How does email affiliate marketing work?
The act of promoting affiliate products through email, using direct links or intermediary landing pages, is known as email affiliate marketing. Rather than attempting to directly convert the visitor on the website, the individual is led through an email funnel that ultimately results in an affiliate product pitch.
The principal methods are twofold.
- You can add links in your emails to your affiliate content and drive your subscribers to it.
- Alternatively, these links can take your subscribers directly to an affiliate merchant’s website where they can make a purchase.
One of the two approaches to email affiliate marketing could be more appropriate, depending on the type of products you are promoting.
If you’re advertising a product as hassle-free to purchase, a prompt email containing a direct buying link may be the gentle encouragement your subscribers require to complete their transaction.
However, when it comes to extravagant purchases, your emails should be more strategic. They should provide the necessary assistance for your subscribers to focus on a specific option and make an informed decision – a purchase they will not regret.
You comprehend the concept.
Most email communications from content creators lack strategic planning.
They fail to comprehend the direct correlation of these emails to their affiliate earnings. Examining case studies of the most prosperous affiliates, it becomes apparent that a noteworthy portion of their income stems from email marketing.
Today, I will demonstrate precisely how they achieve that and how you can replicate their actions.
3 steps to a successful affiliate email campaign
The following are three easy steps to not only drive direct affiliate revenue through emails, but also enhance your email marketing strategy overall as a publisher. Let us begin.
Step 1. Plan your campaign
Affiliate email marketing is distinct from your regular emails to subscribers as it involves a greater level of intentionality.
It is important to consider the Buyer’s Journey of your subscribers in relation to the brands or products you advertise. Your subscriber may still be in the Awareness stage, depending on where they opted-in.
You aim to bring the subscriber closer to Conversion with every batch of emails.
Consider this tangible illustration: If you are endorsing a straightforward item such as a headset, your recipients can peruse your appraisal article or preview in your electronic message. They can then determine whether they are interested in the product and proceed to purchase it through your affiliate hyperlink.
Finished.
A solitary email consisting of a purchase page connection would suffice for an email affiliate campaign promoting the said product. Additionally, mentioning the product in your usual newsletter could also be effective.
Take a look at the Daily Deals email from Wirecutter for some inspiration.
The following example features a direct route to Target’s website for the purchase of one of its most popular electronic cutting machines for do-it-yourself enthusiasts; the initial two links serve as affiliate links.
Clicking on the blue link will direct you to a thorough analysis of it.
The sale provides an additional motivation for the buyer to make a purchase at present. Possibly, the discount alone is sufficient to convince you to make the purchase.
What if the item is pricier and you’re not advertising any deals?
Suppose you’re advertising the components of a luxurious home office setup. You would need to create an affiliate sales funnel to optimize your earnings.
This is an example of what it might look like:
Your subscribers should be informed about the characteristics of a proper workspace, including lighting, furniture, and color palette. Additionally, they should know about the necessary items like an ergonomic chair, 4K monitor, or studio-quality mic. It’s essential to explain why your suggestions are suitable for them, particularly if they’re creative professionals.
To ensure that your subscribers can make an informed decision and feel confident about it, you need to provide more content for complex or high-end affiliate products.
Email provides you with multiple “touches” that can inspire and educate your readers, ultimately enabling them to help themselves.
Consider:
- An email course — tips on identifying their needs from a workspace and prioritizing them.
- An email challenge — a one-week challenge to build the home office of their dreams.
- An email content series — discussing one part of the home workspace at a time.
- A webinar email series — leading subscribers to value-packed webinars (that can also feature brand partners).
Designing email sequences of this nature aids in growing your email list by serving as effective lead magnets. They complement your routine enticements for signups, such as ebooks, PDFs, checklists, and more.
Step 2. Create your affiliate emails
When your email campaign plan is complete, the next step is to produce the emails.
The email marketing solutions are the source of the copywriting strategies for creating emails that focus on affiliate marketing.
We’ll examine a couple of recommendations:
- Mailchimp asks you to ensure that “your main message isn’t centered around affiliate links,” because a purely promotional email won’t offer any real value.
- MailerLite explains that your “offer has to be related to your content and meet subscriber expectations.”
- ActiveCampaign cautions that affiliate links “should not be the primary focus of the email,” and that you shouldn’t send “emails with the sole purpose of promoting another product or business.”
- ConvertKit goes further to give an actual formula . It suggests that if “70-80% of your email content is about your own products, services, and information about who you are and what you do, and only around 20-30% of your content is related to affiliate marketing, you are good to go!”
