Affiliate marketing is a business model that is quite strong and growing. If you’re an affiliate marketer and have a sound affiliate program, now is the time to focus on growth. Here are five ideas on how to grow your affiliate program, so you will have more affiliates than ever willing to sell your products and services in exchange for a commission.
Reward Affiliates Who Recruit New Affiliates
If you don’t have a tiered affiliate program, consider adding one. This simple step will help you attract more top performing affiliates, who will find other motivated people like themselves. Make sure you offer a good incentive to your current affiliates to recruit new ones.
Create Great Promotional Content
Make sure that all your affiliates have the materials they need to promote your products or services. Place it in a central location that will make it easy for them to find and use. Update it regularly, such as once a month, and email them to let them know it is there.
Create Great Special Offers Only for Affiliates
If you create special sales and deals regularly, your affiliates will be more motivated to promote your links, because you are a mover and shaker. Hint: you can use the same sales and promotions year after year, with just a few tweaks to improve it, to create a full calendar of, for example, holiday promotions that you can re-use, so you are not re-inventing the wheel every time.
Hire an Affiliate Manager to Recruit New Affiliates
Consider taking the big step of hiring a recruiter. This person can contact people via social networking sites or email to provide the opportunity to them personally. It is a great way to connect with top selling affiliates and to help sell your affiliate program.
Join an Affiliate Directory
If you don’t already have your affiliate program listed with a directory or network, then consider adding it. A directory listing may cost money; however, it is often the place where new and experienced affiliate marketers go to find new products, services and companies to represent. For example, you might join the Google Affiliate Network, and of course, list your offerings on ClickBank and PayDotCom.
Launch a Huge Promotional Campaign
One way to really grow your affiliate program is create a buzz for your products and services amongst your existing affiliates. Every new product should have an impressive launch. If you don’t have a new product or service on the horizon, consider launching a new promotional offer for your affiliates.
For example, if you normally pay $10 per sale, then consider doubling it for a week and pay $20 per sale. Of course, this will reduce your profits per sale; however, it will likely pay off in volume of sales and it will help motivate your affiliates to promote you, and promote you more often. Happy customers giving reviews will also spur sales.
Place an Ad on Social Networking Sites
Facebook is a great place to advertise because it lets you target a highly specific audience. You can promote your affiliate program for a few short days and measure the results. You may find that a Facebook ad does more to help your affiliate program grow than any other tactic.
Launch New Products and Services Regularly
Brainstorm new products and services Providing your existing affiliates with new promotions, products and services is a great way to get renewed interest in your company and to motivate sales. Plus, ask them. What do they think their customers need? Then provide it.
Being an affiliate yourself is great, but having your own products and your own affiliates is even better. Grow your affiliate base and see what a difference it can make to your profits.
