If you’re looking to get involved with affiliate marketing, it’s important to understand what the program is and how it works. Simply put, affiliate marketing is a type of performance marketing where you promote products or services that earn you commission.
The products you promote may be your own creations or they may be provided by third parties (known as affiliate products). You can promote these products (mostly digital or online products) using several channels including;
Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising
PPC advertising, like Google AdWords, allows you to choose the exact type of keywords you want to use and how much you want to spend on monthly advertising fees. Basically, you bid on keywords in your niche and when someone clicks on your ads, you make money based on how much you paid for each click.
This is one of the most popular channels for affiliate marketing because you can target a specific audience and you know exactly what you’re paying for. However, PPC advertising can be quite costly and there are more effective ways to find the best affiliate products.
Product Review Websites
These are a great way to promote products you’ve discovered and personally tried out. When someone clicks on your affiliate link, they’ll be taken to a product review website where they can learn more about the product and decide whether or not to purchase it. These types of sites usually have an affiliate program so you’ll earn a commission when someone clicks on your affiliate link and makes a purchase later on.
Even though reviews can be very helpful, people often ignore them completely and avoid purchasing the reviewed products. In order to succeed in this line of work, you need to put in the time to learn how to do reviews correctly. In addition to learning how to do reviews, you should also learn how to pick a product that is worth reviewing. If someone is planning on purchasing the product you’re promoting, it only makes sense that they’d want to know everything there is to know about it before making a purchase. Also, make sure to keep your review objective and honest. If you’re getting paid to promote a product, it only makes sense you’d want to keep your expectations in check and make sure the product you’re reviewing is worth it.
Social Media Marketing
This includes using platforms like; Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to attract potential customers to your website. You can create useful and informative content to drive traffic to your website from social media platforms. Once on your website, customers can make purchases or can be lead to make purchases later on. This content may include;
- Product reviews that are extremely helpful and informative
- Short videos promoting a product or service that are extremely helpful and informative
- Educational articles that teach customers valuable information
- Long-form content, like an eBook that’s broken down into more than one page
These content types work great on social media platforms because people love to read, watch, or listen to something new and helpful. In order to succeed using social media platforms, make sure to create content that is helpful and informative to your target audience. In addition, make sure to engage with customers on social media. Reply to tweets, create relevant hashtag’s to attract potential customers to your content and brand, and regularly share engaging content. Once you’ve gotten creative with your social media content, you’ll be able to boost your sales and grow your affiliate program very quickly.
Remixing And Updating Content
This involves creating or finding content that already exists on the Web and editing it to fit your needs. For example, if you’ve noticed a blog post about a specific topic and you feel that post is very helpful and informative, you might want to create your own blog post on the same topic. When someone discovers your blog post, they’ll be taken to the content you created because they’re not looking for a completely different topic. When they make a purchase after reading your content, you make a small commission.
Updating and remixing content is a great way to both educate customers about a product or service and generate sales. People love to find value in what they read online and knowing that you helped create the content makes you a little less of a stranger. In order to succeed in this line of work, create content that is both helpful and interesting.
Product Launches And Events
This involves using various platforms like; Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest to alert your audience about upcoming launches or events related to your niche. For example, if you’re an entertainment blogger, you could use social media to launch a podcast or begin a YouTube series on the latest movie news. Once you’ve tweeted about a product launch or event, you’ll be able to encourage your followers to go to your website where they can learn more about the product or event.
Product launches and events are a great way to both generate sales and create buzz. When you have an event or launch related to a popular product, it often means many people will be interested in what you have to say. In order to succeed, make sure to research popular products and industries before jumping in.
E-mail Marketing
This is similar to regular mail marketing in that you’ll be sending out electronic mail, or e-mails, to people who’ve agreed to receive your marketing messages. The main difference is that with e-mail marketing, you’ll be sending individualized messages to people rather than using bulk mailing lists.
E-mail marketing is great for generating sales because people love to receive useful and informative messages. In order to succeed, simply create content that is useful and informative to your target audience and e-mail them once you’ve gotten creative with your content.
Display Advertising
This involves using platforms like; Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and social media to display ads on web pages related to your niche. When someone clicks on an ad, they’ll be directed to a product review website or social media platform where they can make a purchase. This type of advertising is free, so long as you’ve signed up for the relevant Google AdWords account before starting any campaigns. It’s also one of the easiest ways to generate sales.
As long as you keep up with payments and have a healthy commission, you’ll always be able to draw in new customers using display advertising. Simply create content that is useful and informative to your target audience and use the Google AdWords Keyword tool to find the best keywords for your niche. When someone clicks on your ad, they’ll be lead to information, products, or services that are relevant to your niche.
This is just a small taste of what affiliate marketing is. Once you have a clear idea of what it is and how it works, you can begin to develop an affiliate marketing strategy that will help you reach your goals.