Essentially, affiliate marketing is the eCommerce version of product promotion through an online influencer. 16% of all online orders are generated through affiliate marketing, What is affiliate marketing? The best affiliates will have: A trusted website that generates traffic. Influence on their audience. Valuable content (blog, product reviews, how-to guides). Even if you work with the best affiliates, they’ll promote your products less and switch their concentration to other eCommerce sites that have higher conversion rates and EPCs, so you need to be strategic in your approach. Make sure to work with your affiliate partners to optimize the path to conversion. Most eCommerce affiliate marketing commissions are paid out based on a percentage of the product’s sale cost. The influencer’s fans become your new brand ambassadors by trying the products, posting about the products, and sending even more traffic to your eCommerce site. Take control of where your eCommerce brand is being promoted with affiliate marketing.
Chinese food, car mechanic, or the latest tech gadget – we want confirmation from someone we trust that it’s a good buy.
Essentially, affiliate marketing is the eCommerce version of product promotion through an online influencer.
Affiliate marketing can be the strategic move you need to increase sales and connect with clients you otherwise would never reach.
- By 2020, U.S. affiliate marketing spend is expected to rise to $6.8 billion.
- 81% of brands use affiliate marketing programs.
- 16% of all online orders are generated through affiliate marketing,
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is one of the only marketing channels that offers a 100 percent return on investment every time. It’s one of the only tactics that allow you to pay for marketing spend after the sale.
The affiliate marketing process involves the merchant – that’s you – and the affiliate. The affiliate, or publisher, is the company or individual that promotes your products and brand on their website. Your affiliate receives a commission when someone clicks through to your website and makes a purchase.
The best affiliates will have:
- A trusted website that generates traffic.
- Updated content.
- Influence on their audience.
- Valuable content (blog, product reviews, how-to guides).
Since the affiliate is counting on commissions, you’ll need a game plan for converting your site visitors to product buyers. It’s all about providing affiliates with the highest earnings per click (EPC). Even if you work with the best affiliates, they’ll promote your products less and switch their concentration to other eCommerce sites that have higher conversion rates and EPCs, so you need to be strategic in your approach.
With 38% of marketers calling affiliate marketing one of their top customer acquisition methods, it’s worth adding to your eCommerce strategy.
Here are 10 ways affiliate marketing will transform your eCommerce business.
1. Indirectly grow your sales team
Your entrepreneurial juices are flowing and you’re ready to grow your eCommerce business without limits. If you’re just one person or a small group, affiliate marketing can instantly expand your indirect sales team to include experts in your niche and beyond.
Affiliates are skilled in driving quality traffic to your site.
Quality traffic = More conversions.
More conversions = Higher revenue.
Higher revenue = More opportunity to grow your eCommerce business.
A highly qualified indirect sales team that doesn’t waste time designing traditional ads, getting them approved, and tracking their progress? We’ll call that a marketing win.
2. Improve customer loyalty
Customers that continue to support your brand over time will spend 67 percent more than new customers. Affiliate marketing allows you to benefit from the trust and expertise of your chosen affiliates.
When a social influencer, affiliate marketing blogger, or celebrity signs off on your product, they bring their audience with them. G-Shock has its own set of fans and customers, but now they’re benefitting from @elorabee and her nearly 183,000 Instagram followers.
3. Multiple paths to conversion
What does success look like for your eCommerce business? Unlike digital advertising, affiliate marketing allows you to choose what your successful conversion will be through manually setting incentives. Choose from conversions like:
- Sale of a particular product.
- Email capture.
- Filling out a survey form.
- Downloading a how-to guide.
You can manually set incentives through affiliate marketing by offering commissions on the success of your choice. Your eCommerce business is unique, so how you rate success should be just as distinctive.
Plus, affiliate marketing quickly gets your eCommerce website in front of more eyeballs by featuring your products across the web. Instead of working on getting 1,000 new visitors to a product page, you can leverage a high-traffic affiliate site and get visitors to your site that way.
Make sure to work with your affiliate partners to optimize the path to conversion. You should have them focus on your highest average order products and send traffic to your highest converting pages to maximize impact.
4. Better budgeting and ROI
You don’t have to spend loads of cash hoping your ads hit the right audience or that Facebook and Google’s algorithms won’t change overnight.
It doesn’t matter if your marketing budget has a couple of commas or you’re shaking your piggy bank, affiliate marketing allows…
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