Making your first few hundred dollars through affiliate marketing feels amazing. However, your excitement will fade once you realize that your present techniques will only get you so far.


According to our research, the typical affiliate marketing income is $50,000 to $65,000 per year, with top earners earning six figures or more. In other words, earning a living as an affiliate marketer is more than real.

Advanced and Legitimate Affiliate Marketing Tricks to Increase Sales -


When you first start off in affiliate marketing, you’re focused on the essentials.
You need to follow the right steps to start your own affiliate business, like choosing a niche, building a website, and finding people who want to work with you.
However, once you’ve set the groundwork, it’s time to start making more money with these more advanced affiliate marketing methods.


Today, we are going to lay out nine legitimate tricks to increase your affiliate earnings, so without further ado, let’s get started!

1. Implement effective affiliate tracking

According to a Rakuten study, 94 percent of affiliate marketers use more than one program, while 20 percent use five or more. Actively tracking all of your affiliate programs allows you to stay on top of what’s hot and change as you go.

Advanced and Legitimate Affiliate Marketing Tricks to Increase Sales -


To obtain important data points, expert affiliate marketers put up two steps:

  • Consider total sales. Sales aggregation can be performed manually using spreadsheets, logging revenue from each network and application, but data aggregation solutions simplify it. An affiliate dashboard gives you a single view of all of your affiliate programs with important data and takes the pain out of aggregating sales.
  • Configure SubID tracking. SubID tracking can provide you with more information on which content, links, and methods convert best by modifying each of your affiliate links to include a SubID.

Here’s an example of how that may appear:

  • When you include this information in your affiliate links, you can make more confident decisions about how to improve your content.
Advanced and Legitimate Affiliate Marketing Tricks to Increase Sales -

You can, for example, use phrasing or CTAs from high-performing posts in your new posts. Alternatively, try with low-performing posts to ensure that you aren’t affecting revenue.


SubIDs are essential for obtaining actionable information from your tests.


And, if you use a program like Scaleo, you can automatically assign unique SubIDs to all of your links—even if you have thousands of links dispersed across your site right now.

2. Control the entire SERP by using a slew of affiliate websites.

Have you discovered a profitable product or keyword? Try building more affiliate websites in that niche and ranking more than one piece of content for your most profitable keywords.
Some of the top names in the content publishing sector have adopted this strategy.

Advanced and Legitimate Affiliate Marketing Tricks to Increase Sales -


Future, for example, is a huge web publisher with over 160 brands, many of which are household names. Future-owned properties dominate the top results for the “best wireless earbuds”:

  • What makes this so effective? Before making a buying decision, consumers read several articles. If you create all of the best content in your niche, the chances of them clicking on your links are incredibly high.
  • Drive the entire Search Engine Results Page (SERP) and direct customers to your offers and links anywhere.
  • Copying this strategy results in identical success, even for tiny publishers building niche-specific websites. Do this in an evergreen niche so that you can focus on less competitive keywords that are constantly in demand.

Just don’t get too wrapped up in attempting to juggle numerous sites until your first one is a success.

3. Tweak your on-page optimization.

Once you’ve mastered affiliate tracking, it’s time to put what you’ve learned to use with your content. Boost on-page indicators like click-through rates (CTR), then look at how these indicators affect metrics like revenue and revenue per 1,000 visits (RPM) down the road.

Advanced and Legitimate Affiliate Marketing Tricks to Increase Sales -


Here are some optimizations to consider:

  • Increase the number of affiliate links you have. Increase the possibilities for your audience to click. You will never know when a visitor will decide to take an offer at a given deal. Links that are conveniently positioned make it simple for them. Just be careful not to overwhelm your audience—balance is essential.
  • Make your links stand out from the crowd. Your links and CTA buttons should be visible and easy to find. Using colors that contrast with the website or brand’s main color will make your link more noticeable and eye-catching. To prevent overwhelming readers, use plenty of white space.
  • Include an exit-intent popup. It follows your visitor around the page and it will only appear when they leave it. Pops out to catch users’ attention of your user with a reminder before they go, giving them one more chance to take advantage of your offer. It’s also a terrific place to find limited-time specials and offers.
  • Include a comparison table at the beginning of your post. When you put a comparison table at the top of your page, your offer is shown to your visitors right away with useful information.
  • Integrate social proof. Before making a purchasing decision, customers seek feedback from a variety of sources. Reviews and testimonials are kinds of social proof that keep your customers on your page by offering them all of the information they require without requiring them to search elsewhere.

