As we wrap up 2022, let’s take a look back at our top 5 blog posts from the year. Each has tips and tricks to successful affiliate program growth and management that will help you propel into 2023 and beyond!
1. Resources Every Affiliate Should Know
Our blog post from February about affiliate resources highlights some of the key tools and technologies affiliates can use to be successful in their campaigns, content, and creatives.
Here are five to consider:
- Canva
- Pexels
- Unsplash
- Tasty links
- Hootsuite
For more details regarding the above tools and how they come in handy, click through the read the full article.
2. Affiliate Auditing Tips
If you already have an existing affiliate program, you may want to consider auditing your affiliate program in the new year. This will ensure you are optimizing your campaigns and partnerships properly, that you’ve identified potential gaps in your partnerships, that your reporting and tracking is up to par, and that you’re maximizing efficiencies across the program.
Here are just a couple of pointers on what you might consider looking at in regards to your program content:
- To save time and stay organized, divide your audit into groups – most visited posts, older posts relevant to today, etc.
- Pay attention to keywords. If you have discovered that one of your older posts is getting really popular, audit the copy for keywords that could be turned into affiliate links for even more referral opportunities.
- Add a current sale/promotion to an older post that’s relevant to help with conversation (just be sure to remove it after the duration of the sale).
Sometimes having a fresh set of eyes on your program can be a huge help, and proactive brands will contact agencies such as ourselves to provide some fresh perspective and feedback on where and how to grow.
3. Best Practices For Affiliate Recruitment
Back in March, we took a look at affiliate recruitment practices for Q2. Knowing that Q3 and Q4 are focused around promotions and maximizing sales during back to school and holiday shopping, Q2 is a great time to do new partner recruitment leading up to the busy sales season.
In summary, here are the high-level takeaways from this post:
- Plan Ahead
- Do Ahead (of time)
- Revisit Old Conversations
- Maximize Important Holidays
- Check on Leads
- Stand Out
Click the link above to read the full article about affiliate recruitment practices that will help you be more successful going into the new year.
4. 10 Tips To Launch Your Affiliate Program
In May, we posted 10 Tips for Launching a Successful Affiliate Marketing Program. With many companies launching affiliate programs for the first time this upcoming year, this blog post will help ensure you don’t miss any important foundational work as you prepare to launch your very own affiliate program.
Tips include:
- Identify Your Goals
- Define the Structure of Your Program
- Define the Audience
- Choose the Right Network
- Commit to Success
- Be Open to Different Partners
- Be Prepared for the Unforeseen
- Develop Resources
- Develop Relationships
- Gather Feedback
When designing a new affiliate program from scratch it’s important to know the pitfalls and set your program up for success. If you’re unsure about how or where to launch your program, feel free to reach out to speak with one of our experts today.
5. 10 Essential Skills Affiliate Managers Need to be Successful.
This year, we welcomed featured guest writer, Dustin Howes to provide us with some essential skills needed for affiliate managers to thrive. Here is his top 10 list of key skills affiliate program managers need in order to be successful:
- Have a partnership-first mentality
- Have excellent communication skills with partners and executives
- Bring your analytical mind to the table
- Be good at negotiations
- Bring tenacity
- Have a strong attention to detail
- Be good at creative campaign generation
- Be hungry for continued education
- Be good at utilizing affiliate marketing tools
- Be good at time management
And that’s a wrap!
We thank you for your continued support and advocacy here at AIM. 2023 is going to be an incredible year of growth and success across the industry, and we look forward to sharing more insights and best practices along the way!
