Let me set the scene. A busy New York City street. Thousands of people hurriedly walking by. Suddenly, you spot a man in a dull blue jacket and low-slung baseball cap. Megaphone in one hand. Clipboard in another. Barking into the megaphone, he shoves the clipboard into people’s hands. You do your best to evade and dodge him. But the clipboard somehow reaches you as you swat it away. Disturbed and annoyed, you rush by the man. Who is he? What does he want?
This man on the corner of a busy New York City street is no different than most newcomers to the affiliate marketing game. They bark and shout, endlessly spamming to promote affiliate links to people who could care less. Sure, affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to make money online. But it doesn’t work by annoying and nagging random people who have little to no interest in what you’re saying or promoting.
Most people who get started in affiliate marketing are disillusioned and intoxicated by others seemingly making money hand over fist. That drives them to promote their affiliate links heavily on social media platforms. They direct message and spam friends and family, they post it all over their profiles, and they drop links in places without adding value. That leads them to violations and bans that quickly turn excitement and zeal into frustration and upset.
The question is this. How are the top affiliates promoting their affiliate links without disturbing and annoying people? How can some people seem to make money so easily as an affiliate while others are out there struggling? Is it really a game of the victor getting all the spoils? Or is there some strategy happening behind the scenes that’s hard to see from the surface level?
What Is Affiliate Marketing?
If you want to make money as an affiliate, you probably know what affiliate marketing is. If you don’t, here’s the scoop. Affiliate marketing is the act of officially promoting a product or service for pay. Affiliate programs provide unique links to each affiliate. Those links are used to promote the company’s products or services using something called cookies.
Cookies are little bits of information stored inside your browser that can track people who click your links. Some people might click your links and buy on the spot. But not always. That’s where cookies come in. Cookies allow the system to remember where the affiliate link originated from. So if someone clicks your link and doesn’t buy right away, then turns around and buys a week or two later, the system still credits the payment to you.
Without cookies, it would be a waste of time to promote affiliate links because if someone didn’t buy on the spot, you wouldn’t get the credit. The truth is that not everyone buys on the spot. So if you want to be successful in affiliate marketing (or any industry) you must understand how to nurture leads to get them to eventually buy and ensure they buy from your link.
How To Effectively Promote Affiliate Links
Some people are making millions of dollars per year as affiliates while others are barely scraping enough together for a cup of coffee. What actually works and what doesn’t boils down to one simple concept—you must create value. What does that mean? It means that you must find a way to go beyond simple promotion and create something that helps others solve a problem. Creating value builds reciprocity, making someone feel indebted to you for helping them.
Most people gravitate to affiliate marketing because they don’t want the hassle of building a company from scratch. The beauty is you don’t have to do that as an affiliate. You don’t need a product. You don’t need a company or employees. And in some cases, you don’t need any money. When you have a list or an audience, you can easily succeed as an affiliate. But what if you don’t have a list? How can you promote affiliate links without being labeled a spammer?
If you already have a sizable list, you’ll have no problem promoting affiliate links. Of course, you can’t spam your audience. That doesn’t work. But if you do have a great relationship with your audience, it might work to some degree. However, the point of any affiliate promotion is to build a system that creates value to some degree. And you must give people a reason to join your list so that they’re not lost in the wind.
Once someone is on your list, you can continue to build a relationship with them. Most people just won’t buy something straight away. You need to be in front of them by using email marketing. Share stories and build rapport over time.
#1—Create A Bridge Funnel
Bridge funnels allow you to capture a person’s email address and contact details before pushing them to the affiliate page. All you need to do is give them something in exchange for their contact details. That “something” should relate to the affiliate offer somehow. And it should address the problem that the affiliate company’s products or services solve.
You can easily build a bridge funnel using our landing page software. It has premade templates and a drag-and-drop editor that makes it very easy to use. You don’t need any tech skills or specialized coding knowledge to do this. The best part? You can set everything up through the interface. You can link your email provider to it and ensure they’re added to the right list to start receiving important emails from you once they provide their contact information.
#2—Build A Squeeze Page Funnel
One of the best ways to promote affiliate links is to build a simple squeeze page funnel. A squeeze page is just a page designed to capture contact details. This is also called a lead generation funnel because it’s designed to generate leads. It’s called a squeeze page because it squeezes the contact details out of the prospect.
The most effective squeeze pages have powerful lead magnets that create curiosity in a prospect. A lead magnet can take on many forms. It can be a checklist, a cheat sheet, a document, an ebook, a video, and so on. The lead magnet must aim to solve part of the problem that the prospect is experiencing. Remember, most people are reluctant to give away their contact details so the lead magnet must be good.
