What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing and drop servicing are both popular business models that are easy to implement. Both of these models have similarities as well as differences. What is affiliate marketing? Simply it is promoting another person’s business to earn a commission from their income. This is a very popular business model implemented to earn a profit without going through the actual trouble of running a business. Going ahead of the traditional marketing techniques, his tactic operates majorly through online platforms.
This method is really profitable to the seller as well as to the affiliate marketer. The affiliate marketer earns a profit through promoting the products of other people or companies. Social media has become a major tool that the affiliates use for their marketing processes. The sales of an affiliate are usually tracked via an affiliate link from one website to another website. There are three major parties involved in affiliate marketing. Those are the seller or the product owner, the affiliate, and the buyer. Here the product that the affiliate promotes can be either physical objects or services.
Main differences of affiliate marketing compared to drop servicing
Even though the processes may seem similar, there are two major differences between affiliate marketing and drop servicing. The first one is that the person who carries out the drop servicing acts as a middle man between the seller and the consumer. But in the affiliate marketing model, the affiliate is just promoting the product. He does not involve in the business like a drop services would do.
Another key difference is that the affiliate mostly belongs to a group that the product is targeted for. But in drop servicing, you don’t have to have such a relationship with the target audience. Anybody can do drop servicing without having many skills for himself. Another thing is that drop servicing involves services; not products. But in affiliate marketing, it can be either a physically available product or a service. But both business models target the audience that is in need of a certain product or service. The drop service sells the product indirectly where the affiliate just directs the consumer to the original service provider.
Pros of affiliate marketing compared to drop servicing
Compared to drop servicing, there is no risk at all in affiliate marketing. Even though not directly involved in the service creation, the drop service provider is the person who sells a certain product to the client. He has a certain responsibility regarding the service he is selling. If the service provider is incapable of performing the task efficiently, the drop service provider should take responsibility to a certain extent. But the risk is less in affiliate marketing. The affiliate is not directly involved in sales. He just stays by a side, attracting customers and gets his profit without worrying much about the quality or condition of the product.
An affiliate may increase his profit without even trying much. One can use social media marketing and target it towards the required audience. It basically depends on the marketing tactics he uses. And also, in affiliate marketing, you can work for a fixed commission rate. Another advantage of affiliate marketing is that the affiliate does not have to deal with the customers. Well.. it is really good when it comes to impatient and rude customers. Affiliate marketing is a really beneficial way to earn passive income. And you can earn your profit even when you are at another work or even when you are sleeping. your marketing tactics will cover the sales for you.
Cons of affiliate marketing compared to drop servicing
The major disadvantage of affiliate marketing is that you have less control over the profit you earn. You only get a fraction of the income of the seller based on the sales you make. But you can decide what profit you make from a certain product in drop servicing. And also, there can be payment issues when working with the sellers. They may neglect to pay the affiliates on purpose. But you have full control over the payments in drop servicing.
Another thing is people tend to refrain from clicking on affiliate links due to security issues. They may just search and find the real product owner by themselves or manually enter the links and search without clicking on the affiliate links. These are a huge blow to the profit of the affiliate. Another point is that there are a huge lot of affiliates. Because of that, the profit rates have reduced and the chances of finding a product owner in need of affiliates have reduced.
A major disadvantage of affiliate marketing is that there is no development in the personal brand of an affiliate. But in drop servicing, you can grow your business and develop your brand along with the time. But the affiliate always has to depend on the company or product owner for his income.
Why drop servicing is a better business model compared to affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is a one-time thing. And in that business model one just get to work for another company. But in drop servicing, you get to create your own brand. And the clients you work with are not one time. You get to contact them and get more opportunities for selling and buying if you work with them efficiently. Thereby, You can develop a brand and a business on your own along with the time. You get to contact the customers on your own and you build up connections, which is really important in the industry.
Not just products, but services also can be branded. It represents how quality services you provide. The brand is the first impression of the service you provide. Unlike in affiliate marketing, you get to control whom you work with and of what quality your services are. This helps attract more customers in turn increasing your income. When compared, drop servicing is the better business model to go for.