13 Important Affiliate Marketing Strategies you must not overlook in 2021

There are many ways to make money online. We carefully selected 13 important affiliate marketing strategies to guide you as a beginner.

One of these is affiliate marketing. You can make extra income with affiliate marketing by recommending the products and services of other websites in your blog posts, social media posts, and videos to earn a commission off the sale.

What is Affiliate Marketing?  

Affiliate marketing is the efforts involved in selling or promoting another company's product. This can be done on your blog, social media accounts, through private advertising arrangements such as Google Adsense, and several other ways.

You may also have heard of these referred to as “publisher” or “referrer” programs by companies who use them. They are basically a pay-per-click program where you receive commissions if someone completes an action that was generated by your affiliate link.

Example:

If someone went to Amazon.com and clicked on an affiliate link of a product you were promoting, it would generate revenue for you. This can be anything from purchase to just seeing the page, depending on the company or service that you are promoting.

Affiliate Marketing can also be set up so that your receive commissions based on the sale, but don't have to bring visitors directly to the site (for example if they came from a different source).  

When starting out as an affiliate marketer, what strategies should I use? There are dozens of different ways that you could start

13 Important Affiliate Marketing strategies

#1. Join the largest affiliate program you can find

Join the largest affiliate program you can find. Join as many as you can so you have a chance of earning a commission on all of them.

Keep in mind that every affiliate network is different so it might take you a while to find the right one. Don't give up and don't waste your time on poorly performing programs just because they're smaller.

If you're just starting out, I suggest you concentrate on two or three networks at most. If there are four then only focus on the biggest one because it's going to be the most competitive.

It makes sense to start with Amazon Associates first if possible since they pay more than other affiliates do. They also rank your sites high in their search engine and give you a very valuable associate tag for free which is worth its weight in gold when it comes to branding.

#2. Check their application process and the terms and conditions

This is an important point to make because some affiliates will sign up for multiple programs but only promote the ones that provide them with the best commission rates.

This is a big no-no and you'll find that most affiliate networks have TOSs that forbid such practices.

Another thing to look out for are companies with “cookie stuffing” policies that place cookies on people's computers without their consent (usually as part of a ‘one click install).

Such programs can generate thousands of cookies which end up clogging a user's hard disk and making it impossible to track their visits accurately.

Another tactic is “cookie farming” where affiliates install cookies on your computer without your knowledge when visiting their site so that they can still track your visits even though you've never visited their site before.

The last thing to do is check your campaign's terms and conditions to make sure that this is going to be OK with the affiliate program owner. Most of them will allow you to place an image link at the bottom of your website, however, some don't like affiliates using pages that contain links so just be careful about doing this if it isn't allowed for other reasons.

#3. Download the banners from your unique affiliate page

After joining an affiliate program, Google around for banners and copy them (or print them). You can use these as placeholders until you're able to design some of your own later on down the road.

The exception here would be Google Adsense since they don't allow affiliates to use their banners.

While the Amazon Associates banner is free and can be used to promote other affiliate programs and their products, it's not a complete replacement for a custom banner.

To create an effective banner you would need to know about your target audience to know what message would resonate with them. The banner format also varies from site to site.

The banners are optional but if you want to stand out and convert visitors into customers then they're worth considering. A well-branded banner will make people trust you more than a generic Amazon Associates one because it shows that you are serious about your affiliate marketing and making money online.

A banner can help increase your conversion rate so it's worth considering whether or not it's appropriate for you to use one on each page of your site.

If you can't design banners yourself then seek out a freelancer who can handle the task for you. A little research will help you find someone within your budget.

#4. Create a tracking ID for each banner

When you're setting up your advertising campaigns, you need to have some way of tracking the clicks and sales that your affiliate links drive.

This is actually one area where most newbies fail because they simply forget to set this up or they don't do it right from the beginning. It doesn't take long if you follow these simple steps:

If you know HTML then add this code somewhere on your site before getting started. If not then try searching online for free webmaster tools that can generate a code for you.

Clickbank and a few other affiliate networks have free plugins that you can use to track your affiliate sales. For Clickbank, it's called ClickBank Affiliate and it generates an HTML tag for you which is the perfect place to put the unique code.