#3—Make A Free Online Course
A free online course (sometimes called a membership funnel) is a great way to promote affiliate links because it creates a valuable exchange. The online course is designed to help solve the problem that the affiliate program helps solve. This is done in a way that compliments the affiliate program. The information inside the free online course must actually be helpful to the prospect.
Beneath each video and in each section, you simply promote the affiliate link to the affiliate program. The reason why this works is because it creates reciprocity. Remember, you gave them a free online course to help them. Ask yourself this question. What problems do people struggle with who purchase the product or service from the affiliate program?
For example, if you’re promoting the ClickFunnels affiliate program (which has paid out over $140 million in affiliate commissions) you can build an online course teaching people how to generate more leads. Since ClickFunnels is designed to build the system and sales funnel pages that generate those leads, it’s a natural way to promote your affiliate link. That makes sense, right?
#4—Write A 7-Day Email Series
There are many reasons why people buy something. But when it boils down to it most people buy on emotion and they justify with logic. Roughly 50% of people will buy something based purely on emotion. For example, billionaire, Howard Panes owns many multi-million dollar cars. Imagine spending $2 million on a car. Is it actually worth that much? No. It’s purely based on emotion.
Once we buy something on emotion we will justify it with logic. 40% of our purchase decisions come from logic. The rest comes from fear-based marketing such as urgency and scarcity. This is where email sequences like the soap opera email come into play. Emails help you stir up emotions by using stories to sell an idea or concept that gets someone to buy from you.
Email marketing is still the most powerful way to sell something. And the ROI of email marketing outpaces every other marketing channel including SEO. And the best type of email marketing is a 5 to 7-day series called the Soap Opera Sequence that was popularized by Russell Brunson in his book, Dot Com Secrets.
#5—Create Detailed Product Reviews
Another way to promote affiliate links is to create detailed product reviews. These can be in the form of a blog post, a social media post, a Facebook Group post, and so on. It should be extremely detailed. Take a lot of time creating this review and addressing the problems that the product solves. Depending on what the affiliate program offers, you can order the product and use it in your reviews or simply use pictures or video footage provided by the company.
This should take you a lot of time to produce and should deliver a lot of value. The more value it delivers, the more likely someone will be to purchase through your affiliate link. You can promote that link within the review itself. If it’s a video or social media post, you can place the link in the description. Either way, once they read the review and receive real value from it, they should be invited to purchase it through your link.
#6—Promote To Your Email List
One obvious way to promote affiliate links is directly to your email list. If you already have an email list, this is a no-brainer. The larger your list, the more likely you’ll be to make money from this. It’s also important to have a list that’s aligned with the affiliate offer. For example, you shouldn’t promote something in the fitness niche to a list created around dating or relationships. That makes sense, right?
When you do promote to your email list, it should be tactfully done. Do not spam the list. Design and create your emails using stories to introduce the affiliate program. That story could be based on when or how you discovered the affiliate program. If you used the affiliate product, the story could be about how it altered or transformed your life. Be authentic and honest because it will shine right through to your list.
#7—YouTube Videos
People have been using YouTube videos to promote affiliate links for ages. If you create the right type of video designed to help solve the problem that the affiliate product addresses, it can supercharge your results. Once you create the video, you should also add the affiliate link to the description of that video. That’s how people will use your link to buy the affiliate offer.
YouTube videos are a very powerful way to promote any affiliate offer because YouTube has such a large reach. As long as you design the video in a way that is helpful and engaging, this could be a massive lead source for your affiliate offer. Once you create that YouTube video get out there and promote it to your audience.
#8—Podcast Notes
The top affiliate marketers typically use podcasts to promote affiliate links by placing them in the description (or notes) of the podcast. The podcast notes may be available in many places. Think about a way you can incorporate the affiliate product into an existing podcast. If you don’t have an existing podcast, you can design an entire podcast around the affiliate offer.
Podcasting does take time, energy and resources. So it’s best to take this approach if you’re already good at podcasting. Having an established podcast also gives you authority within a specific niche. Authority is created through reciprocity. And reciprocity is built by helping others with valuable insight, stories and solutions to problems they’re experiencing.
#9—Paid Ads
Another one of the many ways to make money as an affiliate is to run paid ads. Paid ads are not for the faint of heart. You should know what you’re doing here. You also have to be careful when running paid ads directly to affiliate offers. Never do that. Instead, you should run your paid ads to a bridge funnel or a lead generation funnel that then pushes them to the affiliate offer. This way, you don’t risk getting your ad account banned.
