Affiliate Programs: is it worth having Affiliates promoting your product?

Let’s face it: some people have more abilities with sales than others. If you are a digital producer and fall into the category “others”, I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that yes, you will have to learn how to sell. But you probably already knew that. The good news is that you can have many partners, experts in sales, which will help you by promoting digital products you create.

These are the Affiliates, professionals who put their efforts into promoting other people’s products, and, in exchange, earn a commission for making the sales. Some digital producers prefer to work on their own, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But numbers show us that this may not be the most profitable way of doing things.

In today’s post, we are going to answer if it is really worth it having affiliates promoting your product and also clear many other doubts from entrepreneurs who are just starting a digital business. If you want to know what the answer is, read on!

After all, should I allow Affiliates to promote my products?

This is a very common doubt, especially among first-time digital producers. In order to help you, we should perform an analysis: if you have followed all the essential tips on creating a digital product, you have an online course that can lead to a significant amount of sales for you, but because it’s a new business enterprise, you still haven’t got an engaged audience, online authority or even investment funds to start promoting your product. There’s where the Affiliates come in. They will be your partners and promoters, and for this reason, it’s fair they get a commission for each sale they make.

What is the ideal number of Affiliates promoting a product?

There’s no ideal number of Affiliates to promote digital products, but this average can be defined according to the moment your business is going through. If you’re starting a business, it is important for more people to promote your product, so you will get more speed and increase the chances of making more sales.

As your digital business builds more momentum, you will then be able to reduce this number to a limited group of Affiliates who are experts and have better conversion rates. You will be able to identify this moment when your sales get more consistent. And will be able to predict, for instance, that you will make new sales every week or every month.

1-click Affiliation or Affiliation by approval?

Affiliate programs allow you to define if you wish to moderate the entry of new Affiliates or leave it open so that anyone who wants to promote your product can do so immediately. Here at Hotmart we always recommend the moderated option, because you can then evaluate and control who will work with you. After all, as the product’s creator, you should always be in charge of the way it is being promoted.

What you should take into consideration before participating in an Affiliate Program

Before participating in an Affiliate Program and allowing other professionals to start promoting your product, you take some things into consideration:

• The reputation of the company that hosts the Affiliate Program: how long has it been in the market? Are there other producers who trust in and do business with this company? Is there transparency in how they deal with the users? Talking to successful producers is one of the ways of getting the answers to these and other questions.
• Support given to the producer: especially if you’re starting from scratch, customer support is essential for you whenever you have a doubt. Analyze (and, if necessary, test) the customer support from the company you choose to use.
• Number of Affiliate users: the program chosen must have a solid base of active Affiliates who may become interested in your product. Try to find out who the main Affiliates in the market are, and identify which programs they use.

What are the main advantages of working with Affiliates?

Even though we have already mentioned some of the main and most advantageous aspects of working with Affiliates, there are other things that may influence your business:

• Scale profits: instead of being the only promoter of the course, the producer will count on other people promoting the digital business, which exponentially scales the chances of making more sales.
• Have specialists as partners and promoters: is your course about parenting? What about having a blogger who is a mother and writes about the same topic, and also has a lot of followers, recommending your product? You will be able to start partnerships with Affiliates who are already engaged in the digital world, know the techniques about promotion and already have an influence in your niche.  
• Control the commissions: the Digital Producer is the sole person responsible for defining what the commissions will be for each sale. This way, you control your profits and you can also plan your strategy based on this choice.
• Learn promotion strategies from your Affiliates: as we mentioned earlier, the Affiliates will be your partners. If you are just starting out in the digital world, you will have a long way to go and a lot to learn, and why not learn from those who are experienced? Identify who the Affiliates who dedicate more time to the business are, and study their strategies so you can put them into practice with more precision in your next promotion.
• Work individually or with a small concise group: hiring professionals and dealing with all the bureaucracy of admitting new employees can become a real headache for small entrepreneurs. Since you have a digital product, which is generally aimed at the final consumer, you won’t need to hire a sales team. Your Affiliates will be your salespeople, and the platform you choose will be responsible for paying them.

