Social networks are incredibly popular nowadays. From Twitter to TikTok, there are about 3.8 billion people who use them in all their many forms. The average Internet user also spends 2 hours, 24 minutes each day on social media.
Their popularity makes social networks a perfect place not only to find new connections or share pictures from your latest trip, but also to find new customers for a business. The best thing is that you don’t necessarily need to run a business yourself — you can benefit from promoting someone else’s products via affiliate marketing.
Affiliate Marketing in a Nutshell
Affiliate marketing is a form of digital marketing where you earn compensation for promoting companies’ products and services. One of the most popular compensation models is when you get a commission for purchases made by new customers that you bring to a company. (This is exactly the model we have in our Namecheap affiliate program.)
It goes without saying that the more people you refer to buy a product, the higher your earnings will be. And as I mentioned above, social media can be a great source of referrals for you.
Which Social Network Should You Use?
Today almost all popular social networks provide the necessary infrastructure for doing affiliate marketing activity. Even on Instagram, where the use of links is limited, you can refer your audience to an affiliate link in your bio.
The question is which social media channel works best for you. If you prefer to deliver your thoughts through text, Facebook and Twitter will likely be the best options. If you’re a fan of communicating with your audience via fancy pictures and short videos, then obviously, Instagram should be your key social media channel. And for those who enjoy making how-to and product review videos, Youtube is always ready to host them — just don’t forget to add an affiliate link in the description.
Of course, it’s possible to utilize several social media channels simultaneously, but remember that the quantity shouldn’t be pursued at the expense of quality.
A Perfect Moment for Using Social Media
So when does it make sense to use social media in your affiliate marketing efforts? Below I will list the most common cases that have been proven to be successful based on our affiliate partners’ performance results.
It’s high time to utilize social media to promote Namecheap via our affiliate program in order to:
- Share the news about the exciting new online project you started working on;
- Share your positive impression and experience about the company, the tools that you find useful or even customer support assistance;
- Give recommendations to users who don’t know which company to pick or switch to and ask about that on social media and forums, like Quora and Reddit;
- Promote socially important campaigns like Namecheap’s WorkFromHome campaign or promotions like Black Friday & Cyber Monday sales;
- Support the content created on your website or Youtube videos. In most cases we are talking about references to product comparison or detailed reviews with affiliate links.
Rules to Follow
It’s not a secret that most people hate advertising. So when you promote products in your posts on social media, it’s very important to follow certain rules:
1. Bring value
Short posts that say things like, “Use Namecheap for domain registration” or “Get 20% discount at Namecheap” with an affiliate link to our website won’t result in any engagement, and will result in disappointment from your audience. The key rule of Twitter, for example, is to create a relationship with your community, so don’t just focus on sales but advice and provide solutions of interest. On forums like Quora or Reddit your answers and recommendations should provide valuable content, so describe your personal experience, a problem that you solved, the research you conducted (e.g. about specific or new TLDs, hosting uptime, etc.).
2. Link to articles
Provide even more details, context, and engagement by linking to an article on your website, which in turn links to affiliate products. This will help you tell a better story to the customers, and to build stronger relationships by giving them powerful opinions, information, and content.
3. Keep the balance in different types of content
It may seem that users are always happy to get news about a promo or a deal, but everything of one type becomes annoying really fast. The solution is to find and keep a balance between educational or entertainment content and promo content.
4. Use short links
Long URLs will simply make your post unappealing. The good news is that there are a lot of link shortener services out there. On Twitter, for example, all the links are shortened by their own service — t.co. Or you may consider using third-party link shorteners, like Bitly or TinyURL. Also, many affiliate networks provide affiliate link shorteners right within their platform.
5. Make a reference to the most relevant page
For example, if you’re talking about a particular promo — make a reference directly to the promo’s landing page. This will increase your conversion rate. You can create an affiliate link to any Namecheap page.
6. Add pictures and videos to your posts
This is one of the best ways to draw attention and to your post. In case you do affiliate marketing on Instagram, it’s worth using your own compelling pictures or videos instead of ready-to-use pictures or affiliate banners as they will look more natural in your audience’s feed.
7. Make posts regularly
Trying not to be pushy doesn’t mean you should disappear. A perfect way would be to have a schedule with your activities on social media. That way you won’t run out of ideas and content, and you can also plan different approaches and strategies to test.
8. Leave a disclaimer
Build more transparency and trust by being open with your audience: add disclaimers to your posts. That way your audience has all the facts — and remember that trust means loyalty, which means more business.
It’s Time to Act
With a smart approach, social media can be a powerful tool for your affiliate marketing success and can boost your earnings. By finding the best way of approaching the community as well as following a few simple rules and tips, even a social media newbie can reach great results quickly.
So join our affiliate program, follow the tips above, and bring your sales to the next level now!
The post How to Earn by Being Active on Social Media appeared first on Namecheap Blog.