FEEDFRONT
48
NOVEMBER 2019 | ISSUE
The official magazine for Affiliate Summit When You Talk, Does Anybody Listen?
Conversations to Conversions
Establishing Campaign Guidelines for Influencers
For many years I thought it was weak and shameful to go to a therapist. I was wrong.
Peer-to-peer marketing is the fastest growing channel for brands, and it’s no surprise.
Creating definitive program guidelines for your influencers will result in a clear understanding of your objectives.
By Shawn Collins, Page 4
By Melissa D. Salas, Page 12
By Paige White, Page 9
Do affiliate relationships matter in a world driven by performance data? BY DECLAN DUNN PAGE 5
Affiliate marketing is
our origin Trusted partnerships are
our purpose Innovation fuels
our passion Diversity defines
our culture Growth drives
our ambition
www.awin.com | www.commissionfactory.com
STAFF Co-Editors in Chief Missy Ward, Shawn Collins
FEEDFRONT CONTENTS NO.48 11/19
Co-Publishers Missy Ward, Shawn Collins
When You Talk, Does Anybody Listen?
By Shawn Collins
04
Do affiliate relationships matter in a world driven by performance data?
By Declan Dunn
05
Graphic Design Craig Young
How to Make Money from Your Blog.
By Romona Foster
06
Magazine Coordinator Sara Szado
Partner Lifecycle Management: How to Get It Right.
By Julia Wild
07
5 Conversion Leaks that Hurt Your Affiliates.
By Taylor Barr
08
Establishing Campaign Guidelines for Influencers.
By Paige White
09
Millennials Favor Non-Branded Search in Finance Queries.
By Aviv Canaani
10
Contributing Writers: Taylor Barr, Aviv Canaani, Shawn Collins, Declan Dunn, Romona Foster, Corey Padveen, Melissa Salas, Lauren Tickner, Paige White and Julia Wild
Affiliate Summit Inc. 1690 Roberts Blvd NW Suite 111 Kennesaw, GA 30144 Phone: 203-580-1865 Articles in FeedFront Magazine are the opinions of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views of the magazine, or its owners. FeedFront Magazine always welcomes opinions of an opposite nature.
5 Criteria for Choosing the Right Influencers.
By Corey Padveen
11
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Conversations to Conversions.
By Melissa D. Salas
12
© 2019 Affiliate Summit, Inc. and Individual Authors.
How To Build An Engaged Audience On Social Media.
By Lauren Tickner
13
January 27-29 2020, Paris Las Vegas Hotel
THE BIGGEST PERFORMANCE MARKETING EVENT IN THE WORLD • Over 6,000 attendees • 70% of the audience are either affiliates or advertisers • Over 75 expert speakers • We guarantee that you will leave #ASW20 having networked & formed partnerships with companies that will help you grow your business. FIND OUT MORE
#ASW20 FeedFront | November 2019 | No. 48 | 03
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Shawn Collins @shawncollins
WHEN YOU TALK, DOES ANYBODY LISTEN? For many years I thought it was weak and shameful to go to a therapist. I was wrong. I thought I was good for a long time. Over ten years. But as the days went by, I realized I wasn’t. One of the biggest catalysts in my entrepreneur journey was also my greatest burden… the memories of working in New York City on 9/11. I didn’t die. I was only really scared that day, so I had a hard time accepting that it brought me pain and sadness and anxiety. It made me feel guilty. When I brought up what happened that day it seemed to make people uncomfortable. I got that, and it also made me wary of mentioning it. So I bottled it up. It was around six years ago that I finally got to a point where I thought I needed some help. It was my first visit to the 9/11 Memorial Museum, and I was overcome. I felt really irritable and claustrophobic. It really bothered me how jovial some people were in what I thought should be a very solemn place. And then I saw a bunch of people mugging for the camera in front of a destroyed fire truck. I had to get out of there. I verbalized to myself shortly after that I was going to find somebody to talk to about it. I went to Yelp to look up therapists who dealt with PTSD. My choice was a psychotherapist, because I just wanted someone to talk to about things vs. a psychiatrist, who could also prescribe medications. It felt so good to have somebody to talk to about things I felt like nobody wanted to hear, or I wasn’t comfortable talking about. As I worked through lingering 9/11 feelings, I also began to talk to a lot about work and the toll it took on me. That whole entrepreneurial story that people idealize, but that can be isolating and scary more often. The failures and self-doubt, while putting on a brave face, and the tricky balance of being an entrepreneur with healthy relationships and outlets. As I spoke to a therapist about personal and professional struggles, I found it beneficial in a number of ways. First, there was having a safe and private place to talk about sensitive issues. No judgement, nobody taking offense. It was
