We’ve talked in the past about how having multiple streams can help publishers to increase their revenue. That’s a well-known fact.
Among these stream options, affiliate marketing is one of the easiest ways to monetize your website, and today we will talk about some important aspects to consider before you jump right into it.
How does it work?
The affiliate market is estimated to have a global value of $12 billion, according to Truelist, and it’s responsible for 16% of the ecommerce sales in the world. That’s why, it’s no wonder that affiliate marketing is seen as an affordable and profitable business for both brands and publishers.
Affiliate marketing has a simple work mechanism. Publishers promote a brand’s product or service, sharing an affiliate ad or link on their site. When the customer clicks on it, they’re sent to the brand’s store to make the purchase and, once it’s done, the publisher gets paid a commission for leading the client to the purchase.
However, these transactions can not only result in a sale, but in any other action that the brand has specified like a free trial, an app download, a lead, etc.
Affiliate programs have become pretty popular over the years in ecommerce along with other methods. If you want to know more, we talked about how publishers can increase revenue in ecommerce here!
But more recently, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, brands were forced to reinvent themselves and find alternative streams of income. For publishers, it was a passive way of monetizing their site, but also pretty easy to set up, as it doesn’t require any special skill to dive into it.
However, you still need to work on some important aspects that are crucial to make the most of affiliate marketing. Keep reading!
Boosting your affiliate revenue
1. Work on your content
Affiliate results have a causal correlation to the way you promote the products. That’s why creating quality reviews and content is one of the most important aspects of affiliate marketing.
A good way to boost your affiliate revenue is to get personal and be original in the way you create your reviews. Be honest and authentic so people engage with your content and end up following your recommendations.
2. Get social
Promoting on your website can fall short if your goal is to increase your affiliate revenue. After all, the more people click on your link, the more income you will receive. For this reason, reaching the biggest number of people is essential. And it so just happens that social media is perfect for that!
You can use social media to share the links to the products directly, although there might be times where you will still need your website or blog. This reminds us that social media is a great complementary strategy for publishers. Also, don’t forget to tag it as a sponsored post or ad in your social media account!
3. Use eye-catching CTAs
Make sure that your audience knows what to do and where to click when they see your ad or promote content with eye-catching CTAs.
The goal is to get your audience to click on the link or ad and perform a specific action, so if you don’t make it clear in your post or article, it will affect your affiliate revenue.
4. Be honest
Sometimes, many people don’t know that when they click a link on the Internet, there’s another person that gets a profit of it. Other times, people know that well and avoid clicking on affiliate links on purpose.
That’s why, if you have a personal connection with your audience, sometimes it is good to be honest and tell them that, by clicking on a specific link or ad, you will get a commission from it and they will be able to support your site willingly.
Being transparent can help you increase engagement, as your audience will know firsthand from you what you’re doing exactly and how you’re monetizing your business.
5. Leverage your email list
Having an email list ready is essential for any publisher. Not only can you promote your own content, you can also leverage it for affiliate marketing and promote products from other brands.
How? Make a distinctive section inside of your regular newsletters or create specific emails for this kind of content.
Remember that not all of your subscribers will be happy with this decision. But remember our last point: honesty and transparency is usually taken for granted. If your audience knows what’s up, they will not hesitate to support you via other channels!
How about you? Do you already use affiliate marketing as part of your publishing strategy or do you prefer other means of monetization?
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing consists of earning a commission by promoting a brand and sharing a link to lead the audience to their products.
What is the goal of affiliate marketing?
Brands look for consumers to perform a specific action. It is usually a purchase, but it can also be a click, a lead, a free trial, a registration, etc. For publishers, on the other hand, it’s a way of monetizing their site and creating passive income.