Affiliate marketing remains one of the best methods of converting your traffic into money. It’s so simple; just post your links online, and the cash starts rolling in.
I’m sure most of you have been told similar stories. Well, it isn’t as simple as I just made it to be.
In fact, the only simple thing about affiliate marketing is the sign-up process. Every other thing requires so much work and focus.
What if I told you that you can always come out tops and earn big in it? But one of the skills you have to master is how to promote your affiliate links effectively.
Before we jump into the details, let’s explain what an affiliate link is all about.
The main topics covered in this guide include:
- Basic Overview of Affiliate Link and How it Works
- How To Obtain an Affiliate Link
- Ways To Promote Your Affiliate Links
- 1 – Writing Reviews
- 2 – Email Marketing
- 3 – Instagram Links
- 4 – Facebook Links
- 5 – Twitter Links
- 6 – Product Tutorials
- 7 – Pinterest Links
- 8 – Affiliate Banners
- 9 – YouTube Links
- Conclusion
Basic Overview of an Affiliate Link and How it Works
An affiliate link is a unique ID that is assigned to all affiliate marketers. It is used to track traffic that is sent from a marketer’s site to the advertiser’s website. The ID usually contains randomly selected numbers, letters, and characters.
When an affiliate link is clicked, certain details are sent to the affiliate program. These details include clicks, sales, commissions and other metrics.
Your ID also makes use of cookies for tracking your activities online. When your visitor clicks on your affiliate link, the cookie (small file) is placed on their computer. Its function is to record the visitor’s actions and credit your affiliate account when a sale occurs. This sale should be within cookie duration (mostly within 30 to 90 days).
How to Obtain an Affiliate Link
The first step towards getting your own link is to join an affiliate program… Here are simple steps to guide you in choosing and joining a program.
Step 1 – Join an Affiliate Program
You need to research online for an affiliate program or network that suits you. Ensure that their terms of usage align with your business goals and objectives. Some of the well-known affiliate networks you can join are:
- Amazon Associates
- ShareASale
- ClickBank
- CJ Affiliate
From your research, you should find out the kind of merchants, commission rates, and conditions for joining. Some of the networks prevent some countries from taking part in their program. Ensure you meet up with all they require before you join.
Step 2 – Login to Your Dashboard to Obtain Your Links
Once approved by the network, you will be granted access to your own dashboard.
When you log in to the dashboard, you will be able to select the merchant and programs to promote. Once you choose the merchant, and you are accepted, your ID will be assigned to you.
Step 3 – Copy Your Link and Paste it on Your Site
Copy the link you have been provided and paste it in preferred sections of your site. You could paste the link directly into your web contents, header, sidebars, or link with an image.
Step 4 – Track Your Results
You can also track the results of your promotion from your dashboard. It is from here you will know how your promotion is doing. You can also find out if the links have been optimized, or if there is a need to change the position.
At this point, you should have started earning from your affiliate campaigns.
A lot depends on how you promote your affiliate links online. Be creative with your promotions, and ensure that you always target the right audience.
Ways to Promote Your Affiliate Links
Here are 10 proven ways to promote your affiliate links to your target audience.
1 – Writing Reviews
While doing research for the affiliate network to join, you will have found lots of reviews on the different networks. That’s because reviews are used to provide in-depth information about any topic or product. They are helpful and serve as a guide for those who need more information.
For reviews to be effective, they must be honest and objective. Also, they must provide lots of details about the topic or product under review.
Once visitors go through your reviews, they should find helpful information.
To create an effective review, start by researching the right keywords to use. They must be related to the products under review.
Also, give value to your readers through the details you express in your review. You want to come across an authority in your niche? Make the right impression with your posts.
Make your review easy to scan by including subheadings, lots of links, and white spaces. Include topics such as product features, benefits, pros, cons, and product pricing. Lastly, include a clear CTA (Call to Action) for your readers.
Your readers can read through your reviews to find out if it’s an honest one. So ensure that your goal is to provide a much unbiased review of the product or merchant.
2 – Email Writing
Nearly all affiliate marketers I know have email lists they keep building. Those on the lists receive frequent updates such as new posts, information, or product offers.
An email list takes quite some time to build, so don’t sweat it if you don’t get instant results.
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On your site, offer free gifts to encourage visitors to sign up for your email opt-in list. Also, you have to make the sign-up button very obvious so they can easily sign up. Finally, your content should be of high quality, if you want them to keep in touch with you.
