Are you looking to scale your affiliate marketing program but are short on time? Join the club! The affiliate manager job is never done since there are always more partners to recruit to your program.

Finding the right affiliates is crucial to achieving higher conversions, engaging content, and quality leads for your business. Here’s a quick breakdown of the best ways to discover affiliates aligning with your goals.

Why Finding the Right Affiliates Matters

Affiliates are the lifeblood of brands, showcasing how your products are excellent. The true power lies within real people, showcasing real results to real people. Here are a few main factors: 

• Credibility Boost: Affiliates advocate for your brand, building trust with their audiences.

• Targeted Reach: They connect you with the ideal audience already interested in your product type.

• Quality Traffic & Conversions: Well-matched affiliates bring visitors who are likely to convert.

• Valuable Insights: Affiliates can provide direct feedback and audience insights to improve your offerings.

• Engageing content: Affiliates are often content creators themselves and can provide engaging and informative content about your product or service.

• Cost-effective marketing: With affiliates, you only pay for the conversions they bring, making it a more cost-effective form of advertising than traditional methods such as TV or print ads.

• Long-term partnerships: Collaborating with affiliates can lead to long-term partnerships, as they are vested in promoting your product and helping it succeed. It is SO MUCH easier to work with a successful partner again than finding new ones who may or may not even like your product.

Affiliate marketing allows for a more personalized approach to promoting your brand. Each affiliate has its unique style and way of connecting with its audience, allowing for a diverse range of promotional strategies to reach different segments of potential customers.

Moreover, by working with multiple affiliates, you can tap into various markets you may not have been able to reach on your own. This can expand your brand's presence.

How to Get Affiliates to Promote Your Brand

This is an art and a science. Working with creators productively requires patience, empathy, and experience. Here are some significant pointers I wish I had known when starting as an affiliate manager.

It's not about what you want...it's about how you can help them

When approaching potential affiliates, it's important to remember that they are not just a means for you to promote your brand and increase sales. They have their own goals, values, and audiences that they want to cater to. It's crucial to understand what they are looking for and how you can provide value to them in order for them to see the benefit of promoting your brand.

Don't make them take all the risk

Affiliates are taking a risk by promoting your brand and putting their reputation on the line. Their time and efforts should be compensated fairly, so forcing them into a performance-based relationship is not always the correct answer. As a business owner, it's important to acknowledge this and ensure you are not making them take all the risk. This means providing fair compensation, being transparent with your partnerships, and offering support whenever needed. Consider their needs and negotiate a deal that works for you and them.

Communication is key

Like any successful relationship, communication is key in affiliate marketing. Make sure to establish clear lines of communication from the start and keep in touch regularly. This can help create a stronger partnership, promptly address any issues or concerns, and ensure that both parties are on the same page.

Transparency is key when working with affiliates. Make sure to communicate the compensation structure, whether a flat rate or commission-based and any expectations or guidelines for promoting your brand. This will help establish a mutual understanding and avoid any misunderstandings.

Choose Affiliates That Align with Your Brand

Don't try to jam a square peg into a round hole. In other words, don't choose affiliates not a good fit for your brand. This may seem like a no-brainer, but it's worth emphasizing because working with affiliates who don't align with your brand can do more harm than good.

When choosing affiliates, don't just look at their following. Consider their audience demographics, values, and overall image. Conduct research to identify creators whose content reflects your brand's tone and mission. You want to work with partners with a similar target market and share values similar to your brand. This will ensure that the promotion of your products or services feels organic and authentic to their audience.

How to find the right affiliates

This is a topic best saved for a different post. Read the comprehensive guide on how to find affiliates here.

Provide Resources for Your Affiliates

Once onboarded affiliates, provide them with the necessary affiliate marketing assets to promote your brand effectively. Make it easy for affiliates to promote your brand by providing them with the necessary resources. This can include high-quality product images, promotional copy, banners, and exclusive offers for their audience. The more equipped they are, the better they can highlight your products effectively.

