Amazon, besides being one of the largest online marketplaces, has one of the most successful affiliate programs. For this reason, the company is quite selective with the affiliates it accepts. This in itself is solid proof of the fact that you can really obtain significant earnings as an Amazon affiliate.
However, just like as is the case with other affiliate programs, you cannot start making money simply by posting some links and banners and doing nothing else. Consider the fact that there are other affiliates like you promoting the same offers. The ones who invest some time and effort in building strategies for promotion are more successful and obtain higher paychecks from Amazon Associates.
What is a real strategy for promoting an affiliate banner? In its essence, it is no different from promoting your own products. It involves building an opt-in list, creating a sense of trust and confidence among your website visitors, saying and doing the right things to convince them to click on a banner and complete a purchase.
These are five ideas of strategies which many affiliate marketers apply with a high rate of success:
1. Encourage Social Proofs for the Promoted Products
Word of mouth is the best type of advertising because it is unsolicited, genuine and, thus, believable. Product reviews are the best form of word of mouth and even Amazon relies a lot on reviews in the promotion of its products.
So, why wouldn’t you do the same? Allow social media comments for every product you review yourself or feature on your website. In this way, you give happy customers the opportunity to describe their experience using the product and offer potential customers a reliable and unbiased opinion on the product.
2. Create Best Seller Lists
People love to “keep up with the Joneses” and own every type of trending, popular and fashionable item, from smartphones to home appliances. Creating best seller lists gives people the sense that they are being challenged to be up to date with whatever is desirable and gives them a good social status – and they will take the challenge.
It is not a deceiving strategy – it is just like the box office or Billboard charts. You tell people what is popular and they are free to keep up with the fashion or not. But, as stated before, most of them want to follow the trends and improve their social image among friends by owning the latest gadgets and technologies.
3. Use Carousel Banners
Why are carousel banners producing higher conversion rates than static banners? Because they give people the sense of choice and control over what they click on. By presenting people with an array of products, you empower them. They do not feel like a captive audience, but free to decide what offer they wish to take up. This simple freedom of choice makes a huge difference in conversion.
4. Use the Amazon ‘Buy Now’ Button
The ‘Buy Now’ golden button with a shopping cart is such a popular image, that people will click on it more frequently than any other type of affiliate link or banner. You can use it even within a product review or other type of content, or place it right under the product photo.
5. Promote Special Offers and Discounts
It is not very hard to find affiliate offers for discounted products, special offers and product bundles. These are best sellers even on Amazon itself, so it should be a breeze to get people to click on your affiliate link and complete a purchase.
Making money as an Amazon affiliate is not rocket science, as you can see. All you need to do is be dedicated to your purpose, understand that people need to trust you before they click on your links, and constantly keep your subscribers engaged with relevant and original content.