Marketing for SaaS is intricate and often poses a significant challenge. Firstly, you are advertising something that customers cannot physically experience or touch. Furthermore, the product is in a constant state of flux.
On top of that, it can be challenging for the average person to fully comprehend SaaS products immediately, particularly if they’re not tech-savvy. Luckily, affiliate marketing can assist you in overcoming these obstacles.
By implementing a successful affiliate marketing plan, you can expand your SaaS by attracting fresh audiences, acquiring focused traffic, and experiencing growth.
1. Choose a Product Based on Your Ability to Rank for Relevant Keywords and Avoid Saturated Markets
This piece of advice is aimed at content-focused affiliate marketers, particularly bloggers. If you’re new to this and your website has a low domain rating, it would be wise to opt for a product with less popular keywords.
Numerous affiliate marketers are coaching aspiring affiliates on how to succeed, particularly in a crowded market such as “how to start a blog” or “how to make money online.” In this niche, marketers are pushing identical products, such as web hosting services, website builders, and SEO tools, to one another.
Writing and promoting more content will boost your domain authority and increase your likelihood of ranking for challenging keywords. Although it requires patience, this method is the most effective way to maximize profits through affiliate marketing.
2. Forget about AIDA and Other Funnels and Focus on Product-Audience Fit
Your task as an affiliate is simply to direct your potential customers towards the merchant’s product page with the aim of earning a commission of about 20% upon successful conversions. To accomplish this, you must focus on targeted marketing that aligns with the needs of your prospects. Essentially, what you require is qualified traffic.
Regardless of which promotional channel you select, be it a review blog, social media post, webinar, email newsletter, or even a casual conversation with a client, the process remains identical. Your prospect must click your affiliate link and complete the purchase before the cookie expires.
For most affiliates, the traditional AIDA funnel which includes Awareness, Interest, Desire and Action, is hardly applicable. Focusing on generating awareness and interest does not lead to an increase in conversions or optimize affiliate marketing revenue. To achieve these results, it is best to leave the top stages of the funnel to the merchant’s own marketing team.
3. Spend Enough Time Choosing Your Affiliate Products to Avoid Half-Hearted Efforts
The most critical decision is undoubtedly selecting the appropriate affiliate product to endorse. To make an informed decision, prioritize these variables in a rough order:
- Product-audience fit
- Market demand
- Competition
- Product price
- Commission rate
- Additional incentives such as promo codes, bonuses and marketing materials
Remember, a commission rate is only valuable if there is a substantial demand for the product and your marketing efforts reach the appropriate target audience.
Don’t Be a Shallow Affiliate Marketer
Having in-depth knowledge of the affiliate product is crucial in demonstrating its worth to potential customers. Avoid being an unimpressive affiliate who simply composes a cookie-cutter review and anticipates sales. As an affiliate who adds another layer to the product’s sales process, you must offer supplementary value to motivate prospects to click on your affiliate link.
- In many cases, the additional value could be trust — for example, if the prospect is your own long-term client.
- Or it could be your expertise in using the product and showing its value through your reviews, for instance.
- Or let’s say you have a dedicated following on social media; the additional value is the relationship and engagement you have with your audience.
- Maybe you’re able to offer a discount to your prospect by sharing your affiliate promo code.
4. Get in Touch with Affiliate Managers and Ask about Perks and Additional Incentives
Surprisingly, only a small number of affiliates proactively approach affiliate managers to inquire about supplementary rewards.
As part of our plan to activate affiliates, we provide exclusive offers and bonuses based on performance, and furnish them with valuable resources. However, if you’re keen on gaining passive income via affiliate marketing, it’s advisable to send an email and inquire about all available choices.
Benefit from Free Trials and Marketing Materials
It is simple to ask for a trial version of intangible goods like software. A number of SaaS businesses, such as Supermetrics, offer free trials to all.
If the merchant does not provide any free trials, affiliates can request a trial account to test the product. Affiliate managers may offer to extend the free license to reliable partners who generate frequent sales, in situations where using the product plays a critical role in the affiliate’s approach.
To prevent individuals from signing up for the affiliate program solely to receive a complimentary version of the product, this benefit is solely available to affiliates who can generate sales. Requesting a free product is discouraged unless you are dedicated to your affiliate endeavors.
“Affiliate perks” include marketing materials that are free of charge. These marketing materials become more valuable if the merchant’s marketing team has identified their product’s USP (Unique Selling Point). Remember to utilize them when promoting the product.
Promo Codes
As an affiliate, you can often receive promo codes, also referred to as coupons or discount codes, as an added incentive. However, obtaining these codes may not be readily available to everyone. If you request one and have a proven track record as a marketer, you are more likely to receive it.
Although full-price sales are optimal for both the merchant and maximizing your affiliate marketing earnings since the customer pays a higher amount, promo codes are still successful in persuading your referrals, as evidenced by their widespread use.
There are often limitations placed on the utilization of promo codes, with the most prevalent being the prohibition of sharing them online. This prevents any negative impact on the merchant’s organic traffic and avoids an unfair advantage. It’s natural for consumers to seek out promo codes in order to receive a discount on their desired products.
5. Share Branding Guidelines
Begin by providing your affiliates with the fundamentals of your brand. Compile all branding tools into a user-friendly “branding kit.” Such branding tools encompass logos, color schemes, typography, slogans, and other related items.
Affiliates will have a basis for content creation and your brand will remain consistently visible in all marketing endeavors, resulting in audience recognition.
Get ready marketing materials.
