In 2020, digital affiliate marketers earned more than $17.3 billion worldwide. Almost half that total, $8 billion, accrued to marketers in the United States. The figures represent sales commissions, meaning companies collected revenues before they paid a percentage of their earnings to affiliates who performed the work. The strategy is designed to generate not only positive cash flow for businesses by controlling up-front marketing expenses, but also long-term passive income for affiliate marketers.
Affiliate marketing empowers brands by leveraging third-party digital publishers to generate sales for their products. The model offers an attractive return on investment and presents little risk of loss since affiliates are paid only after sales conversions. Unlike many other marketing strategies that are off-limits to the cannabis industry, affiliate marketing is both available and viable, and Green Affiliates is helping brands capitalize on the opportunity.
“Green Affiliates is designed to help cannabis and hemp brands increase traffic to their sites, highlight product or brand details in hyper-niched markets, and remain in control of their costs,” said Alana B., a manager at Green Affiliates. “We act as a middleman, helping to connect affiliate marketers and influencers with brands and products they’d like to promote.”
Cannabis companies exist under a wide umbrella covering many types of products and services. The company works with brands across all categories.
“Some of our partners include Green Roads, Top Shelf Hemp Co, Parkdale Brass, Pink Formula, a Pot for Pot, Stealth Box, Rocket Seeds, Crop King Seeds, Sonoma Seeds, and more,” Alana said. “These brands offer goods including CBD, Delta-8 products, cannabis seeds, smoking accessories, and growing accessories.”
Strong relationships are critical for success in business. For Alana and Green Affiliates, forging robust bonds with brands the network serves is key in helping client companies and affiliates prosper.
“We believe in creating a beneficial, synergistic relationship with our brands and affiliates,” she said. “Our network helps create a win-win scenario for both, whether it be financial freedom for our affiliates or an increase in brand awareness and sales for our brands.
“Brands gain access to top-tier affiliate marketers,” she added. “Each brand within the Green Affiliates family sets its own commission rates. That process helps them control costs. Brands are 100-percent in control of each of their marketing campaigns. Exposing products to new audiences increases brand awareness and helps brands gain a competitive edge.”
Commissions earned from affiliate marketing are passive income—revenue earned with little to no continuing effort. In addition to income, the network offers perks to affiliates, who can work wherever and whenever they wish as they promote content designed to sell any products partner brands include in the program.
Affiliates are not simply given an assignment and left to fend for themselves, Alana said. Green Affiliates guides them through the process and offers a wide variety of resources to help them streamline their efforts and boost their results. Because high-quality content is essential for building successful marketing strategies, the team at Green Affiliates sends monthly newsletters with tips on ways to promote and increase sales, whether the affiliate operates a website, blog, top-10 list, or podcast.
In addition, “promotional material is provided by our partner brands, taking even more of the work out of the equation,” she said. “More importantly, affiliate managers are always available to help marketers reach their goals and succeed.”
Although affiliate marketing is most closely associated with online retailers, Green Affiliates also can benefit brick and mortar businesses.
“Dispensaries that want to receive commissions for sales from any of our partner brands, all they need to do is display a QR code in their store that is automatically generated for them for any brand they wish to promote,” Alana said. “Any time one of their customers scans that QR code and makes a purchase within ninety days, they will receive a commission.”
Green Affiliates has experienced considerable growth since it launched, she said, adding she has every reason to believe the momentum will continue as the company adds new brands and new products and expands upon the existing network.
