Affiliate Quick Start Guide 101

Affiliate marketing is a huge contributor in today’s world with affiliate programs generating 15%–30% of all sales for advertisers. If you’re looking to jump into the game or looking at ways to help grow your current program, we’re here to help.

At AIM, we’re all about connections. Building a good relationship and rapport with our clients is wonderful, but we also make sure to do the same with all the partners we work with across a multitude of programs.

Thanks to these relationships we are able to see what affiliates want and need from brands in order to successfully promote and convert. One thing, across the industry, that always sticks out is communication. Keeping lines of communication open to your partners with newsletters, tips, and tools is a great way to stay on-top-of-mind, and make sure your partners have what they need to promote you to their audience.

One big tool that can help your partners get started right out of the gate is an Affiliate Quick Start Guide. These guides assist in helping the affiliate know more about your brand, the program itself, and answers any “how-to” questions they may have in the beginning. Therefore, it’s important to offer one within your program.

These quick start guides should be just that – quick. Meaning, you don’t want to bombard your partners with endless pages of information and steps. Your guide should only house key information, smart tips, easy next steps, and a way to get in touch if further assistance is needed. This eliminates the chance of your partner getting overwhelmed and putting it aside, only to forget about it.

Some key points to include are:

• Brand mission and vision.
• Program details.
• How to find and how to use creatives?
• Any network perks.

Think of your guide as a reference point, something your partner can keep handy and refer to when needed. While you can invest in offering more tools and guides for general promoting, an Affiliate Quick Start Guide is meant to get your affiliates started quickly and easily.

With that said, the best time to offer this guide is during the initial sign-up phase. Once the affiliate is approved in your network, there are 2 touchpoints a Quick Start Guide could be given.

1. Approval Confirmation
2. Welcome Email or Welcome Series Drip Campaign

It’s also never a bad idea to house your Quick Start Guide on your website within your Affiliate Program landing page. This is a good idea in case partners need to find it again and don’t have your initial email handy.

If you’re not sure how to implement this tool, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Content is a big offering when choosing AIM for full-service management and we have our Quick Start Guides down to a science, with each one being customized to the specific brand. Good luck, and remember to keep up communication for a successful partnership and program!