Affiliate marketing is a great source of income if you have an online presence in Nepal. Here, an online presence can be websites or social media accounts.
Basically, in affiliate marketing, you promote someone else’s product and for every purchase made through your promotion, you earn a commission.
It is relatively new in the context of Nepal. However, when Daraz Nepal started its affiliate program, there is curiosity among people. And, people are starting to explore it as a new source of income.
Still, not all people are well aware of the great potential of affiliate marketing in the context of Nepal.
In this article, you will learn everything about Affiliate marketing in Nepal.
What is Affiliate Marketing?
As discussed earlier, affiliate marketing is commission-based marketing. Here, you promote products of other companies and earn a commission on every sale you made through your promotion. Let’s now see how affiliate marketing works.
Working of Affiliate Marketing
Suppose there is a product owner or company and the company started an affiliate program. Now, any bloggers or content creators can sign up for affiliate programs.
Once accepted, they can now promote the products of the business on their platforms.
Now, if someone from your promotion visits the company website and buys some products from the company, you can get a commission on each sale.
Parties Involved in Affiliate Marketing
There are 3 parties involved in affiliate marketing. To understand each party and their role, let’s take the example of the Daraz Affiliate Program in Nepal.
1. Product Owner
Anyone who owns and sells the product is a product owner.
Daraz is a local eCommerce platform in Nepal. It has a huge amount of products. And, it has started an affiliate program in Nepal.
Here, Daraz is the Product Owner.
2. Affiliate Marketer
Anyone who promotes the product is an affiliate marketer.
To be an affiliate marketer, you have to signup for the Daraz affiliate program. And, once accepted, you can promote the products on your platform (blog, social media, or youtube).
Here, Content Creators are Affiliate Marketers.
3. Consumer
Anyone who buys the product is a consumer.
When your audiences like the post, they will visit the product through your promotion.
Here, your Audiences are Consumers.
How does an affiliate marketer get paid?
Affiliate marketers are paid on a commission basis.
And, depending upon the policies of companies, affiliate marketers are paid based on:
- Lead – numbers of people visiting the product
- Sales (most popular one) – commission on each purchase made by the consumers
Sometimes marketers will get a commission even if the consumer doesn’t buy the product immediately.
This is because when people visit the product through promotional links, the information of the person is stored.
This information includes the promotional link through which a person visits the site. And, it is saved for some days.
So even if the person buys the product after few days, the affiliate marketer will get paid. As long as the days don’t exceed the expiration date mentioned in the affiliate program
Now you know how Affiliate marketing works, let’s explore its benefits.
Benefits of Affiliate Marketing in Nepal
Affiliate marketing has been the main source of income for many people. And, some people have built a whole business around affiliate marketing.
Let’s see some of the major benefits of affiliate marketing in Nepal.
1. You can earn from other’s product
With affiliate marketing, you don’t have to build your own products. You can simply sell others’ products and earn. This removes the overhead of production, maintenance of the product.
2. You can get Financial Freedom
This is one of the most important reasons why many opt for affiliate marketing. You don’t have to actively engage, you can stop working and your affiliate business will continue generating income.
3. You can sell to people all around the world
With affiliate marketing, you can now reach out to audiences in every part of the world. You are not limited to your locality.
4. You can scale easily
As mentioned earlier, you don’t have to worry about creating new products. You can simply choose multiple products and sell them. This makes it easier to scale.
5. You can build a strong relationship with people
When you keep suggesting good products to people, you are continuously building trust among people.
How to Get started with Affiliate Marketing in Nepal?
Now that you have a basic idea about affiliate marketing, let’s see how you can start affiliate marketing in Nepal.
Here you will get a step-by-step procedure to start affiliate marketing in Nepal.
1. Choose your Platform
Earlier we discussed that an affiliate marketer promotes other’s products on their platform. So it’s obvious that the first thing you need is a platform of your own.
The platform can be anything, it can be your blog, social media page, youtube, and so on. Even some people are doing affiliate marketing through newsletters.
So, there is no rule that you should stick to only websites and blogs for affiliate marketing.
Tip for choosing the platform
- Choose the platform that you are comfortable with or have basic knowledge about.
This helps you focus on actual things instead of spending time learning about the platform. - Stick with one platform. Many suggest diversifying and trying all the platforms. But, you should start with one platform.
The smart way can be to grow your audience through a single platform and then diversify. This can save your time from moving back and forth between platforms with less or no gain.
2. Choose your niche/product
In affiliate marketing, choosing a niche means choosing the type of product you want to market.
Many people consider niche selection and product selection as two different approaches. However, you should always keep these together.
Always select a niche by keeping the product in your mind. For instance, if you are thinking about tech-related products then don’t start blogging about fashion.
Tips for choosing a niche
- Choose products that grab your interest. Getting results can take time and you may lose motivation.
Your interest in the product can work as your motivation. - And, always verify if people are interested in the product or niche of your choice. Otherwise, you will be trying to sell things that no one wants.
