How to launch an affiliate email marketing campaign & boost commissions

Have you been looking for ways to monetize your influence? 

Luckily, you don’t need millions of followers before you get started.

As social media platforms become noisier, you’ll need a way to personally connect with your audience that goes beyond likes and comments.

Enter email marketing.

By sending targeted emails to your loyal audience, you’ll be able to build stronger, long-lasting relationships with your followers. You’ll even have an opportunity to generate more income without adding more work to your plate.

If you’re interested in exploring income streams that can help you make passive income with the audience you already have, let’s talk about affiliate email marketing!

Affiliate email marketing is the practice of promoting another brand’s products or services in your emails in exchange for a commission on every sale you earn. This happens whenever someone makes a purchase through your affiliate link (also referred to as a “referral link”).

As an affiliate email marketer, you don’t need to worry about creating your own products or offering services if you don’t want to. Instead, you’ll spend most of your time promoting what other brands create in your emails while still making a profit. Marketers say over 15% of all digital media revenue is made from affiliate marketing, making it a valuable income stream for online brands.

Many entrepreneurs invest in building their lists because they can earn up to $42 for every $1 spent on email marketing. Think about the incredible earning potential you’ll tap into when you implement the best email marketing and affiliate marketing strategies!

There are many benefits to using email marketing as an affiliate marketer, like the ability to:

Affiliate email marketing is a wonderful solution for entrepreneurs who want to be compensated for growing their influence. As you make more connections on social media and build a user-friendly website with helpful content, you’ll position yourself as a trustworthy brand.

With more visibility comes more opportunities to boost sales with affiliate partnerships. That’s why many business owners focus on building their affiliate income through email marketing as they grow their online community.

Affiliate email marketing is well-suited for: 

No matter what is inspiring you to get started with affiliate email marketing, you’ll want to follow these best practices to ensure you’re doing it well.

After you choose your email provider and create your email list, you’ll be ready to design your first affiliate email. Before you customize your email and add affiliate links, let’s discuss a few best practices you should follow.

Once someone opens your email, what is their first impression? To really wow your audience, you’ll need to put the same effort into designing your email as you do writing it.

We make it easier to create stunning emails with our email templates, complete with Layout designs you can customize to fit your needs. Building your email from a template design is one of the best ways to ensure your email content looks as great as it sounds.

If you want to learn more about how to design, write, and create high-performing emails, check out Flodesk University and Flodesk Blog! You’ll find a series of free video lessons that will walk you through each step in setting up your business for success. Then, sign up for a free trial of Flodesk to start designing your own affiliate emails! 

It’s like picking the perfect partner for your combined marketing success. Look for affiliate programs that resonate with your brand and audience. 

Seek out those with generous commissions and products or services that will entice your subscribers. When you find the one that aligns with your groove, you’ll be ready to join forces and watch the commissions fly in.

You have multiple opportunities to make affiliate income with email marketing. Instead of focusing your affiliate efforts on one email, you can sprinkle the right affiliate links into several emails within your email campaign.

One of the best ways to get started is by determining which affiliate programs are a good fit for you. We recommend starting by applying or signing up for five affiliate programs offered by brands you love. Then, you can create a strategy for how you want to input these affiliate links into a new or existing email sequence.

By using smart layout designs, you can create email content blocks that show off your favorite affiliate products. Be sure to add a stunning image along with a short, statement-making title about the product. You can switch up affiliate links depending on how they perform over time.

When writing email newsletters with affiliate links, it’s important to speak to your ideal audience. It’s easier to create valuable content when your emails feel like they’re personal letters. Just like you would with a friend, feel free to gush about the products you love!

If you aren’t sure who your target audience is, think about the kinds of people you want to help. Is it the stay-at-home parent, the young professional, or the recently empty nester? No matter who it is, you’ll be able to make more affiliate revenue if you’re focused on meeting them where they are.

Start building stronger relationships with your subscribers through your writing by welcoming them to your list. Once you’ve introduced them to your brand and shared your founder’s story, you can talk about your favorite products and services.

Some affiliate programs give you direct access to a resource library with imagery, swipe email copy and other items that could be useful in your affiliate email marketing strategy. Whether they offer lifestyle photography, product photography, or illustrations, you’ll be able to sprinkle them into your email design to make it look more unique.

