The blogging industry has grown a great deal over the past decade, and as a result so has the practice of affiliate marketing on the internet.
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is the practice of linking an external source to a blog or other post, so that when visitors use the link, a percentage of their purchase go to the blogger. This encourages companies to hire bloggers to promote their products and brands, and in return bloggers are compensated for doing so.
As with anything there are a number of effective affiliate programs on the web, however one of the most popular is the Amazon affiliate program. While Amazon does not offer commission rates as high as some other affiliate programs, the Amazon brand is trusted among millions of people, and has one of the largest selection of items available for affiliate marketing on the web.
When used properly, the Amazon affiliate program can be as effective (if not more so) than other programs on the web with higher commission rates. Fortunately, there are a number of tips and tricks that can help anyone become a successful Amazon affiliate.
The first key way to increase sales made by an Amazon affiliate link is to understand that traffic is the most important way to achieve higher sales:
- Remember that any blog can take advantage of the Amazon affiliate program, even without an audience. However, blogs which receive higher traffic will experience more profit from the Amazon affiliate program, simply because more people will have the opportunity to visit the link.
- If your goal is to make real money from the Amazon affiliate program, it’s important to exercise a number of practices that can be used to increase traffic numbers. Focus on creating engaging content that will attract new readers, and begin reaching out to influencers in your field to increase your exposure to new audiences.
There are nearly limitless tips and tricks that can be found around the web in order to help you build traffic to your blog, however the next part may be a bit trickier.
While high traffic numbers do convert into higher sales, what’s important is the conversion rate of visitors to buyers. It doesn’t matter if hundreds of people view the post or link every day, if only a small percentage actually purchase an item.
- In order to convert more viewers into customers, it’s important to show them that you are loyal to their best interests, and convey a sense of trust and connection with them. When customers feel a connection with a company or blogger, they will be more likely to trust their opinion on a specific item, and will therefore be more likely to purchase an item found at an Amazon affiliate link.
- In addition to building trust with your customer, it’s also important to understand them on a personal level as well. Because of this, it’s important to create content that will encourage readers to buy the product. This essentially means you need to put your customer into a ”buying” mood so that they will feel excited and encouraged to make their purchase from your affiliate link. When customers are in a buying mood, this will lead to higher conversion rates.
- Promote products that are relevant to the content being published on your site. If you sell detox tea products, it’s probably not best to sell video games or computer parts, as the audience may not have those interests in common. This will result in lower sales, and lower conversion rates. This may also turn off potential readers of your blog, if they feel that your content no longer stays true to the purpose of your site.
One of the most common ways many bloggers make money from Amazon affiliate links is through reviews and recommendations posted on their site. Review posts are incredibly popular on the web, as they are often used as a deciding factor for many customers who were debating the purchase of a product. This makes reviews invaluable to any affiliate blog looking to make money from the Amazon affiliate program, as a raving review will make a customer far more likely to visit the affiliate link and make a purchase, than an article that briefly mentions the product and its content.
That being said, the review should be genuine and come across as authentic. There is no need to post a positive review on a horrible product, otherwise it will become known very quickly that you are promoting poor quality products on your page, and you will begin to lose your sense of trust with your reader.
A simple link to a product nestled within a post can also prove to be one of the most effective ways to improve conversion rates of readers to customers visiting your blog.
Rather than posting an outright link to a product on Amazon off to the side of your content, create content that focuses around the product itself. For example, a post discussing a certain art style could include links to books featuring the works of art as discussed in the post. Readers who are intrigued by the reading will feel far more encouraged to visit the link and purchase the aforementioned item, rather than if it is posted off to the side without context.
There are hundreds of other ways that bloggers can benefit from the Amazon affiliate program, however these are some of the basics that any affiliate blogger must understand if they wish to become successful in this field.
No matter what size your audience may be, it’s important to begin using the Amazon affiliate program as soon as possible in order to begin learning about the process. While this may not generate much income in the first several years of trying, following these tips will give you a head start on making a profitable business out of Amazon affiliate marketing.
