How can you get your affiliate marketing program off to the best start in the New Year? When launching your affiliate strategy, there are many things to consider to make sure you get the most out of it.
Never has there been a more important time to launch an affiliate marketing program. The events of the last two years as a result of the covid 19 pandemic has caused a rise in ecommerce sites. Therefore, it stands to reason that there will be added interest in affiliate marketers.
So, where do you start? Remember, your affiliate program represents your product or service and should therefore affiliate with your customers. That means that while it might have a wide reach and result in increased visits to your site, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s successful. It is therefore crucial that your affiliate program actually works for your brand and is productive.
We have listed some tips to help you get your affiliate program off to the best possible start to 2022.
Plan and set goals
It might sound obvious, but when starting out on an affiliate marketing program, it’s vitally important that you set out a plan that includes all your goals. First and foremost, you need to establish exactly who your target audience are and how you’re going to reach them. Consider who your customers are – what are their interests? This will help you to determine which affiliates can support you in reaching them.
In order to ultimately know whether or not your program is successful, it’s also a good idea to try and set quantifiable goals for your affiliate marketing strategy. How much revenue would you like your affiliate partners to bring in? How many times do you want visitors to your site to click on the affiliate links? How much in purchases through the affiliate links do you want them to make?
Streamline processes
The New Year is a good time to start looking at new methods to streamline processes. The correct platform for your brand not only helps you to streamline everything in one place, but it will also the growth of your network and protect your program from fraud. It will also help you to track your progress by recording every click or sale through affiliate links and identify your top-performing affiliate partners. There are an abundance of affiliate marketing apps, as well as different software systems, so seriously reconsider if the one you’re using is right for you. Use the New Year to re-evaluate what method you’ve been using and decide whether it’s time for a change.
Make new connections
One of the most vital things you can do when launching your affiliate program is to look at branching out and forming new connections. Is the affiliate network that you’re part of the best one for your brand? Try putting the feelers out and looking at other networks which might benefit your affiliate program. Could you benefit from working within a different group setting?
Common affiliate networks, such as Rakuten, Clickbank, and Flexoffers, are popular but it’s worth noting that there are an abundance of these networks around. Do your research to determine which is best for your brand.
Assess the competition
Before you launch your affiliate marketing strategy for the New Year, make sure you research your competitors carefully. Knowing about the competition should not only help you to decide how to launch your program, but will give you an understanding of your potential targets and commercial arrangements.
Make sure you’re aware of your competitors’ cost-per-click (CPC) and cost-per-action (CPA) to help you decide on a strategy for earning affiliate revenue. With CPC, the advertiser pays you for every click on their ad from your site; whilst with CPA, you earn revenue from an action performed by a user, for example, if they make a transaction or sign up for a free trial.
If you can afford it, consider matching what your competitors pay in commission to the advertisers on the relevant platforms. You could also think about offering better conversion rates to your affiliates in order to poach them from your competitors.
Try to establish how your competitors find their affiliate partners. For instance, do they reach them through an affiliate network? If so, which networks do they use? Also look at how your competitors insert affiliate links on their website. Try to do as much research as you can, so you can create the most successful affiliate program for you and your brand.
Blogging
Monetising content through blogging is an effective affiliate marketing strategy and one you should definitely look at for the New Year. As bloggers often write for a specific audience, an affiliate program using blogs can work very well, especially if you’re a niche business.
You can apply affiliate marketing to your blog by including hyperlinks in editorial content, or by adding banners, cookies, pop-ups, or video clips. It’s worth noting, however, to be mindful of overselling – you want any affiliate links or other promotional content to look natural. This will not only make for better reading of the material, but will help build trust between you and your audience.
Conclusion
When launching your affiliate program, there are various issues to consider in order to make sure it gets off to the best start in the New Year.
Perhaps these could form part of your affiliate marketing strategy for 2022. Look at the New Year as an opportunity to make the best of your brand. Sign up to the Affiverse Summit and learn all about the affiliate marketing trends of the future from industry experts.
