Are you interested in affiliate marketing but worried that you might have to invest large sums to get started? Fortunately, there are many ways you can start your affiliate marketing journey without any money or very techie knowledge.
If you want to enter the affiliate marketing world successfully, let’s get started!
What is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a process of earning money through recommendations. You represent an affiliate company through a hyperlink that you use to redirect someone to the product or service you represent. This can make up for the absence of having your own product or service and representing someone else’s brand to earn yourself a commission.
You can refer the product or service to the targeted audience through blogs, images, videos, stories, etc. Each time someone purchases by clicking on your affiliate link, you are rewarded with commissions.
If you’re interested in what is a good affiliate to choose from, there is an article on affiliate programs for beginners.
Getting started with Affiliate Marketing without Money
Getting started with an affiliate program is usually very easy with most companies. The responsibility is yours to choose a niche-relevant company’s products or services that you believe will make sales.
To get started you have to sign up for a company’s affiliate program and wait for a confirmation to approve your application. Once that is done, the real challenge begins. Make an online sale to earn your commission.
Here’s where a few platforms and tips can come in handy to help you make money.
Leverage Social Media for Affiliate Marketing
Social media is a brilliant marketing platform as it offers you access to a huge market at no base-level cost. You can easily filter your target audience so your message reaches the people who would be your customers.
Social media has truly emerged as a blessing for affiliate marketers. This is because bloggers, YouTubers, vloggers, and online marketers are throwing a heavy buck at promoting their affiliate websites for visibility. While these can be extremely helpful in promoting sales, they don’t necessarily contribute to better sales.
Let’s look at why social media is your first starting point for affiliate marketing.
- It is Free: Anyone can use social media as it does not charge its users. But if you want to establish a solid presence on social media, you must be dedicated to building your visibility and scaling up your followers. Building an online identity and earning money takes time.
- Most People are on Social Media: There is hardly anyone who is not on social media. Numerous people have more than one social media account. That means you can easily find your target audience online.
- You can Manage Your Account: Scrolling down social media is fun because it lets you easily manage your account without the involvement of any third party.
- Link Placements are Easy: While using social media for affiliate marketing, you can easily place links on pictures or videos. Your followers can click on the links to check and purchase the products that you have recommended.
Instagram has opened new doors of opportunities for affiliate marketers. It allows brands to collaborate with influencers for product or service promotion easily. Consumers are more likely to purchase something that is advertised online by someone they trust and enjoy their content.
As an affiliate marketer, if you want to organize influencer campaigns, Instagram has got your back. You can decide target audience and recommend products or services to increase your affiliate income.
- Pros: Instagram is ideal for influencer marketing and displaying products or services. One can also upload videos to make a better impact.
- Cons: Organically, you cannot reach a wider audience through feed posts.
Lately, Facebook has become a major player in the affiliate marketing world. It lets you find new customers, learn their behavior, and promote products. Over 3.07 billion users actively use the social media platform. That means Facebook gives you the power to reach a wider range of audiences.
- Pros: It is one of the largest social media sites accessible to billions of global users.
- Cons: Facebook has not remained as appealing to younger audiences as before. Thus, it does not offer better reach.
Video Platforms
Starting a Youtube channel or Twitch streaming would mostly require an iPhone or an android to get started. While investing in a complete set would make your content better, creativity and informative content will get views much sooner.
Twitch for example has a unique affiliate platform that helps thousands of content creators rake in millions of dollars each year. We have a complete article on the topic.
As an affiliate marketer, you can use links to form better connections. After that, you can use those connections to promote your affiliate products or services.
- Pros: LinkedIn offers better organic reach. Many leading professionals from different industries use it.
- Cons: This social media platform targets business-to-business audiences.
Pinterest is another social media platform that people use to find new things. Most affiliate marketers use Pinterest to drive traffic to their affiliate content, including YouTube videos, affiliate landing pages, blog posts, etc. The more people see your link; the better your chances of earning a better commission.
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- Pros: Pinterest gives the power to share affiliate links in your pins directly. So, you can use this platform to share quality and trend-driven content in your niche.
- Cons: Pinterest targets very specific audiences.
How to Generate Better Leads as an Affiliate without money?
Follow these steps to generate better leads as an affiliate marketer.
Create Irresistible Bonus Offers
If you want to generate better leads, you must try to create better bonus offers. When your followers click on your affiliate link, they are already fascinated by your recommendation. Their next step involves gathering more information about the product or directly purchasing it.
So, if you create an irresistible bonus and offer it to your followers, you will be able to generate better leads.
Connect with a New Audience
When you connect with new audiences, you open the possibility of targeting a higher number of people. It drives your affiliate assets and helps you increase sales. You can connect with a new audience by engaging in different marketing activities. Try collaboration so more customers can recognize you.
Collaborate on Blogs
The Internet is the home of numerous websites. You can use this opportunity to collaborate with authority blogs and connect with their audiences. You can write stellar and engaging content.
You can also collaborate with bloggers who work in a similar niche. This way, you will get access to an already established market where all you are left with is recommending their products. Don’t forget to add a link back to your site.
You can also take the help of guest blogging to give an SEO boost to your site. You can further engage with the audience that you take from the guest blogging site.
Become a Podcast Guest
Becoming a podcast allows you to interact with numerous people listening to the podcast. You can share your experience related to the product or service you promote. Furthermore, you can attract more people by sharing actionable tips and goldmine information.
Teach on Webinars
You can teach the targeted audience about the products or services through a webinar. Start by discussing a topic that you have expertise in. Try to keep the webinar informal and answer all the questions.
You can further integrate with pre and post-webinar emails to get more attention. In addition, tell them about your social media profiles so they can connect with you online.
Personalized Affiliate Offers
Another way to generate better leads is by using personalization. You must try to personalize the offers so the audience can resonate with them. Doing so will increase the conversion rate. Try to answer the questions by putting yourself in their shoes, so they feel valued.
How Can You Increase Affiliate Sales?
We’d discussed what affiliate programs are and where you can promote them on social media and generate better leads. Now let’s look at how you can increase affiliate sales.
Use Call to Action Buttons
Affiliate marketers often create blogs and articles, but affiliate links are hard to find. Keep in mind that readers usually scan the blog rather than giving it a full read.
So, you must use affiliate links on the call to action buttons so readers can easily spot them and take quick action.
Use Tables
Another way of increasing your affiliate sales is by using tables, as it can help you get more clicks. You can add links on the top of the table of your listicle articles.
Hunt for New Offers
You can copy the offers that other affiliate marketers offer, but it won’t help you stand out from the crowd. So, you can find new offers and promote your affiliate link in the best possible way.
When you are the first to introduce new ideas, trends, tools, or deals, people show an interest in your content. Eventually, it helps you to increase sales.
Build Upon Your Reputation
If you want to increase your sales as an affiliate marketer, you must try to build your reputation. Your reputation can act as a reliable tool for earning more money online.
Conclusion
Affiliate marketing is a new way of earning money online by recommending products to targeted customers. It’s an easy marketing model that does not require you to have money. You can easily become an affiliate marketer and follow the tips mentioned in this post to increase your leads and sales.
