How to Crush Affiliate Marketing with NO Followers
I know the struggle of wanting to dive into affiliate marketing but feeling held back by having zero or a small social media following. Trust me, I've been there.
I also started affiliate marketing with no followers back in 2019. Fast forward to today, and I’m running a 7-figure online business.
In this article, I’ll share some of the most effective strategies that helped me build a successful affiliate marketing business from scratch. We'll cover strategies ranging from the simplest to the most advanced, helping you generate income and build a sustainable business without relying on a large audience.
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Place Affiliate Links in Your Bio
Using the small but mighty space in your social media bios for affiliate links is an effective way to start generating clicks and conversions.
Whether you're active on Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn, these platforms provide valuable opportunities to showcase your affiliate offers.
Utilizing Social Media Profiles
Instagram: Use your bio to feature a prominent link to your top affiliate product. Clearly label the link with a short description to attract clicks, such as "Get Your Free Trial!"
Facebook: Add your affiliate link to the About section or your personal profile's intro. Highlight the link in relevant posts to increase visibility.
LinkedIn: Incorporate affiliate links in your summary section where you discuss industry expertise. Ensure the link is relevant to your professional network and adds value.
Maximizing Click-Through Rates
Craft Compelling CTAs: Create engaging calls-to-action that capture attention, like "Discover Your Solution Today!" Use persuasive language that speaks to the benefits of the product.
Use Link Shorteners: Tools like Bitly or Rebrandly create clean, trackable links. Monitor link performance to gain insights into click behavior and engagement.
Driving Traffic to Bio Links
Promote Through Content: Share stories, posts, and updates that highlight product benefits and guide followers to your bio. Create content such as tutorials, testimonials, or reviews that naturally lead to your affiliate link.
Update Regularly: Keep your bio links fresh by updating them to reflect current promotions or top-performing products. Encourage your audience to check back often for new offers.
Content Strategy
Creating engaging content is the cornerstone of successful affiliate marketing.
Even without a large following, you can start making sales by consistently delivering value and building trust with your audience.
Creating Engaging Content
Videos: Leverage the power of video to demonstrate products, share tutorials, or offer reviews. Starting a YouTube channel can help you reach a broad audience, and including affiliate links in descriptions offers easy access to the products you discuss.
Want to start a YouTube channel? Watch my detailed tutorial:
Blog Posts: Write informative and insightful articles that address common questions or challenges in your niche. Focus on topics that resonate with your audience and provide actionable solutions.
Infographics: Create visually appealing infographics that summarize complex information in an easy-to-digest format. Infographics are highly shareable and can drive traffic back to your site.
Repurposing Content
Form One to Many: Repurpose long-form content into shorter videos, blog posts, or infographics to reach different audience segments and maximize content impact.
Social media sharing: Share snippets of your blog posts on social media, linking back to your website for the full article.
Content amplification: Convert video content into podcast episodes or written transcripts to maximize reach and engagement.
Aligning Content with Offers
Product Integration: Ensure your content naturally leads to your affiliate products by providing context and showing how the products solve specific problems.
Highlighting Benefits: Highlight the benefits and unique features of the products, helping your audience understand their value.
Powerful Storytelling: Use storytelling to weave product recommendations into your content, making them feel like part of the narrative rather than a hard sell.
I dive into this strategy deeper in this video:
Focus on High-Intent Traffic
High-intent traffic comprises users who are ready to buy. They’ve identified a need and are actively searching for products or services to fulfill it. These are the individuals most likely to convert into customers.
Keyword-Informed Content: You can use keyword research tools to uncover search volume and competition, or delve into online forums and social media communities to identify topics your target audience is passionate about. These insights can inspire content ideas that resonate with your audience.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Optimize your content around these high-intent keywords to improve search engine rankings. Create informative, valuable content that directly addresses the searcher's query.
Leverage Guest Posting: Contribute high-quality articles to authoritative websites in your niche. This expands your reach, builds authority, and provides valuable backlinks to your site.
