Setting up an affiliate program for your business to promote your services and products can be overwhelming. Below are some essential steps to help you. By following these, you can create an effective and successful affiliate marketing program for your brand.
Identify Your Goals
Before setting up an affiliate program for your business, you must determine your needs. This will narrow down your approach and help you make informed decisions according to your requirements and preferences.
1. When identifying the goals of your affiliate program, you must consider the following:
2. What type of customers do you aim to attract with this program?
3. How much revenue do you want affiliates to bring in per month, quarter, or year?
4. What conversion rate of affiliate link clicks do you require?
5. How much increase in sales and brand exposure are you expecting from the affiliate program?
Check Out Your Competitors
Before setting up an affiliate program for your own business, analyze how your competitors are performing and what their strengths and weaknesses are. You can use different search engines to find out which other companies in your niche are using affiliate programs. You can also search through several social media channels using relevant hashtags to find influential users.
After finding one or two competitors’ affiliate programs, you should identify:
1. How have they recruited affiliates, through an affiliate network or independently?
2. How are their affiliate commissions structured? Do affiliates earn a set percentage or amount of the sale, or are paid in credits towards the brand’s products or cash?
3. How rigorous is their application process?
4. What terms and conditions are they offering?
5. How are affiliates promoting their brand?
6. What types of promotional resources and branding are given to affiliates?
7. What are the potential strengths and weaknesses of your competitors’ affiliate programs?
After analyzing all these points, you can make informed decisions to increase the sales of your business and stand out in the market. All this information will unlock an opportunity to provide something valuable and helpful that your competitors are missing.
Identify Your Commission Structure
After making the competitive analysis, the next step is to decide how you will pay your affiliates. You should take your business’s needs into account and create an appealing commission structure for your affiliate program. Consider questions like:
1. What do you prefer to pay in-store credit or cash?
2. What is your average customer value?
3. What percentage of the product or service will you pay to your affiliates?
4. What are your customer acquisition costs?
5. What is your customer retention rate?
Choose Your Preferred Network
The network is the cornerstone of success in affiliate programs. Where and how you are promoting your brand significantly impacts your sales. Therefore, decide wisely whether you will use an existing affiliate network or create your own.
If you have all the essential resources and time to fully manage an affiliate program, there is nothing wrong with building your own. But many businesses find it challenging and prefer to use an existing affiliate network, as this saves time and money.
