Looking for creative strategies to promote affiliate links?
You’re going in the right direction.
You see, they were wrong when they said affiliate marketing is passive income.
In reality, that’s not exactly true.
Sure, it’s a great way to make huge income.
It promises a life of freedom, variety, and flexibility.
It opens a door to all the changes you’ve ever wanted to see in your life.
But it’s not passive income.
Not really.
You don’t sign up for affiliate programs, publish your links, and then leave them alone to make you money.
Nope!
Affiliate marketing is a journey you take with your audience.
You need to know exactly who they are, and how they change over time.
You need to address their needs.
You need to update old blogs to match their fluctuating interests.
And if you want to earn consistent income…
…you need to consistently promote your affiliate links.
But how do you do it?
In this blog, I’ll show you nine proven-and-tested strategies the best affiliate marketers use to gain consistent success.
Let’s dive right in!
This post is part of our free series on Affiliate Marketing! If you want to learn everything from A – Z in one place, then check out our course below!
Where to Promote Affiliate Links: 9 Strategies that Work
Imagine this.
You walk into a sparkling new chocolate shop down the block.
You’ve heard a ton of great things about it, and you’d love to give it a try.
But the moment you step inside, you’re met with a ferociously grinning salesman.
He’s in a cherry red shirt and his smile extends from ear to ear.
Now, you’re not even sure if you want to buy anything right now.
All you want to do is walk through the shop and have a look.
But Mr. Salesman is hounding every step you take.
He thrusts his face into yours, yapping on and on about how great their chocolate is.
He tells you that if you don’t buy by midnight, you’ll lose your 2% discount forever.
What do you do?
Leave, of course.
Anyone in their right mind would.
Why?
No one likes being sold to.
In fact, this is truer today than it ever was.
Just look at how people feel about ads.
Source: backlinko.com
And if people hate ads so much they’re willing to pay for ad blockers…
…you’ll be in a bad position if your affiliate marketing campaigns smell like sleazy ads.
What to do instead: use creative strategies to promote your affiliate links.
Here are nine that’ll work wonders for you.
- Naturally Weave Them Into Your Blog
Think back on the best ads in history, and you’ll notice something in common about them:
They don’t seem like ads.
Nope!
They’re inspiring stories, precious lessons, or fun laughs.
Like this legendary ad by Budweizer.
Now, if you want to promote your affiliate links without being hated, you should do the same.
Introduce your links naturally into a story, a piece of advice that’ll help improve your audience’s life, or a fun seasonal blog.
Besides info articles, here are three types of blogs you can write to seamlessly promote your affiliate links:
Remember, introduce your links naturally. Don’t be spammy. Don’t overdo it.
Here’s an example of affiliate links naturally introduced into an info blog.
Source: smartblogger.com
- Create In-Depth YouTube Videos
Where do you go when you want to learn how to braid hair, how to do make french bread, or how to juggle?
YouTube, of course.
With over two billion monthly active users, this video platform is an excellent place to promote your links.
(Plus, it’s fun.)
Of course, you shouldn’t just throw your links into random videos no one will care about.
To really get attention, clicks, and purchases, you need to create entertaining, helpful, unique content, then introduce your links to your audience.
Examples of types of content that work are unboxing videos, in-depth tutorials, and product comparisons.
Like this one:
You can mention your affiliate links in the video, or put them down below.
Like this:
Source: youtube.com
- Decorate Your Site with Affiliate Banners
Imagine that you’re a cat lover.
Because you adore cats, you love to read stories and facts about these cute little critters.
One of your favorite sites is The Conscious Cat, which is packed with funny anecdotes, heartwarming stories, and memorable cat quotes.
One day, as you’re scrolling through the blog posts, you stumble upon this banner ad.
Source: consciouscat.net
“Now, that’s unique,” you think. “I can actually monitor my cat’s health with kitty litter!”
What do you do next?
Check it out, of course.
I mean, you’re already buying cat litter for your furry friend.
Why not buy one that allows you to check on her health as well?
That’s how great banners can be.
The good news is, many affiliate programs offer affiliate banners you can use on your site.
All you need to do is paste the HTML they provide, and the clickable banner will appear.
Here’s an example of a great affiliate banner from BlueHost.
Source: adamenfroy.com
- Mention Your Affiliate Links in Your Email Campaigns
As an affiliate marketer, it should be your goal to build an email list.