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a foreign feeling to have somebody just listen and share their perspective without their feelings or biases intruding. Second, it was an avenue to discuss how to improve sleep, nutrition, and physical activity patterns. These new, healthy behaviors and habits all had quick impacts on my physical and mental well-being. Third, my relationships became more satisfying with an understanding of the need of better communication and less assumptions. Finally, I became more mindful, less stressed, and more relaxed. I always heard the phrase “stop and smell the roses,” and I finally started doing it. Our toughest struggles are just that – they are ours and the toughest things we are dealing with. Don’t worry about measuring them against others or worrying yourself about the stigma of getting some help. We all need somebody who will listen. [FF] Shawn is Co-CEO of Affiliate Summit and Co-Editor-in-Chief of FeedFront Magazine, and blogs at affiliatetip.com.
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Speak to one of our experts Ayush Goyal - Managing Director SEA ayush.goyal@optimisemedia.com
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AFFILIATE MARKETING
AFFILIATE RELATIONSHIPS IN A WORLD DRIVEN BY DATA... By Declan Dunn
The affiliate world isn’t exactly rocket science. Find an affiliate program and contact the person running it for a partner who can do excellent, quality volume. Relationships in business and life revolve around how we are connected, and how we behave in that connection. So, when I began outreach recently with a major, and unusual, affiliate we found: • e mails unanswered for weeks and months; • people changing positions and not responding for months that a change Is happening. Not a single response. • A pplications that take so long to approve, followed up by a short-automated email sounding like an annoyed Alexa auto response.
While performance data drives the decisions, the reason we still have people in the affiliate business is because relationships open doors, improve results, and build loyalty in a world sorely lacking it. Performance data tells you what happened and what is likely to happen given a controlled set of variables, which life isn’t. Relationships matter because they go beyond the numbers to new solutions, lead to new partners, who help you find out what will work in the future. While the numbers don’t lie, relationships build mutual truths and mutual results in the affiliate world. [FF]
My experience isn’t unique, it is an example of how performance data may lead to profiling affiliates, automating and assuming results. Sure, that helps make things efficient, though it does have costs. Those who don’t fit the model get ignored, which can lead to missing many possible fits by reducing it only to math. I love machine learning and the customer journey, attribution and the dots connecting the first contact to the purchase is what drives us all. Performance data involves so many new elements, and the allure of AI makes us assume… it’s always right. Still if you just look for what’s working, you fail to grow and find new channels for your affiliate program. This confines you to one set of affiliates, when others are out there that don’t fit your model and will convert. Beyond data is the human ability to connect and learn how to work together. Putting that into a model of only what works removes the connection.
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Declan Dunn helps grow your business by pinpointing areas for growth experiences at DeclanDunn.com. FeedFront | November 2019 | No. 48
@feedfront | www.feedfront.com
HOW TO MAKE MONEY FROM YOUR BLOG
I started as an affiliate marketer in 2007 — before I knew much about social media. Being out of work at the time, it was affiliate marketing that helped me to survive. Still an affiliate for several companies today, I love showing other small business owners how they can add an additional stream of passive income to their business simply by blogging about products they use on a regular basis.
How to Get Started as an Affiliate By now, you should know what your niche is and who your target audience is. If you don’t know either of these, you will need to figure that out first. Knowing your specific niche and target audience will help you decide what company’s products you want to promote. I will use toys as the example niche in this article. Your target audience is parents with children under the age of three. Using this example, you can then determine you want to market toys from toy stores who sell toys for children under three.
