When you decide to create an affiliate program for your business, it’s more than just setting it up and forgetting about it.
You have to know how to keep affiliates engaged. While it may seem like an affiliate program can run itself, you must nurture the relationships with your affiliates to continue to grow the program and impact your bottom line. This is more than just following up with your best affiliates every once in a while.
Just like other areas of your business, selling through affiliates will need to be scaled — which can be done by adding more affiliates and keeping the existing ones happy. After all, they are the ones bringing in new business for you.
Keep in mind that your affiliates will have other options. In addition to targeting the right people and offering a comparable commission, you may need to go the extra mile. This is probably the best affiliate marketing tip you could follow. You need to have options ready to draw on and use regularly.
Your success will come down to two things: promotion and engagement. It takes both. Deciding to promote and nurture your affiliate program will help you achieve the goal of keeping your affiliates engaged.
10 Ways to Keep Your Affiliates Motivated
With the techniques below, you’ll be able to attract new affiliates, revive inactive ones, and incentivize your active ones. Focusing on keeping your affiliates engaged will ultimately create a streamlined program that generates revenue.
1. Giveaways
Everyone likes free stuff, whether they have to work for it or not. Giveaways are both a promotional and an engagement technique. They work especially well for newer affiliates who are just starting. And they don’t require much expense on your part.
Here are some options for giveaways you could try:
- Products. Giving your affiliate access to another product or service you offer saves them money while allowing them to test out another product you offer. This encourages more affiliate interaction for new programs and can help spread the word faster as well.
- Tools. There is a slew of tools that affiliates can benefit from but might not know about or be able to afford. Using one as a giveaway is not only a great incentive but a great way to show your appreciation.
- Event tickets. Affiliates regularly attend marketing events and are always looking for new opportunities. This would be a great way to show your affiliate that you support their business.
- Gift cards. Whether for your products or a collaborator, any value will be appreciated.
- Program credit. If you have a program that isn’t out yet that you know your affiliates would be interested in, this would be a great giveaway.
- Subscriptions. Affiliates would likely appreciate winning a subscription or membership you offer.
2. Bonuses
Rewarding affiliates for their hard work will always pay off. It will also motivate them to sell more.
Consider setting milestones or targets for them to achieve based on their current levels. If you have an affiliate that earns 20% commission on the $5,000 they bring in each month, offer to increase the commission to 25% on anything above that they can bring in for you. You can also give bonuses above the normal commission, like $100 for every $1000 they bring in.
Bonuses will more than likely need to be specific to each affiliate because not all will be selling at the same level. The more affiliates you can engage, the more successful your program will be.
3. Promo Weeks
A fun way to build engagement is to have promo weeks. It’s a great way to bring in new affiliates and reactivate ones that have stopped selling.
During your promo week, your focus can be on traffic, promotion of products, sales, or something else. You might offer prizes, bonuses, higher commissions, gifts, or other niceties to draw them in. It’s essential to make the goals attainable so that your affiliates will want to participate.
Affiliates who engage in promo weeks will often continue to work for you long after, so the payoff is well worth it.
4. Celebrations
Celebrations are an obvious but often overlooked way to engage with affiliates. And people like to celebrate just about anything. You’ll want to create an image for each one so that your affiliates can share them. Make sure they know in advance what’s happening, what’s expected, and how to participate. Add in a promotion that relates to the celebration.
Different occasions that you could celebrate might include:
- Your business anniversary
- The affiliate program anniversary
- A product launch date
- Special milestones
- Positive media or recognition
- Awareness days
- Holidays
For example: Imagine your company is celebrating the launch of its 10th product. You might allow your affiliates to earn an extra 10% for ten days. Or you could reward each 10th sale with a $10 bonus. You might also give away ten prizes for the ten products and highlight each one for ten days. Ideally, the objective is to engage your affiliates in something fun and rewarding.
5. Referral Commissions
Sometimes, affiliates will refer to other affiliates (MLM). They should receive a commission for this too. This can be either by giving them a one-time bonus, giving them a % of every sale their referral makes, rewarding them with an increase in their commission — even by 1% — or giving them a bonus upon their referral’s first sale.
6. Lotteries
Most people enjoy lotteries simply because there’s a chance of them winning. It’s the thrill of the game. If you can ensure that everyone knows they have a fair shot at winning, you’re likely to engage many of your affiliates.
Lotteries also allow you to educate your affiliates on your products, promotions, or other information you need to get out. There are numerous ways to go about it. For example, you might reward the 5th or 100th sale of the day or week.
7. Newsletters
Make sure to keep affiliates up-to-date with any promotions, special offers that are coming up. Regular communication with affiliates will keep them engaged and hopefully motivate them to promote your brand over the competition. Read our guide on how to write effective affiliate newsletters.
8. Follow Up
You must follow up with your affiliates regularly. Whether they are active or not, they need to hear from you. Sometimes, it will be enough to reactivate the ones that aren’t.
This is the time to check to see if they have any questions, need any help, or notice any areas that could be improved upon. Some people choose to do video calls monthly with their top affiliates, which can also generate loyalty and boost their involvement.
9. Automate
You should automate what you can, as this will show that you are reliable and consistent. You can automate new registrations, which will cut down on the wait time. Your new sign-ups will appreciate this.
You can also automate new welcome emails for affiliates or even check-in emails. This way, you’re also at the top of their minds regularly and able to drive action as needed. This also allows you to share the latest news, products, and more.
While not every email should be automated, having a system in place will help establish a relationship with your affiliates.
10. Network
Be sure to attend conferences and other events related to your business. This will allow you to make new connections as well as deepen existing relationships. You’ll get the latest information on trends and happenings in your industry and learn who the top influencers are. You can share things you learned with your affiliates as insider information or affiliate marketing tips.
Let LeadDyno Help You Master Affiliate Marketing
Promotions help drive growth, so they should be a part of every affiliate program.
If your business is looking to streamline your affiliate or referral program and ensure that it gets the attention it needs, LeadDyno can help. Set up your program in minutes using our intuitive affiliate tracking software. Easily and efficiently manage your affiliates and their payouts so that you can focus on nurturing relationships with them and keeping them engaged to help build revenue for your business.
LeadDyno also shows you which online marketing channels are working best, so you’ll always know where to focus your advertising efforts. And our easy integration with third-party platforms — from CRMs to e-Commerce carts — means things are even more streamlined. Check out LeadDyno today to see how we can help your business master affiliate marketing.
