Advertising and promotion is an integral part of selling a product. Your ability to find targeted leads and turn them into customers can decide whether your business will be a success or not. There are numerous ways to drive traffic to your offer, but one of the most hands-off methods has to be affiliate marketing. As a product vendor, finding a team of affiliates to promote your product reduces the need to spend heavily on advertising, allowing you to invest in your product, customer service, and conversion rate. Of course, you won’t want to be completely reliant on affiliates, but they can offer a chance to quickly grow your business.
Starting an affiliate program is fairly easy to do with current software, so you can get started almost immediately. However, you cannot expect the best affiliates to flock to you. Attracting affiliates is a marketing effort in itself, but even just a few experienced marketers can send you thousands of new leads through email marketing, media buys, and targeted advertising. By implementing the following six tips, you can anticipate a rise in affiliate interest.
Increase Commission
The commission rate is one of the first things a potential affiliate will assess. Inexperienced affiliates may choose a product based solely on a high commission, whereas the more experienced may choose a lower paying offer if they know they can drive plenty of low-cost traffic. Just as the product vendor needs to work out a fair percentage that will still make a profit, the affiliate will be estimating how much it will cost them per sale. If you can justifiably raise the commission rate, it makes it easier for an affiliate to make the numbers work for themselves.
Provide Resources
If you don’t provide any resources, many affiliates will immediately reject your product. You want to make promoting your product as easy as possible, so spend some time and money creating a comprehensive resource section on your site. To promote your product an affiliate will require a variety of banner ads, keyword data, an email series, conversion tracking, and product images. You could also include alternative landing pages for people to experiment with. If affiliates get in touch for more info or a test product, try to be as accommodating as possible.
Search Competitors
A quick search of your competitors should reveal if they have affiliates promoting their products. If you discover people paying for advertising, being active on social media, or having success with search engine optimization, you might consider reaching out to them. If you can provide a higher commission and a better conversion rate, you should have no problem tempting affiliates over to your program.
Reciprocal Mailings
A small number of successful affiliates will garner better results than a large number of novices. Marketing is a process that benefits from experience and analysis, so you can gain a great deal from targeting the bigger fish. A reciprocal mailing is a process whereby both parties email their own lists to promote each other. Working with a handful of partners can add many new leads into your sales funnel, providing value for both parties.
Advertise
You may be used to advertising your own product, but you can take this to the next level by advertising your affiliate program. Platforms like Google, Bing, and Facebook all allow you to target very specifically, so you can track down the kind of people you want to promote your product. Advertising for affiliates works in a similar way to customer advertising, with the same reliance on testing and tracking results.
Train Your Customers
When it comes to product experience, your customers are among the most knowledgeable people you will find. Customers have first hand experience, understand the value you offer, and even recognize certain flaws. This knowledge can be put to use as an affiliate, so why not offer training to people looking to make some extra income? Customers without marketing experience will need to be walked through the process, but they are often active in your niche and have a social media following.
Finding new customers is difficult, but a team of motivated affiliates can make it far easier. Affiliates, like customers, need to be sold on the idea of promoting your product, so don’t expect many people to find you of their own accord. Create a marketing plan for attracting affiliates, ensuring that they receive a competitive commission, comprehensive resources, and any training they require to get started.
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