There are a LOT of obvious reasons that you should start affiliate marketing, but there are some benefits that aren’t as obvious. Today I share the top 3 hidden benefits of affiliate marketing.
The reasons to start affiliate marketing are countless. But there are some hidden benefits that are REALLY awesome. These are the benefits that most people don’t talk about, but they can have a HUGE impact on your business.
Here are the top 3 hidden benefits of affiliate marketing.
Benefit #1: Affiliate Marketing Teaches You What Your Audience Wants to Buy
When you first start your blog/podcast/video channel, the reality is that you don’t know what your audience wants to buy.
You have some idea, but consider all of these factors that you are still unsure of:
- Product topics. What specific topics is your audience interested in? They might say “productivity,” for example, but there are a lot of subcategories within the productivity niche. Time management, leadership, focus, and diet/exercise come to mind. They might be willing to spend money on some things but not others.
- Price points. At what price points will they actually pull out a card and make the purchase? Most of the time, new business owners are surprised at what price points work best. Often, their audience is not willing to spend as much as they thought…and other times, they are willing to spend a LOT more!
- Product format. What is the best format for your product? In the digital course world, for example, should it be video, audio, or something else? Perhaps a membership site or a mastermind? You don’t know this until you promote a few different formats and find which one(s) your audience responds best to?
You are still learning what your audience wants and needs…and even if they tell you in a survey or email, it still doesn’t mean they’ll actually buy a product to solve their problem.
Actions, after all, speak louder than words.
Creating a product of your own on day one is RISKY. Just ask anyone who’s created something, ordered 1000 of them and ends up with an entire room in their house full of unsold product.
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Affiliate marketing teaches you what your audience will actually buy. You get to test different products, topics, price points, and sales methods.
Segmenting for Sales Success
With affiliate marketing, you also learn what specific people on your list are interested in. That allows you to segment your list, which allows you to refine your marketing to specific groups of people.
Consider this…
You promote an affiliate offer to your entire list and do really well. You make some good commissions and everyone is happy.
Or are they?
When you dig into the numbers more, you find that only a small fraction of your audience was interested. But they converted really well. The remaining 95% of your list wasn’t interested at all.
Over time, you can segment the ones who were interested and promote specific products and services to them that you might not promote to your entire list.
For example, if you promoted Ray Edwards Copywriting Academy, and 200 people signed up for one of his free trainings, you learn something about those folks. Odds are really high that they are interested in learning copywriting, starting a copywriting business, or learning how to sell more of their products and services.
The next time you see an affiliate promotion that is related to those topics, you can focus your promotion on those people.
This reduces list fatigue and more importantly, allows you to SERVE your audience better by sharing resources and products that they are interested in.
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Create Products That Actually Sell
By promoting affiliate offers when you first start, you avoid creating products that don’t actually sell.
After a few months of promoting various affiliate offers, you learn what your audience will buy and how to sell to them.
Now you know what product to create first and how to market it…so you actually make sales.
That is a huge benefit of affiliate marketing that almost no one talks about.
Looking For Great Affiliate Programs? See ALL Our Recommended Programs Here.
Benefit #2: Affiliate Marketing Teaches You How To Sell
Affiliate marketing taught me how to sell long before I ever had a product of my own.
Because I’d promoted affiliate offers for years before creating my first course, No Product No Problem, I knew how to sell it. I knew how to warm up my audience, how to engage them, what email copy worked best, and how to close sales.
In other words, I got to test my sales skills out on other people’s products, not mine.
I learned when to email during a promotion, what length of emails worked best, what subject lines worked and so much more.
Promoting affiliate offers taught me HOW to sell…but most importantly it proved I could. Instead of being reluctant and doubting myself when I launched my first product, it was like second nature.
When I launched No Product No Problem, I had absolutely no stress about marketing or sales. I’d done it 30+ times already. Creating the promotional plan for the course launch was one of the easiest things I’ve done in my business.
Why?
Because I’d created promotional plans for dozens of affiliate promotions and had refined the process.
You can get a copy of my promotional plan for yourself by clicking here. This is the exact plan we use for our own product launches and for affiliate promotions.
Benefit #3: Affiliate Marketing Helps You Get Noticed By Influencers and Other Affiliates
Here’s a little secret…even the biggest names in the online marketing world like to get noticed.
They like to see their names on affiliate leaderboards.
They like when they are recognized for doing well.
They are competitive and like beating other marketers. (If you’re running your own program, this is a really good reason to use affiliate leaderboards as well!)
The earlier you start affiliate marketing, the earlier you get proficient at it…and the earlier you get recognized. That means you are able to connect with other people who can help you massively scale your business.
I know this happens because it’s exactly what happened to me.
When I first started promoting affiliate offers, I wasn’t even coming close to the leaderboards. I would finish with only a few sales and was nowhere to be found on the list of top affiliates.
But then I started sneaking into the top 20 occasionally. And then the top 10. Eventually, I was consistently one of the top 10 affiliates.
And people noticed.
Other top affiliates started reaching out to me. Today, some of my best friends in the online business world are a result of being on those leaderboards.
Realistically, you don’t need to be at the top to get noticed. Being listed anywhere is enough to give you credibility and raise some eyebrows.
Over time, you’ll be able to develop some potentially game-changing relationships with these people.
They will become trusted advisers, confidants, and affiliates for your own products in time.
KEY POINT: Get started TODAY with affiliate marketing! Learn what your audience wants. Learn how to sell. Connect with influencers and peers who can help you to grow your business exponentially.
There are a TON of other benefits we didn’t get to cover in this post, so I created a free report, 10 Reasons To Start Affiliate Marketing Before You Have a Product.
Click here to download it now…and just in case you’re wondering…
YES, this report will help you tremendously even if you already have a product!
Questions?
Text me anytime at (260) 217-4619.
Or…check out some of my free reports to help you get on the right track:
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