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Let us guess. You hear the term ‘Affiliate Marketing’ and immediately warning bells go off.
You picture Tupperware parties, Avon samples and that girl from high school you keep forgetting to unfollow who’s always spruiking random products on her Insta.
While technically MLM (multi-level marketing schemes) do fit under the Affiliate Marketing umbrella, what we’re referring to is slightly different (and dare we say, less culty).
Allow us to properly introduce you to the concept of Affiliate Marketing in the age of social media.
Affiliate Marketing is the process by which an affiliate earns a commission for marketing another company's products.
The pros? It’s a strong, low-risk strategy that utilises both influencer and everyday consumers, allowing them to become an ambassador for a brand online and earn a percentage commission from sales, while essentially doing WOM (word of mouth) marketing for you.
Affiliates can be anyone, from influencers to existing consumers, who work on sending referrals and generating leads through to your product or brand, resulting in sales for you and an additional income stream for them.
Still need convincing? There are plenty of great reasons to establish an Affiliate Program, such as:
- Helps create an engaged community of loyal followers: Affiliate Marketers are themselves people who *actually* buy and love your products, as well as do the work to target others who may also as well.
- Helps increase conversions: Using micro influencers and KOCs (Key Opinion Consumers) will be better for generating conversions from their networks, as their opinions are highly regarded (and they’ll also likely be enticed by the commission incentive).
- Helps build brand awareness: WOM is the most effective marketing strategy there is. If you get strategic ambassadors talking about your product on the regular, you're onto a winner.
Pretty neat, right?
But before you dive headfirst into setting up your own Affiliate Marketing strategy, there are a couple things worth doing:
1. Carefully curate the list of ambassadors you want to reach out to – make sure they fit your brand ethos, so the messaging and audiences align with your product offering.
2. Clearly define the terms of payment for your affiliates to avoid confusion down the track (or devolving into a dreaded MLM).
3. Nurture the relationship with your ambassadors! Follow up with them regularly and keep them in the loop of any new offers or promotions you are planning so they can communicate them to their network. It’s a two way street, so don’t stop the traffic!
Looking to make a real impact through Affiliate Marketing? The Social CliQ can help with that. Contact us today for a free, 30 minutes, zero-obligation consultation!