A few short years ago, affiliate marketing was considered on the fringe and marketers were on the fence about whether or not this technique is effective. Now, towards the end of 2018, affiliate marketing programs have become a reputable and effective way to promote products and increase conversions.
In fact, affiliate marketing went from an obscure, almost taboo way of branding your business to a market where businesses spent $4.7 billion in 2016. That number is expected to rise to $6.8 billion by 2020.
The New Year is coming, as affiliate marketing is still growing and evolving. If you’re considering this method for your business, it’s important that you understand the trends that revealing themselves as 2019 draws closer.
We are going to look at some of the ways affiliate marketing is changing and discover how you can make your business more successful. Let’s dive in!
Trend #1: Keyword-Rich Reviews Rule
The most important trend you need to know is that keyword-rich reviews of products are still the number one way to see positive results with affiliate marketing. When people search for things like '(Product Name) Review' they are there — ready to make the purchase. All they need is a little bit of final encouragement.
High-quality, honest reviews are the key to getting conversions through the marketers working under you. On the other hand, if you’re an affiliate marketer, you need to make sure you’re offering businesses great content and honest reviews based on the products you’re advertising on your website.
When you are working with an affiliate marketer, try to work with people who are going to put up reviews of your product or service. This trend is something that is going to continue through and well past 2019.
Trend #2: Optimize for Voice Search
As devices like Amazon’s Echo Dot hit the market, one thing is clear — voice search is not just a novelty like many marketers once thought. As of right now, it’s reported that 40 percent of Americans use voice search once per day.
Searching for information about products is slowly switching from text to voice commands. If someone is looking for a new TV they are going to ask, 'What’s the best-LED TV on the market?' The way people search is different, and you have to prepare for that whether you’re an affiliate marketer or if you want to have affiliate marketers work for your company.
On that note, if you’re a marketer, make sure you have the proper SEO tools to plan for voice search. Use a good keyword planner and ensure that you’re targeting words that people are more likely to verbally search for instead of typing.
If you’re a business owner looking for potential people to do affiliate marketing for you make sure you ask them whether or not they optimize for voice search. This trend is growing rapidly and the best way to stay ahead of the game is by planning ahead and building on trends that have yet to completely emerge.
Trend #3: Email and Affiliate Marketing – A Perfect Match
Most affiliate marketers have a lead list that they use to get in touch with people who may be interested in the products that they are selling. There are a couple of different types of lead lists that marketers use.
The first common list consists of fans of the marketer’s website. They know that they are following an affiliate and enjoy the content that they deliver. These are folks who are likely to convert when they get emails advertising product review and information.
Secondly, many affiliate marketers get lead lists from the company that they are promoting. The business owner will transfer some leads (such as those found in retargeting campaigns) from their email marketing software.
The people who seek affiliate marketers should consider segmenting their lead list regularly to make sure they are delivering high quality leads to the affiliate marketer. The goal is to get conversions and create ad campaigns that appeal to a quality lead list. The better the leads, the higher the chance of a conversion.
Email marketing with affiliate products has been a gradually growing trend over the past few years. Many business owners believe that this is a trend that will continue to evolve as ad campaigns get better at targeting specific audiences.
Trend #4: Advertising – Beyond the Banner
Banner ads are seen as the most common form of affiliate marketing. The folks will write the content for businesses while injecting links to the product as well as the banners to help promote conversions. As we head into 2019, it’s obvious that banners and affiliate content work, but there is more room for advertising than ever before.
Affiliate marketers are now moving over to social media as a way to pull in more conversions and get more subscribers under their belt.
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram offer ad programs for business owners and affiliate marketers. The key to this type of advertising is you have to be transparent and let people know that you’re an affiliate marketer when they read your content.
There is a difference between an objective review and one done by an affiliate marketer. It’s vital that the people who come to your page understand the difference. As long as you are transparent while advertising, your social media ads will work as intended and help you gain conversions for your business.
Affiliate Marketing in 2019
There is no doubt that affiliate marketing is quickly becoming one of the best ways to market your products to a wider audience. If you’re an affiliate marketer, you can rest easy knowing that there will be work available in your field for a long time.
The upcoming year is an evolution in marketing as we know it. As we go into 2019 it’s important to remember that you have to stay ahead of these trends if you want to be successful in your professional life. When you start thinking about how you market your products, try to implement these tips.
At this point, 16 percent of online orders are due to affiliate marketing — and that number is only going to increase. Before you know it, you’ll be getting plenty of conversions and grow your business and profit margin with ease.
Syed Balkhi is the founder of WPBeginner, the largest free WordPress resource site. With over 10 years of experience, he’s the leading WordPress expert in the industry. You can learn more about Syed and his portfolio of companies by following him on his social media networks.