Estimated reading time: 3 mins
Affiliate marketing is tailor-made for bloggers or small business developers who are always looking for innovative ways to monetize their websites. By latching onto a larger retail enterprise they can offer to perform the advertising function on their behalf, in exchange for a slice of the profits from click-throughs to sale.
The amount of income directly correlates to the time and effort any budding entrepreneur is willing to devote to this promotion, and social media represents a potential behemoth when it comes to getting the message across to an audience! However, it is important to stress affiliate marketing is not a ‘get rich quick’ scheme by any means. Certain strategies must be applied to add value to your ability to harness social media for affiliate marketing. And here are four of the most highly recommended.
Content
Since we’re discussing the ability of a website to channel visitors towards sales pages, content should really be a no-brainer. But it’s worth emphasizing this is one aspect of your entire venture that is crucial to determining how well you will engage with your potential customer base. There are any number of ways of presenting content but the common denominator is that it engages with your readers in a compelling way.
This needs to be done with some imagination, as simply surrounding the links that will click-through to sales pages with sub-headings imploring customers to ‘buy this fabulous product’ will most likely have the opposite effect. Rather than introducing overtly sales-orientated language in your content, it would be far better to encourage your customers to feel valued in investing in whatever you are promoting. Invite them to share their views about the items.
The good news for any marketer using social media is that the content can go far beyond this type of text advertising. You can readily engage with visual messages, such as Infographics, or YouTube promotion. Where the latter is concerned, actually offering your audience a glimpse of the product in action is worth a thousand words. You can also grab attention with regular webinars or podcasts.
Social media engagement
It’s worth reiterating affiliate marketing should be seen in a wider context than simply listing items for sale. To be successful as a marketer you want to be seen as an authority on your subject, enticing customers without simply firing sales pitches at them. Keep your finger on the pulse of the bigger picture by checking out sites such as affiliate network cpa which can offer all sorts of promotional tools.
Social media can also be harnessed to build your emailing list, enabling you to promote your wares directly to customers without waiting for them to come to you. This is way of circumventing the low opinion most social media outlets have of anyone seen to be using them as an advertising platform.
Email shots
Once you have ingathered customer names, an email list is worth its weight in gold; not just because it avoid you receiving black marks from a social media platform but for keeping your customers fully engaged at all times. When communicating with them regularly you are making them feel valued. Make offers unique to your valued subscribers, such as discounts.
Quality
Rather than be tempted to grab a piece of any action when it comes to shifting products, far better to think of exclusivity. High quality products will always attract discerning customers. They also provide more scope for focusing on the previously mentioned but all-important aspect of being seen as the voice of authority on your subject.
