The risk of using affiliate marketing for an entrepreneur or a marketer is excessively low as compared to high rewards. One needs to pay affiliates only when a customer converts and not when they drive traffic to your website. In this blog, we are going to discuss 5 simple tips used in affiliate marketing in order to increase affiliate sales and make money.
However, before that let us start with what is affiliate marketing and how it works.
What is Affiliate Marketing?
Marketing that could be thought of as outsourced marketing wherein you are hiring affiliates who are paid to bring your customers. You don’t have to pay them if they are driving visitors to your site instead you pay them only when these visitors are turned into customers.
Parts of a successful Affiliate Marketing System
The Merchant
Mostly known as the seller or the brand, this is the party that creates/owns the product. From small enterprises to massive Fortune 500 companies, anyone could be the merchant in affiliate marketing system.
The Affiliate
Also known as the publisher. They can range from entire companies to single individuals. Their job is to attract and convince the potential customers for the merchant’s product so that they actually buy them!
The Consumer
Well, a consumer has to be the one around whom the affiliate system goes. If there are no sales, there will not be any commission and revenue in hand. The affiliate tries to reach out to the customers on social networks, digital billboards, content marketing for a blog, etc.
The Network
Not very popular part of the affiliate marketing system, a network is an intermediary between a merchant and an affiliate. They handle the product delivery and the payment. They also serve as a database of lots of products, out of which the affiliate can choose which to promote.
How Affiliate Marketing Works?
Affiliate marketing is a popular money-making practice conducted on the web. Talking about affiliate product sales, the publishers are rewarded for promoting the products and services of a business. Affiliate Marketing is a process where each party receives a share of the revenue as per their contribution. Learn affiliate from Neil Patel’s strategies digital marketing strategies.
Steps Involved In Affiliate Marketing
- A tracking URL is assigned to an affiliate.
- This can be used to track which affiliates are driving traffic to your website.
- Affiliate markets your website.
- Affiliates promote your company via several different ways like YouTube video, blog post, paid traffic, reviewing products, email blast etc.
- Customers are acquired.
- Visitor purchases the product or signs up.
- The affiliate receives a commission
- If an affiliate drives you a lead, you pay them an amount.
That said, let us see how we can increase affiliate sales with simple tips.
5 Quick And Simple Tips To Increase Affiliate Sales
If you are an affiliate, you might have questions like how can I maximize profits by promoting others’ products and services? Or what can I do to make my audience loyal?!
You could be an affiliate for anything. It could be an actual affiliate product, for instance, a car, or anything. Or maybe if you are in network marketing then you are an affiliate for that company’s product but the compensation is just different. If you are in direct sales, then you are an affiliate marketer. Even being an insurance seller makes you an affiliate marketer because you are an affiliate for that particular insurance company’s policies.
1. Create an in-between
Offering education, and solutions in-between your merchant and your offer improves the quality of experience of users. Affiliates must focus on providing value first and then ask for sales. It decreases spammy promotion over the entire affiliate campaign.
Well, to be honest, most affiliates are lazy. All they focus on is sending traffic to the merchant’s website or to the replicated website. The only work they do is just send the traffic to the seller’s website.
This just doesn’t work very well as almost all affiliates are doing the exact same thing. What exceptional are you doing that sets you apart from others?
When you create an in-between like a blog post, youtube video or an article where you answer some questions, solve their problems, and provide some value to the visitor as to why they should take the next step. You should be basically connecting the dots!
Most affiliates rely on product creators to do the heavy lifting. And of course, these merchants are doing all the heavy lifting. They are creating the product, taking care of legal problems, money refunds, delivery processes, take care of money handling, customer service, and more.
Therefore, you could do more than just send traffic to their website by creating an in-between.
A fitness affiliate creates a detailed blog post comparing various protein supplements. They include personal insights, benefits of each product, and a video demonstration, making it easier for readers to decide on a purchase.
2. Buy the product yourself and review it
From Google protocol of affiliate marketing sites to user feedback, an affiliate must be the fist hand experience of the product and service itself. Affiliates must show unique experiences and prospective to ensure trust and authority.
Why not do a product review of the product you are promoting? How about a behind-the-scenes scene like a screen-sharing view? That would be a good idea if the product you are promoting is an informational product.
Record the scene and just show a little sneak peek to what customers will be having in a product if they buy it.
This gives them the credibility that you actually own the product. How many affiliates might be doing that? If you don’t own the product you are promoting, how will the visitors be ready to buy these products?
As an affiliate, you are going to be way more effective if you buy the product yourself, believe in it, review it, and promote it.
An affiliate for an online photography course buys the course, completes it, and then records a video review showing the course materials, learning outcomes, and personal improvements in photography skills.
3. Do a comparison video between your product and a similar product
Sell the outcomes and transformations. Images of comparisons are more persuasive than written texts. Video of transformations are more effective than static images. People do not buy a journey, they buy the results.
Well, sometimes you could be an affiliate for both. For instance, if you are selling if a really popular weight loss training program then you can compare it with some similar type of training program.
However, it is important to remember that you can’t cut down on another product and it should be a true, genuine review. It can’t be skewed because people will find it.
A technology affiliate compares two popular website-building platforms. They create a video detailing the features, pricing, and ease of use for both, helping viewers choose the best platform for their needs.
4. Have your own bonuses
Providing tons of values for free in the beginning is a strategy for building trust. Value distribution is the best way to build relationships and trust that trigger sales.
You could give people incentives and that could be the reason why they would choose your product over others. The bonuses you provide could be as simple as having a 30-minute meeting with you or a webinar with you. Or it could be some recording/ blog post that you could give them for free which will be of some value to them.
The main motive of having your own bonuses is to provide extra incentives to people who have bought your product over others.
An affiliate promoting a language learning app offers a free downloadable guide on daily language practice routines, encouraging customers to purchase through their link for the added bonus.
5. Build an audience
Sales is a never-ending loop of exchange of values in the form of goods and services. Keep helping them daily, weekly basis. Help customers if they buy and don’t buy regardless. Build a community and culture around the products and services.
Finally, the fifth point is to build your audience. This is by far the most important point that you should consider.
Most affiliates are sending the traffic directly to the seller’s website and thereby passing them without retaining any. The traffic you are attracting is not getting to know you and your business.
Hey, become a little possessive here!
Your business is not those affiliate products but it is you and the audience. Your business is you and your relationship with your audience. So you need to be focussed on building your own list first. This makes sense because if they don’t buy this particular affiliate product today, they may buy another one from you down the road.
A digital marketing affiliate builds an email list by offering a free eBook on SEO tips. They regularly send out valuable content, eventually promoting various marketing tools as affiliate products to the engaged audience.
Here’s a video to explain you more on increasing affiliate sales…
Learn to make money via affiliate marketing to increase affiliate sales. Which affiliate marketing tip did you find the most suitable for your business? Want to add something to these tips? Share with us in the comment section below!
I have been looking for this article for a very long time finally, I got it. This is one of the best articles I have ever read about increasing affiliate sales. 🙂
Brother thanks for sharing with us.
Keep up the good work.
As an affiliate marketing newbie, I found this article very helpful. Thanks for the help Sakshi.
Very good & useful information
You had given nice & useful information these methods should practiced . Keep it up .