Affiliate Programs vs. Sponsorships

Holly Sheriff MSLS • November 27, 2019
Affiliate Programs vs. Sponsorships –

Affiliate Programs vs. Sponsorships – Should you pay, or should you get paid?

Should you pay, or should you get paid?

Affiliate Programs vs Sponsorships – Should you pay, or should you get paid? These are the frequent questions new Markers have. Additionally, many people get sponsor programs and affiliate programs confused. The answer to all these questions is it depends. Both affiliate and sponsorships can help your streaming business grow. However, they’re very different opportunities.

Affiliate Programs

Most affiliate programs will be free to join but others have extensive training or offered programs attached that will cost you money. If an affiliate program offers you advertising space or blog space for a fee it is more likely a sponsor program rather than an affiliate program. Despite the recent hype and spike in affiliate marketing, it has been around since the beginning of content marketing. So, how do they work?

How Affiliate Programs Work?

True affiliate programs at their core, amazingly simple:

  1. The owner of a product or a service assign a link to each of its affiliates.
  2. Then the affiliates share their link to the purchase of the product or service with its followers, members, and clients though social media, email blasts, and direct recommendations.
  3. The recipient uses that link and makes said purchase.
  4. The affiliate gets a percent of each sale made from its link from the product/service owner.

An Affiliate’s percentage can range anywhere between 5% to up towards as high as 50% per sale. Earnings can vary from program, product, service, and type of referral used to obtain the sale. So, now you know the basics of Affiliate Links what’s up with sponsorships?

Sponsorships

Sponsorships on the other hand, the owner of a product or services creates a link, advertising space, and occasionally blogging opportunities for its sponsor to buy into its product or service.  Typically, under a sponsorship there is no revenue sharing or percentage shared. One party pays the other for ad space, a feature piece on a blog, Facebook Group, or website.

Sponsorships are usually a more expensive investment for the sponsoring party. And there is no simple way to explain how they work. Sponsorships can vary by company, brand, and website. The size of advertising space for the price can vary. There does not appear to be a standard rate or going price per space.

Sponsor Affiliate Program

Additionally, in recent years, some products, brands, and blogs have combined the true affiliate program and sponsorships to form Sponsor Affiliate program.

Sponsor Affiliate means an entity that joins with, or is an affiliate of, a sponsor and that participates in the investment in, or financing of, another service or product The two entities then spit or share in the percentage of sales generated from a shared link, blog or other pay-per-click ad. Occasionally, there is no sharing of the sales or revenue from the shared sale. The sponsor keeps all its sale profits.

Affiliate Programs vs Sponsorships – Should you pay, or should you get paid

Should you pay, or should you get paid really depends on your goals. The biggest difference between a sponsorship and an affiliate in the way they pay out. Affiliate links can generate immediate monetary benefits, but it can be slow growing profits.

Sponsorships on the other hand can generate a brand following, social buzz, and monetary stream.  Take away: Affiliate Programs vs Sponsorships are both opportunities for more revenue which can help your business grow.

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