63% of companies still think their biggest challenge is to generate traffic and leads. To deal with this, 70% of companies are committed to increasing their lead generation budget to expose their brands and products to new traffic sources. One way to increase popularity for lead generation is affiliate marketing.
As a small business, you must need quick and recurring sales to avoid tanking. Small businesses need loyal customers but also need new arrivals to help scale sales.
But getting out of the small business startup phase is not easy. Most businesses fail to do this. Thankfully, affiliate marketing is taking off now and is a proven way to increase your sales and brand reach.
Affiliate programs account for 15-30% of online sales. In 2017, more than five billion dollars were spent on affiliate marketing. Why? Because it’s a winning strategy for building your brand and expanding your sales.
Just think about it for a minute… Current trends show that around 80% of customers are seeking professional services online while searching.
Can you suppose how much more powerful it is when your prospective customers discover UGC and real humans marketing and promoting your products or services for you?
Like the search engine strategies used in e-commerce, affiliate marketing will help increase your product’s performance and increase sales.
What makes affiliate marketing ideal for small businesses is – you only have to pay after the sale. No investment is needed. You only have to pay for the affiliate platform and spend your time and effort running it on a day-to-day basis.
But it’s not the only reason why affiliate programs are worth considering. Here are ten reasons why your business should use Affiliate Marketing.
1. Affiliate Marketing Provides Social Proof
Now more than ever, online consumers rely on social proof before making decisions. Research shows that online reviews play an essential role in the process, with approximately 95% of buyers read reviews before making the final decision to make a purchase. Publishers who have formed a rapport with an engaged audience are trusted. So when they review the associated product, it provides reliable social evidence for the product and brand.
2. You can Handpick your Partners
As a retailer, you have the right to choose who you want to work with. Affiliates apply to come to your affiliate program, provide you with the opportunity to assess their suitability, and assign those who may be the best ambassadors for your brand and products.
3. You can Utilize UGC to Expand the Reach
One of the massive advantages of affiliate marketing is that you can get massive reach with it. For example, if your program has 30 affiliates, each promotes its products and services, which is a massive expansion in reach.
If each of those affiliate members has 15,000 followers, then there is a ton of impression that you have to pay to get without affiliate marketing. And that many raids are not cheap today.
One of the best ways to utilize affiliate marketing as a small business is to promote and encourage user-generated content.
What is that?
Essentially, user-created content is natural content that promotes your brand but is created by people outside your brand.
4. It Boosts Brand Awareness
The online goal of every business is to be as easily identified by potential buyers as possible. As affiliates bring more traffic to your website, they raise awareness about your brand and its reach. Because affiliates earn a share of your total revenue, they have a vested interest in your success, are loyal brand advocates, and help build trust in potential customers.
5. Attract Targeted Traffic
Not all traffic can be created equally. For example, if you sell saloon products, you do not want to waste your advertising budget attracting people looking for car products. By working with affiliates who understand your industry and are already active in it, you will receive targeted sales from the warmed-up audience. This makes it easier to maintain a relationship with your new customer.
6. Affiliates help you Scale
Affiliates bring you traffic, leads, and actual sales. Together, they help you expand your brand reach and grow your business in the digital world. Affiliates have their own connections and networks, and promotional channels, which they use to promote your products. When they all include a referral link on your affiliate page, it increases your traffic. As a result, your ranking in search engine results also increases, bringing more organic traffic to you.
If your business has been stuck for a while, affiliate marketing may find its way out. As a network of experienced business partners, an affiliate program will bring you closer to your development goals. Having a high-quality product with worth promoting is one thing. But reaching a broader customer base is quite other. It is all about building relationships. And affiliates can leverage their own network that complements yours.
7. Gathering of Customer Data
An affiliate program provides you with valuable insight and data into where, how, and why your customers are buying, which you can use to make smarter marketing decisions in other channels in the future.
It seems like a no-brainer, right? Obviously, you want to jump right in and add affiliate marketing to your online sales arsenal.
8. Affiliate Marketing is Cost-Effective
Affiliate marketing can be highly cost-effective. When you are only paying a commission when the desired conversion occurs, you are not throwing money at ads with no proven value. In addition, recruiting affiliates in new markets is an easy way to branch into that market without the overhead cost of creating a complete online marketing campaign, which reduces the need to drown money in an unsecured market for testing.
9. Affiliate Marketing creates Partnerships with Experienced Marketers
Small businesses may or may not be able to afford a dedicated in-house department to run their marketing strategies and plans. Affiliate marketing allows organizations to tap into a wealth of skills and knowledge through the category of publishers they work with. It can open a wide variety of specialties, providing the advertiser the opportunity to work with some of the best in the business. Employing such a skilled workforce would be out of reach for many small businesses. With affiliate marketing, every business can access a pool of qualified and experienced publishers.
10. It has Low Risk
Paying for performance rather than clicks ensures affiliate marketing is a low-risk form of marketing. You are not using your budget to create leads that need nurturing. Instead, you are creating direct customers with who you can then build relationships and upsell to at the right time throughout the buyer’s journey.
Final Verdict
Finally, remember that you can start small and think big. Affiliate marketing provides equal opportunities for all companies, whether you are a well-established brand looking for new ways to expose your brand to more people or a startup with a limited budget. If you want to learn award-winning secrets about affiliate marketing for free, you can contact us. Our affiliate marketing experts are helping several small, well-established organizations like you to scale up their businesses. You can also learn the same for free. Call us today to book a free consultation from our affiliate marketing industry experts. Call now!