Bo Bennet, the famous author and philanthropist once wrote, “Affiliate marketing has made businesses millions and ordinary people millionaires.”
And boy was he right? You can bet on that!
Today, affiliate programs generate 15 – 30% of all sales for advertisers. Plus, there is no risk associated with affiliate marketing. You only pay after the results are delivered. For this reason, many businesses—large and small, are harnessing the power of affiliate programs to drive sales.
While the results may seem promising, starting an affiliate program can be a challenge.
After all, you’ll need to set up and launch the program, find and recruit affiliates, decide on your commission structure, and optimize your landing pages for conversions. In this article, you’ll learn some handy tips to help you launch a successful affiliate program. Let’s dive in!
1. Scan Your Website for Leaks
Leaks create an opportunity for affiliate-transferred traffic to be monetized without rewarding the publisher. These leaks may generate revenue for the merchant but could cause the affiliate who completed the action to lose income.
A typical example is when an affiliate drives the traffic but the customer places an order by phone. If the merchant has not implemented phone tracking, the merchant will make the sale but the affiliate will lose the commission.
Common types of website leaks include:
- Phone number
- AdSense units
- Amazon widgets
If you have any of these on your site, either remove them or find a way to work around them. Most affiliates will check the website before joining the affiliate program and even test to see if it’s working. If they detect any traffic leak, they will not join your program.
2. Recruit Top-Notch Affiliates
The success of your affiliate program largely depends on the kind of affiliates you onboard. The trick here is to screen every affiliate before signing them up to determine if they’re capable of promoting your business effectively.
This helps to weed out any spammers or affiliates who aren’t a good fit for any reason. Some factors to consider include:
- Audience size
- Quality of writing
- Niche
A successful affiliate will have a quality audience that matches your target. This article https://propellerads.com/blog/adv-ultimate-beginners-guide-to-affiliate-marketing/ contains valuable insights into how to target the right audience when venturing into affiliate marketing.
The best affiliates should also be capable of producing high-quality content and updating their websites regularly. Ideally, they should also be in the same niche as you. A VPN website promoting products in the fashion industry will not appear natural.
3. Know Your Audience
This is a major key from the jump.
If you have no idea of what your audience loves, then you’re going to have a hard time creating a perfect affiliate program. It’s like setting up an ice cream business in winter. No matter how flavored the ice creams are, people will not even get close to your stall.
Likewise, people will only show interest in your program if it makes sense to them. You could create a poll to find out what your audience wants. Then take it from there and create a program that will meet their needs.
To Sum it Up
Now that you know what it takes to create a successful affiliate program, you’re ready to launch a program of your own. First, think of an affiliate program as an extension of your storefront. Then build a program that is easy to use keeping your affiliates’ interest in mind.
