Affiliate marketing is a great way to add passive income to your business. And not only does it generate revenue, but it also builds brand awareness and increases traffic to your channels. But before you can reap the benefits, you need to start by partnering with the right influencers.
Starting the search for the right influencers can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. It just requires a bit of research to land the right people.
The first thing to identify is the influencer’s niche and how closely it aligns with yours. If, for example, your shop sells mechanical keyboards, an influencer who makes mechanical keyboard review content would be a perfect fit.
But their niche doesn’t always have to match your product perfectly – it could be complementary to your product. If you sell a product or service that would be a good fit for the influencer to try for the first time, the content could be refreshing to their audience. For example, a beauty influencer who has recently mentioned new fitness goals could be a great fit for, say, a protein shake brand.
You probably have an ideal customer profile (ICP). The next step is to find influencers whose main demographic includes those people.
If you sell anti-aging skincare products for women, for example, your ICP is likely to be women in their 30s and above. If you’re researching influencers who have a female audience, but most commenters seem to be in their early twenties, it may not be the best match.
This one may surprise you. The bigger the following, the better, right? Not necessarily.
Influencers with larger followings (macro-influencers) bring a lot of eyes to your products, but that doesn’t mean their engagement is high. Often, large influencers overwhelm their audience with too many partnerships, so they come off as inauthentic and don’t convert their audience as well. But, if you go with an influencer with a modest audience (micro-influencers) they typically have more trust built with their audience, which could mean more people through the checkout screen for you. Plus, micro-influencers are likely going to be more motivated to earn and easier to get in contact with.
There are many social media platforms that affiliates could use to promote your products. However, not every channel is equally effective.
Instagram and TikTok are best for visually vibrant products or services, whereas FaceBook, X, BlueSky, and Threads are better suited for products that could be well-explained over punchy text. If you want to show off your beautiful press on nail products, for example, a short-form video would be much better than a quick tweet.
At the end of the day, promotion on any channel is helpful to some degree, but it’s best to go where you’ll be the most well-received.
Finally, consider the other products an influencer promotes. Are they complementary to yours, or are they in direct competition?
An example of a complementary product would be if a male influencer promotes dental products and you sell men’s razors. Being able to promote multiple products in one post might appeal to the influencer, as it’s less work. Then, both businesses he partners with win.
If an influencer sells a product in direct competition with yours, it might be trickier depending on their current contract. However, if the influencer has no ties or brand loyalty to one product, it could be a great idea to partner and provide the influencer with information on why your product is different or better.
Building partnerships with social media influencers is exciting and a great way to grow your business. Getting to know the right influencers could be made easier with recruitment tools, forums, or looking within your current customer base.
From there, it’s just a matter of asking yourself those 5 simple questions. Then, you’ll be on your way to boosted revenue in no time.
Ready to get started with your affiliate marketing program? Book a demo with Simple Affiliate today.
