Growing brands are always hungry for new ways to reach potential customers. Beyond traditional advertising, for example, they know that their audiences often have favorite bloggers, YouTubers or other content creators they trust to inspire their next purchase. If you’re not familiar with this approach to promoting brand partners, this affiliate marketing guide was made to help you.
What is affiliate marketing and how does it work?
Affiliate marketing refers to a business model whereby brands provide those influencers and content creators a personalized link to sell their products. By using social media, e-mail or other digital channels, affiliate partners help companies raise brand awareness, drive conversions to product pages and eCommerce shopping carts. They earn a commission on each sale made through their affiliate link, which means their success is only limited by how much work they put into driving more conversions.
3 significant affiliate marketing advantages
A key component of any affiliate marketing guide is helping show why it’s worthwhile. For entrepreneurs with a passion for storytelling and whose skill set is based more on selling than developing their own products, affiliate marketing programs offer:
Ease of entry
Though there are some initial costs to set up a blog or YouTube channel, they pale in comparison to the R&D involved in creating your own products and setting up a warehouse to store them. You don’t need a particular educational background or certification to become an affiliate marketer, and plenty of resources are freely available online to learn some best practices.
Low overhead and flexibility
Affiliate marketing allows you to work from anywhere, and for whatever hours suit your schedule. Your success is ultimately determined by how well your content performs, not how long you spend sitting at a desk or in an office. With as little as a laptop and an Internet connection, you can develop a profitable business that scales exponentially.
Freedom from customer service issues
Since affiliate marketers are only driving sales to their partners’ product catalogs, they don’t to set up expensive contact centers or have tools to assist customers with troubleshooting issues or complaints. Everything from shipping to handling returns is managed by their partner, leaving them free to focus on content creation.
How to choose the right affiliate marketing program?
If you’re just starting out developing affiliate marketing strategies, you’ll need to do your research to find the best programs. ShareASale, Awin and TradeDoubler are all among the best-known examples, but there are plenty more.
As you explore further, keep the following criteria in mind:
Prioritize high-commission programs
In categorizes like fashion, there may be more lucrative opportunities by joining programs that promote luxury brands versus fast fashion or casual brands. This may also require more time and effort from a content perspective, however, so plan accordingly.
Seek long-term affiliate partnerships
It’s always better to grow your business with an existing customer than find a new one. Similarly, affiliate programs that operate on an ongoing basis rather than a short-term campaign provide more opportunity for experimentation and testing so you can drive more revenue.
Essential strategies for affiliate marketing success
No affiliate marketing guide would be complete without some best practices. Here’s what tends to work for top performers:
Use SEO to deal with a competitive landscape
There are already many content creators with significant followings who have been practicing affiliate marketing in most popular product categories. That means your potential audience may be already oversaturated with blog posts, videos and other content trying to persuade them to click on an affiliate link. It can be difficult to stand out as a result.
Focusing on high-value keywords and other search engine optimization (SEO) techniques can increase your organic reach and encourage conversions.
Build trust with your audience
It can take time to reach the traffic levels that will generate significant income as an affiliate partner, and traffic can dip for a host of reasons. Even high-performing content can become outdated or obsolete eventually, leading to unpredictable changes in how much income you can bring in on a regular basis.
When customers come to recognize you’re giving unbiased advice or providing genuine value in some way, you’re in a better position to grow your business.
Harness email marketing for targeted outreach
Affiliate marketing tends to depend on generating traffic through digital channels, such as social media platforms, that are subject to proprietary algorithms. E-mail can represent an “owned” channel where you have more control over who you’re reaching and the relationship you can build with them over time.
Highstreet.io: Your trusted partner for a winning affiliate marketing strategy
When you’re looking for affiliate marketing tools, ask prospective partners about how they optimize and customize product feed data and attribute orders. Those that work with Highstreet.io can easily monitor, track and fine-tune the way they measure the results of their affiliates.
Highstreet.io can not only help you set up an automated product feed, but ensure it complies with program guidelines.
As you produce content and promote products, Highstreet.io can also provide performance data to identify top-converting products so you can refine your approach.
Finally, Highstreet.io can extend your reach even further by easing the process of integrating with online marketplaces such as Amazon, Etsy and many more.
Talk to us about how you can get started with Highstreet.io’s affiliate marketing services today.
FAQs
How much money can I earn with affiliate marketing?
This depends a lot on the programs and partners you choose, how much content you’re developing and the traffic you’re able to generate.
Do I need a website to start in affiliate marketing?
Not always. Some start sharing affiliate links purely through their social media channels, though a website offers greater control over the digital experience you’re providing.
What’s the difference between affiliate marketing and influencer marketing?
Influencers may partner with brands and feature their products but not include affiliate links. Influencers sometimes also opt for in-kind partnerships where they merely enjoy free products. Affiliate marketing doesn’t necessarily require a large social following or to photograph and film yourself as part of the content.