How to Use Affiliate Marketing to Grow Your eCommerce Business

Ecommerce is becoming more popular as individuals find it more comfortable to shop online, mainly since the pandemic. 

The eCommerce industry is now ready for the coming years. However, the initial challenge remains: how to place a particular product in front of the right audience. 

To overcome this challenge and expand customer reach, you should be familiar with affiliate marketing and how it works. It’s difficult for eCommerce business owners to ignore the potential of affiliate marketing. 

You will see a significant increase in revenue by utilizing the power of influencers, knowing which items to promote, and building ad campaigns to support your affiliate’s work. 

Statistics show that 81% of firms use affiliate marketing. 

Affiliate marketing harnesses the expertise of various persons for a more successful marketing plan. It gives contributors a portion of the profit since it works by dividing the responsibility of product promotion and creation between parties.

Affiliate marketing can help your brand gain greater exposure. The list of its advantages is lengthy, and it only keeps getting better once you comprehend its maximum potential. All you need to know about it is right here. 

This article will discuss tips on how to use affiliate marketing to grow your eCommerce business.

What Is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing entails cooperating with a more well-known eCommerce entrepreneur in your niche and asking them to advertise your product to their audience. You would offer the affiliate a percentage of the proceeds from each sale.

It is a technique of marketing your items via the platforms and networks of another person. It is a growing marketing concept that can assist you in reaching your target audience.

Affiliate marketing is a good outlet for first-time eCommerce entrepreneurs since it is among the few advertising networks that consistently promise a 100% return on investment. It is a popular choice among eCommerce businesses. 

Affiliates are usually quite good at writing and creating video content, appealing to eCommerce audiences.

In recent years, the volume of content produced by affiliates has climbed by 175%. Buyers love being able to learn more about a product before purchasing it. This technique provides them with the information they need to make an informed decision.

It is beneficial to brands that employ affiliate marketing since it is less expensive, time-saving,  has minimal risks, and enhances brand exposure and traffic.

Affiliate marketing is a fantastic way to grow sales and make a lot of money on the internet. Both organizations and affiliate marketers have benefited from the growing trend toward less traditional marketing techniques. 

Moreover, affiliate marketing spending in the United States has increased from $5.4 billion in 2017 to $8.2 billion by 2022, demonstrating that there is still plenty of room for growth.

Affiliate Marketing Spending Statistics – Image Credit: Statista

How to Use Affiliate Marketing to Grow Your eCommerce Business

You can boost lead generation from your advertisement by using a suitable affiliate offer and promotion plan. 

Whether you have a tiny store or a commercial empire, you can get the most out of your eCommerce affiliate networks. This piece will show you how to use affiliate marketing to grow your eCommerce business.

1. Find a Reliable Partner

The initial step will be whether to join an established affiliate network or develop your referral scheme. Both have advantages and disadvantages; therefore, the best course of action relies on your company and audience. 

Popular affiliate networks, such as ShareASale or Rakuten Advertising, contain well-developed systems that make gaining visibility for your company quite simple. 

These firms function as a middleman between you and your affiliates and are excellent places to learn the fundamentals of affiliate marketing before creating your own customized program. 

The disadvantage is that your affiliate partners do not have to be your clients. Yes, you can select associates, but their testimony is likely motivated simply by profit. When considering the element of trust in advertising, this can be troublesome.

Using a partner can also provide additional benefits by simplifying a few of the very technical requirements of operating an affiliate marketing program, such as compliant data-keeping, which would otherwise overburden smaller eCommerce enterprises.

In contrast, referral programs depend on much deeper ties between brands and marketers. 

You can use these to invite your existing delighted consumers to spread your items with their friends, benefiting both sides. In addition, you can combine both affiliate marketing and referral schemes to increase traffic.

Examples of brands with excellent referral programs are the Spocket or the European meal delivery service Wolt. This company devised a proprietary token system that allows current subscribers to send a link to their connections. 

New buyers then receive a percentage off their first two offers, and the individual who shared the link gets tokens redeemable for free delivery service.

Spocket Affiliate Marketing Program – Image Credit: Spocket

2. Define Your Terms

Offering a substantial commission will significantly improve the caliber of affiliate marketers who wish to collaborate with you.

Remember that typical commissions run between 5% and 15% if you offer a monetary incentive for each sale. That implies you must be capable of meeting these expenses while still making a profit. Otherwise, affiliate marketing will not benefit your company.

Of course, this does not imply cutting corners on commissions and praying for the best. It would help if you still made your program enticing to marketers.

