Over the years, I’ve found one of the secrets to affiliate program success. It’s right up there with knowing the right people, having great conversions, and copywriting. It’s the F-word…fun, that is. Get your mind out of the gutter. Affiliate programs should be fun. For your affiliates and for you.
A few weeks ago, during Jeff Goins’ recent Tribe Writers launch, I had an interesting discussion with Jeff’s operations manager, Kyle Young. He said to me, “I want this launch to be so fun for our affiliates that they’ll tell everyone about it and beg to promote again.”
I’d honestly never thought about that before. Sure, in my 12+ years running affiliate programs and launches, I’ve made my programs fun, but it never occurred to me that it might have an impact on results.
Why You Should Make Your Program Fun
When I started looking at the feedback from affiliates over the years, I found that there was a direct correlation between fun and results.
In Jeff’s launch, for example, we approached that line of going overboard with the fun. And the more fun we introduced, the better the results. In fact, we nearly doubled our high-end goal for optins during the launch. We more than doubled the optins from the previous launch (the less fun one).
Of course, there were more factors than just fun, but it certainly played a role. Based on both hard data and anecdotal evidence from affiliates, it does indeed seem that the more fun we make it, the more active they are and the more likely they are to promote in the future.
So, how do you make an affiliate program or launch fun?
Here are three ways based on the acronym F-U-N.
F – Focus on Results
This may seem like an odd one to start off with, but it’s important that your efforts to make things fun have a clear result in mind.
In other words, fun for fun’s sake might make you giggle, but does it deliver a result? Posting an animated gif image of a leprechaun riding a unicorn might be funny, but does it move the needle?
The key here is to tie everything in a CTA (Call to Action) for your affiliates.
What is the action you want them to take? Do you want them to mail about the webinars? Do you want them to start doing Facebook ads? Or perhaps you want them to try to double their sales in the next 24 hours.
Whatever the desired action is, make it clear and tie the fun into that.
RELATED POST: How to Pick the Right Affiliate Prizes
U – Uniqueness
It’s important to be yourself. Unless being yourself is boring and not fun. Then be somebody else.
Just kidding. Most of us have at least some semblance of a sense of humor. Use it.
If it’s dry, be dry. If it’s sarcastic, be sarcastic. If it’s goofy, be goofy.
If you are none of the above and no one has laughed at you in the past three years, hire someone to be funny.
I like to consider myself a moderately funny person (have I told you the joke about the Fart Car?) but I know when to bring in a professional. Like in Jeff’s launch when we asked a George W. Bush impersonator to announce the affiliate sales prizes.
This video was hugely popular and not only made people laugh but it focused on results. It got people really thinking about the prizes in a way that a simple email announcement or video from me could not have done.
People are still talking about that video. Thank you, John Morgan, for doing that for us!
N – Nuttiness
Sometimes, you have to get a little crazy (thank you, Seal for reminding me of that). A little goofy. A little nutty.
Whether it’s in the way you announce your prizes or the language you use in your emails, don’t be afraid to be nutty. In case you needed it, you hereby have permission to be a goofball with your affiliates.
Again, keep in mind that you need to remain focused on results.
Nuttiness stands out. Nuttiness gets attention. Nuttiness breaks through the clutter.
Your affiliates are just like you. They are busy. They have full inboxes and Slack channels competing for their attention.
If you want to break through, getting a little crazy might just be the way.
If you want to break through to your affiliates, getting a little crazy might just be the way.
Make your program FUN for them and they will remember it. Make it FUN and they will do better than expected. Make it FUN and they’ll tell others.
What have you done to make your affiliate program fun? What have you seen others do?