Blogging has become a powerful tool for business and personal brand building. With the rise of digital and social media platforms, bloggers have become influencers in their own right, with many earning a substantial income from their online presence.
In this article, we highlight three main affiliate marketing strategies from five highly successful influencers and break down how you can benefit from these tactics, too.
1. Leverage CPA and Commission Opportunities
Sami Clarke is a wellness blogger with 471,000 YouTube followers. She discusses a healthy lifestyle, workout routines, recipes, and nutritional choices. Her digital platform, FORM, provides a subscription to workouts, nutrition plans, and other wellness content with the goal of "encouraging you to be the best version of yourself."
Affiliate marketing through cost per action (CPA) is one way Sami monetizes her blog. This involves promoting products or services on her blog and receiving a commission for every sale made through her affiliate link.
Bloggers can also earn CPA income by generating leads through newsletter signups or other actions a brand is interested in.
With a large loyal following on both YouTube and Instagram, she first established trust by delivering free content before promoting any products or services. This is an important tip to remember, especially for new influencers.
Becoming a brand partner or ambassador is another common way influencers generate revenue.
For example, Sami also partners with wellness and fitness brands like Gymshark and Alo Yoga, adding affiliate links in her posts and encouraging followers to use them when they make a purchase.
In return, she earns a commission on the sale.
2. Offer Value Beyond Basic Affiliate Marketing Codes
Beauty and fashion blogger Christine Lee has built a following of 256,000 viewers on YouTube thanks to her fresh, exciting content.
Not only does she use commissionable links, but she also offers valuable free tutorials (like her popular video "How to pose for Instagram photos") and fun giveaways to incentivize her followers to make purchases.
Additionally, Christine creates specially designed Lightroom presets that followers can purchase to achieve a specific look or style in their own photos.
Natalie Barbou, lifestyle influencer and founder of Rella, an all-in-one management tool for influencers, has also created her own platform called Let's Collaborate, which connects brands with bloggers in their niche and provides bloggers with easy tracking tools to manage collabs and earnings.
A successful entrepreneur, she also monetizes her blog by partnering with brands like H&M and Benefit Cosmetics for affiliate commissions and making aesthetic posts and stories that showcase various looks, allowing viewers to go straight to her blog to purchase their favorite looks.
New York-based fashion stylist Liz Teich (@TheNewYorkStylist) takes a similar approach to make money with her Instagram account. She offers numerous services like closet refreshers and generous discounts with partners, such as 40% off Rent the Runway subscriptions.
However, the distinctive style and shoppability of her posts set her apart from others in her niche. She creates a range of content, including outfit photos, fashion and styling advice, and behind-the-scenes glimpses into her life as a stylist and blogger.
Her posts are well-curated and visually appealing, focusing on high-quality photography and engaging captions.
As a stylist, she works with fashion magazines and puts effort into strengthening her personal brand as well, garnering features in Forbes, the New York Post, and other prominent publications.
She also has a link page that makes it extremely easy to create a sales funnel from her Instagram to a brand website to buy any look or product she shows on Instagram, streamlining the process of generating revenue.
3. Take Advantage of Direct Advertising
The "queen of affiliate marketing," Miss Jemima is a beauty blogger with over 183,000 YouTube followers. Her primary strategy is actively using direct advertising and affiliate links to monetize her content.
The effectiveness of her plan lies in her understanding of how to get her community engaged with her content. Direct sales is the most useful tactic for people who are great at creating connected communities who are eager to try products endorsed by their favorite influencers.
For instance, Miss Jemima most often uses direct advertising when reviewing tools or products and includes an affiliate link to the product in the description. If viewers click the link and make a purchase, she earns a commission on the sale.
She also uses all-caps captions and clickbait on videos to gain more attention, boosting the chances of creating viral content. Her approach is also a great example of using gamification like cooking challenges to encourage likes, shares, and involvement.
Christine Lee also makes the most of her direct advertising partnerships. In a recent example, she published a makeup tutorial using Tarte products and included affiliate links to the products in the video description.
The campaign helped drive sales of Tarte's products and raise brand awareness among her followers. Remember, creating value for brand partners is just as important as giving followers extra value.
Unlock Your Full Earning Potential By Leveling Up Your Affiliate Marketing Strategies
Successful bloggers have found ways to generate income from their online presence by using a range of sales tools, such as CPA, affiliate links, promo codes, and direct advertising from brands.
They also understand the importance of establishing trust within their niche, developing an appealing personal brand, and providing value to both partners and followers.
Analyzing the techniques employed by these bloggers can help you learn how to leverage sales tools effectively in your own blog and grow your online business.
Whether you're a novice or an experienced blogger, these top influencers offer inspiration and a wealth of knowledge to aid your journey. The benefits of affiliate marketing for bloggers are evident, and with the right approach, you can also achieve success online.