Having set up your new affiliate program, the next step will always be for you to find the first affiliates to join it. After all, a thriving program needs to have both the conversions to sustain it and long-term partners to help it remain profitable in the future. Here are some of the best ways for you to begin to attract your first affiliates.
Attend events
You can have the best program in the world, but that does not mean that no-one is going to be able to find it. There are many affiliate programs out there, and you have to ensure that yours is able to stand out from the crowd.
To do so, you have to get it noticed. One of the best ways that you can begin to market yourself and your brand is by attending events. Whether it is an in-person event or a digital one, you will be given ample opportunity to build some vital connections in the industry. In turn, you will have a much better position to work from, and the beginnings of a professional reputation, which can all be used to attract your first affiliates.
Get on social media
Social media is one of the most powerful tools that affiliate managers can use to find and attract affiliates. The sooner you can set up your pages and discussion groups, the better. Create a platform of education and inclusivity, and you will begin to attract interest from many different parties.
Affiliates will want to check out all aspects of a brand when they are considering joining one. As a result, they are more likely to consider one that is able to demonstrate who they are and what they do through social media. This could be one of the factors that helps someone decide to opt for your brand over another, so make sure you do not neglect it.
Have a great sign-up process
The final hurdle is your sign-up and onboarding processes. These need to be streamlined and easy for anyone to fill in. If you slow someone down with endless pages of forms to fill in, they are more likely to click away and not complete the process.
Make sure that this is easy to navigate and quick to fill out, and make sure that there is plenty of content for them to interact with once they are signed up too. You need to make sure that the bridge between them being potential affiliates and fully-fledged ones is as smooth as can be.
Finding your first affiliates will set the tone for how easy recruitment will be across the rest of your brand. You need to make sure that you have created a brilliant environment for your first affiliates to join so that you are able to retain them once they have been recruited. Affiliate numbers and engagement can be driven in time – you need to make sure that you have a good foundation of a program in place first.
