Affiliate Marketing Strategies
Are you a business-savvy entrepreneur looking for another source of income? If you aren’t participating in affiliate marketing, it's time to consider tapping into this lucrative revenue stream. But to be successful with this, you need to understand what it is, how to get started, and how to make money from it.
What Is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a popular tactic to drive sales by having brand ambassadors or people selling your products for you in exchange for a cut and commission of sales. Simply put, affiliate marketing involves introducing a product or service by sharing it on a blog, social media platform, or website. This can be similar to word-of-mouth marketing and can be quite powerful if done correctly.
The fashion industry is moving way too fast now. So, how do you get your brand in the race? There are quite a few options for your brand to ramp up your digital strategy, and having a good affiliate program gives you powerful influencers and an actionable plan. Most of the world’s biggest (and newest) fashion houses are using a multitude of influencer marketing strategies to get their brand out there. We’ve been getting more questions about using affiliate marketing, and while it sounds like a great sales strategy, it needs a lot of time and commitment to make it work. Below are some tips that can set you up for success.
Things To Keep In Mind
Affiliate marketing needs a lot of love, time and nurturing for it to work, this is not something that can be an overnight success, as rarely things are in business.
First of all, you need to be careful about who you are bringing on board to become an affiliate, vet the person who’s going to be representing your brand and make sure their values align with your brand’s because otherwise, they won't represent your brand properly, and the last thing you want is for someone to spread false information about your brand. For example, if you’re a sustainable fashion founder, you’ll likely want to partner with someone who potentially lives a conscious and mindful lifestyle, it wouldn’t make sense to work with someone who does fast fashion hauls. So, take your time and do some background research, see what other brands they’re associated with, what other sponsored posts they’ve done and if the content aligns with your brand values. You might even want to hop on a call with anyone you’re bringing in as an affiliate to understand their personality, and what they’re hoping to get out of this relationship.
Another thing to keep in mind is that it takes a lot of effort to manage a program like this. Finding the right people is just half the battle. Here are some tips on how to successfully execute affiliate marketing especially if you are new to this.
How To Execute
Start with a pilot — pick 10 people that are representative of your ideal customer and you think their community (Instagram following, etc.) consists of your ideal customer. This could be an influencer, someone in your community who’s very involved and has a lot of connections, or whoever you think would be a good fit. Again, make sure you vet these ideal candidates, find out what their values are, or if they have past experiences that relate to your brand.
Once you have the 10 people you want to work with, and you are confident that they’re representatives of your ideal customer, you can start using the list below to help track your next steps:
Onboard them — treat them like employees. Talk to them about your brand, why you started it, what your goals are, what your sustainability values are, etc.
Give them what they need to be successful — perhaps an affiliate startup kit. This can include your brand history, product information, and everything else they need to be successful.
Monitor results and get feedback — you want to know what’s working and what’s not. By analyzing your results, you can also shift your strategies if need be.
Remember that with a pilot, you can always pivot and try new things!
Once you find affiliates that do well for you, long-term play — build a relationship with them and have them do other influencer campaigns as well
Bring them into conversations around future product launches — what do they think their community (which should consist of your ideal customers) is missing in their lives?
Pay them on top of the affiliate commission when possible
Ready For More?
We just covered a bit about affiliate marketing as one sales lever today but if you want help with your sales strategy and increasing sales, check out our Business Consulting Services.