Paid ads can come in many forms and it’s a very quick way to start making money as an affiliate. They can be turned on and shut off as quickly as a faucet of running water. However, if you’re new to paid ads you should find someone who can help you with this and not attempt to do it on your own.
#10—Hero Funnel
Hero funnels are used in profile links found on social media and other places. You can use your hero funnel to promote your affiliate links because people will naturally click on your profile link from social media. When they arrive at your hero funnel, they’ll provide their contact details. Once they submit their information, they’re now a lead you can market to.
This is a far more passive way of promoting your affiliate offer because it’s not in a prospect’s face. If you post great content on social media, they’ll naturally be interested to click the link and learn more about who you are and what you have to offer. Once they’re part of your world, you can have conversations with them through email marketing and push any of the affiliate offers you’re promoting.
#11—Organic Content Creation
Organic content creation is a method for building content designed to be both helpful to humans and to rank on search engines. This takes a lot of skill and know-how. But if you understand things like search engine optimization, then you can build content on blogs to rank for the affiliate program. The underlying content should address or help solve the problem that people are struggling with.
Building organic content to rank on search engines requires a blog to write on. You could build a personal blog on WordPress. But that takes time. Other options would be to use existing blogging platforms out there such as Medium that already have very established audiences. With a platform like Medium, you can create content that will be seen by a wide audience. But it must be unique, helpful and engaging if you want it to rank well.
#12—Facebook Groups
Facebook Groups are places where people congregate with similar interests. Promoting an affiliate link inside of someone else’s Facebook Group is very dangerous. Do not do that. Especially if you spam the links out. You’ll get booted from that group and you might even have your Facebook account shut down if you attempt to do that.
You should start your own Facebook Group and design it around the problem or the niche of the affiliate offer that you’re promoting. Inside that Facebook Group, you need to create very valuable content that is helpful to people. This requires a lot of interaction and work on your part. But this is also a very powerful strategy for promoting affiliate links because it builds reciprocity.
#13—Video Tutorials
Video tutorials are a great way to promote any affiliate offer. They require you to create a detailed tutorial on how to use the affiliate product or service that you’re promoting. This video should live on a landing page that’s accessible before you receive the individual’s contact details. Typically, these are what we call reverse squeeze pages.
A reverse squeeze page might seem counter-productive to most because it delivers the value before asking for contact details. However, video tutorials found on reverse squeeze pages create reciprocity and result in a higher-quality lead. That’s because you’re helping a person before asking them to provide their contact details.
#14—Q&A Websites
Q&A websites like Quora allow you to answer questions in a public format. Quora is a very popular website that receives a ton of traffic. It’s often used to promote affiliate links by providing answers to questions that address the affiliate offer’s niche or industry. However, you can’t simply drop affiliate links and expect that the answers won’t be removed.
You must answer questions with the intent to be helpful. Go into detail about the problem that the affiliate product solves and deliver real value. Within your answer, you can drop your affiliate link in a very tactful and respectful way. Don’t mislead people into clicking that link.
#15—Online Forums
Online forums like Reddit are also a great way to promote affiliate links because they have massive audiences that are well-established. You can easily promote anything on Reddit as long as you do it the right way. You might not be able to promote it in popular Subreddit forums. Instead, you may need to promote it on your profile or as a hero funnel link in your bio.
You have to be careful with online forum promotions because people can flag you for spam. Once that happens, your account can be shadow-banned or even blocked. So be careful not to do that if you don’t want to risk getting your account banned.
#16—Irresistible Offers
The top affiliates create irresistible offers to promote the affiliate program. The offer is designed to deliver real value in the form of bonuses. You receive all of these bonuses when you sign up for the affiliate offer using that affiliate’s link. Some affiliates will include thousands of dollars of bonus content just for using their link to sign up.
Of course, this is perceived value and not actual value. It could be that they’re charging $997 for an online course that they include for free. It’s not costing them $997 out of their pocket but it is something that people are paying $997 for. Can you see how this is a very enticing offer? If you’re already going to sign up to buy an affiliate offer, why wouldn’t you use the link of a popular affiliate who is going to give you thousands of dollars worth of bonuses?
#17—Pinterest
Pinterest is a great way to promote affiliate links. Pinterest is a massive platform used by so many people today. However, creating great Pinterest posts that push an affiliate offer takes time. You must build up a solid Pinterest profile to do this. You can also start pinning certain posts into a category that you create to build up traction.
Some of the top affiliates use Pinterest in their promotional activities and you should too. Many posts talk about how to succeed with Pinterest (like this one). Take the time to research and learn as much as you can about Pinterest marketing. This is a great free-traffic source for your affiliate promotions.