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Affiliate marketing is a popular marketing tactic which can bring in brand new audiences if done right.
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing involves bringing in an external partner to promote your brand, and rewarding them on a commission basis. Commission is usually tied to a specific metric. For example, if you partner with an affiliate blogger, commission may be paid according to the number of clicks that come through from their site.
For best results, the affiliate you work with should be in some way related to your own brand. If your brand sells cookware, you'd be far better off partnering with a cooking blogger than with a sports blogger. Your affiliate links will be more natural in a cookery context, the audience will already be interested in cooking, and the blogger will be better able to describe your products in knowledgeable, trustworthy, appealing terms.
Why work with an affiliate?
If you pick the right affiliate, the right products, and the right links, affiliate marketing can be incredibly effective.
The right affiliate will already have an engaged audience. If that audience has a pre-existing interest in your industry or product, they can easily be brought into your own community.
What's more, the affiliate's audience are likely to trust them. Even when they know the affiliate is getting paid commission, audiences trust them to pick the right products to promote. So you don't have to work as hard to convince them to convert.
There's also the fact that affiliate marketing spreads the load. It helps get your message out to the furthest corners of the internet without your marketing team having to do all of the work. Affiliates can be very inventive in the ways they promote your products, and are often extremely good at getting their message out there.
When should you partner with an affiliate?
- When you have limited marketing resources. If your team is small and stretched for time, an affiliate can help spread the word without adding much extra burden.
- When you need to reach wider or new audiences. By partnering with an affiliate, you're tapping into an established, engaged audience who may well be willing to join your brand community.
- When you need a fresh take on things. If your marketing feels a bit stale, or you're struggling to come up with new ideas, an affiliate can breathe new life into your messaging.
- When the partnership is perfect. Sometimes an opportunity is too good to miss. If a potential affiliate would be ideal for your product, don't let the moment go to waste.
How to do affiliate marketing right
There is no one size fits all guide to affiliate marketing. Every affiliate has their own style and their own preferred way of working. The best fit for you depends on your own brand goals, tone, and values. However, there are some broad guidelines all brands can follow.
1. Decide how you want to pay commission
Some affiliates will only accept certain types of commission, but it's still worth drawing up your own ideal commission guidelines. Think about the results you want, the metric or metrics you can tie them to, and the amount you are willing to pay.
For example, are you willing to pay a smaller amount per click, or would you rather hold your funds and give a larger payout when someone actually converts? And are you willing to pay more for larger conversions, or will it be a flat fee?
Also think about how much you are willing to negotiate. Your affiliate may have their own ideas about what they should be paid for, and how much. So work out what's non-negotiable and what you can concede before entering discussions.
2. Find the right affiliate
Your affiliate needs to be appropriate for both your brand and the audience you're trying to reach. Look for an affiliate who:
- Embodies your brand values
- Complements your brand persona
- Is relevant to the market sector you're trying to reach
- Has an established following
- Creates great content that chimes with your own brand voice
- Is professional and easy to work with
3. Issue brand guidelines
While one of the benefits of having an affiliate is that they create a lot of content for you, it's still important that they're not going off-message. Remember, while promoting your brand they are associated with your brand, and content containing your affiliate links will affect your brand image.
By giving your affiliate tone of voice guidelines, topics to steer clear of, and a brand value checksheet, you help them strike the right tone without sacrificing their own unique voice.
4. Check their content
A good affiliate will let you give their content a quick once-over before publishing.
Remember, an affiliate isn't getting paid directly to create content for you, and it's their own unique style and tone that will bring in the audiences. So don't whip out the red pen and edit their work to bits. But do say if you're concerned that something clashes with your brand values, or could negatively affect your reputation.
