What is affiliate marketing? Simply put, it’s when an official affiliate of a brand or company receives money for lead generation and transactions. Although it’s pretty easy to understand, the process seems to scare people who don’t know whether they should take a leap of faith.
Well, the statistics underline the reasons to get on board with affiliate marketing. For instance, there’s an average growth in affiliate marketing spending of 10% yearly, meaning that 81% of businesses utilize the tactic. Now that you’re clear on why you should consider life as an affiliate, here are the straightforward steps to getting started.
A/B Testing
A/B or multivariate testing is synonymous with websites. By switching certain elements and collating the data, you pinpoint which features are helping or hindering your eCommerce sales. The same applies to affiliate marketing channels because not every brand will be suitable for your platform. Choose poorly and it may take a while before you begin to turn a profit.
Alternatively, the partners that you assume will be lucrative may not hit the ground running. It’s all about complimenting your customer base by encouraging people to click on links that are likely to pique their interest. Amazon Associates is often at the top of the list of affiliate programs worth using, yet even it has flaws, such as low cookie lifetime and reduced commission rates. Don’t rush into anything from the outset.
Reliable Reviews
Shoppers often read reviews before they make purchases, as they want to make sure they don’t fall into a trap. Currently, nearly 80% of online customers report trusting reviews as much as they would a recommendation from a friend or family member. That’s the true power of the medium, which is why you should build a reputation as a reliable reviewer.
Once you have a base, your audience will come to you for information on a range of topics, enhancing your ability to make money from affiliate marketing. The key is to start in your niche and then branch out into different verticals since reliability is integral to your success.
Use Lots of Sources
There are several ways to reach audiences, from writing blog posts to posting influencer images on Instagram. Most of them are effective in their own way, and it’s important to consider integrating as many as you can into your strategy when you have outlined a solid base. After all, it’s easier to reach larger quantities of people.
As per usual, evaluating social media channels should be your number one priority. The big three platforms welcome billions of unique users daily, so you won’t want to miss out on that action. However, don’t forget the likes of YouTube and LinkedIn, either. Also, an email campaign has its merits, as does text message and freebie marketing.
Stay on Top of Trends
Affiliate marketing is hyper-competitive. That shouldn’t surprise you, since marketing is a dog-eat-dog world, but it should shift your focus to the topic of trends. Trends come and go and remaining current can be enough for affiliates to continue to engage a healthy consumer base.
The best example is the change from large affiliates to abstract influencers. With social media programs increasing in popularity, influencers started raising awareness of specific products and services. Combined with evolutions in SEO – such as long-tail keyword searches – influencer affiliate marketing boomed and continues to be powerful to this day.
Have you dreamed of becoming an affiliate marketer? It’s not as challenging as it appears on the surface.
