There is a huge legal side to affiliate marketing that you need to beware of to stay safe and get your commissions.
After all, what’s the point of creating all that content to push a product if you’re just going to make nothing. Make nothing and fall foul of the law which you don’t want.
Understand what an affiliate marketer is
In this blog post, we’ll look at the top 3 things you need to be doing so that you stay safe as an affiliate.
Disclosure link
Reading the blogs on this website you’ve probably come across a disclosure link in some of the blog posts. This disclosure link is essential when affiliate links are added to a blog and look like this.
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are ‘affiliate links’. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission.
But it’s not just blog posts that need a disclosure link. Discloses are put elsewhere when an affiliate link is used. They’re used in
- Emails
- YouTube videos
- Social media posts
Add a disclosure on your content wherever you post online that it’s an affiliate link in which you make a commission from the sale.
Test the product
Affiliate marketing is all about promoting products you love and use.
Well, use it all the time or for a trial period to see if it’s something you would promote.
If it turns out to be a product you wouldn’t be happy promoting to your friends and family, then don’t promote it.
Whenever I find a new product to promote, I test it out and then ask this question.
Would I promote this product to my mother?
If the answer is a big fat no, then I move on to find a different product. If it’s yes, then I want to learn more about the product.
Learn more about the product to find out about it’s
- Benefits to the consumer
- Online reputation
- What if any guarantees they offer
If you don’t learn about the product you could fall foul of the law by being misleading. Misleading about the product you’re advertising in your content.
Research the company
Is the company the product is made by a business that you want to be associated with? Or do they leave you feeling like you’re falling into the dark side with a company that isn’t behaving well?
Always make sure that the company is legitimate and not a scam by doing your due diligence. Never take a business at face value. Do some digging into their online reputation and what people have got to say about them as a business.
If previous customers, influencers, and employees are showing love for them then it’s a company you know you can trust.
But if you go somewhere like Trustpilot and all you see is a bunch of 1 and 2-star reviews complaining about the
- Product
- Customer service
- Treatment of employees
Then you know it’s a company to stay away from.
Another issue that you should consider if going into the beauty and fashion niche, is animal welfare.
Consumers are more strong on wanting animals to be treated better. If they see you advertising products from companies that don’t consider the treatment of animals, they’ll never purchase from you and possibly unsubscribe.
That’s a double blow to your affiliate marketing business.
Therefore to make sure that you stay safe with affiliate marketing, make sure that the company is on the right side of the law.
In A Nutshell,
Is affiliate marketing safe? To make sure that you stay safe is to add disclosures, test the product out, and do your due diligence on the company. If you want to learn more about affiliate marketing and what it entails, check out this blog understand what an affiliate marketer is.
