If you want to succeed in affiliate marketing, you can’t ignore the power of social media in finding customers.
Affiliate marketing is a popular way for web businesses to increase their sales by paying affiliates to market their products or services. Affiliate marketers can choose what they will promote through their own separate website or blog, and will then be compensated by their marketer based on Pay-per-click, Pay-per-lead, or Pay-per-Sale.
For example, a company sells digital cameras through affiliate marketers (AM). The AM creates a website, or even just a blog, with links that go to a special page on the camera company’s website. By clicking those links, the camera company knows the customer came to the site from the AM’s site. When they sell a camera, the AM gets the commission for the sale.
Affiliate marketing gives anyone the opportunity to create a business and income online. The most successful AMs will use social media to grow their networks and customer base. Income through affiliate marketing is a direct correlation to the time and effort the AM puts into it; merchants pay their affiliates based on the number of people that are either visiting, registering, or buying their products.
Social media is necessary for affiliate marketing to be successful because it allows AMs to create a larger network. A larger network means more people to buy the products.
Creating a network using social media outlets takes a lot of time and effort because it is not just about knowing people or “friending” them. It’s about creating relationships with the people in your network and gaining their trust.
Affiliate marketing does not have a stellar reputation because some AMs spam their visitors and are dishonest about the products and services they promote. The most successful AMs have an honest opinion about the products they promote, which will result in their customers returning to make repeat purchases.
When building social media relationships, it is important to think of yourself as a brand. What you post to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and blogs is important to the people who may eventually buy products through your website. Realize that everything you post will be read by someone, whether it’s a close friend or a customer, and that they may form an opinion about you.
Positive feedback from others, and creating valuable, trustworthy relationships with social media may be the deciding factor for someone who’s considering buying from your website.
