If you’re interested in launching your own online business but don’t want to have to manage product inventory, shipping, or customer service, affiliate marketing may be the ideal solution.
With this type of activity, you partner with brands to promote their products or services. Your partners provide you with links to include on your website, social networks, or other platforms, and each time that somebody clicks on one of your affiliate links and makes a purchase, you earn a commission.
Affiliate marketing can be a great side gig or a full-time venture—it’s up to you!
In this article, we’ll provide you with our best tips on how to increase your chances of success as an affiliate marketer and generate more commissions.
1. Select a profitable niche
While you may be tempted to launch your affiliate business ASAP and simply start promoting the first products that catch your eye, this strategy may not bring you much success in the long run. When it comes to affiliate marketing, selecting a profitable niche is crucial.
With the ever-growing popularity of ecommerce, you have a Here are a few strategies you can use to help you decide on the right niche for your new affiliate adventure.
Consider your interests
Considering your interests is a great place to start when choosing a niche. There’s a good chance that you would have already purchased products related to your interests, so you’re more likely to understand the needs and wants of other shoppers who want to buy these items.
Furthermore, a well-managed affiliate business can potentially become a profitable long-term activity. If you specialize in a market in line with your personal interests, managing your activity is going to be more enjoyable, even as time goes on.
Create a list of all the different subjects and products that you’re passionate about and see which might have potential as possible niches. Keep in mind that while it’ll certainly help for you to already have a decent amount of knowledge about your niche, you don’t need to be an expert on it to launch your affiliate business. It will, however, be important for you to stay up to date with the latest happenings in your specialized market and never stop learning.
Determine search volume and assess scalability
You’ll next want to narrow down your niche ideas and decide what kinds of products in your desired theme are likely to be the most in demand with shoppers. Free SEO tools like Google Trends, Google Keyword Planner, and UberSuggest can help you learn what keywords people are searching for on the internet and compare the top results in terms of search volume.
In addition, it’s important to think about your business in terms of not just its launch but also its possibilities for the future. Ascertain whether the products you have in mind will allow you to easily scale your business down the road. Trends can change very quickly, and you’ll need to be sure that you can adapt accordingly in order to flourish.
Check out the competition
Keep in mind that if you opt for a particularly popular niche, you may face quite a bit of competition. Furthermore, some of your competitors will have likely been around for much longer, and it could be rather difficult to stand out from the crowd.
It’s therefore generally best to go for a specialized market that’s accompanied by a high search volume and relatively low competition. This is going to make it easier for you to establish yourself as an authority in your chosen area and encourage shoppers to visit your site and click on your affiliate links. Regardless of if you pick a niche in a crowded or uncrowded market, be sure to check out the competition and see what they’re doing well and what you could do better.
Evaluate potential profitability
No matter how passionate you are about your niche, if you’re going to get involved in affiliate marketing, earning a profit is likely to be high on your list of goals. For this reason, it’s important to make sure that your selected niche offers plenty of potential to make money with affiliate marketing.
Different affiliate programs are going to have different commission structures in terms of how much and when they pay their affiliates. Evaluate the various options carefully and aim to choose a niche and products that usually have a higher commission rate so that you’ll be able to maximize your revenue.
Figure out your USP
Unless you plan to promote super rare products, you’re bound to have some competition, with other people promoting the same items as you on their own sites. It’ll therefore be important for you to determine what makes you different and define your unique selling proposition (USP).
You might, for example, have an original story to share concerning your specialized market, perhaps why you became interested in it in the first place or why you’re so passionate about a specific product. Other ways to differentiate your brand include creating an eye-catching website that provides an excellent user experience or building authority in a specific area of your niche.
However you decide to stand out from the crowd, your USP is what will encourage shoppers to click on your affiliate links instead of those of your competitors.
2. Understand your target market
In order to be successful in affiliate marketing, you’ll need to do more than simply promote amazing products. You’ll also have to have a great understanding of your target market and be able to meet their needs and wants.
To help boost your chances of success with your affiliate business, you’ll want to create a buyer persona, a fictional representation of your ideal customer. This involves determining their age, job, interests, income, problems, concerns, and buying habits.
While doing your research to build your buyer persona can take some time, your efforts will be well worth the effort, as you’ll be able to design a better-targeted affiliate marketing strategy, one that provides your audience with relevant offers and information. Say that you’re a tennis blogger. You probably wouldn’t want to post affiliate links for home improvement goods…
Although it’s possible that some of your readers might be interested in these items, that’s not likely to be the case for the majority. Most people in your target market would likely be confused as to why they were seeing, for instance, affiliate ads for wrenches in an article on how to avoid common tennis injuries!