Why?
Because email is far from dead.
In fact, it’s powerful.
Yup: email marketing’s ROI is at a whopping 42%.
Plus, 52% of companies are using it as a primary communication tool.
Source: snov.io
These simple facts prove that email marketing is a powerful way to get results.
Also, that email subscribers are listening.
So once you build a sizeable list, what you can do is promote your links to your audience.
Again, I don’t mean in a spammy way.
You should never hit “send” on an email packed with a long list of meaningless links.
Instead, you can do something entertaining and educational, like an email newsletter.
Send your audience daily (or weekly) tips, advice, examples, and guides. Inside, you can naturally include links to your affiliate products.
Here’s an example of an email with an affilaite link:
Source: Gmail
- Create a Resources or Tools Page
When you succeed at setting yourself up as an expert in your industry, people will begin asking you questions.
“What tools do you use?”
“What brands do you trust?”
“Do you use any software? If so, what?”
If this is already happening to you, then congratulations!
After you’ve sipped your champagne and done a happy celebration dance, you can sit down and create an in-depth resource page.
This page will list everything you use and trust, from tools to software to your favorite Pomodoro timer (if you use one).
When you’re done, your resource page will look something like this:
Source: smartblogger.com
This idea is great because:
- It helps your readers by telling them about awesome products and services you trust
- You get to promote all of your affiliate links on one core page
- Mention Your Affiliate Products in Your Podcast
A podcast is a great way to get one-on-one with your audience.
While they’re listening to you talk, they’re 100% focused on what you’re saying.
It’s different from your blog, when they’re skimming around, clicking on different tabs, or zoning out in front of their screen.
This means your podcast is a great place to talk about your affiliate products.
Remember, however, that your audience won’t listen if you simply throw out your links at the end.
Instead, you should talk about the products you’re promoting. Intrigue your listeners. Make them curious.
Then, at the end of the podcast, tell them about your affiliate website so they can visit it themselves and find your links there.
- Mention Your Affiliate Products on Social Media
Here’s a stunning fact:
There are 3.78 billion people currently using social media.
Source: statista.com
That’s more than half the world’s total population!
What this means for you: social media is a huge platform where you can find a ton of people who’ll love your affiliate products.
The only gap between right now and the moment they start buying with your links: learning how to promote your links on social.
Don’t worry, though.
Once you set yourself up as an authority in your industry, you’ll start getting likes and follows.
As soon as you’ve racked up a following, you can go ahead and start posting helpful social media content like tutorials, reviews, and reaction videos.
Like this one:
Source: facebook.com
- Include Your Links Inside Your Digital Products
If you own digital products such as books or courses, these are some other places you can promote your affiliate links.
Of course, you’ll have to do it naturally and make sure your affiliate products will be helpful to your audience.
For instance, if you’ve created an email marketing course, you can add your ConvertKit affiliate link.
That’s because once your students learn the basics of email marketing, they’ll need software to turn their new knowledge into practice.
- Include Your Affiliate Links in Guest Posts
What’s great about guest posting is that you’ll be putting yourself in front of a different and much wider audience.
What this means for you: more chances to promote your affiliate links.
Remember, however, that you should first discuss with the blog owner whether or not you can use your affiliate links in your guest post.
Communication is key when it comes to guest posting, and you don’t want to ruin relationships that could benefit you in the future.
If the blog owner agrees, then great!
Keep in mind, though, that because this new blog’s audience is different, you’ll need to brainstorm to see if the products you’re promoting will be useful to them.
Where to Promote Affiliate Links: The Next Steps Forward
Ok, so you’ve already signed up for affiliate programs.
You’re ready to take the world by storm, and start earning truckloads of money through your affiliate links.
Great!
Remember, however, that affiliate marketing requires steady, consistent work.
You can’t simply drop a few links in a handful of random blog posts, and expect them to make money for you while you sleep.
Nope!
Instead, you need to work for it.
You need to continually promote your affiliate links.
Don’t worry, though.
There are a ton of proven-and-tested strategies that will help you do just that.
To begin, follow the nine I mentioned above.
Choose one or two to start, and when you’ve succeeded, choose another two.
Repeat the process, and you’ll be amazed to see how well your efforts pay off!
This post is part of our free series on Affiliate Marketing! If you want to learn everything from A – Z in one place, then check out our course below!
