What is an affiliate program?

An affiliate program is basically one in which the seller of a product or service pays money to an intermediary when he brings him clients.

The affiliate program is, therefore, a commercial contract between two parties:

• The company that offers the affiliate program.
• The person, company or partner site that joins this program.

The affiliate undertakes to promote the affiliate’s products and services on its website, in particular by displaying banners or links, or even to sell them directly in certain cases. In return, the affiliate agrees to pay the affiliate a commission proportional to the volume of business contributed.

The commissions that the affiliate receives can be based on one or more specific indicators:

• The number of sales made through the partner site.
• The number of forms answered.
• The number of ads and links that visitors have clicked.

To create an affiliate program, you must consider a number of factors, including choosing the right long-term affiliates (and avoiding the wrong ones) for your program.

For a company, an affiliate program represents an ideal opportunity to increase the traffic of its website and, therefore, increase its sales. For the affiliate, the best affiliate program will be the one that their audience is most receptive to.

Today we are going to learn about what an affiliate program is, what is its importance for your business and some of the qualities that you should look for when deciding which affiliates you want to invest in.

Advantages of having an affiliate program

There are a number of reasons why it is important to have affiliates in your business:

• Targeted traffic . Having affiliates in a specific niche or sector will help you identify and target your audience. This way, you can make sure that those who see what you have to offer are genuinely interested.
• Less expensive . Depending on your affiliate compensation plan, affiliate marketing can be less expensive than spending money on social media and Google ads. Paying affiliates a commission only when a sale is made or rewarding them with a free product will help you save money and continue to promote your business effectively.
• Brand awareness . Having an affiliate program is not only good for conversions, it is an impressive way to build brand awareness and visibility with potential and current customers.
• Save time . Developing and implementing campaigns can be a daunting task. However, when you work with an affiliate group, you just have to let them know what you want to promote, when you would like to promote it and that’s it! You don’t have to spend time coming up with big promotions or complicated ad campaigns. Your affiliates take care of your individual marketing efforts.
• Valuable networking opportunities . Having an affiliate program is a great way to network with other companies and people you might want to work with in the future, whether it’s your own projects or theirs.

Importance of having an affiliate program

Affiliate programs are one of the most common ways of doing marketing, as it is a really interesting format for both parties and generates a win-win relationship when the program is well designed and carefully supervised by a specialized agency.

The affiliate benefits from the additional visibility that affiliate sites provide to their products. They are also free to define the precise characteristics and objectives of their program. Depending on their priorities, they can choose to:

• Increase visitor traffic to your own site
• Attract new customers;
• Increase online sales volume.

From an affiliate point of view, an attractive affiliate program is also an opportunity that should not be overlooked. If the affiliate is able to negotiate a high commission rate and generate a significant number of visitors and / or sales, the remuneration received may represent most, or even all, of their income.

Promoting on behalf of a leading site or brand also gives top affiliates a significant boost of credibility with their visitors.

Qualities to look for in long-term affiliates

Having an affiliate program within your marketing strategy is an excellent idea, now review some qualities that you should look for in those you choose to work in the long term.

1. Constancy

Consistency is one of the most important qualities in a good affiliate. If you design an affiliate program where you want them to post once a week, create a video or blog posts, the success of the campaign will depend on your affiliates fulfilling their end of the bargain.

2. Organization and knowledge

You need to have people in your affiliate program who are able to properly organize the different promotions you launch, who understand the value of scheduling those promotions strategically, and who know how to manage the different types of content for your promotions.

3. Make a team

Good affiliates always have a team player attitude. They worry about how participating in a promotion can help not only themselves, but the business as a whole. If an affiliate cares only for his own benefit, he will be less likely to participate in campaigns as he should and may not be as consistent in the promotion process.

4. Willingness to learn

In your long-term affiliates, look for openness and a willingness to learn. To help your business prosper, affiliates must be open to the new ideas and methods that you propose. They must also actively learn and practice new methods on their own to become better affiliate marketers.

5. Patience

In any marketing endeavor, patience is a necessary virtue. Some campaigns may not show results immediately – it can take a week, a month, or even several months to see the campaigns actually start to work. If an affiliate participating in your campaign gives up too quickly or becomes frustrated, they are not someone you want to work with long-term.

6. Creativity

Creative affiliates are very valuable because they know how to share your promotions in an original way and stand out. A creative affiliate knows your audience well and can create high-quality content that keeps potential customers engaged and interested in what you have to offer. If you find a very creative affiliate, take good care of them so they stay.

conclusion

It is essential to define precise objectives before proposing an affiliate program. In fact, it is necessary to define the budget that you are willing to allocate to this affiliation campaign and in which the model and the amount of remuneration granted for each sale made through it will be specified.

Do not forget to identify the most suitable affiliates. For example, if you sell clothing, ideally your affiliates are fashion bloggers. It is also necessary to specify if the affiliate program is established to sell more, get qualified traffic or generate leads, since there are specific programs for each objective.

It’s great to have an affiliate program made up of influencers who are willing to help you promote your business. However, it is important to look for some key characteristics to ensure that the affiliates you invest your time with are the type of people you want to keep.

By considering the characteristics listed above, you can ensure that you find valuable affiliates that you can trust to help you build your business for the long term.