Becoming an Affiliate There are a number of ways to become an affiliate of a toy store. You can: • V isit the store’s website and look for a link to join their affiliate program. If you don’t see a link, you may need to search their website or try one of the other methods below. • Search the internet for “[name of toy store] affiliate program” or “best affiliate programs for toys.” Go through the links that you find, and see what affiliate programs are out there for toys. • Do an online search for affiliate networks, and search the network sites for toys or toy companies. When you visit these sites always sign up as a publisher.
Once you find the affiliate programs you want to join, read the affiliate program terms, which will tell you about the program, including how much your commission will be. If you are satisfied with what you’ve read, apply to the programs. During the application process they will ask for your name, company information, and website URL.
After You are Accepted as an Affiliate Once your affiliate application is approved, you can login to your affiliate account and grab the URL links to the products that you want to promote. The URL will contain your unique affiliate ID, which will let the company know you referred the person that clicked on your affiliate link.
AFFILIATE MARKETING
By Romona Foster
Blogging About the Products Write a blog post about your experience with the product -- what you like about it, how you use it, and why you recommend it to your audience. This could be in the form of a review of the product or a how to article. You will want to include your unique affiliate link within the post. Only recommend products that you’ve used from companies you trust. In closing, be sure to write different types of posts (reviews, how to use articles, informational posts), and not every post has to be promotional. [FF]
Romona Foster is a Social Media Trainer & Consultant and blogs on romonafoster.com. FeedFront | November 2019 | No. 48
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@feedfront | www.feedfront.com
AFFILIATE MARKETING
PARTNER LIFECYCLE MANAGEMENT: HOW TO GET IT RIGHT By Julia Wild
Having the right partners involves nurturing relationships across the entire partnership lifecycle. This includes identifying partners that are the right fit to work with your brand to recruitment, onboarding, and education, and from there, activation and engagement, growth and optimization, and of course, analysis.
partners with the content, information and incentives that they need. Taking the time to set things up for success will mean you are able to drive results faster with partners and develop a sustainable revenue stream.
Whether it’s through affiliates, mobile apps, influencers, publishers, or any other type of partnership, a partner program can be one of the most powerful tools for generating revenue. Here are four tips for how to get the channel partner lifecycle right:
The partnership is under way and this is where having a partner communication and engagement strategy in place is crucial. Developing content that is responsive to your partners’ needs, providing consistent communication, and creating attractive promotions will ensure they are focused on your brand. These are all important parts of any communication and engagement plan. Staying in touch with positive encouragement will motivate your partners to scale up their productivity. Maybe your partner has generated high conversion rates one month or the article they put effort into writing has generated more sales– a short note or even a screenshot of their performance report will keep them activated and engaged.
Identify Partners are an extension of your business, and so not all partnerships are going to be the right fit. This can be evaluated based on their values, business approach and practice, as well as focus areas. One way to help you cultivate the right relationships can be done by defining your ideal partner profile. If you could create a partner, what would that partner look like? Having the right partner program for your brand starts with identifying the partners that will serve as the best brand ambassadors and partners in the long-term.
Recruit and Onboard Recruitment and onboard can be the most arduous and challenging part of the relationship-building journey. It involves ensuring the partner you’ve identified is ready and willing to work with your brand, and helping them to onboard in an effective and efficient way that suits your business and theirs. Make the recruitment process easy by explaining clearly what the steps are to join your program and make it as easy as possible for them to get started. You may be competing for their attention, so giving them the best resources and access as possible will help facilitate their onboarding. The more educated a partner is, the more likely they are to promote and become advocates of your product. Provide your
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Activate and Engage
Grow and Optimize Understanding your partners’ performance and what drives their results is key. This allows you to nurture those that need further support and acknowledge those partners that are performing well. To do so, and therefore effectively optimize your program or a specific campaign, you must have the ability to properly measure and analyze the results, from clicks to sign-ups to revenue generation. As expert marketers, your partners will need a similar level of transparency. Ensure you are providing them with the best tools and access to performance data to help them optimize their tactics and efforts. [FF]
Julia is Marketing Director at Fintel Connect (formally Share Results), a performance marketing company dedicated to financial services. FeedFront | November 2019 | No. 48
@feedfront | www.feedfront.com
5 CONVERSION LEAKS THAT HURT YOUR AFFILIATES
No business converts 100% of its prospects. And no affiliate partner expects a business to have a flawless funnel. However, there are many popular SaaS conversion practices and leaks that actually hinder your affiliate partners from helping them drive new customers to your product or services.