Once this is set up, the next time a visitor clicks one of your banners, a cookie will be placed on their computer so that their visit can be tracked automatically without any extra work from you (or them). Check out my article on how to automate your online business if interested in learning more about software efficiency.

It's important not to screw things up when setting up tracking because some visitors will check multiple links before purchasing anything and they'll only count as one conversion if all of those links are being tracked using the same cookie.

In order to prevent “cookie stuffing” which is a tactic by affiliates in an attempt to drive up their commission rate, it's important that each banner link uses a unique tracking ID.

Another point I'd like to make here is that you should never track other people's campaigns using your own affiliate links. This violates the terms of service for most affiliate programs and will get you banned in short order.

If someone asks you about how well one of your banners or text links converted then either tell them accurately (without revealing actual sales data) or send them directly to the appropriate page on the product website so they can check out for themselves.

If these issues aren't 100% clear right now then I recommend doing some more research.

#5. Get some traffic to your promotional post

Once you are signed up with an affiliate program, you need to drive traffic to your site so that you can make sales. In order to do this, it's vital that you have a plan in place before starting out.

There are plenty of ways to get targeted visitors to your website but the most effective way is through search engine optimization (SEO).

If your site ranks high on the search engine rankings then you'll get traffic from people who are specifically looking for products related to what you offer. This is by far the most targeted type of traffic as well and there isn't much competition because people usually only trust information from one source.

If, however, they decide not to buy anything then I recommend ditching the pictures and simply making your text links more prominent. The fact that they arrived on your site by clicking one of your banners means that they're already interested in what you have to offer.

You can also get visitors through paid advertising (Google AdWords), social media networks (Facebook, Twitter), or other sites that let you post ads for free (e.g. Craigslist).

When it comes to social media make sure that you're only doing things that will get you the kind of traffic you want (i.e. interested people who are likely to buy something right away).

Don't use these sites as a substitute for SEO work because they'll never be able to match Google's targeted search engine rankings.

Of course, none of this matters if your site is poorly optimized, to begin with, so take some time to look through my site and read up on the basics of SEO.

#6. Avoid joining any programs that are hard to promote

Joining a program with no traffic, no sales page, and/or poor conversion rates makes as much sense as starting a fire by rubbing two ice cubes together. It never happens because it's just too difficult to make it work.

Before you get started, find out how well each of your potential affiliate programs converts and whether or not they let you promote the product in the way that would be most effective for your site.

If a program doesn't let you do this, or if it has low conversion rates for whatever reason, then don't waste your time.

If you're already in a program that you feel is not working out after giving it at least six weeks (if it's a good one), then I strongly suggest removing all of the banners and text links from your site as soon as possible and trying something new.

In the vast majority of cases, you'll be able to make more money by joining another program.

Over 95% of affiliate marketers fail to achieve their dreams because they keep doing what they've always done regardless if it isn't working very well anymore. Don't make that mistake and instead listen to what your traffic statistics are telling you.

#7. Adopt the use of social media ads

For many people, the thought of advertising through social media sites is absolutely terrifying.

It's true that Facebook ads and Twitter ads are not overly complicated to set up but, for most people, they're still a lot more difficult than Google AdWords which tends to be much more familiar.

If you think this will get in your way then I strongly recommend setting aside some time to study up about them first.

It won't take too long since it's pretty straightforward when you break it down into individual steps. If you know very little about these sites then make sure that you read all of my articles on using Facebook ads, Twitter ads, and LinkedIn ads before continuing on with this guide.

I've written some articles on the topic because I've found that it's one of the least understood types of advertising available to affiliate marketers.

Read Also: How to Grow your Social Media Account

If you really want to make a lot of money in this business then you need to learn how to advertise effectively on these platforms.

When using social media ads for affiliate marketing purposes, it's usually best to use picture ads rather than text link ads (but there are exceptions).

A picture grabs people's attention much more quickly and putting an ad up on a site like Facebook or Twitter is free so there's no reason not to try things out for yourself.

All three of these sites offer similar technology but they each have their own quirks when it comes to setting up your ads properly so I suggest reading all of my articles before deciding which platform

#8. Operate with your own personal website or blog

There's nothing wrong with using a free traffic source to promote your affiliate links such as the ones mentioned earlier, but it is important that you have a personal website or blog on your own domain name that can be used as an additional type of promotion.