By ensuring that you have a decent understanding of your audience, you’ll be able to provide content that adds value to their lives. The more relevant your offers are to your visitors, the more likely they’ll be to click on your affiliate links and make a purchase.
3. Choose your affiliate program(s) carefully
As we touched on previously a bit in the section on choosing your niche, you’ll find that not all affiliate programs are equal in terms of the commission rates they offer to their affiliates. In addition, different networks may have different payment thresholds. For example, one program might allow affiliates to receive payment once they’ve generated at least $100 in commissions while another may start paying after they’ve earned only $10.
Before you commit to an affiliate program, be sure to research it carefully and read the fine print. The company should ideally be a good fit for not just your short-term goals but also those you hope to achieve over the long term.
Another point to keep in mind when researching possible affiliate programs is that in order to truly maximize your revenue, you’ll likely need to partner with multiple networks. This can also provide you with somewhat of a safety net should one company reduce their commission rates or shut down its affiliate program altogether!
4. Become very familiar with the products you’re promoting
Some affiliate marketers opt to promote as many products as possible without testing them in the hopes of getting loads of clicks and therefore commissions. I urge you to avoid this strategy, though, as although it may allow you to get quite a few clicks in the beginning, it’s unlikely to bring you success in the long term.
Take the time to become very familiar with the products you’re recommending. Learn how people use them and what their benefits are. The more research you conduct concerning the products you promote, the more your audience will begin to see you as an authority in your field.
It can be tough standing out from the crowd when you first get started with affiliate marketing. By learning as much as you can about the items you’re recommending and sharing your knowledge with consumers, you can better differentiate yourself from your competitors. Your audience is going to see your willingness to help them find the best products on the market and will be more likely to trust your recommendations.
5. Get your affiliate site up and running with existing content
Affiliate marketing is an easy way to make money online, as it doesn’t require you to invest in product inventory or manage orders from customers. That being said, you can’t expect to immediately start generating income the moment you launch your new affiliate site. Unless you already have a significant following as an influencer on social networks or with your blog, it’ll take some time for consumers to trust you and your product recommendations.
Get a head start on building trust by launching your website with content already in place. Think about it: would you have more confidence in an affiliate site that simply listed a bunch of product links or one that had a variety of types of helpful content, such as blog articles featuring product reviews and comparisons or video tutorials showing products in action? My bet’s on the second option!
Once you have a great idea, it can be difficult to resist the urge to get your website up and running immediately. However, adding carefully researched pieces of content to your site ahead of time is going to help make it look all-the-more professional and trustworthy when your first visitors arrive.
6. Foster trust by disclosing affiliate links
Another way to build confidence in your affiliate marketing business and therefore help you to boost your clicks and earn more money is by being upfront about your affiliate partnerships. It’s simple: people won’t want to buy from you if they don’t trust your endorsements.
Say that you encourage consumers to purchase an item but don’t tell them that you’ll receive a commission from the sale. If they learn about your affiliate relationship elsewhere, your lack of transparency will probably discourage them from clicking on your links in the future. Maintain your stellar reputation and your audience’s trust by simply being honest about your affiliate partnerships from the get-go.
Don’t forget that disclosing affiliate links is not just a good practice to help strengthen confidence in your site—it’s the law in many parts of the world. Be sure to check the specific regulations concerning the posting of affiliate links for your location and create your content in accordance with this legislation.
7. Incentivize purchases
Attracting new customers can sometimes be tricky, especially if you’re just getting started in affiliate marketing. To help give shoppers some extra encouragement to buy the items you’re promoting, consider incentivizing purchases.
Share discount codes
When you sign up with an affiliate program, you’ll usually be provided with a variety of marketing materials to aid you in promoting the company’s products. This assortment of resources often includes email copy, banners, and graphics, but it may also have a discount code that you can share with your community.
Discount codes can be very powerful tools for converting shoppers who are on the fence about your brand and/or products you’re recommending into customers. In fact, according to a study by Capterra, 86% of people shopping on the web are more inclined to try a new business if they’re given a discount.
Maximize the effectiveness of a discount code you have on hand by ensuring that as many people as possible in your audience know that it exists. This can be achieved by availing of several strategies:
- Social media: Share the discount code on your various social networks, being sure to also include a direct link to the product you’re promoting.
- Email: Send your subscribers an email alerting them of the discount code, clearly indicating what product it’s for and if/when the discount will expire.
- Website content: Update any relevant content on your website, such as your homepage or blog posts, to feature the discount code. Don’t forget to also add the word “discount” to the meta description of any product review/comparison articles you have concerning the item in question to further incite internet users to click on your page.
