If the classification is based on the depth of the affiliate network, it can be classified as single-tier, two-tier, and multi-tier affiliate marketing. There is a type of affiliate marketing that pays the affiliate every time the customer he has referred purchases an item from the merchant’s site sometimes the merchant extending recognition for affiliate loyalties to a lifetime arrangement.
Single-Tier, Two-Tier, and Multi-Tier Affiliate Marketing
These types of affiliate marketing are based on various levels or tiers in the affiliate network by which payments are made.
A) Single Tier - In a single-tier affiliate marketing program, the affiliates are paid based on the direct sales or traffic he has referred to the merchant. Most of the time, unless specified, all the affiliate marketing types mentioned earlier (i.e. PPS, PPL, and PPC) fall under the single-tier classification.
B) Two Tier - In two-tier affiliate marketing programs, the affiliates are not only paid for the direct traffic or sales that he brings to the merchant’s site, but also on every traffic or sales referred by other affiliates who joined as sub-affiliate of the above affiliate marketer.
C) Multi Tier - Multi-tier affiliate marketing works the same way, although the affiliate gets additional commission for more number of levels of affiliates in different tiers in the affiliate network.
D) Residual Income Affiliate Marketing - In this type, the affiliate gets paid for every customer he has referred to the merchant’s site. Additionally, the affiliate is also paid whenever the customer he has referred goes back to the merchant’s site and purchases another product. Commission for such type of affiliate marketing is based on either percentage of sales or based on fixed fee.
Every affiliate marketer finds that these different affiliate marketing methods work differently for each of them. For instance, multi tier affiliate marketing, also called Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) is a highly difficult type of internet marketing and it does not work for everyone. As a matter of fact, many legitimate marketers consider MLM as illegal or something which is undesirable.