It’s essential to offer affiliates some guidance on marketing language. The following can be beneficial to provide for affiliates:
- You brand’s ad copy
- Product descriptions
- Up-to-date features list
- Pricing lists with what’s included
- Any case studies or examples
It’s also useful to provide a glossary of related terms, especially if the terminology is specific to your software. Note that this is only to help the affiliate, not limit.
Allow your affiliates the freedom to promote in their own style and tailor their strategies to their target market. The intrinsic value of affiliate marketing lies in the authenticity of the voices, rather than using monotonous, pre-made advertisements.
7. Share High-Quality Images
Affiliates can offer customers a better understanding of your product through images. Therefore, it is essential to furnish your affiliates with top-notch images that focus on your software’s interface and notable features.
If your software undergoes frequent modifications, aim for the most universal version or stay in constant communication with affiliates to obtain updated visuals. Moreover, search for generic pictures that reflect your brand’s personality and represent the company’s culture. Nevertheless, steer clear of using clichéd stock photos.
To ensure that your brand is promoted in diverse ways through various channels to different audiences, it’s crucial to have a range of images in your collection. For instance, if a blog post is lengthy and assesses the software, incorporating interface screenshots would be beneficial.
In case your affiliate promotes through social media, showcasing software screenshots may not be engaging or practical. Rather, consider incorporating a brand-relevant image, possibly with a visual that illustrates the advantages it offers to customers.
8. Start Using Video Content
Affiliate marketers are increasingly relying on videos, which are particularly beneficial for SaaS. These videos demonstrate how the software works, provide an inside scoop on its features, share tips and tricks, and offer an overall understanding of its functionality.
SaaS videos that are commonly viewed include:
- Software tutorials
- Explainer videos
- Product demonstrations
- Getting started guides
- Case studies
- Customer success testimonials
In affiliate marketing, you have the option to include video as a part of your marketing tools, or you can also collaborate with affiliates who specialize in creating video content.
9. Create Content Together
Being involved in content development is another approach to aiding affiliates. SaaS provides abundant chances for content to surpass generic product overviews.
Having customers as affiliates is advantageous because they can bring in a new range of audience and cater to customers’ practical inquiries and interests more effectively than conventional advertisements.
These writing prompts are ideal for SaaS.
- How has the software changed their workflow?
- If they switched from another software, why and what changed?
- What has kept them as a customer?
- What concerns did they have about using the software and were these concerns solved? (Especially useful for highlighting excellent customer service)
10. Offer Insight Into Your Company
Eventually, power lies in knowledge.
Make certain that affiliates have convenient access to details regarding promotions, updates, and other crucial business information. For instance, if you plan on introducing a new feature this week, make certain to furnish relevant information to your affiliates a couple of weeks prior to the launch.
Affiliates are given the opportunity to inquire about the new feature, facilitating their readiness to produce content that can be disseminated to their followers. Moreover, they will experience a sense of inclusion in the process as opposed to being uninformed.
You can share this information through various means such as mailing lists, newsletters or a designated Facebook group for your affiliates.
Besides, be sure to showcase any favorable media coverage and endorsements that your business has received. Leveraging press mentions is an effective way for affiliates to gain credibility through external validation and establish their authority in the industry.
Finding Great SaaS Affiliates
Achieving a thriving affiliate program is not solely based on the message conveyed, but also on the person conveying it. The key to promoting your SaaS effectively is by selecting the appropriate individuals.
1. Invite your existing customers
We always suggest starting with your current customers, particularly for SaaS. The reason for this is as follows:
Reword the following passage without altering the meaning: Social proof
As a result of their subscription-based approach, SaaS businesses typically attract long-term, dedicated customers. Collaborating with current customers sends a clear message – these satisfied individuals are willing to regularly invest in the service, and thus serve as a testament to its quality. This represents an example of social validation in practice.
Direct experience
Your software’s existing customers provide a valuable benefit by demonstrating its practical applications. Their personal experience allows them to provide non-technical insights into how they utilized your software and reaped its advantages.
Provide incentives to clients.
Affiliate marketing benefits both customers and businesses, as customers receive incentives for promoting products and services they already enjoy, resulting in increased brand loyalty and customer retention.
Invite your customers with ease.
Tapfiliate has introduced a convenient method to enlist customers for your affiliate program. Through Affiliate Recruitment, your fresh clients can effortlessly become affiliate prospects, who will receive a referral link automatically to endorse your enterprise.
As soon as the affiliate prospect brings in a fresh conversion or customer, they are promptly advanced to affiliate status and given access to their dashboard. From there, they can check their progress and uncover additional resources for your program.
2. Search your mentions
Discover where your business is being discussed by utilizing tools like Awario and Google Alerts. It’s possible that if an individual is already writing about your company, there may be a few reasons why they are hesitant to become an affiliate and earn from their efforts.
Next, formulate a strategy for making contact, which may entail:
- A personalized email
- Offering a demo of your product
- Present program offerings, including commission
- Discussing potential benefits of co-marketing
- Making your signup readily available
Make sure to conduct thorough research before diving in. Assess the websites, designs, and writing styles to ascertain their compatibility with your marketing strategy. Will this platform generate a positive impact and attract the right audience? Or will it attract poor leads and diminish your brand value?
Side notes
This article presents a pragmatic assessment of the possibilities that affiliate marketing can provide for marketers. It does not exaggerate the potential or criticize it excessively. The recommendations provided here represent my primary suggestions for optimizing profits through affiliate marketing. Selecting suitable products, gaining proficiency in their use, and promoting them consistently are the key factors that determine affiliate sales.
