The figures speak for themselves: affiliate marketing is exploding. In the United States, companies spent 8.2 billion dollars in 2022 on affiliate marketing. In France, according to the 30e SRI Observatoire de l’e-pubin the first half of 2023, affiliation accounted for 10% of the digital advertising market (+10% growth compared to the same period in 2022).
Are you interested in affiliation ? You’re right!
But do you know how to recruit the right business partners? Here are our top tips to help you make the right choice.
Who are the affiliates?
There are three three key players in affiliate marketing :
- The brand;
- The affiliate ;
- The buyer.
Every affiliate program affiliate program depends on your ability to make this three-way relationship as effective as possible. As such, the role of the affiliate is to promote the brand’s products or services.
In addition to taking many different forms, they have built up an extensive network and strong relationships with your target market. They also often have their own personal brand, which they use to promote the products of their affiliators (the advertisers).
In return, the the brand pays them a commission for each click, lead or successful sale, to be negotiated at the start of the contract (with the possibility of increasing it later).
Who can become an affiliate?
In reality, anyone can become an affiliate. At least, anyone with the ability to create a strong community and then plans to monetize monetize this audience.
However, as a brand, you can’t (and shouldn’t) accept just anyone. You need to ensure that the affiliate is qualified to represent you. Ideally, you want affiliates with a large, committed audience
. You also want partners whose content matches your brand image.
For example, if you’re selling baby products, you’ll be looking for influencers with family-friendly content, or publishers in the childcare sector. On the other hand, you’ll want to avoid affiliates with adult content.
To determine whether a person or a site can become a good affiliate, here are the criteria to consider:
- Authenticity Passionate about their subject, your affiliates have developed real expertise and a genuine trust with their audience;
- Marketing skills Your affiliates need to be able to create valuable, engaging content to effectively promote your products and services. They must also have sufficient SEO knowledge to optimize their content for search engines.
- Regularity Affiliate marketing: your affiliates invest in the constant promotion of your brand, producing a steady stream of content to keep their audience’s attention. The best partners will track their performance metrics and analyze their conversion targets.
- Compliance Compliance: your affiliates must comply with the rules defined in the contract.
- Adaptability Because the web is constantly (and rapidly) evolving, your affiliates need to adapt to changes in technology, market trends and consumer behavior.
The main types of affiliate
Now that you know what makes a good affiliate, let’s discover the most popular most popular types of affiliate.
Influencers
The influencers have an audience that trusts their opinions and recommendations.
Very present on social networks, they don’t hesitate to promote products or services to their subscribers.
Authenticity is crucial to maintaining trust. Moreover, the latest regulations have forced influencers to be more transparent. As a result, recommendations are becoming increasingly authentic.
If you’re planning to work with influencers, you could offer them the chance to share coupons with their audience, for example.
In fact, it’s an excellent way of building loyalty andattracting new customers, while increasing your click-through and conversion rates to boost your sales.
Bloggers
The bloggers and content creators often specialize in a particular niche or sector. Their expertise enables them to create in-depth, valuable content, positioning themselves as authorities in their respective fields.
They monetize their work through a variety of channels, including sponsored blog posts, affiliate links in articles, vlogs, email newsletters and podcasts.
Social networking personalities
Unlike influencers, who normally promote products that correspond to their personal brand, social network personalities are more generalist. They often have reach and high engagement rates
. This enables them to expose affiliated products to a wide and diverse audience.
Ideal for increase brand awarenessWith a constant, authentic interaction with their subscribers, they establish a relationship of trust, even complicity, with their audience.
Cashback, coupon codes and price comparison sites
As their name suggests, these sites enable their users to find bargains on the Internet. the cashbackin particular, is booming in France. You can use them to promote a new product or a new reference.
Be careful, though: when you opt for this type of affiliate, you need to be sure you’re not selling at a loss.
Affiliation networks
Although they are not affiliates, we feel it is important to mention the affiliate networks. Acting as intermediaries, their role is to connect affiliates and advertisers. At Casaneo, for example, we have created a platform where we provide affiliates and affiliators with a variety of sophisticated tools to facilitate partner management, performance tracking and commission payments.
Please note: we have chosen to specialize in the fashion and home sectors. This allows you, as an advertiser, to find ultra-qualified affiliates.
Why is affiliate marketing so lucrative?
Once set up, affiliate marketing enables affiliates to earn passive income. Especially since they don’t need to create or own the products they promote. Provided, of course, that they build a solid community.
As an advertiser, you pay your affiliates according to their performance. Their income is therefore directly linked to the results they achieve. This encourages them to optimize their strategies and focus on generating conversions.
And let’s not forget that new technologies make it easier to reach the desired audience, whether large or small.
This pays off for both the company and its business partners.
Tips for finding successful affiliates
The success of your affiliate marketing program obviously depends on the quality of the affiliates you recruit. So, to attract as many affiliates as possible, start by clearly define the nature of your commissions and make them attractive. Then, actively actively seek out affiliates who match your product or service
. Target partners whose audience corresponds to your target market.
Please note: when recruiting, be transparent about earning potential. And of course provide them with well-designed and effective marketing materials
. This includes banners, graphics, product images and persuasive content to help promote your products.
Throughout the relationship, liven up your programs with additional incentives or bonuses (special promotions, increased commission rates, exclusive offers…). And don’t forget toassigning a dedicated, responsive and accessible and ensure that commission commission payments are made on time. Once your affiliate program is up and running, make it easy for affiliates to join, and simplify approval and integration procedures
. This will enable you to gain affiliates passively.
By implementing these tips, you have the keys to attracting, retaining and cultivating strong relationships with your affiliates. And if you need advice or personalized support, our specialists are here to help you create and optimize your affiliate campaigns.
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