While free sources will always send you targeted visitors, they just don't send very many of them compared to what else is available. The large majority of people who arrive at these sites don't buy anything because they're not interested in buying right now (or maybe ever).

This means that you'll end up spending months or even years trying to get one conversion from these types of sites while the same amount of time and effort could be applied towards something much more worthwhile.

For example, it's possible to make $1,000+ per day with a dedicated website by applying just a few simple strategies. The amount of money you can make is absolutely mind-boggling compared to what you'll be able to accomplish through using free sources and then moving on to paid sources afterward.

#9. Join a group of affiliate marketers

They can help you a lot in the beginning, and if you show them that you're serious about building your career in affiliate marketing, they'll be happy to assist you as much as they can!

But at the same time, don't forget to give something back for what you'll get – help others when they need it and you should be fine!

Some people find it helpful to join a Facebook group of affiliate marketers in order to find connections and additional resources for the business. Joining a Twitter conversion can also be helpful as well.

However, if you're just getting started, then don't join an affiliate marketing group until after you've been able to build up your own website and have begun creating content that brings in visitors.

This will ensure that you actually know how to market products online before trying to give advice on how to do it. It's a lot easier for newbies to simply look at experienced people who are already making money instead of looking at someone who is struggling themselves!

#10. Share stuff related to affiliate marketing on Social Media

If it helps even one person, then the time you spent doing so was worth it!

Posting affiliate marketing-related stuff is a great way to get some additional exposure for your own content and also increase the number of people following you on Twitter and Facebook.

If someone cares about what they see, then they'll probably check out your website as well. It doesn't matter if it's something like a funny picture, a good infographic, or even an article that you enjoyed reading – there are many different ways to go about this!

Whenever you find something interesting in your niche, share it with others and hope that one person benefits from your post – chances are that they will!

If you haven't heard this yet then I'll let you in on a little secret – affiliate marketing is not just about being an entrepreneur, it's also about being human!

It's important to take the time and get involved with others in order to help them out. We're all here for the same reason – money – but when we work together as one giant team, there'll never be any limits to what we can accomplish!

Going through these 10 simple steps will make sure that you have a great foundation to start your online career. Every person who wants success must know how to apply their own skills properly and I hope this list of tips helped you do that!

Good luck with your business and if you're ever struggling or need some advice, feel free to email me.

#11. Find a way to collect leads

It's crucial if you want to create a long-term, sustainable income from affiliate marketing. You'll have to create a list of interested customers and share your content with them in order to build a strong community.

Also, keep in mind that you don't necessarily have to collect people's information for it to still be effective! It's enough if you simply get their attention by having them subscribe via email or accepting an invitation from social media.

Once you've got them on your list, keep them engaged with free giveaways and exceptional content. They'll ultimately appreciate the care you take to make their lives easier and more enjoyable through sharing relevant information to your niche!

#12. Engage with your readers more often than not

They will appreciate it and sooner or later, you'll see the benefits in terms of new leads and sales!

People love interacting with you if you always respond to their questions, comments, and emails!

If they can tell that you genuinely care about them as individuals then they will want to be involved with your affiliate marketing campaigns.

Also, try sharing other people's articles from time to time – this helps others get the most out of your niche while building up a solid relationship between the two of you.

It's no secret that we live in an “always-on” world today, so even when you're not actively trying to make money online by promoting affiliate products or services, still stay connected to your audience and keep their business in mind.

#13. Don't be afraid of rejection!

When someone tells you “No “, it just means that you're not ready for them and it's time to look somewhere else!

Never give up on potential customers, ever! It's not their job to say “Yes” but rather it's your job to convince them enough so that they do.

Today, more than ever before, people are very skeptical about what is out there in the world of affiliate marketing. They have seen a lot of scams and unfulfilled promises over the years and don't trust others easily – you must earn this trust if you want to make sales consistently.

Conclusion:

My #1 affiliate marketing tip If you want to be successful in Affiliate Marketing, Don't follow the hype of quick get-rich schemes but go for long-term strategies that can become a stable income source. The only thing that counts is the results you have.

And If your results are not as expected, analyze why it happened and learn from it so next time nothing goes wrong!

Best of luck!