1. Stop Offering Freemium Only Options Many SaaS companies force all new prospects/users to go through a freemium account in order to upgrade to a paid account vs. allowing their users to buy directly off their website with a paid plan. But this practice isn’t enticing to affiliates who are compensated when a referred prospect actually buys an account. Start offering affiliate referrals with an option to buy direct and you can expect to see your conversion rates increase, thanks to happy affiliates.
2. Stop Creating Hurdles in Your Upgrade Path. According to a 2015 Fader Report , Spotify has a freemium-topaid upgrade rate of 26.6%. While this is definitely outside the average rate for SaaS companies, they have mastered the art of hooking freemium users and proving the value of their premium plans. While you might not be able to achieve such a high rate, what you can do is eliminate all the barriers that prevent freemium users from going for a paid account, like: confusing pricing options, unclear benefits, and non-essential features.
4. Quit Creating Complicated Pricing Models If you are charging by seat/person, subscriber, or segmenting a ton of feature sets across a variety of plans, you are making it harder for prospects to self-select what is right for them. By giving them too many options, you’re actually causing them to not make a choice at all. Simplify your pricing models and make it easier to buy. For both potential customers and affiliates, simplicity is the best and will drive better conversion.
CONVERSION
By Taylor Barr
5. Stop Being Everything to Everyone Start targeting to specific buyers. If your website focuses too much on appealing to a broad set of audiences, it will be difficult to get qualified buyers through the door. Even more, if an affiliate highlights a certain part of your product for a specific buyer in mind and the prospective buyer clicks over to your website that lacks continuity, the buying potential is drastically reduced (even if it is qualified traffic). In short, affiliates and buyers like simplicity. Make it easy to understand and easy to buy whenever possible. [FF]
3. Stop Restricting Deep Linking Affiliate partners promote your product or service in a variety of different ways. Therefore, it is critical for you to have optimized feature pages, and the ability to allow your partners to affiliate link to them. By offering deep linking to product feature pages, you are enabling your affiliates to do more to drive successful conversions.
Taylor Barr is CEO of The Up Foundry, an affiliate management agency for SaaS companiesperformance marketing company dedicated to financial services. FeedFront | November 2019 | No. 48
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@feedfront | www.feedfront.com
CONVERSION
ESTABLISHING CAMPAIGN GUIDELINES FOR INFLUENCERS By Paige White
Creating definitive program guidelines for your influencers will result in a clear understanding of deliverables, timelines, and campaign objectives.
The Checklist There is one very specific item that separates successful influencer campaigns from those that underperform; organization. Influencer programs that are well organized and establish clear guidelines will be appreciated by your influencers. The creation of a clear action plan will go a long way when it comes to ensuring optimal delivery of quality content in a timely and organized manner. For the purposes of this discussion, we will assume that you’ve selected your influencers based on a pre-established set of criteria according to your brand vertical or specific campaign requirements. These influencers will look to your brand or agency to provide definitive direction and a chronological checklist of campaign deliverables in order to outline exactly what they are required to produce, in what timeframe, and what they can expect in terms of talking points and support from the brand itself. The checklist also serves as an internal roadmap designed to keep the program on track when it comes to meeting target dates, content rollout, and distribution deadlines.
The Guidelines Once you’ve established a program checklist, you can move on to creating the specific program guidelines that your influencers will be expected to follow throughout the duration of the program. We break down these guidelines into four categories; prioritized, critical, required, ideal, and ‘wish list’.
