Becoming the top affiliate marketing platform takes time and effort, it is not achieved quickly. Achieving a good position requires continuous effort, offering excellent customer service, and possessing industry expertise, and understanding, among other factors. Today, we will discuss the history of affiliate marketing platforms.
An Overview
Essentially, affiliate marketing involves borrowing or creating communities of existing customers in the online world. Affiliate marketing may appear to be a recent idea in the age of new media, but when you analyze it closely, there have been simple versions of affiliate marketing for many years.
A simple form of affiliate marketing is when a mechanic offers a discount to customers who refer new customers. However, generating additional sources of income and striving to connect with demographics was simplified with the advent of the internet, although it existed before the web. With that said, the internet completely revolutionized things.
Read more: How Affiliate Marketing Can Transform Your Business Growth
The Impact Of The Internet On The World Of Affiliate Marketing
There is likely no need to elaborate on the impact the Internet has on any business selling any type of good or service. The rise of e-commerce has propelled Amazon to become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company. We will use them as a model for e-commerce.
Now, instead of a simple referral program focused on local customers, you can target and connect with customers from any location with internet access. In recent times, small businesses located anywhere make their goods and are able to access global markets for selling their products.
This has simplified matters for entrepreneurs with fewer resources compared to their competitors or others in the same field. People enjoy discussing social media and spreading information, but the impact of online buying and selling is much more significant. It streamlined the internet and purchasing process to the same level of simplicity and directness seen today.
The Patent For Its Invention Was Filed In 1989
William J. Tobin applied for the patent for what we now call affiliate marketing, also known as affiliate management, in 1989. He established the inaugural affiliate marketing program for his company PC Flowers & Gifts. So, affiliate marketing involves earning a commission by promoting other people’s products or services.
Before founding PC Flowers & Gifts, the Army veteran had been involved in several business ventures but ultimately decided to focus on the flower industry, opening up opportunities for other entrepreneurs and industry leaders to explore affiliate marketing.
Read more: Top 5 Benefits of Using an Affiliate Marketing Platform for Your Business
1996: Amazon Makes A Move
Amazon, considered one of the most groundbreaking companies in history, was the pioneer in making affiliate marketing accessible to the public. Their system, known as the Associates Program, is still in operation to this day. It essentially enabled individuals to provide links to products on their websites.
These individuals who posted links were compensated with a modest sum of money for bringing in new clients. At that moment, we were a long way off from the days previously mentioned regarding the affiliate marketing of your neighborhood mechanic. Amazon observed what numerous others would eventually observe. Affiliate marketing provides a quick and effective way to generate additional income.
1994-2000s: The Creation of Cookies
Cookies didn’t become widespread on the internet until the late 1990s, but their creation had a significant impact on affiliate marketing. They were designed to target individual users and collect sufficient data for businesses to effectively market products to their target audience at the perfect moment.
As soon as it was evident that affiliate marketing was profitable, networks started to appear towards the end of the 1990s. Google and Microsoft are largely credited with shaping the internet as we know it today, making it predictive and analytical.
1998: The Emergence Of The Initial Affiliate Networks
Commission Junction and Rakuten, two companies that are still in operation today, were the first affiliate networks to be established, catering to smaller companies looking to create affiliate programs independently of larger entities such as Amazon.
This is where the magic started, laying the foundation for what we have established now. Since the inception of these initial networks, it has become much simpler to expand affiliate strategies, regardless of the size of a company.
Same Affiliate Marketing Principles From 2000 To 2024 Remains Today
Besides the emergence of many new affiliate networks, the expansion of internet capabilities, and the growing number of affiliates, there have just been a few changes in the industry so far.
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