As an affiliate, do you feel you sometimes are stuck in a rut? Are you using the same online affiliate marketing methods over and over while leaving others sitting stale on a shelf?
Maybe it’s time for you to mix things up a bit. Adding new types of promotions can:
But what should you include? Here are 9 affiliate marketing strategies used by top affiliates that you can explore and try as you grow your income.
Listed in Order of Difficultly from Most Difficult to Least Difficult
1. Dedicated Websites | Difficult | Long-Term Strategy
Creating an entire website devoted to an extremely narrow niche will allow you to attract an extremely targeted traffic that has a high level of interest in the affiliate products you’ll promote.
For instance, this niche site – FoodTruckr.com – is (as you might guess) exclusively about people who want to or do own food trucks.
Everything on the site deals with information, training and resources only for food truck owners. You’ll spot online affiliate marketing techniques throughout the site. Affiliate links embedded on the resource page. Links to affiliate products in the blog posts. Everywhere you click on the site you’ll find evidence of affiliate marketing at work.
Building a website devoted to one niche is not a quick process. You’ll need to:
So, while this is absolutely not an easy effort, it does stand to make you a considerable amount of recurring affiliate income for years to come after everything is in place.
2. Blogging | Difficult | Long-Term Affiliate Strategy
If you have an existing website (on any topic), you can add a blog to it without a horrible amount of effort. Simple blog web templates are available inside WordPress or online that you (or your team) can install quickly to get you up and running in a snap.
Because your blog will be added to an existing website, that website will determine the topic(s) your posts will cover. So, if your website is about raising goldfish, your blog will also be about raising goldfish. It wouldn’t make sense to have a site about raising goldfish and a blog with the same URL that discusses growing roses.
The existing traffic and email list can be used to quickly drive traffic to the posts. Existing social media accounts and other means can also be used to drive traffic to your blog. Posts can include affiliate links or can be sponsored posts, comparison posts, review posts or many other types that allow you to put an affiliate product front and center.
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As your blog takes off in popularity, you’ll find affiliate commissions come in passively, which is always welcome.
However, if your blog will standalone (the blog will be the entire website), you’ll have quite a bit to do before that recurring revenue becomes the standard (see the list for #1 above).
3. Podcasting | Difficult | Long-Term Technique
Starting a podcast as an affiliate marketing strategy takes a bit of work. Booking guests, editing recordings and uploading your podcast to all the various outlets is time-consuming. Depending on what tech you use, the process can also be complex.
But the same long-term benefits apply here as with building a niche website or blog. While growing your listenership, you’re attracting folks who are explicitly interested in the topic you’ll cover. When you incorporate online affiliate marketing into your podcasts by mentioning products in your recordings and including affiliate links in the show notes, you can earn quite a bit.
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How To Make More Affiliate Sales Without Selling
Wish you could:
Discover the exact process I follow to make thousands every month using freebies.
I understand that I will also receive weekly articles & videos plus periodic discounts, product notices & more. I can unsubscribe at any time.
And, just as with blogging, you can begin to see passive sales over time.
4. Companion Course | Moderately Difficult
Have you ever created a companion course for an affiliate product? These are products that give solid training on how to do a particular task. Then, as part of the training, a demo of some type of software or tool, etc. is included along with your affiliate link.
Use of the affiliate product you’re promoting isn’t required to complete what the training is about, but it makes completion much easier.
For instance, a digital training on how to make ebooks might be created as a companion course for ebook software. Include a couple of ways to make ebooks – some of which do not require the affiliate product a customer would have to buy.
This way, anyone who purchases your course would still get use from it whether or not they bought the affiliate product. And, when people did choose to buy the affiliate product you would have two ways to earn: the companion course sale and the affiliate commission.
Another example… training on how to use quizzes in your marketing could include a demo of quiz software that you are an affiliate for.
To use companion courses as an affiliate marketing strategy, you’ll need:
5. Video | Fairly Simple
Years ago, video was a beast to use. Proper lighting, professional-looking backdrops, polished look with your clothes and hair all just right. But not anymore.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t aim to create the best videos possible, but with all the phone vids going up on TikTok, Twitter, Insta, Facebook and more it is now perfectly acceptable to just be you in whatever setting you may be in. And people love it!
Besides needing a phone with a video camera (or a standalone video camera), a free Zoom account and possibly a portable ring light, you can start uploading videos to YouTube and other sites… well… right now.
What would you share?
They don’t even have to be very long. Just four or five minutes worth of content can work to convert watchers into buyers.
6. Freebies | Fairly Simple
Most online marketers have used opt-in freebies to grow their lists and promote their own products/services. But have you ever considered that you could create freebies to earn commissions on affiliate products?
Most freebies are some sort of mini-training and/or tool that helps your target customer do something easier. You’ve probably downloaded several freebies in your time online. You enter your email address and the company sends you the guide, infographic, or whatnot.
In its basic concept, creating freebies for affiliate products follows the same process as creating a freebie for your own products. But it has some distinct differences when dealing with an affiliate product. Primarily you:
What types of freebies can you create to promote affiliate products?
7. Email | Fairly Simple
If you have an email list – no matter how small – you should be sending affiliate offers to your subscribers. Email is without a doubt the best way to communicate with your followers.
Think about it. These people asked to hear from you. They requested to be on your list. So, sending them information about products and services that you believe will make their lives easier only makes sense.
If you have an existing email list then this is a very simple way to earn from affiliate marketing. If you don’t have an email list, it’s fairly simple to set on up. Choose an email marketing company (I use and recommend ActiveCampaign).
Then begin adding subscribers to your list. My recommendation is that you have several emails already written so you can give a sampling of what your opt-ins will receive. These might include:
8. Social Media | Simple
It doesn’t get much easier! If you have social accounts, start posting! Share things from the list above in the email section to get started. You can do this manually or use a content scheduler. There are lots of them to choose from, but my fave is the one included in Canva Pro.
If you don’t have social media accounts, you can get started in minutes. Sign up for an account. Connect with some friends and/or business associates. Start posting!
9. Resources Web Page | Simple
Gather links and brief descriptions about the products/services you use regularly that you are also an affiliate for. Then create a simple Recommended Resources page on your site. Be sure to link to it within your navigation bar.
I suggest that you categorize the resources by type. For example, web design resources, email marketing resources, passive income resources, etc. (Using categories that apply to your niche, of course.)
Ta dah! You’ll be surprised how many people click on the page to see what you recommend and end up buying. Instant commissions!
There are plenty of different ways to promote the affiliate products you love. Don’t get stuck using only two or three. Spread your wings and watch how the additional exposure can crank up your income.
Have questions about online affiliate marketing? Talk to me below!