What’s important is that when you make these adjustments, you should be able to compare how much revenue your page earned before and after on a per-visitor basis.
Not only in terms of when the conversion occurred but also in what version of your page was live at the original click. This is frequently referred to as the “Click Date.”

4. Promote appropriate products more effectively.

A lot of people start out by signing up for a lot of affiliate schemes. But experts know that real money comes from the niche itself.
Revenue from generic affiliate marketing schemes such as Amazon tends to grow in proportion to traffic. The higher the number of clicks you send, the more money you make. As a result, there is a high volume of minor commissions and the construction of larger and larger properties with tons of pieces.


That’s a lot of effort for a small reward.


To work smarter, choose deals with larger commissions. This enables you to generate more revenue with less traffic and content. Adding higher-ticket items frequently necessitates venturing outside of Amazon and broadening your affiliate schemes.
So, how do you go about choosing decent affiliate offers? Consider these three revenue levers:
You can typically make more money by marketing higher-ticket deals, even if the conversion rate is lower.

Conversion Rate: How effective is this product at converting customers?

The conversion rate is determined by how the brand positions itself in the market. Even if you accomplish everything correctly, your influence will be limited after your audience clicks through to the sales page.
Brands that convert well will have:

  • Sales pages that are well-designed and mobile-friendly
  • A well-known brand (consistent colors, logo, font, etc.).
  • Simple UX/UI that makes it simple to sign up for and pay for products or services.

Another method to tell if a program has been converted is to keep track of how frequently your competitors promote it. Even though it may seem like the opposite, following the competition often leads to better results because the brand is more well-known.

5 Examples of A / B Split Test in Affiliate Marketing


Finally, by improving your copywriting, you may increase your conversion rate. Sharing your personal experiences, a strong endorsement, and sharing the results of the product has helped you achieve all that goes a long way toward developing trust.
Another tip for marketing products from unknown advertisers:
Conversion HintIt is not always possible to promote a merchant or service provider who is familiar with your target audience. Make it a point to show your audience products or merchants they haven’t heard of in your affiliate content.
All of these things can help you build trust with the advertisers before you click on their ads. This includes things like refund policies, customer service, free delivery, etc.

Average Order Value: How much does the product cost and how does this affect my commission?

Some affiliate networks, such as Skimlinks and ShareASale, display the average order value. This can be used to estimate the average commission per order.
Here’s an example :
Even if the conversion rate is high, at 0.1 percent, the high average commission more than makes up for it. A little arithmetic can help you figure out how many conversions you need to meet your revenue goal.

Volume: How many of these offers can I sell?

Because demand drives sales, looking at how many people search for buyer-intent keywords can help you predict how many people will buy from you.
Remember to account for keyword difficulty in your estimate, as 75% of consumers never get past the first page of Google.
Consider how many pieces of your content will rank on the first page and how much traffic that will generate. Then, assume that the average affiliate conversion rate for that traffic is between 0.5 and 1%. This allows you to calculate how many people will convert.

Advanced and Legitimate Affiliate Marketing Tricks to Increase Sales -


Keep in mind that Ahrefs frequently underestimates traffic and estimates monthly search traffic of 6,000 or so. With 6,000 visitors and a conversion rate of 1%, that equates to up to 60 conversions.
When compared to an article with only 600 monthly hits, the result is only six conversions.
However, if the commissions in the second article were higher, both articles may have resulted in the same revenue. However, if you’re promoting low-cost or low-margin products, volume is the lever you need to turn to by focusing on long-tail “best product” keywords with high volume.
Overall, it’s a balancing act to get all three levers into optimal positions and drive the highest revenue.

