Even 10 years ago, mainly affiliate marketing was associated with Amazon. Currently, there are thousands of affiliate programs and dozens of affiliate networks worldwide. What is worth knowing about affiliate marketing?
What is affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is marketing consisting of recommending products and services on various websites and on social media. Publishers are responsible for promoting products and services of their choice on their online space and are rewarded by advertisers for commissioned sales which they achieve. Sales are monitored thanks to special affiliate links that lead users from the publisher’s site to the advertiser’s site.
Why should you invest in affiliate marketing
- Popularity – As long as the media (vortals, blogs, vlogs) exist and develop, the development of affiliate marketing will continue to be key. Advertisers invest in this solution as often as in video advertising or using rich media.
- Multi-channel – Affiliate activities are increasingly taking on a multi-channel form. That is why publishers often combine partner activities with the support of SEO, social media and email solutions.
- Automation of activities – One of the main reasons for companies not investing in new marketing channels is the lack of skills and relevant employees. But these fears are unfounded. First of all, there are plenty of affiliate networks that take the lion’s share of their responsibilities. Only the performance measurement system and billing issues are left to the customer (advertiser) side. Secondly, two solutions are becoming more and more popular: white label and private affiliate program. In the first case, the technology is leased to the advertiser. He can build and manage his own program as well as run campaigns with selected – the most effective publishers. In addition, he has access to all statistics, with which he can build a relationship with key partners and collect feedback from the market and from the competition. In the second case, in turn, in addition to technology, the advertiser receives substantive support in the form of account managers, helping to implement affiliate marketing and manage their own partner program. This can be much easier with the right affiliate marketing software.
- Low risk – Affiliate marketing is also known as performance marketing. It is based on the fact that it does not account for either the number of page views (CPM) or the number of clicks (CPC). The company thanks to the private network formula can arrange with the publisher that it will pay him for a specific type of conversion and for sales, which in the case of e-commerce is a very big advantage. So there is no question of spending money on ineffective marketing activities. The brand’s side is preparing materials for affiliate marketers (to increase productivity they should be embedded in digital asset management software) and tracking results.
- Low costs and high efficiency – It happens that brands do not get involved in new solutions because they do not know what ROI they are. This is mainly due to a lack of knowledge of technology. In turn, this often accompanies the conviction that if something is unknown, it means that it is expensive. In affiliate marketing, the rules are clearly defined. Payment takes place in the event of a predetermined situation – effect.
How to develop an affiliate program
1. Develop relationships
Starting a career in affiliate marketing
you will want to work with recipients who have their own specific interests.
This will allow you to adapt your actions to them, which is why it is very
important to build relationships from the very beginning. Your recipients are
to see in you first and foremost an expert, someone trustworthy, not a person
who tries to encourage them to buy.
2. Recommend what you know
There are an unlimited number of products
that you can promote. But remember that the best method is to choose the ones
you know, which you used and which you would recommend to everyone. When
acting, think first of all about your customers, recommend them valuable
products and you will definitely achieve success.
3. Bet on a reliable review
Focus on the accurate and reliable review
of the products you recommend, thanks to which your recipients will be sure
that I can trust you. Make them receive some specific benefits. You can compare
products with each other, exchange not only advantages, but also disadvantages,
if you notice such. The most important thing is to be honest from the
beginning. If you do not follow this rule, recipients can quickly lose
confidence in you.
4. Use different sources
Remember that you have many options for
placing affiliate links. If you run a blog and related social media, you can
successfully promote advertiser products on all channels. Test different
strategies and analyze what brings you the most benefits. Develop different
affiliation methods to achieve the best results. Think outside the box – you
can use a custom
link shortener to shorten
content and create custom audiences from the people who clicked on your link.
This way, you can reach, for example, those people who are interested in your
content but have not yet converted.
5. Choose your campaigns carefully
No matter how horizontal your marketing
skills are, the rule is one. You will earn less on promoting bad products than
good ones. So take the time to read them before you start advertising. It is
worth to know the products and opinions about them thoroughly, because then you
will be sure that they are actually worth recommending to recipients.
6. Stay up to date with trends
This is another clue on which affiliate marketing is based. If you want to achieve success in it, you must be up to date with every latest trend. And it’s not just about shopping trends, but also technological ones. New marketing techniques are constantly emerging that can help you with affiliate activities. Therefore, always keep your finger on the pulse!
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