various channels in the online space for brands to promote their products and services.

In contrast, affiliate marketing is a business model and type of advertising resource that lets third parties and affiliates earn income by promoting a brand’s products or services. Instead of selling their own products or services or building their brand, affiliates make commissions whenever customers buy into the products or services they advertise.

Components Involved in Digital and Affiliate Marketing

Digital marketing

As mentioned earlier, digital marketing consists of different online marketing practices such as:

• Social media marketing
• Video marketing
• Content marketing
• Email marketing
• SEM
• SEO
• Analytics

Digital marketing, unlike affiliate marketing, is more than just selling a product or service. It employs various tactics across different digital channels to grow a brand by providing value to customers. One example is answering their questions about specific products or topics, for instance.

Another key difference between digital marketing practices is that they constantly change from time to time in response to shifting business objectives. This change could also affect the budget allotted for digital marketing campaigns. Digital marketers take complete control of the product while affiliates do not. Moreover, the affiliate program dictates how they can use the referral links for advertising.

Affiliate marketing

On the other hand, affiliate marketing comprises three components: the seller, the customer, and the affiliate marketer who promotes the product.

Affiliate marketers, many of whom are bloggers and social media influencers, first apply for an affiliate program. This is essentially a business agreement between the affiliate and the product owner. The mediators of affiliate programs are called affiliate networks, and they are responsible for tracking payments and sending the affiliate’s referral links.

Which Marketing Strategy Is Best For Your Business?

If you are unsure about whether affiliate marketing or digital marketing in Indonesia is better for your business, the most important thing to know is that it all depends on your expertise and interests. For instance, if you are more into search engine marketing or social media and have the knowledge and skills in analytics, digital marketing is undoubtedly the way to go.

But affiliate marketing may prove beneficial if you have a knack for convincing people, have a respectable and increasing number of followers, and possess good decision-making and problem-solving skills.

Both digital and affiliate marketing are prosperous fields, and it is hard to say that one is better than the other. In truth, it is not about determining which of the two is better since it all comes down to which is more suited to quickly advancing your goals. All in all, both fields will continue to grow over the years and generate more and more earning opportunities.

Conclusion

As you can see, digital marketing and affiliate marketing do not necessarily work separately but together as one for an online business. You will need good SEO skills to get more traffic on your affiliate website; if you’re an influencer-turned-affiliate, learning about social media marketing is a must to succeed. The bottom line is that both digital and affiliate marketing help promote products. With the right approach, utilising both can give your business a greater advantage and let you reach a wider audience and sell much faster.