5. Create an easy affiliate funnel for your high-ticket offers.

An affiliate marketing funnel walks your prospects through the stages of the buyer’s journey, addressing their specific needs at each level.
The sales funnel is not required for all affiliate products, but it is essential for high-ticket offerings or purchases that require more information to educate the audience on their value.

A successful funnel includes the following steps:

  • Traffic: In the first stage, use SEO blog entries, paid advertisements, and social media content to drive traffic to your offer. Here, you can use tools like freebies to get people to sign up for your newsletter. This is the 2nd stage of the funnel.
  • Warm-up: In the third step, you warm up your audience to guarantee they are ready to convert.
  • The last stage is where you pitch your offer to the buyer.

Make sure your client’s journey includes a “warm-up” stage in which you provide education and information without making a forceful sales pitch. As a business owner, you can use email lists to pitch and get new customers. People who haven’t been properly warmed up are more likely to drop out of the buying process or label your email as spam.

Advanced and Legitimate Affiliate Marketing Tricks to Increase Sales -


Consider affiliate sales to be a romantic connection. If you propose (i.e., pitch) before they’ve had a chance to get to know you, they’ll be terrified and flee. Allow your prospects time to become acquainted with your brand and your offer before closing the purchase.

6. Create an email list (and start emailing!)

When you send emails, you can talk to your customers more personally than you can on social media or on a blog.
A greater personal connection explains why an email is six times more likely to get a click than a tweet.
Your email list has already expressed interest, so they’ve progressed past the “awareness” step of the buying process. Your email content not only makes them want to know, like, and trust you, but it also helps them make better purchasing decisions.

Advanced and Legitimate Affiliate Marketing Tricks to Increase Sales -


Some methods for building an email list include:

  • Provide exceptional discounts or special offers. Give your email list first dibs on promotions and sales or exclusive access to them. This is particularly beneficial for retail and e-commerce affiliates.
  • Create content that is restricted. Free ebooks or guides related to your offer are an excellent way to provide value in exchange for your audience’s email address.
  • Inquire about your visitor’s feedback. Question forms are not only a great way to discover more about your audience and their desires and needs, but they can also help you grow your email list.
  • Use a blog to which your target audience can subscribe. When you develop valuable content, your previous articles are sufficient to pique people’s attention. If your audience already relies on your content for information, they’ll want to sign up for updates.
  • Teach readers through an email course or a valuable newsletter. Include deep dives into relevant topics in your emails to turn them into subscription-worthy content. This might be a “mini-course” in your welcome series or a regular newsletter.
  • Create, utilize quizzes, and receive results via email. Begin by working backwards from your results set to a sequence of questions that readers can ask. When done correctly, quizzes convert like crazy and build your email list on autopilot.

7. Take part in affiliate programs that pay recurring commissions.

Apply your strategy to affiliate programs that pay you on a recurring basis now that you have made your on-page optimization better and have a funnel that works.
Unlike one-time commission systems, these programs pay you for as long as the customer uses the product and for each subsequent purchase they make through your link.
Some plans limit recurring commissions to the first year, while others payout the customer’s entire lifetime.
What exactly makes this such a game-changer?