Nonetheless, it would be best if you did not get started without first doing some calculations and determining how much you can invest in every new customer.

Numerous factors influence the affiliate commission, such as industry, price and product margin, and the value of the affiliate partner.

A high commission rate will help you attract great affiliates if you’re just getting started. Another affiliate marketing trend is researching competitors in your domain and starting your program with the highest possible commissions. 

Because you are not limited to utilizing your open offer, you can also construct custom commission arrangements for distinct affiliates.

Since you only pay affiliate commissions after the sale, you may calculate a decent return on investment by combining your cost of goods sold (COGS), profit margin, and affiliate commissions.

Another thing to remember about your affiliate program’s rules is that they must be entirely open to attracting potential marketers. That includes creating an ideal affiliate program sign-up page.

GILI Sports, for instance, adopted a simple design that covers the essentials. While there are backlinks to the affiliate program’s terms, the company could make the website more engaging. 

A viable answer could be a hero picture or a differentiator that brand ambassadors can expect to receive if they participate.

GILI Sports Affiliate Sign Up Page – Image Credit: GILI Sports

3. Identify Influencers to Market Your Products

The next stage is to identify affiliates who genuinely influence the audience you are looking to reach. 

There are numerous approaches to this, but the most straightforward is frequently the most effective: approach out to bloggers who handle your business and ask if they might be interested in a mutually beneficial marketing agreement.

To identify appropriate affiliates, you could also use various premium services. Most of the sites provide search functionality, and programs like Linkdex and AffiliateManager.com can also be helpful. 

You can also conduct a simple Google search on a couple of the phrases you want to target and approach the authors of the top-ranked material.

Partner recruiting tools can assist you in connecting with affiliates and content providers who are a good fit for your brand.

Grovia, for example, offers affiliate search, contact information, and partner pipeline management.

Grovia Partner Discovery – Image Credit: Grovia

You can use cold email campaigns to contact influencers. Check up with them and catch their attention by offering attractive commission rates, free items, and other incentives to take part in your program.

4. Concentrate on High-Value Products

Affiliate marketing plans that concentrate on a small number of high-value products are by far the most successful. 

By pushing clients to purchase a rather expensive product, you may begin to create a rapport with them, undoubtedly leading to lesser purchases in the future. Therefore, it doesn’t make sense to waste substantial digital marketing expenditures on driving tiny sales.

Concentrating on these products also simplifies your affiliate program because you will make fewer (but higher) rewards to your affiliates after marketing success.

The affiliate can advertise the products and drive visitors to your site, but to maximize conversions and AOV with offers, here are the tricks to use ;

• Offer free shipping  (free shipping on all orders over $50): According to a marketing survey, 93% of online customers believe that free shipping will entice them to purchase.
• Minimum expenditure discount: Customers prefer to feel like they are getting a good bargain. Motivate them using a discount scale. For instance, receive 10% off purchases over $50 or 20% off purchases over $100.
• Give a discount to first-time buyers: Inspire future consumers to make their first purchase by providing a 10-20% off voucher for their email address.

5. Maximize Coupon Websites

Another way to use affiliate marketing for eCommerce business growth is by using discounts. Coupon affiliate marketing enables you to deal with multiple sites instead of just one. 

You send your promotion code or affiliate link—traditionally used to monitor conversions so affiliates may be compensated for them—to an affiliate network, subsequently distributing it to huge coupon websites. 

If you discover the correct one, Coupon websites are an excellent location to meet your target demographic. A one-of-a-kind deal is a perfect approach to establish your business, attract customers, and improve sales.

Nevertheless, be cautious about which websites you use. Some websites are no longer as reliable as they previously were. When codes do not work, people become enraged. This issue frequently results in a loss of trust.

You can reach internet buyers you would never have matched otherwise with discount affiliate sites. A few of the most popular discount affiliate marketing websites are RetailMeNot, Offers.com, TechBargain, and Rakuten.

6. Track Your Performance

To gain results, you must track performance consistently and make necessary changes to keep your firm expanding. 

The easiest method is to regularly monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) such as revenue, affiliate clicks, highest-performing associates, customer lifetime value of consumers who purchased via your affiliates, and conversion rates.

Maintain open lines of contact with your affiliates. They should be aware of impending product launches, products promoted on social media, banner commercials, and product feature videos.

Inquire about what they require from you to facilitate conversions. You can schedule a typical regular meeting to communicate with them regularly.

You should also present them with the best converting landing pages, discounts, and added incentives to attract people to promote you. 