Creating Targeted Content
Crafting content that appeals to high-intent users involves understanding their specific needs and providing solutions that address those needs:
Focus on Solutions: Create content that solves common problems or answers frequent questions within your niche. This approach naturally attracts users who are actively seeking help.
Use Case Studies and Testimonials: Highlight real-world examples and success stories that demonstrate the effectiveness of the products you recommend. This builds trust and encourages conversions.
Include Clear Calls-to-Action: Ensure each piece of content has a clear and compelling call-to-action that guides users toward your affiliate links or desired actions.
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Leverage Paid Traffic
Paid traffic drives visitors to your site through online ads. I use paid ads extensively in my affiliate marketing business because they provide an immediate boost in visibility and reach.
Benefits of Paid Ads:
Immediate Results: Unlike organic methods, paid traffic can drive visitors to your site quickly, helping you achieve faster conversions and sales.
Precise Targeting: You can define your audience based on factors like age, location, interests, and online behavior, ensuring your ads reach the most relevant potential customers.
Scalability: Paid traffic campaigns can be easily scaled to increase reach and impact as your budget and needs grow.
Setting Up Paid Advertising
Here’s a step-by-step guide to setting up paid advertising on popular platforms:
YouTube Ads
Create a Google Ads Account: YouTube ads are managed through Google Ads.
Choose Ad Format: Select from various ad formats, including skippable in-stream ads, non-skippable in-stream ads, bumper ads, discovery ads, and video action campaigns.
Target Your Audience: Define your target audience based on demographics, interests, and video content.
Create Ad Creative: Develop engaging video ads with compelling visuals and a clear call to action.
Set Budget and Bidding: Determine your daily budget and bidding strategy.
Monitor and Optimize: Track ad performance and make necessary adjustments.
I show you how to get started with YouTube Ads here:
Google Ads
Create a Google Ads Account: Sign up for a free account.
Define Campaign Goals: Specify your objective (e.g., sales, leads, website traffic).
Set Budget and Bidding: Determine your daily budget and bidding strategy (e.g., manual CPC, automated bidding).
Choose Ad Format: Select the ad type that best suits your goals (search, display, video, shopping, etc.).
Target Your Audience: Define your target audience using keywords, demographics, interests, and behaviors.
Create Ad Copy: Write compelling ad copy that resonates with your target audience.
Set Landing Page: Determine the webpage users will be directed to after clicking your ad.
Monitor and Optimize: Track ad performance and make adjustments as needed.
Facebook Ads
Create a Facebook Ad Account: If you don't have one, create a Facebook Business Manager account.
Define Campaign Objectives: Choose from various objectives like awareness, traffic, engagement, conversions, or catalog sales.
Create Ad Sets: Define your target audience based on demographics, interests, behaviors, and connections.
Design Ad Creative: Create engaging visuals and compelling ad copy that aligns with your target audience.
Set Budget and Bidding: Determine your daily or lifetime budget and bidding strategy.
Placements: Select where you want your ads to appear (Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Audience Network).
Monitor and Optimize: Track ad performance and make necessary adjustments to improve results.
Budgeting and Targeting
Start with a Modest Budget: Begin with a budget you’re comfortable with, such as $5-$10 per day, to test different strategies and see what works best. Focus on optimizing your ads for the best return on investment before scaling up.
Importance of Targeting High-Intent Keywords and Demographics: Use high-intent keywords that indicate a readiness to purchase, such as “buy,” “best,” or “discount.” Refine your audience based on demographics like age, location, and interests to ensure your ads are shown to the right people.
Build an Email List
In my affiliate marketing business, the email list is everything.
Unlike social media followers, email subscribers are highly valuable as they have opted in to receive updates from you, indicating a deeper level of interest.
With an email list, you can nurture relationships, promote affiliate products, and drive repeat sales over time.
How to Build Your List
Choose an Email Marketing Platform
Select an email marketing platform that fits your needs. Options like Mailchimp, ConvertKit, and AWeber help manage lists, create sign-up forms, and automate campaigns.
Mailchimp: Ideal for beginners with a user-friendly interface and free plans for small lists.
ConvertKit: Perfect for content creators, offering tools for relationship building.
