In this article, we’re going to unveil eight highly effective strategies to skyrocket your sales and commission rates when promoting affiliate products across any niche.
Within these battle-tested methods lie the secrets behind generating substantial six-figure commissions and emerging triumphant in affiliate contests. Prepare to unlock the key to unstoppable success in the world of affiliate marketing.
But, all dramatic wording aside, scan over these strategics, pick out a few, and start using them right away. Action is everything!
Strategy 1: Plan Ahead: Review, Strategize, and Offer Bonuses for Success
One of the keys to achieving maximum profitability in your affiliate promotions lies in careful planning and thoughtful strategy.
It’s not necessarily about working harder, but rather about working smarter and devising a winning approach.
In my experience, the most lucrative promotions are the ones that receive the highest level of consideration.
To ensure success, I recommend planning your promotions at least 2–3 weeks in advance. As part of this planning process, set aside time each week to craft a comprehensive review video and design an exclusive bonus offer.
A few days before the launch, devote your energy to contemplating the most effective way to present the product to your specific audience. Keep in mind that each affiliate marketer’s subscriber list is unique, with varying preferences.
While your audience may lean towards more advanced methods and products, other lists may prefer beginner-friendly offerings or cater to offline or consulting niches.
Once you’ve identified the most compelling angle for your promotion, which can sometimes come to you quickly and other times require a few days of thoughtful consideration, move on to crafting your bonus.
We’ll delve deeper into this topic in Affiliate Strategy Tip #3, but for now, it’s crucial to give it some serious thought.
Ask yourself: What exclusive bonus can you create? Which of your existing products would complement the promoted product as a bonus? How can you deliver substantial value that makes the purchase an absolute no-brainer for your audience?
By answering these questions before diving into the creation of your bonus page and review video, you’ll find that everything else falls into place effortlessly.
Now, it’s time to put on your thinking cap and embark on a journey towards a highly successful affiliate promotion.
Strategy 2: Your First Email is Only the Beginning
This is a common pitfall where many affiliate marketers go wrong or have been misinformed from the start. In fact, most successful marketers spent years making this mistake before realizing it.
Here’s what typically happens: You select an offer, send out an email to your subscribers, and only a few sales trickle in.
Your earnings per click (EPC) are below $1.00, leading you to believe that your subscriber list isn’t interested in the offer.
This is where things take a turn for the worse, resulting in substantial losses. You decide to skip the evening mailing, convinced that the offer isn’t converting. The next day, you skip mailing your list altogether because you had already promoted the previous day. Then, you repeat the cycle with a different offer, often with the same disappointing outcome.
Here’s the truth: What you thought was a proper approach is actually a recipe for affiliate marketing failure.
Now, let’s put yourself in your subscribers’ shoes. You emailed them about a brand-new offer they knew nothing about, asking them to spend their hard-earned money on it. But you never followed up, so their only perception is that the offer wasn’t compelling enough to warrant a reminder.
When you view things from your subscribers’ perspective, it becomes clear why your promotion fell flat.
So, how should it be done?
Instead, inform your subscribers about the offer before it goes live and presell it. Once the offer is live, email everyone with details about your exclusive bonus.
In the evening, send a reminder email, showcasing your confidence in the offer and emphasizing how it can benefit them.
Continue to follow up with emails over 3–5 days, highlighting the key selling points, addressing any questions or concerns, and emphasizing that it’s a limited-time offer with time-sensitive bonuses.
To close the deal swiftly, unleash a flurry of at least three emails on the final day.
A solid, all-out promotion can consist of 8–12 emails.
The result? A successful promotion, potential contest prizes, and a substantial increase in commissions.
Choose an offer, invest a solid effort, and stand behind it with unwavering confidence. Following this system is not only more enjoyable, but also easier to replicate than any other approach.
Strategy 3: Tailored Bonuses and Custom Pages Are Everything!
Now, let’s dive into the bonuses you provide to your unique list. Remember, each subscriber list is different, and it’s essential to understand what your particular audience is most interested in.
It could be software and automation.
It could be email marketing and affiliate marketing tips.
It could be PLR and resale rights products.
