Affiliate marketing has quickly become one of the best ways to boost traffic, drive revenue, and establish trust with your target audience.
It also gives business owners and marketers like you an opportunity to connect with other creators and have them promote your product or service. In exchange, affiliate partners get a commission every time they convince someone to check out your brand or buy a product, which makes this a win-win situation for everyone.
If you’re wondering just how popular affiliate marketing is, consider this: 16% of all eCommerce orders in the United States and Canada are from affiliate marketing.
That’s a lot of online shopping!
I believe this shows that brands across all industries have the potential to see results with the right affiliate marketing strategy.
Below, we rounded up specifically how affiliate marketing can help you take your business to the next level. I’ll also share a few common pitfalls that you should keep an eye out for on your journey and how to avoid them.
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Benefits of Affiliate Marketing for Your E-commerce Business
But first, let’s look at some of the key benefits you can expect if you decide to add affiliate marketing to your existing marketing plan.
Increase Targeted Traffic
Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to drive traffic to your website and grow your email list.
When you work with creators who share your target audience, you can multiply your reach and connect with people who otherwise might not know you exist. The reason this is so effective lies in your shared audience.
Connecting with creators who have a similar audience ensures that their audience will find value in your content and product and, as a result, are far more likely to take action on your site.
For instance, a vitamin company might decide to work with a health and wellness influencer.
By simply working with the right affiliates, you stand a good chance of seeing more eyes on your site.
Bonus Tip: Offer exclusive discounts or early access to new products as incentives for affiliate promotions to drive more traffic. Creating a sense of urgency and exclusivity is a great way to boost traffic from affiliate links.
Cost-Effective Marketing
Affiliate marketing is less expensive than traditional forms of marketing, such as PPC or mass-quantity email marketing. What makes it so great is generally, you’ll only pay for real results.
Once your affiliate program is up and running, you’ll only pay partners when they manage to convert someone into a lead or paying customer.
Since you’re saving so much money in marketing, it’s no surprise that affiliate marketing offers an impressive return on investment (ROI). In fact, we found that 24% of marketers prefer affiliate marketing over other strategies based solely on the ROI.
Even if you decide to go the route of paying influencers to promote your product in combination with affiliate marketing, you’ll still save a ton of cash.
Bonus Tip: If possible, work with smaller influencers that have a more niche audience. Not only are they more affordable, but it’s often better to reach 2,000 people who are interested in your product compared to 10,000+ if most of them don’t care about your brand.
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Enhance Credibility and Trust
Working with respected affiliates and influencers gives your brand instant credibility. When a trusted source recommends your products, their audience is much more likely to view your brand in a positive light.
This sort of social proof and support builds trust and results in more sales.
Think about it this way: are you more likely to try a new product from a regular ad or from the recommendation of a blogger you trust? Odds are, you’d go with someone you know!
Your audience feels the same way. They aren’t opposed to trying new products or services, but they need someone they trust to suggest it first. And that’s exactly why working with affiliates can help you improve your credibility and build a positive image.
Bonus Tip: Be careful when researching potential affiliates to make sure their values and audience fit your brand. You don’t want to end up in a situation where you’re partnered with someone who is controversial or has values that don’t align with your brand.
Higher Conversion Rates
The traffic from affiliate marketing normally has better conversion rates than that from other sources. This is because affiliates choose their audience carefully and show your products to people who are already interested in your industry.
I like to think of it as the difference between promoting your product on the sidewalk versus having a specialty store with a big sign out front. The people who walk into your storefront are instantly more likely to do so, but compared to someone who is just passing your stand on the street,
It also helps that most affiliates offer the product or service they’re promoting with a discount. We found that 83% of people say the number one reason they’ve bought from an affiliate partner is because they wanted to take advantage of a special offer.
Bonus Tip: Give affiliates good marketing materials, like strong product descriptions and attractive banners, to help them highlight the benefits of your product or service. Giving your affiliates the right tools allows them to show off your products well and increase sales.
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Scalability
Affiliate marketing is easily scaled. As the size of the business grows, new partners in the affiliate program can easily be added to help you improve brand awareness, sales, and much more.
This offers you the flexibility to change with the markets and reach more people without the need for a lot of money at the start.
This is in contrast with traditional advertising, which requires a higher budget to reach more audiences. Affiliate marketing allows a business to scale its marketing over time, which makes it feasible regardless of your current income.
Bonus Tip: The use of affiliate marketing platforms and software makes it easier to manage your program and figure out how your affiliates are doing. Automation tools save you time and resources, allowing you to focus on long-term growth. Analytics can help you figure out which affiliate links are doing well.
Diversify Revenue Streams
Adding affiliate marketing to your eCommerce plan helps you make money in different ways. With an extra source of income, you are less dependent on a single source, which can give you some much-needed peace of mind.
This can be particularly helpful if you’re just starting out and looking for a low-cost way to make more money.
Bonus Tip: Check out various affiliate networks to find which one will be best suited for your business and audience. They all have unique features and benefits, so explore your options and choose a program that aligns with your needs.
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Navigating through the Challenges in Affiliate Marketing
With affiliate marketing, there are just as many challenges as there are opportunities. Understanding these obstacles—and how to address them—will ensure the long-term success of your program.
Finding the Right Affiliates
That huge number of possible affiliates might overwhelm you, but remember that not all partners are created equal. It all comes to finding affiliates that best align with your brand and have a similar target audience.
My advice is to research blogs in your industry, connect with social media influencers, and come up with a program that rewards partners for getting people to buy from your site.
It’s a good idea to start slow so you can manage and grow your affiliate strategy alongside your business.
Relationship Management
A good affiliate program is all about building relationships; your affiliates are simply external partners, an extension of your brand. The more knowledgeable and supported they are, the better they will perform.
Keep them updated regularly with promotional materials and performance feedback. This will ensure you’re all on the same page, which generally leads to better performance.
It’s also a good idea to coach them and give them praise when they do well. This type of relationship building is how you end up with partners who are happy to promote your brand for years to come.
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Make Sure Everyone is Compliant
Other important areas include compliance: Here, affiliates are supposed to make sure that they comply with the law while observing ethical behavior when promoting products.
In this respect, communication is key. Come up with an agreement that articulately explains practices considered acceptable, including proper disclosure and adherence to your brand guidelines.
At the same time, affiliate behavior needs monitoring. Use tracking to make sure the promotions are really meeting your expectations and that people are happy to see your brand.
Avoiding Over-Saturation
With the growth of affiliate programs, the likelihood of market flooding now exists. Too many affiliates promoting one single product will certainly dilute its potency and exclusivity.
Offset this by considering a segmented affiliate network. This will keep your messages fresh and exclusive since affiliates can be assigned by product line or demographic segment.
Coping with Performance Fluctuations
Affiliate performance can change due to seasonal or market trends, or it can be an individually based factor. You might not know what to expect at first, so take things slow and monitor your results.
You might learn that a vast majority of affiliate sales happen during the second half of the year. This is totally fine, as long as you’re ready for it.
You’ll also want to consider developing a diversified network to help when one segment of your affiliates starts to slow down. When done correctly, this can keep your program running smoothly all year long.
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Final Thoughts
Affiliate marketing has the power to transform your eCommerce business by providing effective traffic, better conversions, and long-term growth.
You’ll want to find a mix of strong partners, nurture relationships, and work together so they can easily and effectively explain to their audience why your product or service is worth their time.
It will take some time before you have a full-fledged affiliate marketing program. Because of this fact, the best thing you can do right now is get started.
Once your affiliate program is up and running, I believe you’ll see impressive results that bring you one step closer to your goals and help you take your business to the next level.
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