How To Make Affiliate Marketing Work On Social Media
Are you taking advantage of affiliate marketing as an income stream for social media? Do you shout out an affiliate product here or there, or do you carefully build campaigns that increase your odds of success?
Affiliate marketing is one of the most lucrative income streams for social media influencers. It’s free to start, and creators of all sizes can take advantage of it, even if you just got started yesterday.
In this post, you will learn how to make affiliate marketing work on social media.
How affiliate marketing works on each social media platform
Every social media platform on the web works a little bit differently.
Some only allow you to post videos. Some allow you to insert a lot of text in your posts while others have strict limitations.
Similarly, some social media platforms allow you to insert direct hyperlinks in your posts while others limit you to a single link that can only be placed in the bio section of your profile.
Let’s talk about how promoting affiliate links differs on each platform.
On YouTube, you can add as many links as you want in a video’s description.
This is great for when a video features multiple products you can promote, but many YouTubers use this feature to create a mini resource list of affiliate links that represent products they use, including video equipment and niche-related products (guitar equipment for a guitarist, clay and pottery supplies for a potter, etc.).
Unfortunately, links you insert in a YouTube short description will not be hyperlinked, but you can add it in a comment, then pin that comment.
Facebook, Twitter (X) and LinkedIn allow you to add links directly to posts.
Instagram and TikTok do not allow you to add links to your captions. You’ll need to add your links to a link-in-bio page, then link to that page in your bio for each platform.
You can create linked pins on Pinterest for affiliate links.
How to get better at promoting affiliate links on social media
Choose the right social media platform
Your audience will not interact with your affiliate links if they don’t exist.
What I mean is, you need to focus on social media platforms your target audience actually uses.
Search for popular topics related to your niche on each social media platform. You’ll probably find quite a few posts, but this isn’t what you’re looking for.
Posts are created by your competitors who are looking for the same target audience you’re looking for. So instead of seeing if posts exist for your niche, see how many engagements they receive.
It’s simple math. The more engagements on posts that target topics related to your niche, the larger the audience that niche has on that particular social media platform.
Do this until you’ve discovered your niche’s most popular platforms. Focus on one to three of them while you grow your audience.
Make better content
Again, you will not earn affiliate commissions if no one is interacting with your content.
To improve your chances of success, improve your content.
Experiment with different content formats, such as:
- Talking to the camera
- Talking to the camera with cuts that feature b-roll footage
- Voiceovers instead of using the video’s raw audio
- Quick tutorials
- Long-form tutorials
- Funny posts
- Vlogs, short or long
- and more!
Browse the social media platforms you want to be successful on. You’ll receive a lot of inspiration from other creators.
You may also need to invest in better camera equipment.
Flagship smartphones (the latest iPhone, Samsung Galaxy or Google Pixel) have great camera quality, but you can also use GoPros and DSLR cameras.
Invest in better microphones as well, including wearable microphones that will record audio no matter where you are.
Use a link shortener
If you’re sharing your affiliate link on a social media platform that allows you to add hyperlinks to your posts, consider using a link shortener if the affiliate program you joined doesn’t shorten affiliate links for you.
Even if they do, shortening links allows you to create user-friendly links that use actual words instead of a string of randomized numbers and letters.
Your link-in-bio tool (more on this below) may include a link shortener, but you can also use link shorteners that are optimized for marketing. Replug is one of the best for this.
Geniuslink is another possibility. It allows you to manage your affiliate links and optimize affiliate marketing campaigns.
What it also does is allow you to create shorter affiliate links using Geniuslink’s link shortener or branded shortlinks using your own domain.
You can also use a simpler link shortener if you wish, including TinyURL and Bitly.
Use a link-in-bio tool
A link-in-bio tool is a must have for any social media influencer.
It’s a simple web page that allows you to add a few elements, primarily buttons you can attach URLs to.
Since this page is hosted on the web, it has its own URL, which you can link to in your Instagram or TikTok bio.
Then, when you have an affiliate link to promote, you can add it as a button to your link-in-bio page, then use the phrase “link in bio” or “#linkinbio” in your post.
Pallyy is a fantastic link-in-bio tool to use. It’s attached to a powerful social media scheduling platform that allows you to schedule social media posts for a variety of different platforms, manage your social media inbox and view analytics.
Find your audience’s pain points
Affiliate marketing is a lot like regular ecommerce. You might be advertising someone else’s product, but you’re still trying to drive sales for that product.
This is much easier to do when you know your audience needs that product.
The best way to ensure you promote a product your target market needs is by researching your audience to learn what their biggest pain points are.
Ask them to share what they’re struggling with at the moment both in and outside of your niche.
Sure, topics are not gender, race or class specific, but you can’t deny the reality that certain topics attract specific demographics.
If you learn what those demographics are as well as what they’re struggling with, you’ll have a much easier time deciding which affiliate products to promote.
Research affiliate programs
Take the time to find the best affiliate products to promote.