This is precisely why many product creators no longer offer generic bonus pages for their launches. They recognize that a custom, unique bonus page yields better results.
My most successful promotions have always involved a custom bonus report or training video.
Take this article as an example; it took me two hours to write. Now, if I were to offer this report as a bonus for a product, no one else could compete with me if they truly desired the report. The only way to obtain it would be by purchasing the affiliate product through my link.
Years ago, I created a concise report called “9 Answers You Need To Succeed” as a bonus for an affiliate promotion. Today, we continue to include it as a bonus for our products and to build our list. The effort invested in creating valuable content consistently pays off.
For those with limited time to create something exclusive, consider leveraging everything you’ve already produced as a marketer. Training videos, reports, software, masterclasses, and more. All of these assets can be repurposed as bonuses.
Don’t worry about customers feeling annoyed if you give these resources away. It’s common practice in our industry.
If they already have some of the products, they’ll likely proceed straight to the offer checkout. If they only possess a few items, they’ll be motivated to purchase the affiliate offer to access the rest.
In summary, 3-5 high-quality bonuses outweigh 20-50 average or low-quality ones. Stocking a page with hastily downloaded PLR content typically doesn’t contribute much. In most cases, it’s better to direct your audience straight to the sales page.
However, meticulously selecting 3–5 bonuses that genuinely enhance your subscribers’ results when paired with the offer you’re promoting will increase your overall success by 400%. This is not mere theory—it’s a proven strategy.
Strategy 4: Email with Intensity and Frequency
In the previous tip, I emphasized the importance of standing confidently behind your promotions and sending 8–12 emails for a solid campaign. Now, let’s dive into a really powerful email schedule for an upcoming example launch.
Friday, May 26th
(As an affiliate on launch day, remember that you’re competing with dozens of other affiliates. It’s not just about having the best bonus; it’s also about ensuring your email appears at the top of your subscribers’ inboxes when they check their email.)
● 9:00 a.m. EST – Opening Email
● 3:00 p.m. EST – Reminder Email
● 9:00 p.m. EST – Evening Email
Saturday, May 27th
(We’re now on day #2, and here’s an example of what the numbers could look like. Suppose you have a list of 5,000 subscribers. By the end of day #1, 1,000 opened the emails, and 400 clicked the link, resulting in 40 sales. However, there are still 4,960 people on your list who haven’t made a purchase. Additionally, 4,600 people haven’t seen the offer yet, and there are 360 who are interested but still on the fence. These groups have the potential to generate more sales. It’s time to send out these reminders.)
● 10:00 a.m. EST – Follow-up Reminder
● 6:00 p.m. EST – Email Unopens or Email Everyone
Sunday, May 28th
(While selling on webinars, we discovered that the FAQ section at the end should be as long as the presentation and the offer combined. For instance, 33% would be content, 33% the offer, and 33% Questions and Answers. Why? Because while we, as marketers, search for angles to sell, potential buyers are seeking reasons not to purchase. They have questions that need answering, and objections that need addressing. That’s the purpose of the FAQ email.)
● 12:00 p.m. EST – FAQ Email
● 10:00 p.m. EST – Email Unopens or Email Everyone
Monday, May 29th
(Considering the numbers, it’s likely that 99% of your list still hasn’t purchased the offer, and a large majority of those who checked it out are still on the fence. For some reason, many people wait until the last day to take action.
This is where you can see a significant spike in sales by adding another bonus to your offer. It’s also an excellent opportunity to provide more value to those who have already made a purchase. In your email, you can mention that if they’ve already purchased the offer, they should check out the bonus download page as you’ve added something new.)
● 12:00 p.m. EST – New Bonus Added
● 10:00 p.m. EST – New Bonus Added Reminder
Tuesday, May 30th
(Sunday evening emails have consistently yielded the best results for us. Now is the perfect time to send out that email. I’ll go with 5:00 p.m. EST.)
● 5:00 p.m. EST – Reminder of New Bonus, FAQs & Offer
Wednesday, May 31st
(This is the closing day, where there’s a timer on the sales page and something happening, such as bonuses being removed. It’s an opportunity to increase your sales by at least 50%. If you sold 100 units in the first four days, I’m confident that you can sell 50 more on the final day. This often becomes the deciding factor in winning the contest. But remember, it will only happen if you stick to the schedule and use a sense of urgency in your emails.)
