How To Find Affiliate Marketers To Promote Your Small Business

You’ve put in the hard work to build your business from the ground up. You have a great product and you’re ready to take your brand to the next level. But how do you get people to notice you? Enter affiliate marketing. By partnering with users who have the power to influence others, you can reach a whole new audience of potential customers.

And the best part? You don’t have to spend a fortune on advertising. If you have a new business but seem to be struggling to increase sales, here’s how to get affiliate marketers involved to grow your sales, how to find the right partners and make the most of your relationships. Read on to learn more.

What Are The Benefits Of Affiliate Marketing?

Partnering with affiliate markers is a powerful way for businesses to grow sales and reach new customers. They will raise more revenue for you, but what does it actually mean? Some of the most notable benefits include: 

Increased reach: 

By partnering with affiliates who have a large audience, you can significantly increase the reach of your brand and message.

Improved conversions: 

Affiliates are incentivized to drive conversions for your business, so they will often go above and beyond to ensure that visitors take the desired action.

Lower costs: 

Affiliate marketing is a cost-effective way to grow your business, as you only pay commissions on sales generated. This means that you can invest more in other areas of your business, such as product development or customer service.

Flexibility: 

You can work with affiliates in a variety of ways, from simple banner ads to more complex content marketing initiatives. This allows you to tailor your approach to best fit your needs and goals.

Networking potentials:

It’s also a great way to build relationships with influencers and opinion leaders in your industry, which can help to raise the profile of your business.

How/Where To Find Affiliate Marketers

There are a couple of ways to find affiliate marketers;

Join Affiliate Networks

The easiest way is to join an affiliate network (or several networks) where you can connect with affiliates in your niche. This can be a great way to find high-quality affiliates who are already familiar with your industry and who have a proven track record of driving sales.

The advantage is that the network will take care of managing the affiliates, payment processing, and all the daily admin tasks for you. But the drawback is that you’ll be paying a fee for it.

Reaching Out To Affiliate Marketers Yourself

The other way is to look for blog sites in your industry, reach out to the site owners, ask them if they would be interested in promoting your business, and offer them commissions upon sales. 

You’ll have total control this way - you can set your own affiliate terms & conditions, but you’ll have to set up an affiliate portal and maintain all the admin work. So it will be technical and time-consuming for you.

There are some other ways to reach out to them;

• Social media: Search for relevant hashtags or keywords and see who comes up. Then, reach out and start building a relationship.
• Affiliate marketing forums online: There are many different forums out there, so take some time to find one that's relevant to your industry. Once you find a forum that looks promising, introduce yourself and start engaging in conversations.
• Influencers: Reach out to influencers in your industry and ask if they're interested in promoting your business. Be sure to have an attractive offer ready before reaching out, as this will increase the likelihood of them saying yes.

Joining an affiliate network may sound like a more viable way to you.

List of Reputable Affiliate Networks

Here are some of the most popular affiliate networks.

• Awin
• ShareASale
• ClickBank
• Amazon Associates
• FlexOffers
• Rakuten Advertising
• CJ Affiliate
• Pepperjam
• Refersion
• AvantLink
• Viglink

What Commission Rate Should You Offer?

Your basic affiliate commission rate should be a percentage of a sale price. You don’t pay anything to affiliates in advance. (Just say no if they do ask for an advance.)

The best way to determine the commission rate you offer is by checking what your competitors are offering. Join affiliate networks and you’ll find out what others in the same industry offer.

Physical product owners tend to offer lower rates, e.g. 5% - 35%, whereas digital product owners tend to offer much higher rates, e.g. 25% - up to 100%. (They pass on the 100% commission of the entry product, and make money by charging extra to customers such as recurring monthly fees.) But it’s all up to you.

On top of that, you can offer extra incentives, for example, 40% instead of 25% of the sale price to those who have sold above the target threshold, or pay $50 extra during a particular campaign period, etc.

The Disadvantages Of Using Affiliate Marketers

There are a few disadvantages to using affiliate marketers to promote your business. 

