AFFILIATE MARKETING 
FOR BUSINESS GROWTH

What kind of products can be sold on an affiliate marketing basis?

 

Affiliate marketing is low risk as there is no cost to join most affiliate programs. It offers a way to generate constant passive income via commissions and without hiring additional manpower. Another piece of good news is that anything that can be sold online can be turned into an affiliate product (for example, internet software, hosting services, technology products, dietary supplements, vitamins, physical products, insurance, health, beauty and skin care products, gaming, home security systems, pet care, etc.)

 

The 3 types of Affiliate Marketers 

 

• ​Unattached Affiliate

In this model, the affiliate has no connection to the product or service and therefore has no related skills or expertise that they can leverage on which to demonstrate their authority. These types of affiliates are at the bottom of the pyramid as they lack attachment to the potential customer and to the product.

 

• Related Affiliate

In this model, the affiliate has an existing relationship with the brand, the offering and the customer. This relationship enables them to influence and communicate expertise to generate leads and web traffic.

 

• Involved Affiliate

In this model, the affiliate has a deep involvement with the brand, the product and the customer. They currently use the product and already share a positive, healthy relationship with the customer which puts them in a unique position to recommend new products or services, as customers see the affiliate as a trusted source. 

 

Where do Affiliate Marketers Fail?

 

Affiliate marketing has a unique allure… Simply because an affiliate can earn money while they sleep. However there are certain pitfalls that every affiliate intending to leverage affiliate marketing should be aware of:

 

• ​Trying to be everything to everyone

Creating a niche from the beginning is more important as this builds credibility, expertise and authority. 

 

• Not providing additional value

Not only is the advertising of the product left to the affiliate to create and disseminate, customers want additional value before clicking through the affiliate link. Find new ways to offer bonuses when people buy through your affiliate link Vs. going directly to the brand website or store or platform. 

 

• Not being transparent

Transparency is sacrosanct towards building trust with customers. Be open and honest that you are an affiliate and therefore earn money when a customer uses your link to buy. 

 

• Hard-selling every time

Following a soft approach to affiliate sales is often the key towards closing a sale quicker. Affiliates who aid customers during their decision-making process are more likely to close the deal than those who push customers into buying something they don’t need.

 

• Not being tested by you

Customers can smell BS from a mile away. This is more so when they know that the affiliate has not used the product themselves. Being disingenuous with your customers does not build trust or loyalty or credibility.

 

• Not building active email lists

eMail marketing offers affiliates an easy and cost-effective way to stay in touch and on top of mind with their customers. Building and updating a live email list is critical to the continued success of your affiliate marketing.

 

• Not creating diverse income streams

Once you have built your credibility within a segment, you should look at promoting products from different companies within that segment or category. This way, as an affiliate marketer, you have multiple streams of revenue from different brands within your chosen segment.

 

• Relying only on organic traffic

Since advertising is left up to the affiliate, most often affiliates tend to leverage organic traffic to generate leads. Relying only on organic traffic is limiting for many reasons. Paid media can give your lead generation a big boost and complements well with SEO, Social networks, blogging, email marketing, pay per click, etc. 

 

• Not tracking Return on Investment

Tracking Return on Investment and results from various channels is important to your continued success as an affiliate marketer. Without tracking results, you cannot know what’s working and what’s not.

 

• Not reusing content 

As advertising is left to the affiliate marketer to create, and creating content requires time, effort and money, it is therefore important that as an affiliate you repurpose content and convert it into different formats. If you’ve written a blog post, convert it into a short video, or infographics, or an ebook, or a podcast. 

 

• Not scaling up

For any business (even an affiliate marketer) to achieve continued success, it requires that processes which can be automated, be automated. Automation allows for you to free up your time to do other, more important things that are needed to be done at the new scaled-up level.

 

• Not leveraging effective affiliate strategies 

Not all Strategies deliver the outcomes desired in becoming a successful affiliate marketer. Ensuring that customer targeting, creating high quality content, promoting products that are within your niche etc. are critical for continued business success.

 

• Not treating Affiliate Marketing is a Business 

New affiliate marketers sometimes tend to forget that their affiliate marketing is more than a passive income but a real business. It requires your time, effort and money to be sustainable and successful. It does not turn successful overnight and requires you to identity your niche, find products to promote, create high-quality content, build and grow your audience, drive traffic to your blog or social pages and convert traffic into sales.