Affiliate marketing has become a key strategy for influencers of all sizes to monetize their social media accounts from a few dollars a day to over $60,000 a year.
Affiliate marketing has been around for some time now, which was most commonly used by bloggers and publishers. In recent years, more Influencers have taken found the power of affiliate marketing and have started to take advantage of this performance-based revenue stream.
So what is affiliate marketing, and how can you turn it into a LUCRATIVE monthly passive income?
What is Affiliate Marketing?
As mentioned above, affiliate marketing is a performance-based income stream that company’s use to advertise their products and services.
This is a commission-based payment method and can be agreed upon in one of three ways.
- Pay per sale
- Pay per lead
- Pay per click
Pay-per-sale is when the company agrees to pay the Influencer a certain percentage of the purchase amount made through the Influencers’ affiliate link.
This can look like a company and Influencer come to an agreement that the Influencer will be paid 10% of all sales they recommend using their unique affiliate link or affiliate code.
So the Influencer then mentions the product in their YouTube video, or other social media platforms, and tells the viewers that there is an affiliate link available for anyone interested in making a purchase.
Then the viewer clicks the link and makes a purchase for $200, which means the Influencer just made a $20 commission for referring that sale.
Pay per lead is when the company agrees to pay the Influencer a certain amount for every person the Influencer refers to their site. A purchase does not have to be made, as the company is just looking for leads, which usually requires contact information such as the referred customer’s name, email, and phone number.
This would look like a new company partnering with Influencers to get the company’s name out in the market. So they agree to pay the Influencer $3 for every person that visits the company’s website AND fills out the contact form.
The Influencer will then share the company on social media and direct their audience to the company’s website. 10 people visit the website, but only 5 people fill out the form; the Influencer will have made a $15 commission for referring the 5 new leads that filled out the form.
Pay per click is very similar to pay per lead as this is when a company agrees to pay the Influencer a certain amount for every person the Influencer gets to click on the unique affiliate link.
So if we use the same example above, the influencer would have made $30 as 10 people clicked on the link, and that is all that is required to make a commission this way.
Now that you have a better understanding of what affiliate marketing is let’s go over the 3 ways you can increase your affiliate income and make passive income every month.
Stay True To Your Brand
Influencer marketing has become a powerful and effective tool because 92% of consumers have said they trust a recommendation by an influencer more than commercial marketing or celebrity endorsement.
This is because an Influencer has built a know, like, trust relationship with their audience, and for an effective affiliate marketing strategy, you want to maintain this positive relationship with your audience.
The best way to do this is really to ask yourself the following questions before joining a company’s affiliate program.
- Do I currently use this product or service?
- Would I recommend this product or service if I wasn’t being paid?
- Does this product or service fit my personal brand and niche?
- Is this product or service provide value to my audience?
For example, if your niche reviewing Apple products and Microsoft reaches out to you to join their affiliate program with a Pay Per Sale agreement of 50% per sale referred and Apple reaches out to you to join their affiliate program with a Pay per sale agreement of 25% per sale referred, which program would you join?
If you said Microsoft because they pay more, that would be the wrong answer.
Your niche is centered around Apple products, and your audience is made up of Apple fans that trust your opinion centered around Apple.
So, even though Apple’s affiliate program pays less per sale in this example, you will make more money in the long run because your audience will be more likely to purchase Apple than they would Microsoft. You also maintain a positive relationship with your audience, which increases the likelihood of them purchasing from your affiliate link again in the future.
Recurring Commission Vs. One-Time Commission
Another thing that helps create passive income through affiliate marketing is understanding the power of recurring commission.
Normally, with pay per sale agreements, you will usually have two options for payouts. The first is a one-time commission payout. This is when a consumer makes a purchase using your affiliate link, and you are paid commission off the first initial transaction. This type of agreement can take a bit more energy on your part to maintain passive income as you will need to promote the company’s products and services more often to keep your income up.
The second payout option is recurring commission. This is when a consumer makes a purchase using your affiliate link and you are paid every month that person stays a paying customer with the company. This is most commonly used when a company has a membership program their customers can purchase, such as Social Bluebooks monthly subscription that gives you access to your social platforms values, the ability to keep track of your brand deals, and a FREE academy, for paid subscribers, to help you grow and monetize your social platforms.
This is also easier to generate a more consistent and lucrative passive income stream which can increase each month as long as your referrals stay signed up as an active member with the company.
Create A Balanced Strategy
Once you establish that a company is a good fit for your audience and your personal brand, you will want to create a consistent monetization strategy that aligns with your content strategy.
Most Influencers will make a content strategy to help them decide what to post next on their social media platforms. Then they make a monetization strategy separately to see when to fit in sponsored content. But to turn affiliate marketing into a lucrative passive income stream, you need to combine your content strategy with your monetization strategy.
Since you are staying true to your personal brand, each company you work with should be able to fit within any content organically with ease. This also helps your monetized content not come across as “too salesy” to your audience, making it more enticing for them to purchase from your link.
It may take some time to build your affiliate marketing income stream, but the more consistent you are with your strategy, the easier it will be to turn it into a strong passive income.
Start your affiliate marketing strategy today by signing up for Social Bluebooks Affiliate Program today!