AWeber: Balances automation with design flexibility, suitable for various business types.
Create a Lead Magnet
Offer valuable content in exchange for email addresses, such as an eBook, checklist, or exclusive content.
My tip on creating AWESOME lead magnets:
Identify Pain Points: Address challenges your audience faces with a solution-oriented lead magnet.
Design and Deliver: Use tools like Canva to design your lead magnet and ensure easy access upon sign-up.
Set Up a Landing Page
Design a focused landing page directly related to your lead magnet.
Compelling Headline: Communicate the benefit of your offer.
Strong CTA: Use action-oriented language to prompt sign-ups.
Simple Form: Minimize fields to reduce sign-up friction, typically just a name and email.
Drive Traffic to Your Landing Page
Attract visitors to your landing page through multiple channels.
Social Media: Share links across your profiles and relevant groups.
Content Marketing: Write blogs or create videos with links to your landing page.
Paid Advertising: Use Facebook or Google Ads for rapid audience reach.
Nurture Your Subscribers
Foster relationships with new subscribers through consistent engagement.
Welcome Series: Send 3-5 emails in the first week to introduce your brand and deliver value.
Regular Content: Keep subscribers engaged with newsletters, tips, and updates.
Personalization: Address subscribers by name and tailor content to their interests.
Leverage the Affiliate Stacking Ecosystem
The Affiliate Stacking Ecosystem is a powerful strategy for maximizing earnings, especially if you're starting with a small or no following. By strategically promoting multiple affiliate products within a targeted sequence, you can build a loyal audience and increase sales without relying solely on a large social media presence.
Integrate Multiple Offers
Instead of focusing on a single product, the Affiliate Stacking Ecosystem enables you to promote several complementary products.
Diverse Product Selection: Choose products that complement each other and solve related problems. For example, if you're in the fitness niche, you might promote workout programs, nutrition guides, and fitness equipment.
Sequential Promotion: Introduce these products in a sequence that logically follows the customer journey. Start with an entry-level product and gradually lead subscribers to more comprehensive solutions.
Use Automated Email Sequences
Automation is key to the Affiliate Stacking Ecosystem.
By setting up automated email sequences, you ensure that each subscriber receives timely and relevant offers based on their engagement and interests.
Welcome Series: Begin with a series of emails that introduce your brand and deliver your initial lead magnet. This series sets the foundation for building trust and engagement.
Drip Campaigns: Create drip campaigns that gradually introduce new products and offers over time. Use personalization and segmentation to tailor these emails to subscriber preferences and behaviors.
Optimize for Engagement and Conversions
You can also create engaging content that can help attract and grow your audience.
Valuable Content: Provide useful and actionable content that complements your offers. This could include tips, tutorials, or success stories related to the products.
Strong Calls-to-Action: Use clear and compelling CTAs in your emails to guide subscribers towards taking action, whether it's making a purchase, signing up for a webinar, or downloading additional resources.
Track and Analyze Performance
Continuously monitor the performance of your affiliate stacking strategy to identify what's working and what needs improvement.
Metrics to Monitor: Keep an eye on open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates to gauge the effectiveness of your campaigns.
Iterate and Improve: Use insights from your analytics to refine your email sequences, offers, and messaging. Testing different approaches will help you optimize your strategy for better results.
Check out my walkthrough of the Affiliate Stacking Ecosystem:
Discover the Secret to Affiliate Dominance: Take the 72 Hour Freedom Challenge
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About the Author
Jonathan Montoya is the founder of the 72 Hour Freedom Challenge, which has empowered over 55,000 people to leave their 9-5 jobs and achieve their dream lifestyles.
After starting his own online business in May 2019, Jonathan transitioned from Electrical Engineer to full-time entrepreneur within nine months. His mission is to help others reach their financial and lifestyle goals quickly and easily.
Jonathan's unique approach to affiliate marketing has enabled him to reach over 600,000 people who are working to quit their 9-5.
Outside of his professional achievements, Jonathan cherishes time with his wife and children, who have been a constant source of support and inspiration throughout his journey. Read more about Jonathan here.
