Email marketing is one of the oldest but still one of the most effective forms of digital marketing. Newer forms, of course, share the competition, but email remains the one with the most extensive user base. This is due to the fact that, even with the rise of social media, people still use email more than other platforms. Thus, if you don’t put enough effort into your email marketing activities, you could potentially be killing your business.
And when that business is Affiliate Marketing, launching an appropriately-structured affiliate email marketing campaign becomes even more important. Affiliate email marketing is quite different from traditional email marketing, where promotional email campaigns aim to sell. Here, you are not simply selling but rather sharing your positive experience of a solution you used as a customer.
Let’s delve deeper into what affiliate email marketing is and why choose this method?
What is Affiliate Email Marketing?
Promoting affiliate links through highly-targeted and well-prepared emails is what affiliate email marketing is all about. Consider this as killing two birds with one stone. Whether you are an influencer or someone who has a respected opinion in a particular field, you can craft your email marketing campaign and introduce the links to your subscribers to improve the conversion rate and site traffic.
How Does it Differ From Traditional Email Marketing?
As mentioned above, traditional email marketing is different from affiliate email marketing. As an affiliate, you do not sell - you introduce. This is why it is necessary to have a good set of skills to describe the product accurately and be able to convince someone else to purchase it.
How to become a natural, you ask? By just being honest and sincere. The same rule applies to succeeding as an affiliate in general. You choose the affiliate niche that is familiar and/or appeals to you, and you share your most sincere opinion and advice as a customer. It’s that simple. Now, all you have to do is apply the same logic to your emails.
Why Use Email for Affiliate Marketing?
Before we go into specific examples of how to best craft your email campaign, there is another important aspect to cover - understanding the benefits of this medium.
Email marketing has the highest ROI compared to other methods. An email has an addressee - i.e., someone on the other end who checks their email, often several times a day. With email marketing, you own the connections - you don’t have to worry about algorithm changes and their effect on your SEO.
Last but not least, with an affiliate email marketing campaign, you can include your affiliate links straight away, without having to guide the users to somewhere where they should go through a lengthy sign-up process.
Affiliate Email Marketing Campaign in Examples
Now, it’s time to get more practical. Let’s talk in examples, and think of some steps we should and shouldn’t take when drafting our affiliate email marketing campaigns.
Think Ahead of Time, Be Constructive
It’s a campaign, not a single email, right? You are trying to catch your “passengers” and lead them, follow up and reach the destination. Be constructive, and make sure to have an outline of the email chain through which you will take your audience.
Seeing things ahead of time helps you to arrive at a point where you are not confused about what's the next step and how to join the dots. Email campaigns usually contain 5 to 8 emails that are scheduled to be sent within a specific time frame and are aimed at leading the customer/audience through an informed decision to purchase/use the product.
Example 1 | Campaign outline
• Welcome email:
Subject line: Let’s Learn and Grow Together | Ucraft Affiliate Program
• Deeper into the topic:
Subject line: Top 5 Affiliate Mistakes | Ucraft Affiliate Program
• Factual base:
Subject line: Affiliates Marketing on Reddit and Quora | Ucraft Affiliate Program
• Get some hands-on practice:
Subject line: Building a Landing Page | Ucraft Affiliate Program
• Reference to professionals:
Subject line: Exclusive Interview with a Successful Affiliate | Ucraft Affiliate Program
• Time to practice:
Subject line: The Right Product at the Right Time | Ucraft Affiliate Program
• Options to choose from:
Subject line: Bloggers as Affiliates | Ucraft Affiliate Program
Having a campaign outline does not mean you have to stick to it no matter what. Times change and there may be some factors that you need a change in your campaign. But not having one is an issue.
Behave Appropriately
It’s a busy life and people are nonetheless interrupted and spammed by numerous ads, emails, and campaigns. You do not want to get lost in a pile of other emails and end up being ignored. Remember, you are a guest in their inbox, and you should behave accordingly. Be courteous and understanding, without being overly-polite or apologetic. Remember - you are trying to be helpful, you are offering something really useful and your task is to make sure the person sees the benefit of it without any extra headache and wasted time.
Example 2:
Building a landing page for your affiliate marketing is like building your office. It should have a good design, a good atmosphere, and be easy to navigate.
This blog article on How to Start Affiliate Marketing: Building a Landing Page will elaborate on:
• Why affiliates need a landing page.
• How to create a landing page that works for your type of marketing.
Be Selective!
Both the email content and the links you share are of great importance in regards to attracting your audience and ensuring the desired click. Although there is usually no extra cost involved in adding affiliate links to your email sequence, the effort and the time spent are also valuable, which is why it is better to only concentrate on affiliate links with a worthwhile earning potential and not confuse yourself and your audience with more.
Example 3
The Right Product at the Right Time | Ucraft Affiliate Program
You think as long as you want to be an affiliate the rest doesn’t matter? Not really! Why is it necessary to choose the product you affiliate for? What are some telltale signs you should know when choosing the product?
Read on the blog to learn more about
• How to find your niche.
• How to know your target audience and more.
Want to learn more of the vital tips?
READ Guide
Keep in mind that the links your share should be profitable, relevant, and constant.
Personalize Your Emails, Connect with Your Audience
Another way to be natural is to be friendly. Affiliate marketing efforts can only succeed if you build and foster a relationship with your base. Personalized emails will give you a friendly and helpful tone rather than a salesperson. Personalization starts with the subject line and follows into the very content of your email.
Example 4
Subject line: 1. Let’s Speed It Up | Ucraft Affiliate Program
Subject line: 2. All Good Things Can Be Made Better | Ucraft Affiliate Program
Subject line: 3. Let’s Learn and Grow Together | Ucraft Affiliate Program
Subject line: 4. Do You Want to Earn More? | Ucraft Affiliate Program
Subject line: 5. Are You Satisfied With Your Monthly Income? | Ucraft Affiliate Program
Subject line: 6. Your Next Steps to Capture More Leads | Ucraft Affiliate Program
Wrapping It Up
Launching a successful affiliate email marketing campaign is not as challenging as it sounds. With the right tools and practices, you can make the most of your mailing list to promote your affiliate products and watch as your commissions continue to soar higher.