7 Ways To Sell Products As An Affiliate
Affiliate marketing has been around for about 20 years. Countless newcomers to the world of eCommerce who are starting their own business have become successful affiliate marketers, earning commission from top sites like Amazon and vendors like Apple for helping to sell their products.
You’re called an affiliate because you’re associated with the product or service but you’re not directly part of the product creator’s business. Product creators pay affiliates a commission for sales that they generate for their products.
Affiliate marketing is more competitive now than it was 20 years ago, however, so it’s important to know how to sell products as an affiliate in the most effective and efficient ways.
FREE Checklist: Affiliate Marketing For Beginners
1. Promote Products Through Social Media
Social media is an effective way to sell products as an affiliate because the networks are free to use and chances are you already have an account at all the top ones, such as Facebook and Twitter.
The main issue is how often to promote product links. You can’t do it too often, because you will start to look like a spammer. But in general, you can present yourself as a helpful person who is in the know about a certain topic, commonly referred to as a niche.
- Individual Posts
Your social media posts can be chatty, discussing a common pain point and then suggesting an affiliate product that can help. You could also post a review. Video is being pushed hard by Facebook these days, so a video review or demonstration video could get a lot of visibility and audience engagement. The more engagement you get, the more visible your content will become.
- Group Participation
Search on Facebook and LinkedIn to see how many groups there are related to your niche, and how active they are. If you see regular posting of content, it’s a lively group worth joining. Once you join, be patient and just participate. Start building a reputation as a helpful person in the know. Gradually, you can get them to visit your site or blog, or make product recommendations directly. You can also start your own Facebook group if you wish, so you have an active, engaged audience interested in your content.
- Ads
Twitter and Facebook ads are cheap, but still highly targeted. You can drive traffic to your links or group page for only pennies per click.
2. Blogging To Sell Products As An Affiliate
Blogging is a great way to sell products as an affiliate. Your blog should be the hub of all your marketing activities, so make the most of it with great content.
It can also help you gain subscribers for your email marketing list, so you can build a relationship with these prospective customers.
There are a number of different types of content that can help you sell affiliate products.
- Articles and posts
These can provide the context for you to link to your chosen affiliate products . Discuss a common problem, then offer an affiliate product as a solution.
- Comparison Tables and Charts
These will take some time and research, but they help position the affiliate product you want to sell so that it compares favorably with other similar products. Note the main features, benefits price and so on.
3. Use SEO to Promote Your Affiliate Offers
SEO (search engine optimization) is all about the content on your website and how it is ranked on search engine results. Content drives all search engine results.
The words on a website and on a page signal to the search engine, such as Google, what it’s about. When people run a search for a particular topic, like dog obedience training, Google delivers search engine results pages (SERPs) with what their formula (or algorithm) determines to be the most relevant pages.
- Keywords
Keywords are words that are typically related to your niche or topic. They are the kinds of words your prospective customers would use when searching online for the type of content and products you have to offer. The title of your article, review or post should contain at least one keyword. The content should contain that keyword, and at least two or three others. Avoid trying to “stuff” keywords into your content as Google will penalize you for this. It’s best to just write naturally, as you would for a person – not just a search engine.
- Keyword Your File Names
Use keywords in all your file names, such as keyword.html, .php, .jpg, .mp4, and so on. These other files can be found on Google and perhaps get you more than one listing on the SERPs.
- Links to Your Site
Links from popular sites like social media sites can give you a small SEO boost.
- Keywording Links
When you are creating the hyperlink to go over to the affiliate product page, don’t just say “click here.” Use keywords that provide real information about the product.
4. Creating Tutorial/Review/Educational/Demo videos
Review posts that have a genuine air of authority and ring of truth to them are the perfect context for placing an affiliate product link in order to earn a commission.
You should only write reviews of products you are familiar with, and your reviews should be as honest as possible. Otherwise, you’ll start to get a reputation of being willing to promote any old rubbish, which will damage your standing as an expert in your niche.
Videos are also a handy promotional tool that can drive a lot of traffic if you post them on YouTube and Facebook.
- Tutorial and Demonstration Posts and Videos
These are really popular because they actually show the product in action. People will even watch “unboxing videos” in which a person orders something online and films themselves opening the box when it arrives. Tutorial and demonstration videos can be far more useful, though – especially if the item is an expensive one or a complicated one.
People love insider hints, tips and tricks for getting the most out of what they buy. Many customers also love “Quick-Start” guides that can help them start using the item just about from the moment they open the box. Videos and posts of this nature are therefore ideal for stimulating affiliate sales.
5. Email Marketing
Email marketing is still the best method for building a real relationship with your target audience over time.
Social media posts are fleeting. In contrast, emails can sit in a person’s inbox for some time. They can also be a long format, giving lots of interesting details about the affiliate products you wish to sell.
- Getting Them on Your List
One of the biggest mistakes new affiliates make is sending the traffic they work so hard for directly to the vendor’s sales page. This means they never see these people again, and learn nothing about them.
A better method is to create a landing page with an email sign-up form. The best way to get them to sign up will usually be to offer an incentive, such as a free eBook, eCourse, or other very useful informational item people in your niche would love. Once they are on your list, you can market to them regularly.
6. Strategically Placed Offers on Your Website
Content is king on the internet, so you need to produce high-quality content that will attract search engines and people alike. Your content provides a logical context for your affiliate links.
You’re not just posting links for no reason, which would be like spam. You are providing genuinely useful information for those interested in your niche.
- Banner Ads
Smart vendors support their affiliates with ready-made marketing materials such as banners, box ads, free articles, and more. Make the most of these if the product is a good one you really believe is worth giving prime real estate to, such as a banner at the top of your page.
- Rotate Your Products
The most important thing to remember in relation to the links you post is they need to earn you a commission. Each time you create content, track and test it to see if it’s driving sales of the affiliate product. Don’t forget to drive traffic to the new content via social media and email marketing. If you don’t see sales after a time, and it’s a general article rather than a review, consider swapping links and promoting a different product instead.
7. Offering Incentives for Buying from You
One of the things to look out for in the affiliate marketplaces is the excitement of a product launch. Whenever a vendor launches a new product, they want big sales right away in order to make up for the cost of developing it, and to prove that it is exactly the type of product people in the niche really need.
So the vendor will create “buzz” about the product, both at their own site and social media sites, and hopefully through those of their affiliates. Some of the top vendors will actually offer contests with some impressive prizes to those who prove to be the top affiliate each day of the launch, or over a certain period such as two weeks.
- Offering Incentives
Contests can generate a lot of excitement and get even lazy affiliates up and promoting the new product. So how can you stand out from the crowd? The answer is to offer great incentives.
You can’t change the price of the item, because the vendor has set that. But you can add value in the form of bonus items you already have, or are prepared to create in relation to the topic. For example, if they are offering a product on affiliate marketing and you have already written an eBook on that topic, that would be an ideal bonus. If you already have spreadsheets, templates and checklists you use in your own business, you could use those as a bonus as well.
You could also offer them a special coupon code, such as 50% off one of your items you are selling at your site, if you are selling products of your own already.
Free Checklist: How To Sell Products As An Affiliate
There are many companies that will pay you to sell their products online. Success comes from choosing the right niche, staying committed and understand your audience. For more information on how to sell products as an affiliate, download my free checklist, Affiliate Marketing For Beginners.