Three Thoughts on Better Affiliate Promotional Tools
Sure, it’d be terrific if we could recruit a handful of Super Affiliates that would sign up for our programs, take action and send us a flood of sales. If you’ve been an affiliate manager for any amount of time, you’ll know that life doesn’t work like this. 
Most people who sign up for an affiliate program may not have huge resources at their disposal and may not have a lot of marketing savvy, but reach highly targeted markets that could collectively bring in a lot of new customers. It’s your job to create the promotional tools they can easily use to tap into the resources they have.
This coming Sweetie Saturday, I’m going to offer a free download with “28 Affiliate Promotional Tool Ideas”, but for now, here are 3 thoughts on creating better affiliate promo tools:
Affiliates like things easy. Give them as much copy-and-paste stuff as possible. Yes, they’ll often get better results by modifying the materials to suit their audience, but give them a starting point.
Ask your affiliates what they want. Keep the dialogue open between you and your affiliates. Be sure to ask them regularly what they need to promote your products and be willing to offer customized solutions.
Test your materials. Track the results of your various promotional materials and tweak and improve as you go along. The better the results, the more likely affiliates are to continue to promote for you.
Just a few things to consider for now. Feel free to share your own ideas and questions…and I’ll be back soon with those promised 28 ideas.
About: Alice Seba
Alice Seba earns a full-time online income as an entrepreneur and loves to help others achieve the same. With a focus on using content to create relationships, loyalty and results from the written word, she co-owns both a ghostwriting service and a private label content business. To get more tips for your content marketing, visit Contentrix.com - your free resource with plenty of tips and strategies.Freebies
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Elizabeth Potts Weinstein
One thing I struggle with for my affiliate program is creating copy that’s written from their voice. Most of my copy is very conversational and personal, which is a big selling point — so how do I write copy that is meant to come from another person?
And for myself, I’ve found that when I promote the copy from an affiliate program it flops — I only get good conversion when I write my own copy (for someone else’s program) from scratch, that comes from my own voice. Typically, when I give a review of the program, my own personal experience, answer questions from readers/listeners, etc.
Looking forward to the new tool!
~ Elizabeth
Alice Seba
Hi Elizabeth,
Yes, you can’t write in every affiliate’s voice, but you can create a starting point for them. And any affiliate worth their salt will make changes to the promotion prior to sending it out, but having something to work with makes it much easier and more likely that your affiliate will take action.
Sometimes voice isn’t important if it’s not a personal promotion (i.e. an affiliate mailing his list). For example, a paid advertising campaign probably won’t need a certain voice.
Another thing we’ve done with some of our products is make a list of “selling points”. It’s simply a bulleted list that includes the benefits/features of the product. That way, an affiliate can pick out what would be most appealing to their target audience.
DonnaB
I am glad I just found your blog via IM Newswatch. I like your style. I am already looking forward to your free 28 tips for affiliates because I am relatively new at this sort of thing.
I always try to write in my own voice. I can create a few different style fairly easily but prefer to be straightforward when trying to tell about a product or service.
Alice Seba
Hi Donna, The 28 affiliate promo tool ideas are already posted. Enjoy and thanks for your feedback. Glad you found me too!