Offer your own incentives
Besides sharing any discount codes that your affiliate partner provides you, you may also want to offer your audience your own incentives. Whether it involves giving away a free product, access to an ebook or online course, or other goodies, your current and potential customers alike are sure to appreciate the gesture.
Offering incentives is a great way to build loyalty to your brand, as the action makes shoppers feel appreciated. Consider also how you might be able to tie the incentive in with an upcoming celebration or milestone, such as the anniversary of when you launched your site or after you’ve had 100 sales, to make the reward all the more special.
8. Create product comparisons and listicles
When it comes to the blog on your affiliate marketing website, there are various types of content you can share to inform your audience and guide them in their purchasing decisions.
Product comparisons can be very helpful blog posts, as they examine at least two different options. A comparison article generally includes the pros and cons of each item, helping your site visitors to determine which is the best match for their individual needs and preferences.
Another type of content that’s popular with consumers is the listicle, an article that’s formatted as a list (like the article you’re reading right now). Say that your affiliate activity revolves around beauty products. You could write an article on the “Top 10 Cruelty-Free Facial Moisturizers Under $40” or “5 New Skin Serums You Won’t Want to Miss!” for example. Note that listicles are usually less about comparing the various products and more about highlighting the benefits of each option.
With both product comparisons and listicles, note that it can be advantageous to ensure that every item you mention includes an affiliate link. This will make the information you share more trustworthy in the eyes of your readers. Because you’ll receive a commission no matter which item the user buys, recommending one product over another won’t have a financial advantage for your business.
9. Write product reviews
For many consumers, product reviews are a crucial tool when it comes to ecommerce. As they can’t see, touch, or otherwise the product or service in question for themselves before buying it, seeing what other people have to say about it can assist them in deciding if it’s worth the money. According to a 2021 study by Statista, 70% of online shoppers won’t make a purchase before they’ve read somewhere between one and six product reviews for the item.
With this in mind, it’s safe to say that product reviews should be a staple in your content marketing strategy!
Well-written, SEO-optimized product reviews that highlight your expertise and that are relevant and valuable to your target market can increase your authority in the eyes of shoppers and Google alike. This in turn can help improve your rankings on Google, generate more traffic, and boost your sales.
Don’t forget that staying objective is key when writing reviews for affiliate goods. It can be tempting to sing the praises of a product that’s not so amazing in reality in the hopes of earning a commission, but your audience’s confidence in your recommendations is likely to quickly plunge with this tactic.
Finally, note that it’s important to make sure that you update reviews as needed to give your readers the most accurate, current information possible. This can be advantageous if, for example, your thoughts on the product have changed or the item has new/changed features worth mentioning.
10. Share tutorials
Depending on the kinds of products or services you plan to promote, it’s possible that people may have questions about their use. The sharing of detailed tutorials that explain how a product or service works and show you using it in real time can be a much-appreciated aid for shoppers hesitant to make a purchase.
With this type of content, visuals are highly advantageous, and even better if you include video! No matter how clearly you communicate something via the text in your blog post, for instance, sometimes showing your audience how to use a product or service in a short video can help get your ideas across much more effectively.
11. Stay informed about trending topics
In order to keep up with the competition, you’ll want to be sure to stay informed about trending topics that are applicable to your target market. Although not every single piece of content you create needs to be based on current events, including trending topics in your blog articles and/or social media posts can help to boost your visibility and ensure that your business remains relevant.
To help inspire you, consider the success of Buzzfeed. This site is famous for creating listicles involving hot topics and making those articles shareable to further increase visibility. As many of the articles on Buzzfeed feature affiliate links, the combination of relevant, trending content plus shareability assists in attracting more clicks on affiliate links and therefore more revenue for the media giant.
However, don’t go overboard with this strategy, as you’ll want to be sure to just use trending topics that are actually relevant to what your affiliate site promotes. The more frequently your site visitors see content that doesn’t align with their interests or needs, the less likely they are to click on your links and return in the future.
Use a multichannel approach
As with anything involving online sales, taking a multichannel approach with your affiliate marketing efforts will give you a much better chance of success than if you were to stick with a single platform to promote your business. Your website, blog, email newsletter, and social networks can all serve as valuable tools to connect with your audience, foster loyalty, and attract new customers.
Social media in particular has become a must in the marketing strategy of any company on the internet. Keep in mind, though, that you don’t need to have a profile on every social network that exists. This would not only be very difficult to maintain in terms of content creation, especially if you’re handling this task on your own, it would also likely not be very effective.
The people in your target market are probably going to be much more active on some platforms than others. Knowing your audience is therefore key to determining where to focus your social media marketing efforts.
13. Localize your affiliate links
While it’s true that there are various pros and cons to affiliate marketing, one of the many advantages is the ability to reach consumers on a global level. Depending on the affiliate programs in which you participate and where they deliver, you might find that the people visiting your website come from all over the world.
