Affiliate marketing is a simple concept that relies on mutual benefit between the business and the affiliate marketer. The business asks the marketer to spread the word about its brand, and the marketer earns a commission for each successful conversion.
The success of affiliate marketing hinges on how many marketers you have working at one time and their influence. Building a strong network of content creators not only drives sales but also builds trust with your target audience.
So, let's look at some strategies for finding affiliate marketers if you're still starting out your program or recruiting affiliates who can help make it more efficient.
While influencer marketing has been the go-to strategy for many businesses, the tides are starting to shift. Consumers today aren’t just looking for glossy, aspirational content; they also seek credible insights and recommendations from established authorities in their fields of interest.
Some rising stars stand out for their remarkable ability to engage audiences with extensive knowledge and expertise. These creators, known as KOLs, attract thousands of engaged followers by sharing valuable insights and industry know-how. As a result, savvy brands are increasingly turning to them to enhance their marketing strategies. In this article, we’ll be addressing questions such as what KOLs are good for, “What does KOL stand for?”, and explore how brands can effectively incorporate KOLs into their campaigns moving forward.
Influencer Marketing Strategies At a Glance
| Strategy | What It Involves | |
|---|---|---|
| Create an Affiliate Program Landing Page | Develop a dedicated landing page that highlights your program's benefits, values, and contact information | |
| Turn Loyal Customers Into Affiliates | Engage existing customers who enjoy your product to become affiliates by offering them commission or product incentives. | |
| Reach Out to Relevant Influencers | Identify influencers within your niche and offer them a structured commission plan. | |
| Collaborate With Affiliate Niche Sites | Partner with niche bloggers and affiliate sites to leverage their audience and expertise. | |
| Upgrade Your Referral Program | Enhance your referral program to include commission-based rewards for customers who can also act as affiliates. | |
| Explore Search Engines for Similar Programs | Research online for lists of successful affiliate programs in your niche to identify potential affiliate partners and learn from competitors. | |
| Use Affiliate Software | Implement tracking software to build and manage your affiliate network. | |
| Hire an Affiliate Recruitment Agency | Consider hiring professionals to streamline the recruitment of affiliates. |
Create an Affiliate Program Landing Page
Source: Depositphotos
While you're looking for affiliates to start your program, your potential affiliates are also looking for you. That's why having an affiliate landing page on your website is crucial: it will direct their attention to exactly what they're looking for.
The affiliate program page should offer an enticing proposition to potential affiliate marketers. Ideally, it should include enough information about your brand, your values, the reward they should expect from joining the program, and a call to action with contact details so they can join immediately. Highlighting your commission rates and showcasing product reviews can further attract quality affiliates.
Also, disclose any terms and conditions regarding the affiliate program on the landing page to be on the safe side whenever the time comes to put pen to paper.
Turn Loyal Customers Into Affiliates
You don't have to look to the ends of the Earth to find affiliates. Sometimes, the best potential affiliates are the existing customers who like your product and brand and are willing to spread the word.
If you're a smaller business, you can reach out directly to some of your customers who talk about your brand positively among their social media following.
Aside from being potential brand ambassadors who only receive products or discounts as an incentive, they might also be interested in earning a commission as affiliates. Offering higher commissions can motivate your loyal customers to join your affiliate program and actively promote your products.
Reach Out to Relevant Influencers
Source: Depositphotos
Influencers are a treasure trove for someone looking to establish an affiliate program from scratch. Depending on their reach, you could be looking at hundreds to thousands of new sales and conversions each month.
The tricky part in reaching out to influencers to join your affiliate program is to look for influencers who wouldn't ask for a larger-than-usual commission because they think they deserve it.
The safest strategy is to lay out your commission rates beforehand on your landing page or your legal documents so no one has to haggle too much.
Collaborate With Affiliate Niche Sites and Blogs
Source: Wirecutter
One of the oldest and most tested affiliate marketing strategies is collaborating with affiliate sites and niche bloggers.
This works because people build their websites with the explicit intent to join affiliate networks and monetize their views and clicks. They create a blog post or website around a specific interest and collaborate with brands that make affiliate products or offer services related to it.
They could either be direct affiliates who work with your brand with no middleman. You could also put up your product on an e-commerce website, like Amazon, and offer the affiliates a commission when they direct people to your product through their affiliate link.
Creating an appealing affiliate program helps boost brand awareness, allowing you to find affiliate sites and blogs willing to work with you. Including product reviews on these platforms can significantly enhance credibility and drive conversions. You'll likely face fierce competition from any other online business within your specific niche, so securing a collaboration with these websites could potentially help you get ahead.
Upgrade Your Referral Program to Cover Affiliate Marketers
You might have customers pigeonholed into the referral program framework. However, some of your customers may also be influencers with a large following on social media platforms or probably run niche blogs relevant to your brand and business.
If you notice some of your customers bring in a large number of referrals, you can talk to them and offer an affiliate marketer position within your program.
Instead of the one-off referral reward that might not amount to much, the commission from being an affiliate would be a good source of passive income for the marketer. It would also provide you with a steady stream of new sign-ups. Win-win!
Explore Search Engines for Similar Affiliate Programs
It's relatively easy to find relevant affiliates through searching on the internet. All you have to do is search for listicles that present products or services as "The best," "Top 10," or other relevant keywords that represent the same particular interest as your service or product.
Having a clear idea about the competition you're facing should help you formulate an affiliate program that offers competitive commission rates and is easy enough for people to join.
You can also use this research to reverse engineer the relationship between your competitors and the affiliates they choose to collaborate with. Understanding the types of affiliates your competitors engage with can provide insights into attracting similar high-quality partners.
Use Affiliate Software to Create an Affiliate Network
You can build your own affiliate network by using affiliate tracking software. This software keeps a database of all your affiliates and allows you to see which ones are bringing in the most conversions.
Having these numbers laid out on-site, you can see which type of influencer or niche site best suits your brand. Leveraging email marketing within your affiliate software can also streamline communications and enhance engagement with your affiliates, ensuring sustained growth and effective management of your program.
Hire an Affiliate Recruitment Agency or Affiliate Manager
Many marketing gurus will advise you against hiring affiliate recruitment agencies or managers. That's because, on top of the commission that you pay affiliates, you're also paying the network to connect you to them.
This point of view is very reductive because it also reduces the amount of legwork you have to do to build and grow your affiliate network. In most cases, delegating the work to professionals and allowing them to do what they do best saves money.
Agencies have extensive experience in Influencer marketing and know how to navigate the affiliate marketplace in a way that benefits your brand. Instead of wasting your time trying to target affiliates that work well with your brand, an agency will usually have affiliate directories ready to go for whatever niche you're approaching.
Wrapping Up
There are many ways you can boost your affiliate sales, the most important of which is to find the right affiliates, whether they're customers who love your brand or social media personalities incentivized by the commission you're offering.
You don't have to have the best affiliate program out there. However, having a well-laid-out landing page that you can post on online communities (like relevant Facebook groups) makes it easier to connect with potential affiliates.