Using marketing assets like this can help you skip the time-consuming (and often expensive) brand photoshoots. However, if you want to create your own imagery to show off the affiliate products, you can certainly do so. That way, everything stays perfectly on-brand for your business.

When you’ve chosen the imagery and customized the email swipe copy, you can input them into your desired email template. Think about creating a collage to show off the overall feeling and mood of the brand, or display how the product can be used in multiple ways. Get creative with this!

Outside of automated email campaigns, you can also create a separate affiliate marketing campaign during a promotional period. Some brands may give you a set of free promotional materials to use during their special launch. This could include a discount code, unique imagery, branded badges, or any other assets.

The benefit of sending emails during an affiliate promotion is your ability to make more sales with a special offer. For example, if you’ve taken an online course and its creator is looking for affiliate partners, you could promote their course with your affiliate links while including a bonus-free product.

Your email list is a platform you own, but so is your website! Think of your website as the online headquarters of your business. To be effective, your website content must accurately describe who you are, what you do, and who you help.

Since visitors spend less than 15 seconds on your website on average, it’s important to offer multiple calls-to-action (CTAs) that lead to your email list. This can be done through in-line forms or pop-up forms like the example below from Hair for the Girls. 

Once you add an email sign-up form to your site, you’ll need to get more people to visit. 

You can start by focusing on increasing organic traffic by boosting your blog’s SEO and incorporating keywords, or investing in online advertising services like Google AdWords to bring more people to your website.

Think of your email list as your VIP club. You want it packed with enthusiastic members who can’t wait to join the team. 

Offer irresistible incentives like juicy lead magnets, exclusive insider tips, or a backstage pass to behind-the-scenes content. Get creative and send out surveys to find out exactly what your segment wants.

Become their go-to resource, their trusted advisor, and watch the bond between you grow stronger. When the time comes for affiliate promotion, your audience will be primed and ready to subscribe.

Don’t treat your subscribers like a monolithic mass. It’s time to play matchmaker and create segments based on interests, demographics, or engagement level. 

Craft personalized experiences that make each subscriber feel appreciated. 

Whether it’s serving up relevant product recommendations or tailoring your content to their specific needs, segmentation builds trust and boosts conversions.

Imagine having a team of tireless assistants working around the clock on your email marketing platform to make your life easier. 

With email marketing automation, you can set up sequences that magically deliver the right message at the right time. From welcome emails to drip campaigns, let marketing automation be your secret sauce for delivering a seamless and unforgettable experience.

 It’s time to master the power of the CTA button. Think of them as your campaign’s advocates, urging subscribers to take action. 

Craft compelling CTAs in a landing page builder and draw attention with enticing language and eye-catching design. Just try not to be too loud or demanding with your CTAs and make sure to add plenty of value to each one. 

A/B testing is important to figure out what works for your subscribers, and what doesn’t.

Try out different subject lines, email copy, visuals, or even the color of your buttons. With each test, you’ll uncover hidden gems that boost engagement and conversions, propelling your campaign to new heights.

Social proof is a powerful psychological phenomenon that can significantly influence purchasing decisions. Incorporate social proof elements into your affiliate email marketing campaigns to build trust and credibility with your audience. 

Include testimonials from satisfied subscribers, showcase positive reviews or ratings, or highlight the number of people who have already benefited from the product or service you’re promoting. 

Numbers don’t lie. Dive into the data and monitor engagement and conversions. Keep a close eye on open rates, click-through rates, and the revenue rolling in.

These insights will guide your decisions, helping you fine-tune your campaign and work your way to greater affiliate link success.  

These 14 steps might seem like a lot to manage—and they can be without the right affiliate email marketing programs. You need leading email marketing software to ensure you go beyond conventional affiliate marketing and find your profitable niche. Start earning passive income with affiliate marketing and Flodesk—get started for free! 

When it comes to launching a successful affiliate email marketing campaign, you need the right tools by your side to make a lasting impact. That’s where Flodesk comes in: a game-changing email marketing platform that will take your campaigns to new heights.

We have you covered with:

Don’t miss out on this opportunity—start your free trial with Flodesk and revolutionize your affiliate email marketing campaigns today.