Congratulations on your decision to become an affiliate for a major brand! This is exciting because affiliate marketing is a great way to earn money from home.
This article will cover the elements you'll need to maximize your affiliate income and get results that you can use to earn consistently.
It's also important to have a system (there's that word again!) that allows you to measure your results so that you can always improve month after month.
Affiliate Disclaimer: This page may contain affiliate links. If you use these links to make a purchase, I will receive a small commission. However, using these links will have no effect on you or your purchase in any way. For more information refer to our disclaimer page.
We'll also show you the metrics to look out for when reviewing the data from your campaigns. It's important to start out organized with a quick, easy process that keeps you up to date on how things are going without being tied to your office or cell phone all day.
The goal is to set up your affiliate links once and allow them to work. You can check about once a week or once a month to determine how they are performing and which ones are getting you the best results.
The programs that work best for you can be repeated and the others can be tweaked or eliminated.
Affiliate Roles and Definitions
So that we are on the same page when it comes to terms, I want to define two important ones that I will use throughout this article.
- Affiliate Advertiser - This is the brand that you are promoting. You may promote many different products under the same brand but your commission structure (the amount you are paid) will be the same for products under that brand.
- Affiliate Publisher - Brands pay affiliate marketers for promoting the brand to their audience. So the publisher would be the blogger who is publishing content supplied by the advertiser. This content, links, swipe files, images, etc., that allows the blogger to receive commissions if their referrals make a purchase.
- Affiliate Agreement - This spells out the terms of your relationship with the brand. For example, you might be an affiliate for Walmart or Amazon and they have tons of different types of products you can promote.
You will be paid through that brand under one agreement that spells out what you will be paid for each type of product you sell through your readers and followers.
Learn More About Affiliate Marketing
The Elements Needed to Run an Effective Affiliate Marketing Program
Here are the elements you will need to set up for each product you are promoting. These elements will make your business look professional and save your accounts (social media and otherwise) from being blocked or banned.
1. An Affiliate Link
This is the most important element because this is how you will be paid. Once you're approved for a program you will be able to log into the advertiser's affiliate page and grab the links that contain your special code.
This is the code that will allow you to be identified as the affiliate responsible for the customer referral that resulted in the sale.
It's important to understand that affiliate links are usually long and ugly, and if you post them "as is" in your social media accounts, you may find that no one will click on them. Additionally it can cause your social media accounts to be limited or suspended.
That's why it's important to use a tool that manages ugly links. We use Pretty Links, and we hide them within the text contained in landing pages, sales pages and blog posts.
To learn more about managing ugly links and why it's important, read our article that shows you how to get started.
To keep my affiliate links organized, I use a Google Sheet with the name of the advertiser, the way I get paid, my affiliate links and other important information.
2. A Landing Page
Having a landing page is optional but it's also a very important element to include when promoting affiliate offers. Using a landing page (also called a bridge page) has several benefits, including keeping your social media accounts safe from being banned or shut down.
Some social platforms feel that posting bare affiliate links will diminish the customer experience for their users. And while your account may not be totally banned, social platforms have been known to severely limit your accounts when you make it a habit of posting affiliate links on their platforms. It's become a best practice among those who want to get the best results, to use a landing page for affiliate offers.
Using a landing page also help your offer to look more professional to prospective buyers. To learn how landing pages work and how to build them, take a look at our article for a quick read.
Treating your blog or website as a sales and marketing platform that works to promote your offers, products, and services 24/7 will help you build trust with your audience.
3. An Opt In Form
Including an opt-in form on your landing page can be a game changer, giving you a huge advantage when running your marketing campaign.
These forms can make the difference between getting a one time sale, or having a loyal audience of people you can build a relationship with.
While an opt in form is optional, meaning that you don;t need it to get your affiliate commission, it's a tool that can be used to obtain email addresses.
These email addresses can be used to build an audience of interested, ready to buy customers. What's even better is that you can build a relationship with people who are interested in your affiliate products that can result in repeat buyers and an increase in your affiliate income.
Adding an opt in to your affiliate landing pages is a double win because of the potential for new and repeat affiliate sales and the audience building capabilities you will receive. And this can happen on auto-pilot.
4. A Lead Magnet
A lead magnet is an item of value that you can add to your opt in form, that will give your audience an incentive to join your list.
This element is optional as well, but its ability to increase the number of opt ins you receive to your email list can't be overlooked. Increasing the number of opt ins you receive can have a direct impact on the number of products you sell for your advertisers.
To learn more about lead magnets and how to create them click the link and read our article for a quick tutorial.
Items You Should Track and Measure on a Regular Basis
Its important from the beginning to make sure that you're keeping up with your commissions and that you don't jump off into the deep water until you are getting results.
We've put together a list of things you should look for and track to get the most from your affiliate programs. Use this list to start tracking your success!
Here is the list of items to track and be aware of:
1. The Number of Clicks You Receive on Your Affiliate Links
Tracking the number of clicks you receive on your affiliate links and knowing which links are most popular is how you will know what to continue posting and the links that will boost your affiliate income month after month.
With tools like Pretty Links and Bitly, you will receive feedback on what's working and what's not doing so well.
Both Pretty Links and Bit.ly have link tracking capabilities.