3. Build Audiences (Visitors)
Before you apply for any affiliate program, make sure you have some audiences. This will increase your chance of acceptance.
Think like this, few audiences mean few sales. And, companies might not be interested in investing on platforms with less scope.
On the other hand, with higher audiences, there is a high chance of sales on regular basis. And, it’s sure companies will invest in platforms with high audiences.
You get the idea.
Tips for building audiences:
- Don’t just build audiences for promotion, provide some value to them.
Be an authority in your niche, be someone where people want to go for suggestions. - Be trustable. So when you suggest products they end up buying.
4. Choose Affiliate Program
When it comes to choosing affiliate programs, there is not much option in Nepal. Daraz is the only biggest affiliate program right now.
However, there is always an option to go global like Amazon.
I know many affiliate marketers hate amazon due to its recent changes in commission rate. But it is a good option when you are just starting out.
Besides, you can always go for other alternatives to amazon. Check out this Authority Hacker’s Video to find amazon alternative programs.
Tips for choosing affiliate program:
- Always choose programs that pay you higher. If you are making sales then why not get a large commission from the sales.
- However, don’t just focus on the rate. Check if the product you are recommending is good for your audiences.
Otherwise, it will destroy your reputation among people. And, trust me low commission is far better than a bad reputation.
5. Create Valuable Content
We have been hearing that lots of affiliate sites are hit by Google algorithms.
And, with the new Product Review Update, you cannot get away with the poorly written article. So don’t make your article looks like an e-commerce product page.
Tips for creating valuable content:
- If possible, try to test the products and write your experience about the product.
- Provide genuine information about the product. Not just copy and paste the features and descriptions.
Your content should help people to understand how the product can help them.
Top Affiliate Programs in Nepal
At this point, you have an idea of affiliate marketing, its benefits, and the procedure to start. Now, let’s see what are some of the popular affiliate programs from Nepal.
For this, I asked the members of the Digital Marketing Club Nepal Facebook group to provide the list of different affiliate programs in Nepal.
Here’s what I find
Currently, there are not many Nepal-based affiliate programs. However, you can always go for global affiliate programs like:
- Amazon Affiliate Associates
- eBay Partner Network
- Webhost based affiliate programs like Bluehost
- WordPress Themes based affiliate like Elegant
- SAAS Affiliate Program like Time Doctor, Grammarly
Why Affiliate Marketing is less popular in Nepal?
Affiliate Marketing is still in its infancy. This is why it hasn’t gained the popularity it should be gaining.
Besides that, there are some more reasons which can be considered obstacles to the growth of affiliate marketing in the country.
1. Less Number of Local Affiliate Programs
We already discussed some of the popular affiliate programs in Nepal. From the list, you can clearly say the number is too less.
Though people can choose from any programs around the world. But still, not having enough affiliate programs inside the country decreases the awareness and interest among people.
2. Very Less Number of People Buy Online
It won’t be wrong to say people from limited regions are into the culture of online buying. So the number of sales made through affiliate marketing is too low.
This directly affects the prospect of affiliate marketing in Nepal.
3. Not Many Success Stories in the Market
In the context of Nepal, the culture of affiliate marketing is relatively new. So, there are not many success stories of brands doing great through this.
This is why not many brands want to start the affiliate program.
On the other hand, people are also not talking openly about the success they had through affiliate marketing. And, the main reason behind this is affiliate marketing being the competitive market.
People fear of inviting new competitions if they start talking openly.
4. Brands in Nepal are Operating in Very Less Profit Margin
Most of the businesses in Nepal are in a growing phase. And, they are operating with fewer profit margins compared to 80-85% margins from international brands.
This is why they cannot afford to share the profit through affiliate programs.
5. Presence of Fake Products
This is one of the major obstacles to the affiliate marketing culture in Nepal. There is a large number of fake products in the market.
People are not satisfied with the final product they get. And, this is killing the culture of online shopping in Nepal.
Future of Affiliate Marketing in Nepal?
The recent adaptation of affiliate programs by different brands has laid a path for affiliate marketing in Nepal. And, it will be the next big thing in Nepal.
Apart from that, let’s see some of the factors that will help in growing affiliate businesses in Nepal.
- The recent rise of Digital Marketing in Nepal will play an important role here.
- An increasing number of local bloggers and content creators.
- Development of proper tracking tools.
- Realization of opportunities from brands.
- New policies against the minimization of fake products.
If you are planning to explore and try your luck here, this is the right time to start. It’s because affiliate marketing in Nepal is at its initial phase. And, when it is fully grown, you will be ready for it.
Let’s hear from you now
I hope this guide was helpful and you learned something new.
Let’s hear from you now.
Are you into the affiliate marketing business?
What affiliate program you are using?
And, what programs you suggest for beginners?
Do let me know in the comment below.
A great article. Very insightful, i think it will help me to explore the affiliate marketing in Nepal.
Glad to be of help.