Set Clear Expectations

Communicating expectations upfront is vital to building a successful partnership. Outline requirements like posting frequency, promotional strategies, and deadlines. This ensures you and the affiliate are on the same page, reducing misunderstandings.

Offer Competitive Commission Rates

Affiliates are more likely to stay motivated if they see value in the partnership. Research industry standards and offer competitive rates to ensure your collaboration remains attractive. Additionally, performance-based incentives for top-performing affiliates should be considered to encourage consistent results.

Earnings per click (EPC) is the master metric that affiliates want to see. If your program's EPC is high, it makes conversations in recruiting and affiliates much easier.

Maintain Strong Relationships

Building trust is key to long-term success. Regularly check in with your affiliates, gather feedback, and offer support whenever needed. Acknowledge their efforts and celebrate milestones, such as hitting sales goals, to show appreciation for their contribution.

Don't underestimate the importance of connecting with partners on a personal level. This will help create loyalty for the future.

Proven Methods to Find Affiliates

Now that we know more about motivating affiliates, we can concentrate on finding the right ones. Here are some ideas on where to start, but I'd suggest digging into our guide to find affiliates here.

Existing Customers 

 Who better to recommend your product than satisfied customers? Turn your happy users into advocates by inviting them to join your affiliate program. Start by sending a survey to gather the satisfied customers, then ask them if they'd like cash for referring friends.

These make the best partners. They have first-hand experience with the product, and the content they create could turn into UGC that you can repurpose for other marketing channels and campaigns.

Social Media Influencers 

Search for creators in your industry using platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Nano and micro-influencers with smaller, highly engaged audiences often drive authentic results.

With Affistash at your side, you can target the exact follower size, engagement level, and audience demographic that fits your brand's target market. Sign up for a free trial here to see for yourself.

When selecting influencers to work with, do your research and choose those who align with your brand values and image. Building authentic relationships with influencers is important rather than just paying for a one-time post.

Influencers can also be valuable in creating user-generated content (UGC) for your brand. By showcasing their experience with your product or service, you can leverage their content on social media and use it as social proof for potential customers.

Additionally, influencer marketing can help expand your reach and tap into new audiences. Collaborating with influencers in different niches or industries can introduce your brand to new demographics and increase brand awareness.

Online Research 

Spend time exploring blogs, forums, and industry-specific websites. Look for content creators or experts who focus on topics that align with your offering. Niche blogs and websites with content surrounding your keywords are gold mines.

Manual searches are a great start, but some platforms and tools can help you find influencers more efficiently. This is where Affistash shines, helping you identify publishers' ranking on search engines in real-time.

Once you have identified potential influencers, research and evaluate their relevancy and authenticity. Look at their content, engagement rates, and audience demographics to ensure they fit your brand well. Then, use Affistash to find the contact information of the right people.

Affiliate Recruiting Agencies 

Pressed for time? Some agencies dedicated to affiliate program growth have a Rolodex of affiliate partners they can call on. Partner with agencies that specialize in finding affiliates. They’ll do the outreach for you, ensuring you’re connected with motivated partners who fit your niche.

Affiliate Networks

Affiliate networks are another effective way to connect with potential partners. These networks serve as a marketplace where brands and affiliates can find one another. By joining an affiliate network, you can access a vast pool of pre-vetted affiliates, simplifying recruitment.

Affiliate networks often provide tools for tracking, reporting, and managing your program, making measuring performance and optimizing your campaigns easier. Popular affiliate networks cater to various industries, so take the time to choose one that aligns with your business goals and target audience.

Not all affiliate networks are built the same. Don't just randomly join networks, thinking affiliates will swarm in to promote your product. You must research which affiliate network is best for your niche and budget.

Also, don't be fooled by network sales tactics of how many affiliates are on their platform. This is a vanity metric. Recruiting partners on a platform is still hard work.

Using the Right Tech to Get Affiliates

Want to streamline the process of finding potential partners and their contact info? Affistash makes affiliate discovery simple. With advanced targeting tools, automated outreach, and integrated tracking, you’ll find the best affiliates faster and with less effort.

Start building your affiliate dream team today. Try our affiliate discovery tool for free and see results in no time!