By 
your business is up and running. Your online business has been created and you have already made your first sales. Now you are looking for new solutions to develop your business. However, finding customers is difficult, even with today’s marketing and sales tools.
This is where affiliate marketing can help you. It’s one of the most direct ways to generate sales. With this template, you will be able to create connections with people who will be able to recommend your products. In a way, they are the ones who will take care of your marketing for you.
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is the promotion of your products or services by other people, with the aim of finding potential customers. Your business pays a third-party publisher, such as a blogger, to drive leads to discover your products or services. This publisher is therefore the affiliate. The affiliate is then paid for all sales made by someone who clicked on your ad from their site.
How does it work? The affiliate uses personalized data tracking links, called affiliate links, which redirect the customer to your e-commerce site. This activity ideally results in a sale that is associated with the affiliate link the customer clicked on. You only pay the affiliate when someone makes a purchase using that affiliate link.
For example, let’s say you sell DJ equipment. You are selling a mixing desk whose quality facilitates the DJ’s work of mixing and musical creation. You then find a blogger who writes on the subject of DJ animation. His blog posts appear at the top of search results. In addition, its readers regularly get involved by leaving comments on its articles.
If you enter into an affiliate marketing relationship with the blogger, they will include links to your product in some of their posts. If one of the blog’s readers clicks on a link to your sales page and then purchases the mixer, the affiliate marketing system credits the blogger for that sale. The blogger then gets a share of the profits made.
If your campaign is a success, you can then set up affiliations with other bloggers specializing in DJ entertainment. The affiliate links they use correspond to their own affiliate accounts. This way, their sales are not confused with those of other bloggers.
The Benefits of Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing offers various beneficial ways to introduce your products to your target audience.
Generate leads
When you and the affiliate target similar markets, affiliate marketing demonstrates its effectiveness in generating new potential customers. In practice, your affiliates’ fans become your prospects. Since you and your affiliates operate within the same niche sector, you necessarily benefit from the development of their brand and their audience.
Furthermore, you can sometimes have access to markets that you have not yet explored. For example, you focused on wedding entertainment in particular, knowing that it is a growing market for DJs and that they are willing to pay more for quality equipment. So you contact a blogger who writes interesting articles on DJ entertainment at weddings. Following the publication of an article on this topic, you notice a peak in your sales resulting from the link in the article. Part of the affiliate’s audience, made up of party hosts, has become a new segment of your market.
Limit costs
With affiliate marketing, your costs are relatively low. Your return on investment (ROI) is high because you only pay affiliates when they generate sales. What you get is a low-risk, high ROI marketing strategy. In comparison, if you use cost-per-click advertising, you pay for each click, even if it does not generate sales. You gain brand image and develop traffic to your site, but do not necessarily increase your income.
The Disadvantages of Affiliate Marketing
Even though the risks are low and you could enjoy a relatively high ROI, affiliate marketing still has some disadvantages.
It can be difficult to find the right affiliates
You are looking for affiliates whose messages and objectives are aligned with those of your business. And otherwise, this quest can prove to be a real challenge.
Imagine that an affiliate writes an article offering a ranking of the 10 best products in a certain category, each with a different affiliate link. It goes without saying that all publicity is positive. But if your product is at the bottom of the rankings, the article could not only give you minimal exposure, but also highlight your competitors.
You might find an affiliate who produces interesting content initially, but then changes their editorial line or offers lower quality content. As a result, your sales are lower than your forecast.
You lose control of part of the presentation of your product
Once you give your affiliate their link, you have little control over how they promote your product. For example, you might like to see certain features presented in article or video form, but the affiliate chooses to focus on the price of the product instead.
The affiliate might also create content that does not align with your company’s vision or principles. So if your DJ equipment focuses on energy-efficient tools and carbon-neutral manufacturing, the content created by the affiliate could send a message that goes against what you want to promote. Even if you quickly check their work, they might make a video that, for example, uses language that is offensive to the people your brand targets. When affiliates include a link to your product, your brand is then associated with their message.
Affiliates must disclose their affiliate relationship
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires affiliates to explicitly state that they are being paid to promote your product. If they do not do this, you may be held liable. Since you cannot control the application of these regulations, you may need to check their content to be sure.
How to start an affiliate program ?
To get started with affiliate marketing, you need to know who your target audience is and use the right tools.
