If you are a blogger hoping to bring in dollars from affiliate marketing or a manufacturer or service provider working on building a social media following, it is critically important that your message and your products are shown in the best light by trustworthy promoters. Because social media and business have to walk a very fine line between business promotion and personal connection, having a consistent platform is key.
IMAGE CREDIT: Photo by Liza Summer from Pexels
Benefits of Affiliate Marketing
For producers with a product or service to sell, getting your product promoted by bloggers, YouTubers, and social media influencers are considered pay-as-you-go advertising. If a blogger includes a link to your DIY tool collection and their reader buys, you get paid, and the blogger gets paid. If you notice that a particular blogger has a lot of clicks and buys, you may want to get them samples of your items to review.
For content creators, affiliate marketing is a way to share their expertise, promote the items they use anyway, and get paid for it when their viewers and readers make a purchase. Once you gain a following, you can start to join an affiliate program and start adding affiliate marketing links.
Businesses: Work with Terrific Influencers
The challenge for business owners looking for a way to increase their marketing capacity is that they are also working on growing their business. If you struggle to get everything done anyway and lack the interest in learning about social media management, working with an affiliate marketing platform can streamline the process.
Your business may already have a social media presence. Working with an organization that also helps you promote your goods and services to the influencers that will have the biggest impact on your niche is key. Your current client base may or may not be heavily involved with social media, or they may be trying to build their own Instagram following. No matter what you have to promote, one properly vetted influencer can greatly expand your marketing footprint.
Bloggers: Create Worthwhile Content
Catalogs are fun to skim, but they are terrible to read in-depth. If your blog really has something worthwhile for your readers to enjoy and learn from, the links to the items that you choose to promote will be not only tolerable but useful.
If your blog is loaded with how-to tips and you are promoting tools, make sure you also either provide a link to the instructions or share your best safety tips. If you create a list, go ahead and link each item. For example, if you create a blog on the benefits of learning to install ceramic tile, make sure you also include
- face shield or goggles
- nipping tools
- shop towels
- buffing stone
- sponges
Buying a tile saw alone will not be enough, and your reader can look up your list when they order their gear. As your blog gains traction, your power as an expert will also grow. If you got free tools from a home store or free fabric for your quilting blog, it may be a good idea to get that in front of the competitor of your supplier.
YouTubers: Be Transparent
If you make money as an affiliate marketer, be honest about it. If you prefer to only give positive reviews, be honest about that. You may find that manufacturers will reach out to you and send you gear to test as you build a readership. Let them know that if you think you cannot give them a good review, you will be returning the product without saying anything.
Let your readers know the same, especially if they ask your opinion on a particular project. Being a creator that does not say anything if they cannot say anything at all will build credibility, as will letting your readers know that you got the gear for free. If you choose to share a positive review, do your best to donate the item and document that.
At the end of the day, to be successful in business you have to create a quality product. To be a successful promoter, you need to generate worthwhile content and be honest about your promotions. Affiliate marketing has changed the world of marketing, but quality is still critical.
