While Facebook has faced increased competition from other social media sites, it is still one of the most widely used platforms on the internet. According to Hootsuite, the platform still hosts 2.74 billion monthly users.
Facebook’s user base is widely diverse. This platform lets you reach potential affiliates of all ages and backgrounds. It is also a popular app in which customers can research new businesses. Digital Marketing reported that the average Facebook user spends 38 minutes on the site. It is a great place to find new affiliates for your business.
Wondering how to find affiliate marketers for your product? You should be using Facebook to find affiliates, or you could be missing a wide group of affiliates for your SaaS or e-Commerce business. Read on to learn how to get affiliates using Facebook.
Define Your Affiliate
Successfully recruiting affiliates to promote your business requires a clear vision. Knowing who will be the most successful in driving traffic to your website will help you create your recruitment strategy. You may choose to target influencers, micro-influencers, customers, or another group. Answer these questions first to get a better sense of a good fit for your company:
- Which of our current affiliates are most successful in driving traffic to our site?
- Who is our target customer?
- Does this influencer’s following overlap with our target customer?
- How does this affiliate fit in with our existing brand?
- How often does this user post affiliate links?
Promote Your Affiliate Program Using Facebook Ads
One of the easiest ways to use Facebook to find affiliates is to post an ad touting your program. You can also create multiple campaigns and use Facebook analytics to determine which messaging is most successful in generating interest. This information can then be used to create new ad campaigns. Here’s a step-by-step of what you need to do:
Choose Your Target Audience
When setting your target audience, think about who would generate the best results. If your SaaS is best utilized by business professionals who frequently travel for work, target people likely to be in this demographic. Facebook lets you set your audience by age, geography, and interests. Choose targets who will be the best fit for your affiliate program.
Decide Where to Run Your Ad
Facebook can run your ad automatically, or you can set limits on who sees the ad. For the broadest reach, choose to run your ad automatically. If you have an existing set of target customers, use the custom settings.
Choose Your Ad Format and Develop Your Ad
Your company can attach an image or a video to your promoted post. If you want to walk your affiliates through your program with a short video, keep it short. Use an interesting thumbnail and targeted text to get people to watch the whole ad.
If you’re using a photo, pick an image that is visually appealing and cuts through normal traffic. You can overlay words on your image, but keep them to a minimum. Use the description to detail the benefits of your program.
For more detailed instructions on setting up Facebook ads, view one of these guides by Buffer or Hubspot.
Engage with Your Existing Audience
If you already have a Facebook page for your company, use it to promote your affiliate program and recruit new members. You need to:
Engage Regularly
The key to successfully using Facebook as an affiliate marketing tool is by regularly posting high-quality content — and the same is true for recruiting new affiliates.
Use your company page to post regularly about trends in your industry, along with the benefits of joining your affiliate program. Having a mix of branded and non-branded content establishes your credibility and builds trust in your company, making people more likely to work with you to promote your business.
Use Targeted Hashtags
When posting about your program, use targeted hashtags to drive traffic to the post. You can use generic tags such as #affiliatemarketingprogram or #affiiatemarketing to drive interest. To attract specific people that could be recruited into your program, pair these hashtags with others that describe your product, such as #productivitysolutions or #automatedscheduling.
By combining product-specific hashtags with generic phrases, affiliate marketers who aren’t interested in your program can find your post and contact others in their network who may be a better fit. People who regularly serve as affiliates for companies in other industries will find you with your generic hashtag.
Find Existing Affiliates
Just as potential recruits to your program can use hashtags to find your posts, you can use hashtags to find theirs. Search Facebook for your company’s hashtag, a specific product hashtag, or hashtags for keywords related to your company. Do this to:
- See what customers are saying about you.
- Evaluate the quality of each user’s posts regarding your company.
- Look for customers who are posting links to your website.
- Look for customers who are sharing your blog posts or other social media content.
Find customers who are posting valuable content and look like they might be good partners to drive traffic to your site. Once you have located them, send them a direct message informing them about your program and sending them to your program’s landing page.
Join a Group
Facebook offers users the option of creating and joining groups related to their interests. You can search the platform for affiliate marketing groups, SaaS groups, e-Commerce groups, or others who are likely to contain likely recruits for your program. When joining a group, it’s essential that you:
Follow the Rules
Individual Facebook users set up and moderate groups. When you join, you are usually given a list of rules, including guidelines against promotion and spam. If this is the case, you could find a different group. However, if you are posting to a group of affiliate marketers, you should be able to promote your program. Ask a moderator if you’re not sure.
Post Meaningful Content
Like other social media platforms, engagement is the key to success in Facebook groups. Interact with community posts — offer helpful answers, tips, or suggestions. Not only does this enhance your credibility, but it can also make you more visible within the group.
Direct Users to Your Landing Page
You don’t have to put your landing page in every post, but you should include the link prominently on your profile. This makes it easy for you to work on how to get affiliates using Facebook. A link to your landing page displayed prominently makes it easy for users to find it and share it with their networks.
Use Direct Messaging
If you already have a list of potential influencers or other affiliates in mind, you can use Facebook to contact them without email. The latter method of recruitment is more time-consuming. You can search Facebook for affiliates and send them direct messages. Remember to do the following, though:
- Create a catchy opener.
- Keep it short.
- Lead with your benefits.
Like cold email, direct messages have a limited open rate. If this is your preferred messaging solution as you find affiliate marketers for your product, make sure your message is short and direct. It should be benefit-oriented, enticing the reader to join your program.
Include a link to the product you want them to promote and let them know why their followers fit your profile. Also, be sure to emphasize their commission for clicks.
Manage Your Affiliate Program
Once you have successfully recruited new affiliates using Facebook, you can use affiliate marketing tools, like LeadDyno, to manage them. These tools can be used to provide your affiliates with automated content that they can quickly post to their sites. They can also be used to track your affiliates and to pay them with ease.
While newer social media platforms are popping up and gaining popularity, Facebook is still a widely used and highly visible site. With so many people using the platform regularly, it is an excellent place for finding and recruiting new affiliates. Use the tactics above to attract the best affiliates to your program and drive more traffic to your website.
