Need help appealing to investors in your online startup? Here are 5 Affiliate Marketing Criteria to help build your business and appeal to investors.
Want to join a business that has made millionaires and billionaires out of ordinary people? Make your start in affiliate marketing today!
Do a google search for affiliate marketing, and you will see that most people have no idea what it is–there is this mystery about it, something that seems to make it attractive and compelling. The majority of search terms surrounding it are asking how a person can profit from it.
In truth, it is not very mysterious or secretive. It is simply a different marketing channel for you to learn about, experiment with, and take advantage of in order to create your business.
What Exactly Is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a type of marketing that is based on “performance” (usually clicks) through an affiliate’s marketing strategies. Said affiliates are rewarded by the company that they are providing marketing for.
Affiliates are basically another wing of a company’s marketing team–but instead of paying an affiliate marketer a base pay, they are paid through how many sales they net for your company.
Affiliate marketing is not the same thing as referral marketing. The latter occurs when the marketing technique is aimed solely by promoting products through “word of mouth,” e.g., referrals. This is not done through marketers, but through customers.
How Does Affiliate Marketing Work?
A simple example: As the VP of a travel company, you decide you want to get in on the affiliate marketing program to reach wider audiences. You decide to start small, with only two affiliates–Kim and Jim. Kim and Jim’s first method of attracting new audiences are to focus on the beach vacation page of your website.
To structure your affiliate payouts, you can pay Kim when a potential customer leaves their contact information to pass onto you, or you can pay Kim when that potential customer becomes an actual customer–both commission based.
Payout Method
Be aware that there are different payout methods that are acceptable and unacceptable for different businesses. If you don’t see affiliate payout methods that will work for you (depending on which programs you choose), then contact them directly to see what they can do to change this. The most popular methods of payout are checks, PayPal, Payoneer, and direct deposit.
5 Ways to Attract Investors Using Affiliate Marketing
1. Find The Correct Affiliate For Your Company
Finding the right affiliate program for your company is the single most important step you can take. 58.22% of affiliates promote between 1 and ten products at a time, so they are very much in demand. Especially since this is a time-consuming process if done correctly.
Some aspects to consider are: has this affiliate promoted in your industry before and for how long? What other products or deals are they currently promoting? What demographics are they familiar with? And what are their methods? Which sites have they run before and currently run?
2. How To Bring Your Chosen Affiliates On board
Once you have gathered your chosen affiliates, the next step is to inform them of your company’s products and values quickly.
It is important that you give every affiliate an in house “keeper” at your company–someone they can go to if they have questions, etc. It is also important that every affiliate knows your company’s values, brand, and brand voice so that they can market your business appropriately.
Don’t keep them in the dark! Give them information on your top performing channels, customer research, demographics, and your traffic sources.
The more knowledgeable your affiliate is about your company, the better they will be able to market your product.
3. Know the Cons of Affiliate Networks
Besides the fee and commission of an affiliate network, there are a couple of cons on working with them. Two things that may cause you to take a second thought are that you do not have very much choice in which affiliates actually work for you and that you are turning over a lot of information blindly. Which means an affiliate may represent your brand in the way they see best and not the way you see best.
4. Keep In Communication With Your Affiliates
34.95% of affiliates state that communication and relationship with their affiliate manager are what makes or breaks their marketing efforts. They stay or leave certain programs because of their relationships with said managers.
If you are in constant communication, your affiliates will better know how to promote your products to the right demographic of people. They are also more willing to stay in business with you and not quickly leave if they have a good relationship with your manager.
Ask your affiliates questions. How does this campaign perform compared to previous campaigns they’ve run in the past? How can you help them market to their audience in the best way?
5. Activating Latent Affiliates
Latent affiliates come in three categories: brand new affiliates who have not sold or promoted after three months, older affiliates who are in your program but have not sold for a long time, and inactive affiliates.
In order to provide an incentive, you can offer them either a larger commission or a bonus if they reach a sales goal. For older affiliates, keep them updated on your campaigns and new products or ask them how they are doing and why they have not been selling your product recently.
For inactive affiliates, examine what their old sales used to be and focus on new relationships based around that, and introduce them to your affiliate manager if they have not met already.
Conclusion
Affiliate marketing is a much more complex type of marketing, which requires more than placing an affiliate link at the bottom of your landing page website. It is a legitimate marketing tool that requires precise nurturing in order to succeed.
Author Bio: Spencer is a full-time affiliate marketer and founder of Buildapreneur. He loves affiliate marketing because he can teach people everything he knows for free, and make his profits other ways. If you want to like to learn more check out his beginners guide on how to get started with affiliate marketing.