What are the types of Affiliates I can find in the market?

There are two major groups of affiliates, and they can also be subdivided into many different specialties. They are the Authority Affiliate and the Scientist Affiliates.

Authority Affiliates are the ones who focus on a specific niche, build their name or brand in the market, invest in traffic, be it with blogs or social media, and are very engaged with their audience. A good example is fashion bloggers, Instagrammers who talk about motherhood, and YouTubers who love games. There are specialists in many different niches and sub-niches who can contribute a great deal with your business.

And then there are Scientist Affiliates, who are major experts in paid ads. They know how to invest very well in campaigns on Google Adwords, Facebook, and other channels, and they are not, in general, specialists in a specific market. Because they are good investors, they can act in different niches without having a well-known name or a strong online presence.

To learn more about these two groups of specialists, check out our post on Authority Affiliate and Scientist Affiliate.

What do I need to know to manage my Affiliates?

It’s very important to know that when you allow Affiliates to participate in your business enterprise, you should be still in control of everything that happens. Don’t think that, by having many Affiliates associated to your product, sales will happen as if by magic. This a common mistake that can undermine all your effort up to this point. To develop the mindset of an entrepreneur, read about the 11 facts you must know before becoming a digital entrepreneur.

To manage your Affiliates and make sure they do a great job, you should:

• Pay close attention to the ones who are more dedicated to your business. That doesn’t mean that they are working very long hours, but that they are responsible and professional. Also, pay attention to the ones who are not in harmony with your promotion strategies. If someone is spamming, for example, you should talk to them in a friendly manner, and, if necessary, ban this person from promoting your product.
• Analyze metrics. Who are the Affiliates with the highest conversion rate, that is, the ones who make more sales? You will have access to reports from the platform you choose, with numbers from all professionals who are working for you.  
• Good relationship. Maintain a good relationship with your Affiliates, especially those who are more dedicated. Reply to their emails, be polite and show you are willing to work with them. The start of a good relationship can lead to excellent results in the future.

How can I attract good affiliates?

Good Affiliates may be the key to your success. This is proven (our numbers guarantee it) that the most successful Digital Producers wouldn’t achieve the results they have without good Affiliates.

Firstly, make sure your product is of high quality. The best Affiliates wouldn’t risk their reputation with poorly elaborated products that do not deliver what they promise. Whenever possible, update the content of your online course, as pieces of information become obsolete with the passing of time. By the way, this is one of the advantages of having a digital course.

If you still haven’t created your digital product (what are you waiting for?), I will provide you with a free guide teaching you how to create an ebook. With it, you will learn a step-by-step from the creation to the promotion.

Moreover, we also recommend you take our course on digital entrepreneurship, Hotmart Academy, which is also free. You will learn all you need to know to launch a product in the market, and/or become a successful affiliate.

A good sales page is one of the important factors so that the Affiliates become interested in your product. Just picture it: your Affiliate invests in ads that convert really well, but when the user clicks on the promotion link, they find a sales page that is not well designed, is disorganized, and, feeling frustrated, closes the window. Would you promote a page like this one? So, design your page thinking about conversion! At Hotmart Academy, we have a lesson about making an excellent sales page. This way, your affiliate will rest assured that the chances of making sales are promising.

Make sure you can personalize your checkout page. With a customized checkout, you can break objections from the client, maintain your identity all the way to the completion of the payment, using a nice design as your ally at the moment of sale and also optimize the work of your Affiliates with a profitable shopping cart.

Attend events from the market of digital products and get to know professional Affiliates in person, who can help you with your business. Being face-to-face, you can easily identify with people with whom you would like to work, get to know Affiliates who work in your niche and receive referrals of people who should join you!

Participate in forums and digital entrepreneurship groups. Establishing contact and creating bonds with other entrepreneurs is a way of learning faster and with people who are already experienced with digital business. Believe me: there’s always someone who will be glad to help you.

Now you know a little bit more about affiliation, it’s time to put all these things into practice and define who your Affiliates and partners will be. And take this opportunity to learn more about our Affiliate Program and start right away.