Q: I would like to ask you about affiliate marketing in the USA, how does it function in the USA and Australia? For example in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and CIS states 70% of offers are generated in partner networks. Top affiliates make about 1000 offers on CPA model per day and the most of affiliates make about 100 offers on CPA model per day as well. They buy the traffic (offers) on CPC model in the advertising networks for, let’s say, 2 USD and sell this traffic (offers) on CPA model for 3 USD. They have the profit of about 50% out of it. We have in these countries such offers, as mail items, online games, mobile installation. 70% of these offers are generated by affiliates and 30% of them are made by publishers. And what is the affiliate marketing structure in the USA and Australia, could you please let me know?
A: I do not do anything in the Australian market, so I am not sure if there are nuances there in affiliate marketing, but I can help with the US.
One part of your question that confuses me is the part about 70% of leads being generated by affiliates and 30% by publishers. In the US, those two terms are synonymous.
There is no standard structure in the US for affiliate marketing, as there are a few different areas in the industry and different models being used.
The “traditional” cost per sale or revenue share model gives the affiliate a percent of the sale, such as 2% for a computer, 5% for clothing, or 50% for downloadable software.
Like you mentioned, there are the CPA offers here, where the affiliate earns a fee per lead for referring customers for online games, mobile services, nutraceuticals, etc.
And then there are the infomarketing or Internet marketing products or services that are popular on networks like ClickBank. In this case, the payouts are typically high for the digital products.
There are lots of variables with the way affiliate programs are structured, including the margins, availability, and brand.
Affiliates are using any online marketing methods to promote their affiliate links, including paid search, email, social media, and SEO.
I saw some CPC affiliate programs back when I was getting started, in the late 90’s, but they seemed to have disappeared, because of fraud.
I hope that helps.
Video: How is Affiliate Marketing Structured in the US?
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