● 6:00 a.m. EST – Final Day To Grab This
● 12:00 p.m. EST – Don’t Miss Out
● 8:00 p.m. EST – 4 Hours Left
Strategy 5: Direct Sending Beats Bad Review Videos
I want to emphasize that my intention with this tip is not to offend anyone or come across as a know-it-all.
My goal is to help you achieve better results.
While it’s crucial to continuously improve your skills through practice, there are instances where you can skip creating a review video, especially when you have an offer that is already an easy sell, professionally produced by a marketing team, and includes bonuses. In such cases, you can bypass the bonus page and send your audience directly to the sales page.
Here are the best video practices you should know:
- If you can’t produce a video with decent audio quality, skip the review video.
- If you can’t produce a video with adequate lighting, skip the video.
- If you lack experience in creating review videos, it’s best to skip them for now.
Instead, focus on recording training videos, improving your marketing skills, enhancing your copywriting abilities, and gaining a better understanding of what the marketplace desires.
For those who have experience in creating review videos, can generate exclusive bonuses themselves or create one, and/or have a list that frequently receives review/bonus videos, I highly recommend investing considerable effort into creating something special for the offers you plan to promote.
Strategy 6: The Often Overlooked Beauty of Your Unopened Emails
It can be disappointing when you send out an email that doesn’t perform as well as you hoped.
But here’s the silver lining: a significant portion of your audience may have never even seen the email or the offer because they didn’t open it.
The solution is simple: send the email again… and again… and again.
When you resend the email to those who didn’t open it, you have the opportunity to change the subject, modify the content, or even use a different email address.
By reaching out to the unopens, you can increase your chances of getting your message in front of more people.
Aim to send your emails at different times to be at the top of the inbox when your subscribers check their email.
So, the next time an email doesn’t perform well, don’t despair. Learn from it, make some adjustments, and press resend. You’ll be back on track and potentially reaching a larger audience.
Strategy 7: Be Honest... They Love You! (Winning the Affiliate Contest)
Your subscribers and customers have joined your list and engaged with your emails because they have a level of trust and respect for you.
It’s important to maintain that trust and bond.
One strategy, which I recommend using sparingly (once a year), is to leverage the contest aspect of an affiliate promotion to give it an extra boost.
After promoting the offer for a few days, you can introduce an additional bonus and explain to your audience that you’re in a contest and would appreciate their support. Be genuine and transparent about your position on the leaderboard, expressing gratitude to those who have already made a purchase through your link. Share your excitement about the product and the opportunity to win the contest.
Remember, honesty is key. Your subscribers can easily check the leaderboard and stay updated with social media posts related to the launch.
Whether you’re the underdog challenging the top marketers or competing against other established players, your audience will root for you.
Use this method on the second-to-last day of the launch and continue reinforcing it in your closing emails.
Strategy 8: Utilize Paid Traffic (Seriously)
While many affiliates rely solely on their email list for traffic, incorporating paid traffic sources can significantly boost your results. Even if you already have a presence on social media platforms, such as Facebook, YouTube, or a fan page, there’s potential to tap into additional traffic sources.
For example, by posting about the offer on social media, you can generate extra sales that wouldn’t have come from your email list alone. This can make a notable difference, possibly even determining the outcome of the contest. Having more sales means more commission in your pocket.
Consider investing in paid traffic as well. If you can bring in 60 sales through your email list and an additional 20 sales through social media, imagine the impact of running targeted ads. By strategically allocating your ad spend and ensuring the offer converts at an acceptable rate, you can generate even more sales and commission.
Paid traffic sources like retargeting your existing subscribers or website visitors, utilizing Google Ads, or running YouTube Ads can help drive more traffic to your affiliate offers and increase your earnings.
In summary, combining email marketing with social media promotion and paid traffic can lead to substantial results. By maximizing your reach and leveraging different platforms, you can increase your commission and improve your chances of winning affiliate contests.
I hope you find these tips valuable, and please feel free to share them.