Advanced and Legitimate Affiliate Marketing Tricks to Increase Sales -


Recurring revenue provides you with a more predictable income stream because you collect revenue from the same sales month after month.
Assume you want to earn 100 sales every month, for example.
In a one-time commission arrangement, you’d have to make 10 sales in January, 10 sales in February, and so on. You make 10 sales in January, and that’s it with the recurring commission. You will continue to generate revenue as long as those clients continue to pay for the service.
As long as your site and traffic keep growing, the compounding effect of recurring commissions can be very powerful.
You need customers to stick around since it is easier to maintain existing clients than it is to find new ones. Your primary focus should be on retention as well as sales.
Reduce churn and convert stragglers by generating affiliate marketing content that sets customers up for success and gives them new ways to use the service or product. Then, use email marketing to stay in touch with audience members who may have purchased through your affiliate links on a regular basis, reminding them of the benefits and teaching them new strategies.
Here are some programs that offer recurring affiliate commissions:

  • Shopify offers a 20% recurring commission with a 30-day cookie.
  • Teachable offers a recurring commission of 30% with a 90-day cookie.

In general, many SaaS affiliate programs, such as Scaleo’s referral program, offer recurring commissions.

8. Run retargeting campaigns

Free traffic is great, and many affiliates start their businesses without paying for traffic.
However, using retargeting on Facebook and Instagram to drive prospective purchasers back to your website can be beneficial, especially since returning clients are valuable to affiliate marketers.
If you’re stuck on how to design your advertising, glance through the Facebook Ads Library for ideas. Here’s one from The Points Guy, which is promoting a new credit card:

  • If you go this way, keep an eye on your ROI to ensure you’re still making money. Spending $5 to get a customer makes no sense if you’re only making $1 in commissions. However, there is good news: retargeting campaigns can be altered and adjusted in response to their results.
  • Send people from your retargeting campaign to a distinct affiliate landing page that advertises the same products as the organic content they find you on. Google should not find this landing page, so make sure it is indexed.
  • Track each step of the funnel, including ad clicks, link clicks, and revenue. Use these figures to calculate your affiliate’s EPC (earnings per click) and compare it to Facebook’s cost per click.

A word of caution: keep in mind that certain businesses’ affiliate conditions may not permit sponsored advertising. Reread the agreement and pay close attention to the fine print to ensure you understand exactly what the advertiser permits kinds of promotional strategies.

9. Expand on what is currently working

Prior to pursuing fresh tips and tricks, concentrate your efforts on what is currently functioning. If your strategy is currently viable, it may be time to commit and scale.
Here are two easy ways to achieve this:

Method 1: Produce additional content centered on your most profitable products.

There’s a reason why your top sellers are doing so well. People require them and can locate them through your content. Diversify your content by addressing different stages of the buyer experience and approaching the affiliate product or service from several perspectives. Readers should be directed to the same product as all of the content.

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For instance, if you’ve already included the product in a product roundup article, consider supplementing it with a separate product review. People who aren’t yet aware of the solution should read tutorials that can re-introduce them.
Many effective affiliate marketers focus on a small number of products and product categories to generate the majority of their revenue. Find out what yours is and make a commitment to them.

Running tests on your most popular articles will assist you in making the most of the traffic that you already have. Because they get a lot of traffic, you will be able to get statistically significant results sooner.
Here are a few ideas for experiments:

  • Change the color, size, or location of the call-to-action button.
  • Try incorporating strong words around your links.
  • Declutter articles by eliminating non-converting links and substituting alternative links.
  • Refresh the copy, particularly the link copy.
  • Replace or add images.
  • Add popups to high-traffic pages.

Sometimes the tiniest changes might result in the greatest benefits—you just have to try.

Conclusion

Although there is no hard limit to affiliate marketing earnings, achieving your objectives demands attention when tracking, testing, and tweaking your affiliate content. These advanced methods are not silver bullets but rather best practices that require weeks, months, or even years of trial-and-error to get your revenue where you want it to be.
The right insights will help you get there faster.
Rather than relying on intuition or guesswork, use Scaleo to create a unified dashboard for all your affiliate campaigns. Track your revenue, uncover top-performing content, block bad traffic and obtain optimization insights all in one place.

Last Updated on April 11, 2022

Author

Elizabeth is a Senior Content Manager at Scaleo. Currently enjoying the life in Prague and sharing professional affiliate marketing tips. She's been in the online marketing business since 2006 and gladly shares all her insights and ideas on this blog.