Posted by So you’ve been an affiliate marketing (AM) hustler for a while now, earning a healthy return without breaking a sweat for years, and thinking that you can keep it up until you’re ready to retire?
Only…
Ya didn’t count on everyone else [and their schnauzer Fifo] to steamroll you!
Now, the competition is cut-throat…
… your sales have dried up like the Colorado River in August 2021…
… and even your affiliate marketing commissions are becoming… Well, meh, really.
This is a shame because there’s a lot of money to be made in affiliate marketing, even today. After all, someone else paid for the product AND for fulfillment AND for the support – you’re just there to sell the stuff and grab your share of the pot!
That’s what I want to talk to you about now – how to tweak your approach to affiliate marketing so you end up making twice as much as you did during the heyday of Affiliate Marketing…
The best strategy would be to start with the product you are already using and which you would gladly recommend to someone.
Commissions can differ, of course, but even though you may be at the lower end, that does not mean you won’t earn a lot.
Usually, people search for highly rewarding affiliate sites to make greater income fast, but it can be hard to recommend something you are not using or something that you don’t believe in.
On the other hand, it is crucial to choose a company that will help you out as much as they can to set everything up and have easy-to-follow onboarding. Both for you, and your affiliates.
I’ll share with you 8 tips on how to double your sales resulting in a boost of income.
Brand Yourself
Branding. If done right it will be your all-powerful tool allowing you to take advantage of every company you decide to go with using their affiliate program.
Don’t sell everything, pick a niche and go with it. Create landing pages for products using services such as Mailerlite or similar. Brand your social media channels – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.
By many metrics, Facebook is still one of the most successful social media. With Facebook ads, you can find your target audience and create successful campaigns that generate ROI-positive results.
I fully understand that this topic is a lengthy one and we could spend the whole article talking about it, but… Let’s cover a few of the most important parts. 🙂
First things, first. If you plan on going all-in with affiliate strategy, you should know that customers/clients love to talk to real people, more than anything.
People will likely buy something from someone they can relate to instead of an unknown person behind a wall of text.
Another great benefit that comes with creating your brand is the freedom of promoting anything. If you stick to one company or one product, your sales income will be determined by the success of that specific niche. This means that the fate of your overall finances (or at least, side hustle) is not in your hands.
Website design
Are you using the whole potential of your website space?
If you are using your blog as a brand, then don’t be afraid to fill the unused space of the page.
Placing your affiliate links and banners will help you out with spreading the word. If you’re using affiliate software, it will be an even easier job.
There isn’t a better and faster way for your client to get what they want than a simple click.
On top of that, images spike curiosity, and people tend to click just to check out if there is something special behind them.
Do your Long-Form Articles have a Call-To-Action?
By far one of the most essential elements in your marketing arsenal is a CTA. It gives you the power to stir and guide your audience to the point where you want them to be. However, this is something you will need to put a bit of effort into.
To start with, you need to give them the information they need before you jump on them and ask them to click. Make it easy for them, your audience will be grateful to you if they see that they can easily get to your CTA.
If you play your card right, your clients will look forward to getting what is on the other side of your Call-to-action. How to do that? Here are a few suggestions on how to make your CTA more compelling:
Begin with a familiar, understandable verb. Evade appearing too robotic. Use articles or prepositions. Be as precise as possible, and try to avoid something generic like: “Learn More”
Add a strong perk or assurance of value. What will they get by giving you their click?
Edit Your Affiliate Links (Cloaking)
Let’s be honest here, affiliate links (URLs) are usually a mess and not something you want to see, period. They are long, complicated, and most of the time scary. If you are a non-techy person, the first thing that would pop up would be: “Hell no, this is a virus!”.
Cloaking your affiliate links makes them more enjoyable to look at and less intimidating. During the process of creating your new affiliate link keep in mind that it needs to be clean and of course, disclosure is a must.
Social Media and Associated Tools
By far, the most influential source of information and availability is grand. Many businesses and brands are using social media management tools exclusively and they are doing pretty well.
Similar to your website, this is yet another platform for you to build your audience, share and promote your content, and boost your affiliate income. Activity is the key and if you don’t have the team behind you to cover everything, choose platforms where your audience is most active and where you see the best results in sales.
Email List
Don’t have it? You should. It gives you a chance to build relationships, to remarket. And to have your own reach which gives your security to not be de-platformed, since it is always a bad idea to depend solely on social media.
Building your blog and community can be a daunting process but definitely worth your time. One of the best ways to build your stable audience, people you can rely on is with email marketing. Other than reaching out to new audiences, this is a great way for people to notice your valuable content. Of course, the result would be more affiliate sales.
You must be asking yourself, why not just send affiliate links inside the email and be done with it? Do you remember what I told you at the beginning? Clients love to talk to real people.
Promote Discounts
This one is pretty obvious, don’t you think? Is there anything more appealing to any customer than to receive an additional discount that you can provide with your affiliate link?
Even if you don’t have a special offer, noting some discounts can be snatched if they sign up right away will be a win-win situation for both sides.
Relationships
Possibly the hardest way to succeed because it is something you will need to put a lot of your time and effort into. Creating relationships with your clients.
Let’s start with a list of things you will need to focus on:
- Listing you customers
If you created a brand for yourself, this one will be a breeze. Using social media, blog posts, guides, etc., will help you lead your potential clients to your website. Having them all in one place will make creating a mailing list easier.
- Providing value
The easiest way to sell something is to provide enough value to a customer, correct? So, how do you do this?
Handling your SEO right and pulling the right traffic following your KPIs will provide you with the audience you need. Trust me, it’s better to have 1000 leads that will gladly buy what you are offering rather than 10 000 visitors that will have no clue what you’re selling.
The audience that is already looking for the solution you are providing is almost 50% of the job done. Toss some additional benefits in there, promos or limited offers and you are good to go.
- Build a connection
Now, the hard part. This one usually becomes the breaking point of some business.
It’s easy to earn that initial bonus from the affiliate program, sure. But what’s with the next step? Would you rather have 100 customers that will stick with you no matter what or have 150 that might leave you next week?
If you are planning on creating a passive income from this type of business then you need to keep giving your clients a reason to stay with you. Customer satisfaction is one way to measure the success and growth potential of a company.
Create a mailing campaign, interact with them regularly (weekly, monthly). Let them know you are there. Engage with them through your blog posts, answer their comments and questions. Create a connection.
These can easily be called three pillars of affiliate business that could last a lifetime.
Wrapping up
No matter what kind of product you sell and whom you sell it to, these tips can help you increase your sales and make a better connection with your target audience. If you’re ready to get more sales and more views on your content (no matter the platform), stop reading and start acting today!
With Crowdfire, you can find curated content, schedule your posts, engage with your audience, deep-dive into analytics and create custom reports. Now introducing Social listening. Try it for free.