Revealing the Major Affiliate Marketing Secrets: How to Maximize Your Earnings in 2021

Affiliate marketing is a simple way to go into online business. And while it has a shaky reputation, ethical approaches can yield good results and performance.

Aspiring affiliate marketers might struggle with picking the right network and running profitable ad campaigns. But with the affiliate market changing, even seasoned marketers have to explore the unknown and tackle new challenges. The only difference is that experts have immense experience in running various offers and generating traffic.

In this post, we will share major affiliate marketing secrets that will help you run successful ad campaigns and maximize your earnings.

Part I: Setting Up

This section of the article will cover the basics of a profitable business setup. And while some of the suggestions might sound basic, bear in mind that it is a sink or swim situation. And it is crucial to understand the fundamentals and do things right.

#1. Build and Own the Audience

Naturally, your website should follow all the current trends and requirements. Even so, you cannot utterly depend on other platforms and rely on their algorithms to bring you traffic.

One of the reasons is that the algorithms change abruptly. It means that the biggest platforms can transform daily. And while you need to be able to adapt fast, you also need to be partly independent and own your audience.

Reasons to Own the Audience in 2021

• It offers stability. Typically, you do not entirely rely on one traffic channel. It means that you can manage to survive any abrupt changes in the policies or algorithms.
• It can help you boost sales. Unlike bridge pages, owning the audience offers a possibility to reach out and connect with it through promos, new posts, etc.
• It can be advantageous for product owners. If you own your audience, you basically have a tailor-made platform. And it simplifies the process of transitioning it to a product owner.

Ways to Own It

Any marketer should use a threefold approach in an attempt to own the audience. It generally includes the following steps:

1. Building an email list. It is no secret that email marketing remains 40 times more effective than other digital channels. It offers numerous opportunities for audience engagement, brand differentiation, and business growth.
2. Building a strong social presence. Today, social presence is a crucial factor. Without it, your business activities bring no results.
3. Building and growing the retargeting list. Retargeting remains a powerful tool that can significantly increase your earnings. Expanding the list makes sense because retargeting helps you reach potentially loyal and eager target groups.

#2. Look for a Backup Offer

When dealing with affiliate offers, you need to keep in mind that the offer you are running can get pulled from the market. That is why it is sensible to be prepared and have a backup offer up and running when the situation goes sideways. Making sure that you have a backup offer guarantees insurance, increased sales, and CR.

Ways to Find It

If you want to find back offers, follow these steps:

1. Use offer aggregator sites to look for suitable options. You can type in a specific keyword and surf through the directory.
2. Use a search engine to find backup offers. You can type in ‘[product type] affiliate’ to find usable options in the chosen product category.
3. If you work with a CPA network, contact your affiliate manager and ask for recommendations.

Part II: Technical Setup

This section of the article will cover the technical aspects of setting up your site.

#3. Set up Link Tracking

If you are not tracking your links in 2021, that is the biggest mistake you could have made as an affiliate marketer. Keep in mind that your success as a marketer depends on understanding where and how all the sales originate.

Tracking has multiple benefits, including the following:

• Understanding which keywords convert best;
• Identifying the web pages that generate the most revenue;
• Analyzing marketing channels with the highest ROI;
• Detecting fraudulent actions, if any.

Guesswork is not the best approach when it comes to affiliate marketing. That is why if you have no tracking set up, you are running campaigns blindfolded. And it is impossible to scale or optimize your ad campaigns without relevant information.

Tracking Basics

The good news is that no massive manual work is required. Today, there are multiple automated solutions designed to help marketers reach their goals through tracking.

There are several things you can do to track your links, including the following:

1. You can purchase a plan from an ad tracking company of your choice.
2. You can track your affiliate links at no cost but with additional manual labor.

If you are interested in the second option, here is what you can do:

1. Install a free WordPress plugin designed for tracking and cloaking the links.
2. Optional: Install a paid add-on to the plugin to get access to more statistics.
3. Inside the plugin, add tracking IDs to your affiliate links.
4. Once it is done, you can start using the links in your content straight away.
5. If you want to check the current stats, go to the plugin dashboard in WordPress.

#4. Create Retargeting Campaigns

If you are not familiar with retargeting, here is the essential information about it. In a nutshell, your ads are following people who visited your website but left without completing a specific action like a purchase, upgrade, sign up, etc.

Why launch retargeting campaigns? Well, it is a massive opportunity to boost sales and grow your audience. Apart from it, retargeting can help you increase conversion rates and ROI.

One of the easiest ways to set it up is to create an Adroll account. If you are a rookie affiliate, you can benefit from the free plan since it can help you start building your brand at no cost.

Part III: Consistency

This section will explain how to enlarge your email lists, segment your target audience, and increase sales by offering the right products to consumers in due time.

#5. Utilize Lead Magnets for Precise Audience Segmentation

It might sound complex, but you need to understand the needs of your audience. And by segmenting it, you will offer every segment exactly what it wants. A lead magnet is a perfect solution for it.

Lead magnets are great for capturing information, especially emails. Using it can help you divide the audience into several interest groups. Naturally, you have to offer valuable and helpful information in exchange for personal details. For instance, you can offer lead magnets through retargeting, content upgrade offers, or pop-ups.

If you are still wondering about the content you can offer your audience, it can be anything from guides, case studies, or discount codes to templates and training videos.

#6. Thank You Pages Matter

Adding your affiliate link to the ‘Thank You’ page is a common practice. Since any prospect has to go through at least three steps to get to the ‘Thank You’ page, you have to utilize this excellent opportunity.

However, you need to present it right. For instance, you can connect it with the lead magnet you have just offered so that it does not look or feel like a cold call.

Part IV: Content

This section will cover ways to improve and transform your content to generate more sales in 2021.

#7. Display Your Personality

If you want to become a successful blogger, anonymity is your enemy. Getting your blog personalized not only means charming everyone with your personality but also showing off your face.

It is no secret that people tend to recall faces more often than names. So, no need to be shy or nervous about it. Besides, it can help you stand out and gain more credibility.

#8. Bring Together Benefits and Features

While it is recommended to focus primarily on benefits, you need to do both, or better yet, consider presenting the product’s features as its benefits.

For instance, if you promote a complex product, try listing all of the features on one side and its benefits on the other side. Then, list the problems each feature solves. The problem-solving element can work great for bridging the gap between the two.

#9. Rub Some Salt in the Wound

It is the oldest story in the book. In fact, this is how marketing works. But keep in mind that you need to emphasize the problem as much as you can before you offer a solution. This way, you can sell any product, as long as it has any positive effect whatsoever. And these are the approaches you can use:

1. Make consumers recall the problem and magnify it.
2. Explain how their life can change for the better if they have a solution to the problem.
3. Paint a vivid picture. Help them visualize a life without this problem.
4. Guide them towards the solution.

Naturally, your audience might get suspicious if you keep promoting the same product (unless they know about your affiliation). That is why you need to offer alternatives. This approach might even boost your sales. Why? Well, when presented with multiple options, consumers start choosing instead of doubting a single offer.

It is needless to say that special deals and giveaways still work like a charm. So, do not hesitate to use it.

Bottom Line

If you are a beginner, you have got a long road ahead of you. But keep in mind that affiliate marketing is an excellent choice if you want to start earning fast. And while you might not be a millionaire by tomorrow night, your efforts will be rewarded shortly.