Some affiliate marketing programs provide a flat rate per sale instead of a percentage. It functions like other networks where your brand is presented to a wide range of affiliate marketers. The network manages your affiliate performance, sales, and revenue, and provides detailed reports for improvement. Also, people are more intrigued to Cryptocurrency wallet promote these brands due to their worldwide reputation.

❌ Affiliate networks can charge extra for commission and other services

affiliate marketing system for small businesses

No matter which route you take, authenticity is key in affiliate marketing. Without a genuine connection with the audience, converting them into affiliate sales may prove challenging. According to compensation software company Payscale, the average annual salary of an affiliate marketer is over $56,000, based on more than 7,000 https://www.xcritical.com/ salary profiles. Many affiliate marketers generate referrals by optimizing a website to rank highly in search engine results.

Lead with a discount code or bonus offer

Affiliate marketing is more affordable than advertising or affiliate marketing system hiring a marketing agency for your small business. But since you set the commission rates, your risk is minimal compared to other forms of marketing. Julie Weishaar is the Visual Digital Marketing Specialist who founded New Horizons 123. She works to help small businesses increase their online visibility and grow by leveraging the latest in internet and video technologies. Julie specializes in creative camera-less animated video production, custom images, content writing, and SlideShare presentations. She also manages HubSpot CRM, blog management, email marketing, marketing automation, and social media for her clients.

How to set up an affiliate program for your small business

affiliate marketing system for small businesses

The Shopify Affiliate Program brings together thousands of global content creators, course educators, influencers, and review sites. These affiliates help their audiences start successful businesses on Shopify while earning competitive referral commissions by referring new merchants to eligible Shopify plans. The program is free to join and offers experts a chance to monetize their website traffic. Affiliate marketing is when a business works with a third party to promote its product or service with the aim of generating traffic and sales. We collaborate with business-to-business vendors, connecting them with potential buyers. In some cases, we earn commissions when sales are made through our referrals.

What are the benefits of affiliate marketing software?

affiliate marketing system for small businesses

A niche is a segment of a larger market defined by unique characteristics. Travel blogging would be an affiliate marketing niche, as would pet care or tiny homes. Whatever structure you choose, as a small business, it’s advisable to pay commissions only after a sale has been made.

A payment model tells affiliates what user behavior they will be paid for. For example, if you’re promoting a software product, the goal could be a free trial signup. For affiliate marketers promoting physical products, the goal will likely be a purchase.

A referral program invites customers to recommend your brand to people they know and get a reward if those referrals turn into a qualified lead or sale. Skillshare is an online education platform offering more than 28,000 courses across various niches, from graphic design to productivity. Its generous affiliate program offers a 40% commission, capped at $67 per referral.

Contextual content can add depth to your reviews and create a narrative for readers to engage with. For instance, if you love content marketing and want to help others do it, the Semrush Affiliate Program might be the right fit for you. So, don’t just pick a program because you’ve seen other people participate in it. Those who join will get access to Coursera banners and weekly affiliate newsletters designed to support them. Assuming you are running a small business that sells sports apparel and accessories. Do not worry that small followings are not profitable for your growth.

Affiliates can be your loyal advocates to build trust with prospective buyers. Here are the best reasons why you should utilize this marketing strategy for business growth. Teachable is a platform where anyone can sell online courses in their expertise area. It’s designed for those looking to earn by teaching what they know. You can be an eBay affiliate and still work with other merchants and programs to make additional income.

  • Teachable is great for beginners looking to start with affiliate marketing.
  • This platform is virtually a one-stop-shop for marketers as it offers campaign development, webpage building, email marketing, affiliate management, and more.
  • Aside from this central dashboard, you also get individual dashboards to track each affiliate, ambassador, or influencer.
  • Also, ensure the product or service you’re promoting is suitable for the platform you’re using.
  • Bluehost’s affiliate program offers a generous 70% commission for every referral who signs up for a hosting package.
  • It’s worth bearing in mind that the payment threshold is $100, but it can be adjusted down to $50 or upwards to over $1 million, depending on your preferences.
  • Plus, you can customize your dashboard so you have full visibility on all the metrics relevant to performance.

Bounty is a Shopify app that connects ecommerce brands with creators to produce user-generated content (UGC). Its free affiliate program, powered by Tapfiliate, is open to everyone—not just Bounty customers. Shopify Collabs brings together affiliate programs from top ecommerce brands, connecting creators and influencers with complementary brands. You’ll need at least 1,000 followers on any platform to participate. Constant Contact, an email marketing tool for lead generation and traffic growth, offers a straightforward affiliate program. Affiliates can earn a one-time flat $80 commission for each referral who pays for a Constant Contact account, with no earnings cap.

If you have a budget, hire an affiliate recruitment agency to request for services. Most affiliate platforms also have ready affiliates, but they do not often give you complete access to these relationships and program data. Also, read affiliate agreements from other competitor programs if possible.

Then, to help you make sense of this data, you can visualize it in graphs, making it much easier to analyze the performance of your affiliates. There’s no doubt affiliate income is a smart way to earn money online. With a little time and effort upfront, you can build an audience and earn consistent payouts through your affiliate site—all without taking on too much risk. Blogs are a good way to create relevant content, with a reported 65% of all affiliate marketers generating traffic through blogging alone. Bloggers, social media influencers, and YouTubers publish affiliate content that resonates with their audience to gain influence and encourage clicks.

Software costs vary, but typically range from $25 to $750 per month. Referral Rock affiliate software lets you see how effective your program is at a glance, with dedicated dashboards to track all your affiliates’ activity in real time. Plus, you can customize your dashboard so you have full visibility on all the metrics relevant to performance. Now that you’ve ironed out the program details, it’s time to find high-quality content creators, such as online influencers or bloggers, to partner with you. Aside from a set commission rate, you can also create performance tiers, where the top affiliates get bigger rewards with larger commissions or bonuses.

Meanwhile, its user interface allows your affiliates to pull up the ads they need to promote your brand and record resulting sales to their account. As a certified Stripe partner, this SSL-encrypted software only creates affiliate programs using the said online payment processing platform. PartnerStack helps you automate onboarding for affiliates and give them access to marketing tools and referral documents to raise their chances of sales success. The software is user-centric and easy to navigate, even for those new to affiliate management. It allows for personalized offers and payments based on location, catering to the diverse needs of your affiliates. Trackdesk also offers customizable commission groups, which help keep various affiliate tiers well-organized.

Or you can search through social media channels using relevant hashtags to find influential users. Many small businesses have tight marketing and advertising budgets, which means you’ll need to spend your resources wisely. The next step is creating all the web pages that affiliates will need to join your program. By publishing signup, login, and affiliate dashboard pages, you can automate much of your marketing program. Affiliate marketing is a mutually beneficial relationship, so it’s in your best interests to help your partners succeed. For this reason, it’s important to give them everything they need to evaluate their own performance and make any necessary adjustments.

7 Best Affiliate Marketing Software for 2024