Amazon Associates is a popular affiliate program, and you’ll never run out of Amazon products to promote, but ever since the corporation slashed affiliate rates in 2020, this affiliate program isn’t as reliable as it used to be.
That doesn’t mean you can’t promote Amazon products at all. It just means you should add better affiliate products to the mix as well.
Research ecommerce stores specific to your niche. For instance, the photography and videography niches have B&H Photo, which offers commission rates as high as 8%.
Don’t forget about the products you use in your niche. Find stores that sell them, and enter “[product name] affiliate program” into Google as well.
You can also simply enter “[niche] affiliate program”] into Google, too.
Plan affiliate marketing campaigns
Again, when it comes to making sales, there aren’t many differences between affiliate marketing and regular ecommerce.
This means you can plan affiliate marketing campaigns just as you would if you were selling your own product.
This is a typical sales funnel: awareness → interest → desire → action.
As a social media influencer, the primary components you’ll need to bring to this funnel are content and an affiliate link.
If you’re posting to Instagram and TikTok, you’ll need a link-in-bio page as well.
Tackle the awareness stage first by including the product and other products from the same brand/store in your content.
Tackle the interest stage by creating a post that showcases the product in some type of way, be it a review or a tutorial that requires the product.
Increase desire by showcasing something that’s made easier or cheaper by using the product. You can also wait for the product to be on sale or negotiate an exclusive deal for your audience.
Finally, make sure your affiliate link is easily accessible so your audience can complete the action stage.
Create content, not advertisements
Brands might like it when you include a small section in your post that talks about the product you’re promoting, but your audience certainly won’t appreciate it.
They’ll see it as an ad they can’t skip.
To combat this, focus on creating your content as you normally would but include your affiliate product naturally.
If you’re in the woodworking niche, promote a specific screwdriver by creating a video on a project that requires a screwdriver, then use that screwdriver in the video.
Review affiliate products
If you want to talk about an affiliate product in depth, create a dedicated review for it. This way, your audience will know the post only features your affiliate product, so they won’t feel as though they’ve been tricked into watching an ad.
When you review the product, talk about its strengths, weaknesses, price and best use cases. Show it in action as well.
You can also discuss the brand that makes the product or the shop it comes from. This will make it easier for your audience to trust the brand.
Share footage of you unboxing the product as well, or show viewers what’s included in the box at the very least.
You can record this in real time or include it as b-roll footage.
Create tutorials
We’ve mentioned this tip a few times, but it’s important enough to mention again.
Tutorials and guides are among the simplest ways to promote affiliate products in your content naturally.
Some tasks require products in order to complete. For instance, you won’t get very far in home repair without a screwdriver. Therefore, you should find a way to promote this product as an affiliate product, then create more tutorials that feature it.
You don’t need to create a mini ad for the product in the middle of your video, either. A simple “I’m using the 7200 phillips head screwdriver from BW. Link in bio” will suffice.
This is where audience research comes in handy.
It’ll allow you to be certain of which topics your audience needs tutorials on as well as which products they’re most likely to purchase.
Don’t hide an affiliate product’s flaws
Affiliate marketing is a legitimate income stream, but unfortunately, a lot of bad actors have made savvy consumers more skeptical of affiliate products.
There are thousands of pages on the web that contain very little information about the topic the page’s content is targeting and are merely meant to drive sales for a particular affiliate product.
Affiliate marketers are also notorious for glossing over negative qualities about the products they promote.
You can do a lot to earn and maintain your audience’s trust by being honest about an affiliate product’s flaws.
You can, however, soften the blow by mentioning something positive about the product or by using gentle language.
For example, if the screwdriver’s handle is a little bulky, say something along the lines of “although it uses a matte paint finish that’s easier to grip, the circumference of the handle is quite bulky and a little awkward to get used to.”
Be upfront about affiliate links
Consumers are aware of affiliate marketing and sponsorships, so there’s no point in trying to hide them.
It’s even illegal ever since the Federal Trade Commission requires marketers to disclose whether a link for a product is an affiliate link.
This is easiest to do if your link includes a discount for your viewer. You just need to say something along the lines of “use my affiliate link to get 10% off at checkout.”
Social media influencers also include the #ad hashtag to subtly let viewers know they’re being compensated for featuring the product.
You can be more descriptive in spoken word, but this isn’t necessary.
Try saying something along the lines of “if you’re interested in this product, consider using my affiliate link to support the show. Link in bio.”
Final thoughts
Affiliate marketing can be lucrative and social media makes it possible to build an audience. They’re a great combination.
Just remember that affiliate marketing shouldn’t be the only way you make money on social media. And your content shouldn’t always be created with the purpose of promoting a product.
Finding balance is the key to growing an audience and your income at the same time.
Related reading:
- Affiliate Marketing For Bloggers: How To Earn Commissions After The HCU
- Proven Affiliate Marketing Strategies To Grow Your Blog’s Income
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