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Critical Guidelines Critical Guidelines outline requirements for and address the most important content deliverables such as talking point inclusions and exclusions within the article or post; expected images or video; acceptable and unacceptable links; third party attributions, FTC or GDPR compliance requirements; social media post specifications; external references; and posting formats.
Required Guidelines Required Guidelines will address chronological obligations and responsibilities, such as calendar deadlines for initial drafts; expected turnaround by brand for approval; timeline for final content delivery; posting dates for social channels; reporting and tracking metric requirements; and follow up procedures.
Ideal Guidelines Ideal Guidelines provide influencers with a level of flexibility in determining how content will best resonate with their individual audience. This will cover a host of areas, such as content formatting; the messaging layout or design that appropriately merges the brand with the influencer’s ‘look’; content within email messaging; and the design of social posts. Ideal Guidelines will require a level of coordination and cooperation with the individual influencers in order to determine the best way to create ideal messaging for the target audience.
‘Wishlist” Guidelines Wishlist Guidelines are those that, in an ideal world, would be included in every element of the campaign, based on the overall program objectives. For example, if the intent of the content is to drive sales, the Wishlist might include offers or promotions, assuming that is in line with the influencer’s general writing format. [FF]
Paige White is President and Co-founder of SheSavvy.com, a leader in OPM influencer marketing solutions. FeedFront | November 2019 | No. 48
@feedfront | www.feedfront.com
MILLENNIALS FAVOR NON-BRANDED SEARCH IN FINANCE QUERIES SEARCH
By Aviv Canaani
Today’s technology has empowered people to manage their own finances with a click of a few buttons, either from their mobile device or personal computer. This has also created a huge shift in how consumers select their service providers. The millennial generation no longer cares about which mortgage provider their parents may have pledged their loyalty to for 30-plus years—what millennials care about is who “the best mortgage provider” is according to a Google search. In fact, due to the influx of millennial buyers into the market, borrowers are almost four times more likely to find their lender through online research or social media than five to ten years ago. This emerging trend of non-branded search seems to be popping up across the consumer finance sector, also including car insurance and personal loans. According to data compiled by our company, Natural Intelligence, personal loans, mortgages, and car insurance queries all had double-digit from from 2017 to 2018 in nonbranded search.
Buyers Want Comparison Info at Their Fingertips Non-branded search suggests that potential buyers are “high intent,” or in other words, very likely to make a purchase. But in order to do so they need more, easily accesible information in order to compare service providers, evaluate the various offerings, and decide which one best suits their needs. Across the consumer finance sector, potential buyers are more likely to convert into paying customers when they receive, up front, the rates for a mortgage, loan, or car insurance plan.
In addition, the following types of content often lead to higher conversion rates: • Comparison charts of the top three or five providers • Review pages and how-to guides • Infographics and rich imagery, in addition to written content
Non-branded Queries Drive New Marketing Strategy This new type of search behavior is also dictating how much companies are willing to shell out in their cost-per-click (CPC) campaigns. In the mortgage industry, non-branded queries like “best mortgages” and “best home loans” have a CPC that’s almost seven times more expensive than searches for specific leading banks. Also, desktop clicks cost more than mobile ones, as buyers are more likely to complete a transaction from their desktop computer. Companies that understand the current trends in nonbranded search, and can effectively integrate this knowledge into their digital marketing strategy, have the best possible chance of attracting new customers and growing their businesses.” With brand recognition tossed to the wayside, it’s fair to say that companies that can shift their strategy to identifying high intent consumers, and providing them with the best value for money, will rule the day. [FF]
Aviv Canaani is the director of marketing at Natural Intelligence, a global leader in intent marketing FeedFront | November 2019 | No. 48
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M5 CRITERIA FOR CHOOSING THE RIGHT INFLUENCERS
Most marketers are expanding the use of influencers in their marketing efforts. Influencer marketing is a great practice that can yield exceptional results, both in terms of growth and sales. However, there are several approaches to influencer marketing, and it can be difficult to identify the best methods to implement in order to develop a successful campaign. One of the areas where it is common to see marketers struggle is in the influencer selection process. Misconceptions exist when it comes to what constitutes an influencer. The term simultaneously means a lot and nothing. What is an influencer? At one point does someone become one? How can brands identify true influence? These five criteria, while not exhaustive, are important to consider when it comes to selecting the right people for your next campaign.
