Is affiliate marketing considered paid advertising?

Paid ads are online ads that promote a product or service. These ads are usually shown on websites or social media platforms and can be targeted to a specific audience using demographic information or interests. Affiliate marketing overtook paid online display advertising, search advertising, and email marketing as the fastest-growing channel. Another recent Thrive My Way survey found that 52% of Generation Z turn to social media to seek advice from social media influencers before buying a product.

In addition, 52% of Generation Z members also said that they value authentic snapshots more than professionally edited product photos. The paid ad approach with direct affiliate links is a common draw for new marketers and for marketers who haven't created a lot of ads for anything before. If you're a new affiliate marketer, you've probably considered running paid ads directly into your affiliate products. Affiliate marketing involves hiring affiliates to promote your products and services and rewarding them with a commission percentage for each sale they contribute to.

Other than choosing an affiliate network and selecting and researching affiliates, it doesn't take much effort to get started with affiliate marketing. Compared to traditional paid advertising, affiliate marketing offers companies more flexibility to make their affiliate marketing programs smaller or larger with little or no cost. In addition, since affiliate marketing is based on performance, affiliates are encouraged to do everything possible to get as many conversions as possible. This, along with a commission structure that only pays affiliates once a conversion that has resulted in a sale is confirmed, is one of the reasons affiliate marketing has become an immensely popular marketing method for businesses.

Many affiliate programs don't allow their affiliates to post ads on networks like Outbrain or Taboola. If you want to learn 99% of what I know about affiliate marketing, check out my book Evergreen Affiliate Marketing on Amazon. Brands and companies looking to get started with affiliate marketing don't need a dedicated advertising team or experience to start their affiliate marketing program. Affiliate marketing takes full advantage of the seemingly infinite number of niches and their respective affiliates online.

Brett Slansky
Brett Slansky

Martial arts and personal development coach. Affiliate marketing ninja. Avid internet fanatic. Proud crypto and NFTs investor. Seeking to improve myself every day. Traveller. Lifelong student.