Affiliate marketing involves promoting products or services that do not belong to you, and it is straightforward in its approach. Initially, you need to create a website, social media channel, or blog and become a member of affiliate programs. You will receive a link from the program to showcase on your platforms, and you will earn a commission if anyone clicks on your link and purchases the affiliate product.
The industry of affiliate marketing is a global business worth billions of dollars. It is projected that by 2022, its value will increase to $12 billion, which is triple its estimated value in 2015.
Considering these statistics, it’s not surprising that several individuals opt for affiliate marketing as an additional source of income or a prospective career path. Nonetheless, in the current dynamic virtual environment, one has to be discerning to prosper as an affiliate marketer.
Best Practices for Affiliate Marketers in 2023
1. Choose a Niche
To become an affiliate, it is important to possess adequate influence, and developing a website that focuses on a specific field is one of the most effective means to amass a loyal audience.
Choose a subject that intrigues you and has the ability to create a significant source of supplemental income. Analyze current market patterns and identify the demands of your desired consumer base. Utilizing research resources such as Google Keyword Planner, Google Trends, and SEMrush can aid in your investigation.
After selecting a niche, produce top-notch content that caters to your audience. The more unique and significant your content is, the more effortless it becomes to establish yourself as a knowledgeable figure in your particular area.
2. Understand your Target Audience
To succeed in affiliate marketing, it is important to comprehend the requirements of your audience and fulfill them accordingly. To gain a deeper understanding of your intended customer base, it is recommended that you fashion buyer personas that present a hypothetical portrayal of their lifestyle, worries, obstacles, and choices. These buyer personas can either be furnished by your affiliate network or crafted by yourself.
After determining your target audience, you can proceed to customize your affiliate marketing plan to cater to their specific needs.
3. Disclose Affiliate Links
Establishing trust with your audience is crucial in the success of your affiliate marketing. Disclosing affiliate links is an essential initial step towards building this trust. Not revealing that you will receive payment for promoting a product and the disclosure being discovered elsewhere can negatively affect your credibility. Doubting your integrity can make it challenging to persuade customers to conduct business with you.
Affiliate marketers are required by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to include a disclosure. Moreover, as an Amazon Associates member, you will also have to attach a disclaimer such as;
“As an Amazon Associates, I earn from qualifying purchases.”
The use of #affiliate or #affiliatelink on Twitter has been deemed insufficiently clear by the FTC, and is therefore prohibited. Instead, #ad is suggested as a suitable replacement. Instagram provides an affiliate tool that automatically adds an “Eligible for Commission” tag, while sponsored content includes a “Paid Partnership” notification.
Ensure that your self-written disclaimer is both clear and concise and don’t forget to include it on all of your content pages.
4. Leverage on Multichannel Strategy
Utilizing multiple channels yields superior results compared to relying on a single platform. Your website, blog, and email lists are considered “owned” platforms, while social media channels like Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest are classified as “rented” platforms.
Not incorporating social media into your business strategy is considered a major offense nowadays. This is due to the fact that YouTube ranks as the second largest search engine globally, and Instagram boasts a staggering 500 million daily active users worldwide. By creating content that resonates and performs well on multiple social media platforms, you can successfully attract your desired audience to your owned channels, such as your website and blog.
To effectively shield marketing efforts from frequent social media updates, it is essential to drive people to your sites in addition to utilizing rented platforms. This strategy is also beneficial for expanding your following.
5. Use Key Performance Indicators to Track Your Progress
Your affiliate links may be clicked on by visitors multiple times, but your efforts will only be fully successful once they make a purchase. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are used to evaluate the success of marketing campaigns and can indicate which aspects of your marketing plan generate the greatest revenue. KPIs also reveal which elements yield insufficient returns.
When reviewing the metrics, be especially mindful of:
- Click-through rate. This is the number of clicks compared to the number of views. You can use it to track digital ads, call-to-actions, and links.
- Conversion rate. This is the number of conversions compared to the number of clicks. This also applies to any desired action taken by the audience, like subscribing to a newsletter or downloading an eBook.
6. Create a Carousel of Ads
Once you become a part of an affiliate program, you will ordinarily be given advertisements that can be placed on your website, blog, social media networks, and email. Despite the template ads offered by your network, you have the option to design your own ads (if permitted) to distinguish yourself from other affiliates.
After building up a good assortment of both pre-existing and unique advertisements, test them out to determine which resonates most effectively with your desired consumer base. It may require a bit of patience as you attempt different combinations, and you might need to swap out your ads frequently to increase visibility.
To simplify the process of rotation, an ad rotator plugin is available. This software automatically changes the display of ads and monitors clicks, assessing their effectiveness and determining the need for replacement.
7. Repurpose or Edit Old Content
By repurposing your content, you can broaden your marketing outreach and draw in individuals who may have been overlooked initially. Furthermore, it is a great method for new followers to gain knowledge from you. Here are a few instances of how you can recycle and modernize your preexisting content:
- Make a YouTube video on an earlier post to expand on the topic
- Create an infographic using key takeaways from a long article
- Use Reels or TikTok to highlight YouTube videos
- Make a mini-series out of long Facebook videos
- Tweet a relevant line from an old article
- Use a powerful sentence from an old blog to caption an Instagram post
- Create an eBook from interconnected blog posts
Here are some suggestions to experiment with your popular affiliate content in order to gather relevant new data and maximize their traffic.
