3 Tips for Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing was all the rage back when the internet was in its infancy, but as it’s grown in popularity, the market has become more and more crowded. This isn’t to say affiliate marketing is dead by any means. In fact, in the US alone affiliate marketing spend is expected to hit $8.2 billion by 2022.
This means the opportunities are still there for those that want to become affiliate marketers, but you need the best affiliate marketing strategies to see results. We’ve got everything you need to know in this quick guide.
What Is Affiliate Marketing?
Also known as performance-based marketing, brands collaborate with affiliate marketers to promote their products or service.
Commission for affiliate marketing varies a lot depending on the platform you opt to use and the brands you choose to work with. Some brands will pay for any traffic landing on their website as a result of you promoting them, whereas others will only pay a commission when an affiliate leads to a sale.
This said, in general, there are three main pay bands: pay-per-sale, pay-per-lead, or pay-per-click.
The chosen pricing strategy will reflect the goals of the business you’re working with. For example, a company that wants to increase brand awareness will often pay per click.
There is a wealth of advice on becoming an affiliate marketer available online, some great and some less so. However, for those starting out, some simple affiliate marketing tips can help.
1. Build a Targeted Marketplace
Whether you want to build your platform as a blog or on an existing social media platform, you need some kind of built-up following before you begin affiliate marketing.
Many people new to affiliate marketing go wrong here. They set up their blog or social media presence and expect brands to come pouring in. While a decade ago that may have been true, brands nowadays are looking for affiliates who align with their target audience.
Don’t be afraid to get niche. It works incredibly well for some affiliate marketers. The more specific you get the less competition there is and the more targeted your readership is.
For brands, this is incredibly valuable and can make you a better affiliate than many others who have a larger following, but a far broader demographic. To make money online you can use social media networks as an affiliate platform or if you would like to go down the website route, creating a high quality affiliate marketing landing page, could potentially help you drive more traffic as well.
2. Be Picky About the Brands You Work With
There’s no faster way to lose your audience than promoting lots of products or services that aren’t relevant to them. Many affiliates are guilty of this, especially later on when the offers are pouring in.
You want to work with brands your readers or following will find interesting. Otherwise, you’ll end up with lackluster commissions.
3. Utilize Affiliate Platforms
For those starting out, it’s best to work with established affiliate platforms to begin with, before brands start contacting you. The most well-known affiliate platform is Amazon Affiliates. You can look through here and find products that fit your niche audience to get your affiliate business going.
While Amazon Affiliates is the best known, there are hundreds of affiliate platforms to pick from. So make sure to do your research into which could best suit your unique affiliate marketing strategy. You can find more information here.
More Marketing Tips
Affiliate marketing can be very lucrative, for both brands and affiliate marketers. However, with such a crowded marketplace, affiliates need to be smart about the strategies they pick and the brands they work with to see the best results. Affiliate marketing is also depending on social media platforms, i.e. Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, etc. There are a number of agencies that provide social media tips and tricks to expand the social network for marketing.
You can find lots more helpful marketing advice on our blog.