Media Strength and Alignment Part of any successful campaign means outlining the media strategy and determining the best way to reach and connect with prospective customers. Once that has been determined, part of your selection process will involve analyzing influencers’ strength with your preferred media, and how that aligns with the audience you are trying to reach. The higher the correlative relationship between those two, the better the influencer is for your campaign.
Historical Audience Engagement
Audience Makeup The classic ‘Know Your Customer’ marketing mantra extends to influencer marketing in the form of knowing your influencer’s audience. Outlining who you are trying to target means that influencer selection can be narrowed significantly once you have reviewed audience criteria from your selection of prospects.
Audience Size (Objective-Conditional) This might be the greatest pitfall marketers fall victim to with influencer campaigns: a singular focus on the vanity metric of audience size. Reach has long been held as a low-value metric with regards to tangible worth, yet we often lose sight of that when it comes to influencer marketing. What you’ll want to evaluate is not the overall size of the audience, but rather the size of the target audience and their respective high-value engagement metrics related to your objectives in the campaign.
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
By Corey Padveen
Responsiveness and Professionalism This might seem simple, but it is another area that seems often overlooked. Influencer campaigns are professional endeavors, and a lot of influencers have turned their followings into genuine businesses. There are some, however, that are simply not yet at the stage where they are ready to be involved with a professional campaign. This is something you’ll want to gauge so that you can decide whether to select that individual. [FF]
This is a particularly important selection criterion when it comes to driving sales and conversions. Audience size might be important but rolling engagement rates are what matter most. You want to ensure that influence means genuine influence over key audiences that has grown and been retained over time. If an influencer is truly valuable, they should have no problem sharing this information with you, and you should always be sure to ask for these insights before signing them on.
Corey Padveen is a Partner at t2 and the author of Marketing to Millennials for Dummies. FeedFront | November 2019 | No. 48
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SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
CONVERSATIONS TO CONVERSIONS
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By Melissa D. Salas
Peer-to-peer marketing is the fastest growing channel for brands, and it’s no surprise. The “power of the peer” has now proven up to 79% of online purchases made today with conversion rates on average of 10-12%. Moreover, 70% of millennials prefer peer recommendations over celebrity endorsements because they are regarded as more authentic.
Trust among friends Everyone reading this article loves some products and services they use on a daily basis. Even just last night, you may have been bragging to your friends via social media about a product you use, a service you’ve experienced, or a restaurant you tried. What if I told you that you could earn commissions for the sales you influence? But you’re not an influencer, you say? Yes, you are! That’s brand advocate marketing. There is trust among friends, family, and co-workers, so when you’re excited about sharing a product or service you love, they will believe you and maybe even try it themselves. You are the greatest influencer a brand could ever ask for.
Call to action When you are writing a review about a product or service, or bragging about it on social, your tone should have more of a “direct response” call-to-action message than simply an influencer’s typical caption or even branded message. That’s an essential factor in achieving those 10-12% conversion rate when a customer is excited about a product, when they tell everyone to try it and try it now. FOMO is a natural feeling we humans have. If everyone is doing it, we want to be doing it, too.
Real people, real reviews Let’s face it, branded content is great, models are attractive to look at, and often we daydream of us as them before we buy a product. However, people want to see real people with real reviews. When you’re a size 10 and the model is a size 0, you want to know how it would look on someone your size. Is it true to size? What’s the fabric like, really? How about beauty products or health supplements? Does the product really work? You get the idea. You would probably trust a stranger and their photo or video review over a branded ad. Brands need more customergenerated content to increase conversions.
