How to build an affiliate marketing funnel that works for your business

Did you know that 4 out 5 companies use affiliate marketing on a global basis? Because affiliate marketing allows businesses to work with experienced marketers who run performance-based campaigns, this is a great marketing strategy. The success of your affiliate marketing campaigns doesn’t depend only on the quality of the partners you choose. It also depends on how well your funnel structure and customer service cater to your buyers.

Our team at lemonads has worked with top companies and affiliates across a variety of industries. We help these companies find the best partners. Additionally, we analyze all the sales funnels we find to determine which one has the greatest chance of success.

This article will give you a quick overview of affiliate marketing and describe a sales funnel. We will also discuss the importance of the buyer’s journey, and offer tips for how to create an affiliate marketing sales funnel that works for your business.

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Before we discuss the steps to increase your affiliate marketing sales funnel it is important to understand how this type advertising works. Affiliate marketing, in simple terms, is a way for companies (or advertisers) to form partnership agreements with independent marketers (known by affiliate publishers or affiliates), in order get more business.

Affiliate marketing is performance advertising. This means that advertisers pay only when affiliates convert. An action that advertisers want their audience to take is a conversion. This could be filling out a contact page or purchasing. Companies don’t have to pay their affiliates unless they generate similar leads or results.

Let’s look deeper at the various stakeholders who are part of the affiliate ecosystem.

dvertisers

Advertisers are companies that promote their products or services through affiliate marketing partnerships. The affiliate program is developed by advertisers. This includes all the terms and conditions. This information includes details such as the payout per conversion, target user location requirements, and other similar details.

It’s your responsibility as an advertiser to create basic materials that will help your affiliates build better campaigns. This includes elements such as logos and banners that can be edited by affiliates before publication. This is an effort to make it easier for affiliates to handle repetitive, time-consuming tasks so they can focus on the elements that will help them generate more revenue.

Consumers

You probably already know that consumers are the people advertisers wish to attract. These individuals are the target audience for advertisers. However, consumer trends change quickly so it is important to keep up with any major changes in order to achieve the best results.

Advertisers can stop worrying about their customers once they have started working with affiliates. Remember that it is the responsibility of affiliates to send traffic to your landing page for your affiliate program. Affiliates are not responsible for making sure this landing page and the experience that follows are engaging. It is important to keep an eye on your audience and adjust based upon any new trends. This may require investing in resources.

ffiliates

We have covered a lot about what affiliates do and who they are. One thing to remember is that affiliates are not all created equal. Some marketers have established platforms that are well-respected and have a steady stream of users. You may not have the same quality or volume of users, so it is important to be careful about the partnerships you make.

Although you can work with affiliates individually, this places a lot of pressure on your team. Advertisers will need to find new partners and evaluate each case individually in this situation, which reduces their time.

Instead of investing your time and money in vetting every potential customer, partner with networks that will help you find the best affiliates.

ffiliate networks

Affiliate networks connect advertisers with top affiliates within their respective verticals. Affiliate networks such as lemonads are able to build great relationships with both advertisers and affiliates, and act as a mediator between them in all aspects of their operations, including financial performance.

Networks can also specialize in certain types of affiliate programs but they often have a restricted reach in terms of reaching affiliates. You should instead look for an affiliate network that has a large portfolio and a track record of success. This will allow you to cast a wide net and then go through an elimination process in order to find the best affiliates.

Definition of a Sales Funnel

A sales funnel is something that every business owner knows. A sales funnel simply means a visual representation of the steps your customers take to become customers.

Your sales funnel is just another angle of your buyer’s path, which describes the journey that most customers take before purchasing from you. Each company has its own buyer’s journey and sales funnel. You need to assess your business and create a structure that suits your unique needs.

The vast majority of sales funnels can now be broken down into four parts.

wareness

The awareness level is the top of the funnel. It’s wider and more general than all the other steps. Your audience may not know much about your business, solutions, or how they can solve their problem. This is why you need to assume this when creating content for your sales funnel. These materials should be informational but also include a clear CTA that will help you generate sales.

Interest

We reach the next stage of the sales funnel as we go down: interest. The consumer in the interest stage has taken notice of your products or services but needs to know more about them and all the alternatives before making a decision. The content should be more specific than that at the awareness stage. It should explain to the audience why your product/service is the best.

Desire/Consideration

Once you have created content that makes your solution the best, you can move on to the consideration or desire stage. You need to convince your audience you are the best option and that your solutions will help them overcome any obstacle.

ction/Decision

The final stage of the sales funnel, or the decision level, is about closing the sale. The goal is to get your audience to take action. It’s crucial to use active language and strategically placed CTAs. Don’t disrupt the flow of your funnel with too many options.

How to create an affiliate marketing sales funnel

No matter what product you are promoting, whether it’s video games consoles, shoes, or supplements, you must have a well-designed sales funnel in order to maximize your affiliate marketing efforts.

To improve the performance of your funnel, you need to understand the process customers go through before purchasing. You need to understand your audience to ensure that your funnel keeps them engaged.

Let’s look at the steps most businesses must take to increase their affiliate sales funnel.

Optimize your website

Your website’s content directly reflects your product and service quality. You must ensure that your website and content are appealing to visitors via affiliate marketing. This includes functionality, appearance, and loading speed. Make sure your technical team is involved in this process.

Create engaging content

We have already mentioned that your website’s content is your online portfolio and business card. It must be clear, engaging, accurate and easily understood. The graphics that you use must be original and relevant. If you are using stock photos, it is important to edit the images and apply filters.

Establish a trusting relationship with your audience

The next step is to use this content to establish a strong relationship. Many companies offer special discounts and create affiliate programs. They reward customers who use the code or voucher. These programs can be used to build customer relationships and give both sides something in return.

You should ensure that your site has elements that help close the deal

You can increase the chances of success for your affiliates by making sure that all your site features are focused on conversions, no matter if it’s an auto-fill contact form or a one-click checkout cart. You can identify the obstacles that prevent prospects from moving down your sales funnel, and then implement additional features to help eliminate them.

Are you ready to build a great affiliate sales funnel? Lemonads is available for help.

It is difficult to create an affiliate marketing funnel that converts, especially if your experience with this type advertising is limited. Affiliate programs can help increase company growth exponentially without spending a lot of money. You should spend time understanding your buyer’s journey and creating a customized play to help you create an effective sales funnel for your affiliate marketing efforts.

Lemonads knows that the best partnership is key to a strong sales funnel. Contact us today to learn more about our affiliate network or track down the top affiliates in your field.