• You need to be careful of who you choose to work with. There are many people out there who are not honest and will not hesitate to take your money without doing any work. 
• The revenue per unit will be reduced because you’ll be paying these people for their services, which can add up quickly. 
• You may not have as much control over what these people do as you would if you were promoting your business yourself.

Ways To Maintain Good Relationships With Affiliates

There are a few key things to keep in mind when working with affiliate marketers to ensure that your campaigns are successful. 

Plan and Calculate

B clear about your goals and objectives for the campaign. Your affiliates may bring you more money, but you’ll be paying a percentage of your sales income. So you’ll need to make sure your business will remain profitable. On the other hand, even if affiliates don’t boost your revenue dramatically, they will help you increase your brand recognition by spreading the word.

• What are you hoping to achieve? 
• How will you measure success? Do you want to make your business known more?
• What commission rates do you want to pay?

Be sure to communicate this clearly to your affiliates.

Select Legitimate Affiliate Marketers

Select affiliates that are a good fit for your brand and products. They should have an engaged audience that is interested in what you have to offer. Do your research ahead of time and make sure they are reputable before entering into any agreements.

Provide Affiliate Tools

Give your affiliates the tools they need to be successful. Provide them with creative assets, such as banner ads and email templates, that they can use to promote your business on their platforms. 

Offer Extra Incentives

Offer incentives for meeting performance goals, such as commission bonuses or product discounts.

Offer something of value. Many affiliates will only promote products that they believe in or that offer something of value to their audience. If you can offer something that meets this criterion, then you're more likely to get their attention.

By investing in your affiliates, you can build strong relationships that will result in long-term success for both parties. 

How To Make Sure You Choose The Right Affiliate Marketers

So your affiliates should be knowledgeable about your products or services and be able to generate interest in them. But how do you make sure they are a good fit for your business? Here are a few things to check before you make an agreement with each one;

Their Reputation

Make sure that the affiliate marketers you choose have a good reputation. You don't want to partner with someone who is known for being shady or unreliable. They should also have a track record of success. Look for affiliates who have generated significant sales for other businesses in the past.

What you can do: Do your research and make sure you're approaching the right affiliates. There's no use trying to promote your business to someone who isn't interested in what you do.

Clarify Your Affiliate Terms

You also want to make sure that the affiliate marketers you choose have a good understanding of your commission payment terms. They should know exactly how much they'll be paid for each sale they generate.

What you can do: Be transparent about your terms and conditions. Make sure that there are no hidden catches or surprises when it comes to promoting your business. The more upfront and honest you are, the more likely it is that affiliates will want to work with you.

Choose Ones Who Are Easy To Work With

Make sure that the affiliate marketers you choose are easy to work with. They should be responsive to your communications and willing to answer any questions you have. Although if they’re not responsive, you can always cancel your affiliate agreement with them.

What you can do: Keep your pitch clear and concise. You want to make sure that the affiliate understands what you're offering and why it would be beneficial for them to promote it.

How To Track Affiliate Marketing Campaigns

Assuming you have an affiliate marketing campaign up and running, there are a few key ways to track its effectiveness. 

Traffic Data

Take a look at your website traffic data. This will give you an idea of how many people are clicking through to your site from the affiliate link. You can also track specific campaigns by setting up unique landing pages for each one and then checking the traffic data for those pages.

Conversions

Another important metric to track is conversions. This is how many people take the desired action on your site, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter. Your affiliate portal (your own system or the affiliate network’s) should have integrated software that tracks conversions.

Feedback

Finally, don't forget to ask your affiliates for feedback on the campaign. They can give you valuable insights into what's working and what's not.

How To Find Affiliate Marketers To Promote Your Small Business: Final Words

If you find an affiliate marketer with a big list of leads (email subscribers), they have the key to boosting your sales almost instantly and immensely. 

Also, good bloggers write a fair and unbiased reviews of your products on their site, which will help your brand known and improve the quality of your service at the same time. By finding the right affiliate marketers, you can certainly generate more sales and grow your business. I hope the information on this page will help you find good partners. Good luck!