The growth of affiliate marketing in recent years has been one of the most interesting developments of Web 2.0 in terms of e-business issues. The days of affiliates being limited solely to static content in the form of product reviews or info however are long gone. Here at EtonDigital we're pretty excited about exploring all the various new options out there in the Web 2.0 sphere - from blogs and Myspace Widgets to interactive games and Facebook groups and apps...
For many businesses the use of affiliates need not be anything overly fancy - certain products are just not that complex from a sales perspective. Lawnmowers and lightbulbs get sold online all the time for example, but the choice of product is not a massively lengthy process; people find the one that suits their budget, technical requirements and delivery preferences and get it done. For such items the traditional affiliate marketing models are likely to work best - i.e. the use of affiliate review websites linking to parent company sales pages, or affiliate online shops that link to parent company checkouts.
However certain types of products can benefit from a range of other more elaborate approaches, so with that in mind here is a list of a few other techniques and possible applications:
1. The affiliate blog. Allows for a much more fluid content base to support changes or developments of a particular company or product, all the while working to ensure product awareness remains high and that information is presented in a more approachable and interesting way than standard company press releases.
2. Affiliate Facebook groups/fan sites. Pretty much working in the same way as standard affiliate sites do, but just within the realms of Facebook - or any other similar social network for example. Just like in the web proper there are official company sites, and the affiliates that complement them, so too Facebook has room for both official product 'fan' sites, and affiliates that in turn support them.
3. Myspace Widgets/Facebook apps etc. These can be used to raise general (i.e. non brand specific) product awareness and demand. While most companies will rarely outsource handling of their brand to specialised and uncontracted advertising/marketing firms, they will be happy to support affiliates that create a general market demand and awareness.
4. Affiliate RSS feeds. Working in a similar way to the affiliate blog, but focused more on reaching handheld devices like mobile phones, and providing frequent updates and news for products.
Anyway there's just a few potential Web 2.0/affiliate marketing avenues that we might see opening up on a greater scale in coming months. If you have any of your own ideas and predictions for developments, don't hesitate to share them below. Whatever happens it seems certain that as Web 2.0 grows and matures, the possibilities for facilitating affiliate marketing operations and introducing new practices will only increase.
Dejan Levi
This is perfect, I am looking to do something similiar very soon and this article makes perfect sense.