Respect your email subscribers and try to avoid spamming them with emails. As you build up your email list, you can introduce offers they may like.
Remember that this method requires some time to build, but the rewards are great.
3 – Instagram Links
Instagram is a great social media platform to promote your affiliate offers to your audience. The platform uses image-based posts to drive awareness and engagement. The downside to Instagram is that the posts do not allow for clickable links. You will have to drive traffic through the link in your bio.
To get around this limit, you can use links in your Instagram Stories. That is if you have been able to build your followers up to 10k.
To optimize your use of Instagram, focus on building up loyal followers, and the profits will follow.
See more on how to advertise on Instagram here
4 – Facebook Links
Facebook is the most populous social media network with over 2 billion users. It’s a great platform to drive traffic to your site through your personal profile or business page.
Build up your connections through active posting of relevant and interesting content. Ensure that you do not spam those in your connections, followers, or friends.
Create compelling posts that will make those connected to your Facebook account visit your site. Your Facebook posts should be educational, interesting, or informative.
Go here to see the best Facebook Spy Tools
5 – Twitter Links
Twitter allows you to interact with your audience using 280 character long tweets. You can post texts only, or include images and videos to your tweets.
The text limits imposed by Twitter forces users to be creative with their posts. If you want to engage your audience and drive traffic to your affiliate site, you need to use the right words.
Some skills in writing copy would be quite helpful if you want to make good use of Twitter. Also, carry out different tests to find out the best tweet format for your audience. The goal is to get followers to visit your site or click on your affiliate links.
Instead of posting your affiliate links on Twitter, it would be more effective to send the traffic to your site. While there, you can promote your offers to them.
Here are 8 Twitter Tactics to Boost Your Brand’s Engagement
6 – Product Tutorials
Product tutorials take the form of “how-to” blogs or article posts. Though they are similar to reviews, product tutorials serve as guides on how to best use a product or service.
You can create this kind of post for any products of your choice. All you have to do is select the product from any of the affiliate networks you belong to.
Once a product is chosen, do research to find out all the relevant details about the product. Your post would be more effective if you have some experience using the product.
Your post could contain how to find the product, how to use the product, and how to order the product. You can provide exclusive tips for your readers in the product tutorials.
Don’t forget to include your links in strategic places around your post.
7 – Pinterest Links
Pinterest is a visual social media network with a high engagement rate. It is a great platform to drive traffic to your affiliate links and attract users to your products page.
To ensure effective campaigns on the social network, create pins and boards related to your product. You could also have pins included with your affiliate links on a board or even broader topic.
Let’s say you are marketing a sports gear, and want to drive it through Pinterest. Create a board around the product tutorials, how to use it, or a review. And then include some pins which you embed with your affiliate links.
Monitor the engagement rate with each pin, until you find out what works. With your new-found results, you can put Pinterest into better use for promoting your affiliate links.
Here is the Ultimate Guide to Growing Your Business with Pinterest
8 – Affiliate Banners
All affiliate programs offer their marketers with tools for the trade. Their tools may differ for the platforms, but most offer affiliate banners for promotions.
These banners are clickable and they come embedded with your affiliate links.
You can place the banners on your page header, sidebars, within posts, or footers.
Banners are easy to use as all you need to do is copy the HTML link from your dashboard, then paste the link in the preferred spot on your website, page, or post.
9 – YouTube Links
Videos are very useful tools for driving online marketing campaigns. Videos provide a way for brands to easily communicate with their audience and drive their messages across.
YouTube provides a great platform for distributing videos to a global audience. Marketers can take advantage of YouTube to create video content around their products. Affiliate links can be attached to these videos in one of two ways.
You can include the affiliate links in the description of your videos. While using this method, call out the description to your viewers.
You could use a second option by including the links in YouTube annotations. They are transparent boxes that pop up at intervals when a video is playing. The boxes may include your links and call to action for your viewers.
Find creative ways to use both methods to maximize your returns.
Here is How to Increase your YouTube Subscribers
Conclusion
Once you sign up on any affiliate network or program, you receive tools to make use of. One of the most vital tools given to you is your affiliate link.
This link is a unique ID that you can paste on your site for driving affiliate sales. To reach a wider audience, you will need to promote the link on different online platforms.
Some of these online platforms include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. You can also promote your links to subscribers on your email list.
You can use all of these methods, or select the ones best suited to your industry or niche. You will need to be creative in the ways that you make use of the platforms.
Find out the post type and content that best appeals to your target audience. And when you find out what works, be aggressive in your drive.
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