Although targeting an international audience is great for earning more commissions and growing your affiliate business, it does come with some added complications. In order to make the shopping experience as seamless as possible for international customers, it’s important to ensure that your site visitors are shown prices in their local currency.
Fortunately, it’s easy to accommodate international shoppers concerning this issue by availing of link localization. By localizing your affiliate links, your visitors will be directed to their specific country’s website rather than the global version when they click on a link.
Many affiliate networks will create localized landing pages for their affiliates. However, you can also take advantage of link localizer plugins, both free and paid, to localize your website’s affiliate links and create an optimal user experience for your audience.
14. Think about search intent when creating content
Conducting thorough keyword research on a regular basis is a key part of any high-quality SEO strategy. By examining search volume and keyword competition, you’ll be able to have a better understanding of what products, services, and topics are trending. This in turn will allow you to know what you should be writing about when creating content for your affiliate website.
However, while reviewing statistics is certainly important, you’ll also want to think about search intent—that is, the reason why the internet user is performing a specific search. There are numerous types of search intent, each requiring different kinds of content to best respond to the user’s query:
- Informational intent: Users are looking for information or want to learn more about a particular subject (e.g., “how to use a DSLR camera”).
- Navigational intent: Users want to visit a specific website or find a specific page (e.g., “Nikon website”).
- Commercial intent: Users intend to make a purchase in the future and are doing some research before finalizing their decision (e.g., best DSLR camera for beginners”).
- Transactional intent: Users are ready to buy and are searching for a specific product or brand (e.g., “Canon EOS Rebel SL3”).
Knowing and understanding why your target market is searching for specific keywords and terms will assist you in creating affiliate content that best aligns with their needs. For example, say that you have an affiliate site specializing in photography-related products.
If you discover that your audience is searching for “best DSLR camera for sports,” they might be getting ready to make a purchase but still need to do some research to decide what camera will be the right option for them. You could then write a blog post detailing the top DSLR cameras for sports photography and highlight your affiliate links to better inform them about the various options out there.
Perhaps instead you find that people are searching for “What is a DSLR camera?” In this case, these users are probably in the very beginning stages of the purchasing journey and will be less interested in pages filled with affiliate links. You’ll then want to focus on creating content that offers them relevant, helpful information, which will aid in building trust in your business. When they’re finally ready to make a purchase, they’ll be more likely to return to your site and buy the products you recommend.
15. Track your progress with key performance indicators
Just like with anything in ecommerce, there’s no one-size-fits-all plan that’s guaranteed to bring you success with your adventure in affiliate marketing. Expect plenty of trial and error, and be open to adjusting your approach as needed. To allow you to better determine what’s working well and what could use some improvement in your strategy, though, it’s a good idea to track your progress with key performance indicators (KPIs).
Your chosen affiliate programs will likely provide you with a variety of KPIs in your dashboard or administration space. These metrics can give you valuable insight into your efforts over time, with a few of the most important KPIs being the following:
- Clicks: This is simply the number of clicks your affiliate links receive. Keep in mind that on its own, a high number of clicks can seem great, but if it’s accompanied by low sales numbers, it could be indicative of tracking issues or an ad strategy that’s in need of reworking.
- Conversion rate: Calculated by dividing the number of conversions by the number of clicks in a specific time period. While “conversions” will probably refer to “sales” in your affiliate program’s dashboard, you can also track the conversion rate of any marketing campaigns you launch. In this case, it could refer to the completion of any valuable action performed by your audience, such as newsletter signups, form completions, template downloads, or event registrations.
- Earnings per click: This lets you know how much money you earn on average when somebody clicks on one of your affiliate links. This metric is calculated by dividing your total earnings by the total number of clicks.
Ready to enter the exciting world of affiliate marketing and launch your own affiliate business? Besides following the tips in this article, another way to boost your chances of success is to partner with a top-notch affiliate marketing platform, namely Evolup!
With Evolup, you can quickly and easily create a website for affiliate marketing that’s compatible with all affiliate programs, including Amazon Associates. Customize the design of your site to match your vision, add your products in just a few clicks, and link your tracking IDs to start earning income.
Furthermore, you’ll be able to take advantage of Evolup’s artificial intelligence (AI) to facilitate the writing of your site’s content. Write product descriptions, blog posts, text on your homepage, your slogan, title and meta description tags, and more in no time thanks to the platform’s highly trained AI.
Build your first affiliate site with Evolup starting from just $10/month and watch the commissions begin to roll in. Sign up today and enjoy a 7-day free trial to see for yourself why Evolup is a powerful ally to accompany you on your affiliate adventure!