Your email content should provide value to your subscribers, and you can include affiliate links within them. Therefore, keep this in consideration while drafting your email.
Step 3. Set up autoresponders
You will probably have a multitude of high-quality editorial content for each intricate affiliate product that you endorse, depending on the types of categories present in your blog or publication.
Although repurposing editorial content for email campaigns is possible, generating email communications to promote affiliate products requires a significant amount of effort.
The greatest advantage is that you can use autoresponders to drip your emails to your latest subscribers’ inboxes, and schedule them to reach your subscribers on a regular basis after they are prepared.
So if Subscriber A opts in to receive your emails about your Work From Home category, you can send them a welcome email right away. And follow up with your email series on work from home productivity, purely through automation.
For inspiration, take a look at The New York Times’ 7-email series centered on teaching people step-by-step methods for safely utilizing the internet.
The Best High-Ticket Affiliate Marketing Programs
The subjectivity of these affiliate marketing programs being considered as the “best” lies in personal preference. However, my criteria for selecting these programs are primarily based on their payout rates, customer count, and average ratings. It is important to consider ratings to validate a product’s quality before recommending it. Furthermore, utilizing customer reviews can aid in promoting the products or services by emphasizing notable benefits gained and favorable features.
1. Smartproxy
Smartproxy enables users to globally access corporate data in order to conduct competitor research, scrape search engine results pages (SERPs), aggregate prices, and authenticate ads.
The product received an average rating of 4.7 out of five stars from a total of 836 reviewers.
By utilizing Smartproxy’s affiliate program, you can earn as much as $2,000 for every client you recommend.
2. Thinkific
Over 50,000 instructors have used Thinkific to create more than 100 million online courses.
It received an average rating of 4.6 out of five stars from 669 reviewers.
You can make as much as $1,700 per year for each referral by joining the Thinkific affiliate program.
3. BigCommerce
BigCommerce offers ecommerce services that include open SaaS, headless integrations, omnichannel capabilities, B2B solutions, as well as solutions for offline-to-online operations.
The product received an average rating of 8.1 out of ten stars from 648 reviewers.
By joining the BigCommerce affiliate program, you can receive up to $1,500 for bringing in new enterprise customers or 200% of their initial payment.
4. Teamwork
The primary goal of Teamwork, which is project management software, is to increase billable hours and enhance the efficiency of all individuals in the organization, from the founder to the project managers.
The product received an average rating of 4.4 out of five stars from 1,022 reviewers.
With the Teamwork affiliate program, you can receive up to $1,000 for every new customer you refer.
5. Flywheel
Flywheel specializes in providing managed WordPress hosting tailored to meet the needs of agencies, ecommerce businesses, and websites with high levels of traffic.
An average rating of 4.4 out of five stars was given by 36 reviewers.
You can make up to $500 for each new referral by joining the Flywheel affiliate program.
6. Teachable
Over 100,000 entrepreneurs, creators, and businesses utilize Teachable, an online course platform, to craft compelling online courses and coaching businesses.
The product received a rating of 4.4 stars out of five from 150 reviewers.
By enrolling in the Teachable affiliate program, you have the potential to earn an average of $450 each month.
7. Shutterstock
Shutterstock provides a worldwide platform for procuring stock photos, vectors, illustrations, videos, and music.
An average rating of 4.4 out of five stars was given by 507 reviewers.
By enrolling into the Shutterstock affiliate program, it is possible to receive a maximum of $300 for prospective clients.
8. HubSpot
With HubSpot’s CRM platform, you can effectively oversee your company’s marketing, sales, customer service, and content management needs.
The product received an average rating of 4.5 out of five stars from 3,616 reviewers.
The HubSpot affiliate program offers an average monthly payout of $264 (according to present affiliate earnings). As a solutions partner, you may earn even more.
9. Sucuri
Sucuri provides a security platform on the cloud that comes with skilled security analysts who offer services such as malware scanning and removal, protection against attacks and hacks, and enhancement of website performance.
The product has an average rating of 4.6 out of five stars from 251 reviewers.
By enrolling in Sucuri’s referral programs for their platform, firewall, and agency products, you can receive up to $210 for every new sale.
10. ADT
ADT provides security systems for both homes and commercial establishments.
The average rating of 4.5 out of five stars was given by 588 reviewers.
By participating in the ADT rewards program, you have the potential to receive $200 for each new customer that you refer.
