Affiliate Marketing for Start-ups from a Publisher's Perspective

In today's digital ecosystem, there is already a lot of information about how to jump-start your new product through Facebook advertising, influencer marketing, PPC marketing, etc. On the other hand, there is still not a very good understanding of how a start-up can utilize affiliate marketing as part of its initial marketing plan. As a coupon and deal publisher who works with thousands of brands and makes decisions about how we can bring a wide variety of products and retailers to our savvy shoppers, we want to go over some of the basics about how you can get started on affiliate marketing.

Affiliate Marketing is not only for big brands with big budgets like Target, Kohls, SheIn, Travelocity, BetterHelp, Dell, Verizon Wireless, PrettyLittleThing, Gap Canada, Travelodge, Sonos, etc. The beauty of affiliate marketing is also its welcoming opportunity for new products, start-ups, moms and pops-shops, etc. We strongly believe that affiliate marketing should be one of the first marketing strategies when a new brand is launched. Affiliate marketing networks have hundreds of thousands of publishers from all over the world. These publishers may vary from promo code publishers to deal publishers, influencers, bloggers, video creators, email marketers, browser extensions, price comparison websites, review sites, etc. It is simply Amazing. Imagine that you will be able to access these publishers instantly as soon as your program is launched on a network.

Think about it; thousands of content publishers will review your website, check your program terms and commissions you pay and they will spend time understanding your products and/or services. Even by itself, this has a lot of $ branding value. Think about how some of these publishers will end up placing your text links or banners on their websites and try to promote your brand instantly. We think that affiliate marketing creates a huge value for your new product line.

Don't worry about it if you are not seeing sales immediately. It will take time. It will take time for publishers to test different placements on their websites. Some of them will contact you for custom creative. Whenever these publishers submit an inquiry, try to analyze those inquiries. Understand how publishers analyze your brand and product. What do they see as a weakness, what materials do they think that you are lacking? You are a new brand. You need them. Be very communicative and engaging so you can gather as much feedback as possible.

Typically, new brands are worried about the fees networks charge and this is very understandable. Monthly costs are pretty high when you think about how much CJ, Rakuten, or Impact Networks charges. Start with a basic service. As a new brand, you may not need "network management" services from the networks for which they charge a lot. As a new brand, not only should you cut corners to reduce your monthly expenditure, but also it is very helpful to manage the program by yourself at the beginning just so you learn and understand how affiliate marketing works. Once your program starts growing and you have learned a lot about the fundamentals of running an affiliate program, that is when you can think about whether you want to work with a third-party affiliate marketing agency or opt-in for account management services by the networks. We can get into that further detail in the upcoming articles. Since these big networks charge a lot, as a starting point, you may start with smaller networks where they charge a smaller fee. Based on our experience, we see the new programs launching through ShareASale (acquired by AWIN) and once the program grows, we see these programs moving to Commission Junction, Impact, Rakuten, etc. where they expand their outreach.

We will get into how to select the right network for your brand in future articles, meanwhile, let's summarize the tips.

1-Consider launching your program through smaller networks with a small fee.

2-Make sure you have all types of rich creative, Ad copies ready for your program.

3-Make sure your tracking works well. If your tracking doesn't work well and if you don't credit your publishers for sales accurately, they won't come back and promote your brand.

4-Consider managing the program by yourself at the beginning to engage with your publishers directly and gather as much feedback as possible.

5-Research to see how your competitor brands are running their affiliate program, what network they use, who their top publishers are, and whether their programs are managed in-house, by third-party affiliate marketing agencies or networks directly.

6-Don't be discouraged if you are not seeing sales within the first couple of months, just keep analyzing, and gathering feedback and take action to make your program more attractive for publishers to start sending you traffic.

7-Go to Affiliate Marketing conferences and meet these publishers face-to-face

8-Free products or services: Recruit top publishers by sending them some free products to try or some free service accounts so they can use them and see what value your product or services create.

9-Coupons and deals: Create some discount codes and make them available for your publishers. You can initially start with a 5% or 10% off coupon code and later create 15% or 20% exclusive codes for your top performers.

10-Connect on LinkedIn: You will access contact information of these publishers on affiliate networks, connect with them, and start building your affiliate marketing network through LinkedIn.

And let the sales come through the army of affiliate marketers.

Please note that If you want to get your brand promoted across our coupon and deal websites, don't hesitate to contact us immediately.

Happy Sales!