Conversations last outside the social post
The new metric
More and more people are sharing every aspect of their lives on social media: Instagram, Facebook Live, Snapchat, etc. The conversions are there not only because it’s 100% authentic, but also because the conversations last beyond the post: at the gym, at work, girls’ night out, weekend BBQ’s. When you’re catching up with friends and family, you are always asked “what’s new?”, “how was your weekend?”, “I saw your post, tell me more.”. Brands want to be top of mind, so they reward customers for driving brand awareness as well as new customers to their website.
With Instagram testing the removal of “likes” and video views on social posts, comments and conversations will be the ultimate measure of influencer engagement. Brands need to prepare for this trend and motivate more customers to become brand advocates who can talk about a brand on social with Indi’s help. From the brand’s perspective, associates and customers are the best and most authentic influencers, no matter how many followers they have. The performance-based Indi solution engages them to become your virtual sales force. [FF]
Melissa Salas is the Senior Marketing Director for Indi.com specializing in affiliate/social/video marketing since 2000. FeedFront | November 2019 | No. 48
@feedfront | www.feedfront.com
HOW TO BUILD AN ENGAGED AUDIENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA
I started the whole personal branding/social media thing when I was sixteen years old… never with the intention of building a business from it. Six years, 200,000+ followers, and a six-figure business later, and here we are. Having helped hundreds of people build an engaged audience (of buyers) on social media, I have identified nine key steps to making it happen. This process is what I call ‘The Impact Triangle’. In this article, I’m going to share TIA with you, and how you can use it to dominate social media. Please realize that you need to do these nine things in order. You can only move onto the next ‘step’ once you’ve nailed the stage prior. That’s why I made it a triangle. The base of the triangle is people. When you do not know who you are speaking to, you cannot do anything else. This stage comes down to knowing your niche (the demographics and the psychographics), your sub-niche, and your ideal follower. Gain total, 100% clarity on that before moving on. Once you know your niche, you can turn your attention to their problems. Focusing on helping your ‘ideal followers’ overcome their hurdles and amplify their current struggles so you can shepherd them away from living a life without having them solved. After that, it’s platforms. You need to be on the platforms that your people are using so that you can get in front of them and help them overcome their problems. A mother who’s just had a baby who’s trying to lose fat is likely on Facebook/ Instagram, whereas an entrepreneur trying to scale is more likely on LinkedIn.
Once you have mastered that, it’s time to move onto the next stage of TIA: positioning. This is all about demonstrating that you are an expert who your people can trust to help them reach their goals. It’s important to have a strong stance on issues, and not be ‘vanilla’. For example, if you teach people how to become an affiliate marketer, explain why people would be stupid not to do affiliate marketing. Only once you’ve done all of that, can you move onto posting. Daily. Every time you post, ask yourself The Impact Filter: “does this add value to my target audience?” If not, hold off on posting. Make sure all your posts are something that will stop someone scrolling… blurry photos and windy videos are not good. Once you start consistently posting content, you need to promote it. Why spend so much time making content and not actually pushing it out? Use your email list, and your other platforms. Next, it’s pleasing. You are probably not engaging with your audience, but you need to. Comment on their posts, reply to all their comments, and actively make friends with them. Only after tall that can you move onto the 1% details, the perfecting. This is things such as hashtag and post timing, which really don’t matter as much as you think. [FF]
Lauren Tickner is the founder of Impact School and the host of the top rated business podcast, Impact School. FeedFront | November 2019 | No. 48
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
By Lauren Tickner
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#ASEURO20 June 03-04 2020, RAI Amsterdam
THE MEETING PLACE FOR THE AFFILIATE MARKETING INDUSTRY
2,000 ATTENDEES 50% affiliates & 25% advertisers
OVER 70 EXHIBITORS in our Exhibit Hall and Meet Market
This is the only place where you can network and learn with 2,000 of the affiliate marketing industry’s stakeholders. If you want to do business in the performance marketing industry… then you NEED to be at #ASEURO20.
OVER 30 EXPERT SPEAKERS sharing current trends, opportunities & threats in the affiliate marketing space
OVER 75 COUNTRIES represented including the Netherlands, UK, Germany, France and Spain
FIND OUT MORE AT:
www.affiliatesummit.com/euro