Still little known in France today, affiliation is a concept that has proved its worth in the USA. In fact, more and more companies are using them to boost both their visibility and their sales.
Are you a novice in this field, but still interested in this business lever?
Let’s go back to basics and look at the 5 key steps to a successful affiliate program.
After reading this article, all you’ll want to do is try it out for yourself!
Looking for the right affiliate partners
As affiliation grows in popularity, it’s becoming easier and easier to find quality affiliate partners.
In fact, the affiliation barometer 2022 reveals some interesting figures:
- Membership has been rising steadily for years (+8% between 2019 and 2020 and +10% between 2020 and 2021);
- In 2021, the affiliation, emailing and comparator category will account for 12% of the digital advertising market (search is still the big winner, with 42% market share).
More and more players are taking advantage of this growth to generate additional revenue by monetizing their site’s traffic.
As an advertiser, you have several options for finding affiliates.
For example, you can use search engines and social networks to directly contact people who might be interested in your program. All you need to do is focus on sites and influencers related to your business.
Alternatively : use your competitors. In fact, if they use affiliation, you can conduct your own investigation to discover their affiliate partners and contact them in turn.
Nor should we forget physical events such as trade fairs and conferences to network and find new partners. Obviously, target professional events related to affiliation or your business.
Not to mention
affiliation platforms
(such as Casaneo) are a quick and easy way to get in touch with quality affiliates ready to promote your product or service.
Please note: the choice of an affiliate partner should take into account both its reputation and your target audience. The aim is to propose an impactful message that responds to the needs and desires of people likely to be interested in your offer.
Creating an attractive affiliate program
Now that you have a better idea of which affiliates to contact, it’s time to look at your affiliate program.
It all starts with defining objectives (as with any marketing campaign). Do you want to use affiliation to increase your sales and/or boost your visibility and brand awareness? Knowing this will help you better define your marketing message and target specific types of affiliates.
Then choose the
ideal payment method
(CPC, CPA, CPL…) and the ideal commission rate. Obviously, the higher your affiliate rate, the more affiliates you’ll attract. Be careful, however, not to compromise your margins too much if you want to be profitable.
It will also be necessary to define the rules of your affiliate program. That way, your affiliates know what they can and can’t do.
Don’t hesitate to spend a little time with your affiliate partners at the outset to agree on the scope of the contract and to take stock of any unclear elements.
This type of fine-tuning will enable you to improve your program over time.
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Provide your affiliates with the right communication tools
Now we come to the key stage of your affiliate campaign: content production. content production.
What’s interesting about affiliation is that it allows affiliates to allowing affiliates to create their own sales pitch. This allows you to take your communication to the next level. In this case, don’t hesitate to provide him with as much information as possible to help him write his speech. These elements can be sales arguments (price, competitive advantages, product or service strengths, etc.), articles already produced, affiliate links, banners, product images or e-mails.
In some cases, a simple product flow sharing That’s enough. In other cases, a certain number of elements will have to be provided. It depends on the affiliate you’re interested in.
Don’t forget to to update the commercial elements and/or notify your affiliate partners of any changes to the offers concerned.
Performance monitoring and optimization of your affiliate program
Like all marketing campaigns, affiliation requires phases of observation and optimization.
If you use an affiliation platform, you should have a dedicated dedicated interface (as is the case with Casaneo). You’ll find a number of statistics that will help you learn more about the performance of your programs and campaign. What’s more, we can provide you with a dedicated account manager who will support and advise you to help you improve your results.
The benefits of using an affiliation platform: the added bonus of a sophisticated tracking link. sophisticated tracking link for excellent traceability of your operations.
This will help you find out what works and what needs to be reworked. You can also know exactly which affiliates are performing well and which are struggling to do so. In that case, it’s up to you to decide whether you’d like to continue in this vein by changing the way you do things, or to end the relationship.
Managing your affiliate programs
The last step that can make the difference between a successful affiliate program and one that’s struggling to get off the ground: animation.
This involves setting up specific challenges and events to motivate your affiliates. Some events take the form of competitions, with prizes to be won. Others may be periods during which you improve your earnings.
Animating your programs also requires a commitment tomaintaining regular communication with your affiliates. This gives you the opportunity to obtain precise feedback on the difficulties encountered, and allows those who wish to do so to submit ideas for improving your programs.
Not to mention regularly reward the most successful affiliates and inspire others to become premium affiliates.
