You can’t have a good program without a solid support team to help you in your endeavors. You need to be tactical in your approach in order to really make sure that your affiliate site comes out with a bang. Whatever works to draw in good attention with your brand, you need to build that stability in order to sustain for the long-term. Affiliates are the backbone to expanding your brand and it certainly helps when you know the right way to capture their interests to increase your visibility. Having an Affiliate Tracking Software could definitely make a difference. Here are 8 tips to help you acquire affiliates for your product or service.
Start by Having Great Products or Services
You can’t forget your foundation. That’s having a great product or service before you begin to build your network. It’s like a barber. He can’t have a good shop without having quality service. Remember, reputation is everything. If you’re the kind of person that likes to be completely hands on, that means you know exactly what your brand has to offer. In fact, you would use it yourself. I mean, why promote something that you wouldn’t personally wear or keep in your home? That’s honestly selling yourself short. Others can see through the facade as well.
While marketing can help you sell the product, it all boils down to whether or not this brand you’re promoting actually provides value. At the end of the day, how is this going to help someone get from Point ‘A’ to Point ‘B’? When you’ve built something you believe in and would actually add value to your own life, then you can start finding the right people to help you promote your product. If you don’t have a good foundation of bricks, then it’s hard for your home to withstand the elements. With that being said, you need to make sure people know you’re part of an affiliate service.
Make Sure People Know You Have an Affiliate Program
You can’t have a big party without people knowing about it. Sometimes the best thing is to be obvious. When you have your website, just point a link to the right direction about an Affiliate program. You can set a link in your header just talking about your affiliate network. Just remember that this page is important so that you draw people in. Give a brief rundown of your program from why you set it up, how this helps others, and most of all, the incentives that a potential affiliate can acquire if they join the program.
One of the most important things about setting up your page is that it’s visible. Make it obvious that you’re running a good program so that others can follow suit. Additionally, make the link shareable. This way you can have others spread the message in case they want to become an affiliate your site as well. We will get into that in more depth a bit later. Sometimes the best thing you can do is make your site look clean and simple. You never want the design to distract everyone from your main mission: getting people to sign up to your affiliate program.
Network with the Right People
If you’re in niche that sells an organic shampoo or something, then the best thing to do is find the right people to network with. Maybe you have a great product but not the right clientele that will buy it. It’s your job to send personalized messages and emails to those you know will help you market your product. For example, maybe there’s a great hair care blog that has a lot of followers or women into organic products. This would be such a great asset to your brand because you have the right marketing to go with your services. If you’re selling an organic shampoo, you wouldn’t promote this on a site that sells computer parts. That just defeats the purpose because you won’t attract that high yield. It’s a waste of time and effort. Also, someone will look at you as spam because how will that help them sell a motherboard from a laptop or PC?
The best thing you can do is run a general search and actually scope it out for yourself. Scan the site and see what they offer and if the content matches what you do. Even if it’s not an exact match, find the similarities and see what could possibly be done to get them to promote your product. It’s all about compromise. Find their email address and send a polite message and show the benefits. A good thing to do is send a few free samples so they can personally try it out for themselves. If they like the product and it works well for them, chances are the same result will work for their supporters. It’s all about finding the right affiliates who mesh with your brand.
Get Your Terms of the Program in Writing
Now that you’ve begun to get things on the board, you want to make sure your terms of the program are in bold. You never want to leave things up to chance. With any kind of business you do, the paperwork needs to be clear and concise. This way you make sure everything is on the table from the start. This will help you get your business together so that you can reference it just in case someone tries to undermine you. Additionally, it helps the new affiliates or prospects find out what you’re about from the beginning so that this lessens the questions. Be straight to the point on everything that consists of the program. You want to make sure you have a general overview or facts to go with your network:
You need to let them know the amount they’ll receive from their commissions. Sometimes you might have a point system that leads to a cash out, so be clear on this as well. Let them know if there are cookies with your program and for how long. This helps you keep track of different links and make sure there’s no wrongdoing from both ends. Another important thing to note is who gets the commission. Sometimes the commission maybe recurring like in a program that requires a monthly subscription. Most importantly, you need to know the payment. You should let them know if it’s a direct deposit to your bank, Paypal, or Venmo. Additionally, you want to be consistent whether it’s a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly payment. The key is following through with all of your regulations so that you’re on the same page as everyone else. By having this down on a page, you’ll help clear up any concerns from the jump.
