Affiliate Marketing is a performance-based marketing strategy where a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought by the affiliate's own marketing efforts. It is a popular tactic to drive sales and generate significant online revenue, beneficial to both brands and affiliate marketers. The process involves affiliates earning a commission for marketing another person's or company's products. They promote the product they enjoy to others and earn a piece of the profit from each sale they make. This model allows brands to expand their market reach without incurring significant marketing costs upfront.

The core elements of Affiliate Marketing involve the merchant (also known as 'retailer' or 'brand'), the affiliate (also known as 'publisher'), and the customer. Merchants partner with affiliates to promote their products or services, utilizing the affiliates' unique audience reach. Affiliates use various methods such as blogging, social media, email marketing, and search engine optimization to promote the products and direct traffic to the merchant's site. When customers purchase the product through these affiliate links, the affiliate earns a commission, creating a win-win situation for both the merchant and the affiliate.

One of the key advantages of Affiliate Marketing is that it offers a low-risk, cost-effective way for businesses to market their products, as they only pay commissions when a sale is actually made. For affiliates, it provides an opportunity to earn income by promoting products or services they believe in, without needing to create a product of their own. Effective Affiliate Marketing relies on building a mutual relationship between merchants and affiliates, where both parties benefit from the success of the marketing efforts.