Janice McCafferty - Top Beauty PR Firm & PR Agency

According to Investopedia, “Affiliate marketing is an advertising model in which a company compensates third-party publishers to generate traffic or leads to the company’s products and services. The third-party publishers are affiliates, and the commission fee incentivizes them to find ways to promote the company. The Internet has increased the prominence of affiliate marketing.”

So, what does this mean for beauty brands? Simply put, if your products are not sold through some kind of affiliate network, editors will not be able to feature your brand. Luckily, if your makeup, skincare or hair care line is sold through a major retailer like ULTA or Target, you are already covered! Large online shopping sites do all of the work for you and you are already connected to the top networks just by being sold through their e-commerce stores.

On the other hand, Amazon has its own infrastructure in place entirely. As Investopedia shares, “Amazon popularized the practice by creating an affiliate marketing program whereby websites and bloggers put links to the Amazon page for a reviewed or discussed product to receive advertising fees when a purchase is made. In this sense, affiliate marketing is essentially a pay for performance marketing program where the act of selling is outsourced across a vast network.”

If you are a brand that is not sold at a large retailer or if you cannot sell on Amazon, have no fear! There are a number of top affiliate networks that the major publishing houses like Hearst, Meredith, and Condé Nast all use. As a brand, you can sign your own website up to these networks and connect your very own e-commerce store to a top affiliate platform.