If an affiliate is driving many eCommerce orders, thank them with higher commissions, unique promotions, or free stuff. Use Google Analytics (or your preferred tracking software).

A hands-on approach will not just keep you informed of the progress of your efforts. More significantly, it will tell you what you need to work on. 

Perhaps a specific affiliate requires a boost to realize its full potential. Alternatively, you may discover that there is still room to enhance your landing pages and increase conversions.

7. Use Text and Banner Advertisements

Designing a text and banner ad campaign to correspond with your affiliates’ advertising encourages client judgment, whether you gear your promotions calendar around the festivities or your business cycle.

With these four strategies, you may create efficient banner advertising to supplement affiliate marketing traffic:

• Have a distinct brand. If online shoppers are unsure who is marketing to them, they will not visit your website.
• Maintain simplicity. Customers will remember your message if it is clear.
• Make use of animation. It’s challenging to overlook motion on a screen, so include energy in the design if it fits your business.
• Incorporate a call to action. Users on the internet will follow your lead. Please provide them with the next step to take.

Check out the IT Cosmetics banner ad. It is an excellent example of a simple yet converting banner ad. The text and image accentuate the selling aspects, while the call to action encourages the viewer to discover more.

IT Cosmetics Banner Ad – Image Credit: IT Cosmetics

8. Investigate Overseas Marketplaces

One of the best ways to use affiliate marketing for eCommerce business growth is to explore overseas markets. Finding out if your business will be well-received worldwide is a challenging process. 

It’s understandable to be wary. Nonetheless, it is becoming widespread for eCommerce firms to ship internationally. The difficult thing is being acknowledged and trusted.

Begin by developing global online relationships. Join several networks and investigate where affiliates tend to flock: webinars, social networks, blogs, etc.

One of the best affiliate marketing examples of brand extension is the ability to explore overseas markets.

It’s certainly worth taking a low-risk strategy to examine what the majority of the industry has to offer – you might discover something you’ve been missing all along. If your nation has highly appreciated your brand, the possibilities for growth are endless.

9. Experiment New technology

It’s no surprise that technology is rapidly advancing. Designers continue to astound marketers with innovative tools. That is why it is critical to stay current in this field.

Affiliate links are an excellent way to accomplish this. Posting affiliate links on social media is an efficient way to reach many people. You may also track the success of your influencers’ efforts.

Shopcast is the most recent innovation in the affiliate and influencer marketing industries. With this social shopping solution, brand associates can live broadcast a video of their purchasing journey from your eCommerce website. 

Customers can write comments, vote, take advantage of limited-time discounts, and get an in-depth assessment of your product range.

Shopcast Video Shopping Tool – Image Credit: Shopcast

Use social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to promote the products that your affiliates are marketing. 

Add your affiliate marketing campaign with eye-catching pictures, product reviews, or premiere videos. Make sure to share affiliate-posted content that advertises your items.

10.Improve Your Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Optimizing your SEO is one form of affiliate marketing that you can utilize to boost your organic visibility. Google appreciates relevant content and rewards firms that frequently contribute with higher search rankings. 

The core issue is that most eCommerce firms lack the resources and time to invest in high-quality content. Luckily, this is where your newly discovered interest in affiliate marketing comes in helpful. 

Brand affiliates are mostly outstanding creators and authors of video content. Creating solid relationships allows you to share suggestions with your affiliates that align with your brand’s mission. 

Your organic search value will increase as more hyperlinks point to your website. Take advantage of the possibility of having your brand appear on different domains that may rank higher than yours.

Conclusion

Indeed, there are numerous ways that affiliate marketing can help your company expand. This technique has a lot to offer whether you’re just starting in eCommerce or trying to scale.

However, keep in mind that you will need to put in some effort while your colleagues will be performing most of the work. 

To obtain the best outcomes, ensure that you gear your website thoroughly for conversions, that generated leads turn into loyal clients, and you stay on your toes to remain at the top in your niche.

You now understand how to use affiliate marketing to grow your eCommerce business. Could you give it a try?

The most crucial thing to keep in mind is no room for error. Ensure that your brand’s merchandise is seen in the most appropriate locations to reach your target demographic. You will be surprised at how wonderfully your efforts will pay off.

Acowebs are developers of Woocommerce bulk discounts that will help you add bulk discounts to products on your stores. It also has developed various other plugins like the popular plugin for managing the checkout form fields in WooCommerce, called Woocommerce Checkout Manager, which is highly feature-oriented yet lightweight and fast. There is also a free version of this plugin available in the WordPress directory named W0ooCommerce Checkout Field Editor.