Offer Solid Commissions and Incentives
One of the best things to do is offer quality commissions. If you do it too low, then chances are people will ignore your message. You want a healthy medium so that you’re able to make a good profit, but also provide good money to your strong supporters. If you have the chance, you might want to make your commission as high as 30% to 40%. When other people can actually make a living or supplement income that’s dependable, you know you’re working with something great. Remember, they are the backbone because they put in the work to make sure you get more sales. A good product is only worth it when people buy into it. The proof is in the sales and how it ends up in the bottom line. Make sure you personally know the value of what you offer and how it can impact your supporters.
Sometimes the commission alone is not enough to entice people. You might need other incentives. There are programs out there like Karmaloop that have a good affiliate program. However, certain parts of the year they go in with a huge sale that offers a reward to the highest sellers. While commissions are great, a huge reward on top of the commissions can seriously wet the appetite of your hungriest supporters. Maybe you can set up a contest or a big promotion that gets your top sellers working around the clock. This not only increases the competition, but it enhances the fire in your company. It can really create a great energy that works well for you. Also, it helps you gauge who’s in it for a part-time or the more long term. When you have this kind of information, you’ll be able to do more personal things. For example, offer discounts and deals to the family members of your most loyal supporters. Also, you can send them a gift or so just because they’ve done a great job. It’s an excellent way to interact and show genuine care. This type of thing goes beyond just a business relationship. It shows your human side and that only encourages them to keep promoting.
Make Sure You’re With Them in the Most Pivotal Steps
You need to also support your affiliates by providing them with the right tools. Not everyone is going to be an expert right away. It might be in your best interest to help guide them through the process or having a teammate get things in order. Some of things you’ll need in your arsenal include affiliate links, banners, and other sources to help them make the sale.
You need a good affiliate link to help you not only build something custom for them when they begin promoting on their social sites and email campaigns, but you’ll be able to keep track of their sales and activity. You want to make sure that they are doing things the right way so it doesn’t bite you in the back later on. Any foul play that you see, you’ll be able to dismiss them from the program. This will save you from a lot of heartache because some people tend to get a link and manipulate in a way that will make it look like they got a sale, but it’s clearly the opposite. When they have their own custom affiliate link, it makes it easier to remember as well.
Having good banners also work well if they have a community site. One of the best ways to promote an affiliate program is through banners. They stand out, they can point out a message, and easy to click through. They can put the banner in their signature and at the top of the page. This way it increases the visibility and more people will be prone to click. Remember, you want to make marketing as easy as possible. Be there through thick and thin, and also when you update. You want to keep these transitions feasible so that your affiliate team can keep track of things as they evolve.
Add Value to a Community
Although you don’t want to directly promote on a community, adding value can increase your chances of gaining affiliates. Why? People tend to follow the brand that has the most powerful reputation. By actively engaging in different communities closely related to your product, people can begin to trust what you have to offer. It could be things from free information, tips and tricks, and even coming from a different point of view. You never know if a webmaster of that particular community is looking for a partner. They could have the traffic and you have the right product. Just be of service as much as you possibly can. This will help you grow your own network more organically. Don’t spam or directly promote something because it could get you kicked out of the forum. The best thing is to enrich the community and build rapport with everyone so you aren’t just a business spying on your next transaction. When they begin to trust you, then that can trickle into making long term sales. There may come a time where you could promote something if it makes sense with the goal of the community. Abide by the rules and the rest will follow. Having the right affiliate marketing training would definitely help you make the right choices that would lead to success in your business.
These are just a few tips to help you acquire different affiliates. While you may have a product or service that’s beneficial to others, you still need the right promotion to get the sparks flying in your business. What are some tactics you use to get more affiliates to your business? Have you thought about starting a shopify affiliate app? Drop a note below.
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