When you have your own affiliate program, one of the most important components will be to make sure that you have high-quality affiliates as part of that program. Although it’s true that what makes an affiliate “high-quality” may vary from program to program, on average, it refers to affiliates who are active, know how to link to your products effectively, and do a good job increasing your sales.
Every company wants high-quality affiliates. Here’s how you can recruit affiliates to your program that have generally higher quality.
What Makes Affiliate Marketing a Great Marketing Option?
Affiliate marketing is a great way to advertise your company for multiple reasons. The first reason is that it isn’t expensive to set up. Contrary to other types of marketing, which may have start-up costs that you pay for out of pocket before you see a return on that investment, affiliate marketing only pays out once you’ve actually made a sale, making it an amazing option for companies that don’t want to spend too much out of pocket on marketing.
Affiliate marketing is also a very effective form of marketing because of the fact that it utilizes the connection that potential customers may have with your affiliates. Word of mouth is responsible for as much as 90% of all decisions, and affiliate marketing relies on that word of mouth structure. Whether you’re working with a social media influencer, a blogger, or someone else entirely, you’re relying on their ability to sell the product through a connection they’ve made with their audience.
Tips on Finding the Right Affiliates for a Program
How do you know who might be the right affiliates for your program? Not everyone is going to be perfect for every affiliate program, but answering these questions can help you determine whether someone is going to be right for your program.
● Do they typically work in the same industry as your company?
● Do they work with any other affiliate marketing programs?
● Have they been doing this for a while?
● What is their general reach like?
● How many people follow them on their main form of outreach?
● What other affiliate or marketing content have they made?
Once you know all of these elements, you can also reach out directly to someone who you might be interested in working with, asking them more questions about their experience with affiliate marketing and how they might interact with affiliate marketing.
How Do You Get Affiliates on Board?
The next step is to get affiliates to sign up with your company’s affiliate program. There are many potential ways for you to do this.
First of all, make sure you provide a generous commission. There are many different commission structures that you may want to use for your company, but all of them should reward the people who push sales. Although there’s obviously a cap you should put on commissions so you’re still making a profit, generous commissions show that you really appreciate your affiliates.
You should also consider increasing your commission cookie length. Although many companies are reticent to have a cookie length any longer than necessary, the truth is that most purchases from referral links are made same-day. A longer commission cookie length shows your affiliates that you want them to receive the commissions they’re due, but behind the scenes, it shouldn’t change your commission payout by more than a few percentage points.
It’s also possible to use advertising to bring in new affiliates. Although paid ads to create an affiliate marketing team can seem counterintuitive, it can actually be an effective way to reach out to the people who are most likely to benefit from your affiliate program. This way, you’re reaching out to the people who will be most interested, and they’ll reach out directly to you.
Keeping Your Affiliates Motivated and Engaged
The next thing to consider is how you can keep your affiliates motivated and engaged with your affiliate marketing program. It’s much more cost-effective to retain existing affiliates than it is to find new ones, just like when it comes to customers. Here are a few ways you may be able to keep your affiliates motivated:
● Raise commission rates for a short period of time as a bonus incentive
● Offer random bonuses, especially for high-performing affiliates
● Write an affiliate newsletter
● Track the most high-performing affiliates and give them an extra bonus
● Consider creating either in-person or online events for affiliates to attend
There are many options for motivating your affiliates. Include as many of these as possible within your affiliate program.
Troubleshooting Affiliate Problems
Inevitably, when your company has an affiliate program, you’re going to end up with some troubles at some point. The best way you can avoid these problems is by creating open communication. However, barring that, you will also set the stage simply by creating an affiliate program where your affiliates already feel valued. It’s also important that you respond to emails quickly and efficiently and work with your affiliate to solve any concerns they have.
Providing Good Support and Customer Service for Your Affiliates
Tying in with the previous point, it’s always critical that your affiliates feel supported, whether they have a general question, they have a concern with the affiliate program, or they just want more information.
When your affiliates send you an email, they should get one back in a timely manner. It’s also important that you provide your affiliates a service email that isn’t just the general service email; they help you make more money, so you should make it easier for them to contact you.
The Bottom Line
Affiliate programs are a big part of many companies’ marketing efforts. If you’re planning to set up an affiliate program for your company, then you need to make sure that your affiliates care about you as much as you care about them. With these tips, tricks, and guides, you’ll be ready for your company to grow alongside your affiliates. Refersion, along with its Brand Marketplace and other tools, is the perfect way to support that.