- Replace non-converting links
- Change the color, size, and position of the Call-to-Action button
- Add new photos or replace the old ones
- Use relevant or powerful words around affiliate links
- Add pop-ups to pages with higher traffic
8. Use TikTok to Create a Bigger Audience
There is a growing number of brands, influencers and affiliate marketers who are venturing into the potential of TikTok. The content on this platform is authentic, amusing, and extremely innovative. Its audience is engaged in both edutainment and entertainment and finds pleasure in engaging with captivating content.
When promoting, brands and affiliate marketers often adopt the latest trends and add their unique touch. Take cues from TikTok creators who gained fame by endorsing similar products.
A simple method for encouraging organic traffic from your TikTok videos to your brand’s product website is to include an affiliate link in your bio. Additionally, TikTok lets users include links to other social media pages in their bios, which means you can promote not only affiliate products but also drive traffic to your other profiles.
In order to achieve this, you must convert your account to a Business Account (it’s important to note that you also require a minimum of 1000 followers).
- In TikTok, tap the Profile tab
- Tap the Menu button in the top-right corner
- Tap Manage Account > Switch to Business Account > Next
- Select what category your business falls under and hit Next to finish
If you do not have a substantial number of followers, you can opt to insert a non-clickable link instead.
9. Create an Instagram Affiliate Storefront
In 2023, affiliates from various niches continue to favor Instagram as their preferred social media platform.
Just like TikTok, the objective on Instagram is to gain influence among your desired audience. Crafting visually appealing content, aside from implementing an effective hashtag strategy, is the most efficient method to achieve this.
Creators affiliated with Instagram now receive a commission for sales generated by product tags in both Stories and feed posts, as well as from items sold through their stores. To establish an affiliate marketing initiative on Instagram, a Creator account is required. Below are the steps on how to switch to one.
- Open your Instagram account
- Select Settings
- Go to Account
- Tap Switch to a professional account and choose Creator
- Choose the category that best describes your affiliate niche
- Enter your contact information
10. Use Facebook Ads for a More Targeted Audience
Despite the existence of other social networks, Facebook remains the most expansive worldwide. Considering the billions of individuals who use the platform each month, it’s prudent to familiarize oneself with Facebook ads. As an affiliate, Facebook ads come in handy when aiming to reach a particular audience that’s most likely interested in the item you’re marketing.
Facebook offers four primary categories of ads.
- Single image
- Single video
- Slideshow
- Carousel
Facebook dark posts are a type of targeted paid advertisement that fall under the single image category, and they are known for their effectiveness in reaching potential customers who may be interested in your affiliate products.
This advertising approach presents a compromise between paid promotion and natural content since the advertisement functions as an organic post. Thus, instead of featuring on the affiliate’s Business Page or feed immediately after publishing, the ad only shows up on the feeds of specific clients.
Ad Manager allows for the creation of dark posts, which can be distributed as per choice. The exciting feature of dark posts is the inclusion of a call-to-action button prompting the audience to take action, such as “Get yours today” through text with a link to the product. Additionally, dark posts offer ample space for description texts and striking visuals.
Additional pointers:
- Always use an affiliate disclaimer
- Interact with your audience
- Include relevant hashtags
- Post to relevant Facebook Groups
- Check your Facebook Page insights
11. Build Trust by Disclosing Affiliate Relationships
Regardless of the platform or website you use, being transparent about your associations with affiliated brands is a tactic that can enhance the trust of your followers. Your reputation holds equivalent significance to your social media audience, YouTube viewership, or monthly blog traffic.
Sharing the benefits that you can derive from a situation is recommended, while disclosing your income could potentially elicit disdainful reactions.
By doing so, you can maintain transparency, enhance the credibility of your readers, and comply with the guidelines of The Federal Trade Commission (FTC). To put it simply, it aligns with the fundamental principle of honesty and non-deception in advertising, where all endorsements must be authentic and truthful.
After this guide was released, Instagram introduced the paid partnerships label to assist affiliate marketers in complying with the FTC endorsement standards. Kendall Jenner’s Instagram post displays this label, indicating that she is an affiliate marketer promoting Tiffany & Co. items.
12. Collect Emails with Lead Magnets
To encourage visitors to share their email addresses, a lead magnet is a free offer provided on your affiliate marketing website. Since people typically require a motivating factor to offer their personal details, an incentive is required.
What type of content do you believe your audience would be willing to invest in? The content should generate awareness while also delivering sufficient information to intrigue the reader into learning more about the product. Ensure that your content is pertinent and possesses an apparent value.
You may provide different options for promotions depending on the type of product you are promoting.
- eBooks and whitepapers
- Free courses
- Assessments or tests
- Free coupons
- Free shipping
- Templates
- Gifts with the first order
An additional suggestion is to create email sequences after building your email list and entice potential customers with a product bonus. Suppose you are advertising an affiliate product such as printed phone cases from Printful. In that case, you can distribute email promotional codes for these items.
13. Create a Learning Course on YouTube
If you are comfortable in front of the camera, utilizing the most widely used video platform to share your expertise in affiliate marketing could prove to be a highly effective new endeavor. This is a smart means of offering added benefit to your viewers while generating income.
One option is to follow YouTuber Miles Beckler’s lead and develop a detailed affiliate marketing guide, while introducing additional suggestions and resources as you progress.
If you prefer, you might also consider producing videos centered on your business’s niche, whether you run an ecommerce enterprise or another type. Offer practical insights on how you’ve achieved positive outcomes, and encourage your audience to test the same tactics. Review other creators’ videos and use your own knowledge to form titles for your content, such as:
- “How to earn money with affiliate marketing in 2023”
- “Step-by-step guide to start an online business in 2023”
- “Start your dropshipping business in 2023”
- “A beginner’s guide to affiliate marketing”
- “Earn your first $X with affiliate marketing today”