- Pretty Links is Made to Work with Affiliate Links. Pretty Links is designed to specifically track your affiliate links. In my opinion, this is the best way to set up link tracking, because some link shorteners will strip out the referral code and you wan't receive credit for affiliate sales. Additionally, you can integrate Pretty Links to track your results and see your data in Google analytics.
- Bit.ly Works Best to Track Non Affiliate Links. With the free version of Bit.ly, (the version I use) there isn't a way to integrate Bit.ly with your Google Analytics account. If you attempt to use Bit.ly to track your affiliate links, it may strip out your affiliate (referral) code so only use it to track non affiliate links.
To see how your links are performing on Bit.ly, you can click directly on the link you want to know about and it will show you how much engagement you received from that link.
A benefit that comes from tracking your links is that if there is a disconnect between your reports and what your affiliate advertiser says, you will have proof of the traffic you are sending to their site.
Keep in mind that traffic (clicks) alone does not mean that people are actually following through and buying. So it will be necessary to set up a conversion goal that tracks the actually page that is associated with making a purchase to receive actual results that you can use for any disputes.
This is another great reason to include an opt in form on your landing page that will gather emails. Using an email marketing strategy that works with your affiliate marketing campaigns will help you improve the number of purchases you receive . Email marketing can be used to follow up and educate potential customers about the products in your affiliate offers.
Having data on the number of clicks you're getting can also help if you decide to re-negotiate your affiliate terms and commissions.
2. The Number of Affiliate Programs You Join
You should have details about each affiliate program you join, and evaluate how effective each program is when it comes to helping you reach your goals.
It's also best to focus on a limited number of affiliate programs and products in the beginning to avoid overwhelm. Learn everything you can about affiliate marketing, email marketing and how all the pieces fit together before joining programs.
Experiment, test and measure your results with tracking tools and data analytics from tools like Google analytics.
Once you start getting results with a few programs, you'll be ready to expand to a more programs so that you can build your skills and not get overwhelmed, which can be frustrating.
3. Product Details
Selling price - Tracking the selling price of the products you decide to promote is important because you want to determine your percentage or flat fee and the products that will be most profitable.
You should have a column or place on your spreadsheet where you can track the dollar amount that you will put in your pocket, no matter whether it's a percentage or a flat fee.
You may not have figures for expenses like taxes or credit card fees but tracking this will give you a pretty good idea of what you can put in your pocket when you sell certain products.
You may decide to factor those figures in once you've made a sale or two, so that you will have an even better glance at your bring home pay.
5. The Link to Your Affiliate Dashboard
Your Affiliate Login Website - This isn't a metric but it's important. It's the page where you log into your dashboard and obtain sales figures, commissions, updates, and information relevant to your affiliate program.
When you enter this website into a Google Sheet, it creates a live link that you can access from your cell phone to get to your data at any time.
6. Your Affiliate Resource Page
This is also not a metric but it's important nonetheless. Your affiliate advertiser may give you resources (like the ones discussed in the video below) that will help you do a great job of promoting their products and services.
You resource page might include information on your affiliate manager and their contact information. If you have questions about the program or you need help, your affiliate manager may be able to help you or give you resources.
This is the thing... if you don't access the information, you will never reap the benefits. And you may end up recreating the wheel if you create content that you've already been provided. So it's worth taking a look at your resources before you start creating content.
A resource page can give you access to things like email swipe files, keywords, program rules, tutorials, images, banners, and anything that helps you sell more products. You'll want to enter a link to your resources in your spreadsheet.
7. Are Your Commissions Recurring or a One Time Deal?
It's important to know whether you're getting recurring commissions or one time commissions. In my opinion recurring commissions are attractive because they give you regular monthly income.
Getting a recurring commission means you will receive a commission each month and your referral is part of the membership or subscriptions.
If you receive a one time fee, you will have to work harder to keep the income consistent and grab new people to buy the product.
8. Your Affiliate Link
This is the link you receive from your advertiser's company. It's important to copy and paste it into your spreadsheet or into a place where you can access it from any device.
This will enable you to post your links straight from your phone if you use a spreadsheet that is accessible on most devices.
If you have long ugly links you might want to use a tool like Pretty Links or a link shortener that will make your links look great and track them so that you know what's working.
Check your advertiser to see if they have a link shortener that you can use to tame down those crazy links. Shareasale and Amazon Associates are two networks that make their own branded link shorteners available to affiliates.
If you use a link shortener, using a tool like Bitly might break your affiliate links and if that happens you will not receive your commissions, so be aware when using shortener products.
9. Your Affiliate Advertiser's Landing Page
Landing page - Where will your visitors land when they go to the affiliate company's website is important. Be sure to routinely check their landing page to make sure there is consistency between what you're saying on social media, your landing (bridge page) page and the affiliate page you send people to make a purchase.
You also want to check out the keywords, images and messaging your affiliate advertisers are using, and use the same elements in your marketing. If they provide you with a list you can assume that those keywords have been tested to determine whether they provide the best results.
They will also usually give you a list of keywords and terms you are prohibited from use in your advertising. Make sure you read that list thoroughly.
These are the things you should evaluate to make sure you're selecting affiliate programs that match your goals and industry. If you want to know more about affiliate marketing and how it can work to boost your income, visit our affiliate marketing resources page.
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