Understand your audience
Knowing who your audience is makes it easier to identify affiliates who can attract your target audience. Understand the customers who make up your target market and the type of content they like to consume.
- What age group do you want to focus on?
- What is their average income?
- Where do they live ?
- Where do they travel?
- Do they typically work from home, in an office, own a business, or are they unemployed?
- What are their hobbies?
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) by Mailchimp can help you organize and understand information related to your target audience. For example, you will be able to know where your customers live, if they like to use coupons or buy sale products, or if they come to your site following a recommendation.
The answers to these questions can help you deduce what type of content appeals to your audience. You are then free to dig deeper by asking your customers more specific questions, such as:
- What types of articles or blogs does your target market read?
- Do they prefer long or short content?
- What are they looking for in search engines?
- What types of videos do they watch?
- Are they more likely to read product reviews and rankings or are they more likely to look up how to do something themselves?
You can also use Mailchimp CRM to uncover patterns of behavior that lead to purchase. Ideally, you want customers to engage with affiliate content when they are ready to purchase a product. Knowing how, when and why they consume can help you create the ideal conditions for them to engage in this process.
Returning to the example of DJ equipment, customers looking for a mixer often consider several options before deciding. It would be wise to choose an affiliate who reviews equipment rather than one who only writes about how to be a better DJ. This way, when your target audience reads their content, they will be more likely to purchase your product. This increases the likelihood that she will purchase your product.
Recruit partners
There are various methods for recruiting partners and affiliates. Finding the method that fits best within your business model will depend on what you already have in place and how far you want to promote your product.
Use your current marketing channels
You can use your own social media, email, or website to advertise your affiliate program. Be sure to specify all the essential information to convince, and start your campaign. It may include details such as:
- The commission percentage that affiliates can get
- Special offers available to affiliates, such as coupons or discounts
- The type of marketing content you will offer them
- The availability (or not) of statistical monitoring information helping them to gauge their own profits
Contact potential affiliates directly
Some affiliates may respond better to a direct, personalized approach, via email or social media. Although you can use standard messages, you should rather personalize them. You could include details such as:
- Something you liked about a recent post or video they made
- A characteristic that you think differentiates them from other potential affiliates
- A personal interest you would have in something they value, such as a principle they believe in
This can help your message stand out and help them realize that they are more than a marketing tool: they are a valued partner.
Create links and provide promotional content
When your affiliate is convinced, you will need to offer them affiliate links and promotional content. You will need to decide whether you prefer to work through an affiliate network or through link tracking software that you manage yourself.
If your goal is to create an affiliate program with a large number of members, an affiliate network may be a better fit for you. These programs connect businesses to potential affiliates, generate and organize affiliate links. They often include analytical information to measure the effectiveness of each affiliate. Keep in mind that not all affiliate networks are created equal. Some are larger than others and offer a wider range of products. Plus, some simplify the affiliate payment process better than others.
If your goal is to have a more personal relationship with fewer affiliates, choose link tracking software. You will be able to generate affiliate links yourself and track them. These platforms offer a variety of reviews and tools beyond affiliate marketing. Link tracking can be informative for affiliate campaigns via social networks, but also for other, more traditional types of marketing campaigns. Prices vary depending on the features offered by the affiliate platform. Before making a decision, have a good idea of ​​your budget and your goals. Knowing this will make choosing good software easier.
Provide promotional content
When an affiliate is ready to sign, explain to them what you expect from them while maintaining a certain level of creative control. To do this, you can provide promotional content. When you offer promotional content, you:
- Give the necessary tools to promote your products.
- Put together recent and relevant marketing content for your target audience.
- Exercise control over how you present your products and sculpt your brand.
- Set clear expectations and enforce them.
You should communicate your payment structure clearly so your affiliates know what to expect. Be transparent and make sure you keep them informed of any changes before they happen.
In order to cultivate a good relationship with your affiliates, take the time to take stock with them and ask for their feedback and impressions. They might have ideas or perspectives to use when developing new marketing content.
Expand your reach
It takes time and effort to set up and run an affiliate program, but the potential profits are great. Each affiliate is comparable to a small store within a franchise. If his productivity improves, your sales will increase.
If you want to reach new audiences and take your e-commerce business to the next level, affiliate marketing can help.
