You already know what the basics of affiliate marketing are. But if you need a refresher or if a fresh new face just started looking around the world of affiliate marketing and found their way here, this is what they are:
- Find your niche
- Create relevant and witty content for your audience centered around that niche
- Recommend a product or service of your partner company
Once your blog readers or social media followers click on your affiliate link and buy the recommended product, you earn commission. So with some effort and a bit of luck, you can turn your DIY blog or gadget geek youtube channel into a passive income stream. With affiliate marketing, you can pretty much mix business with pleasure by earning money from your hobby.
You may be wondering, what sort of content should you post? On one hand, you have a wide variety of products and industries to choose from. In terms of generating sales, however, certain types of content are more effective than others.
Have a look at the following five content ideas – not only are they easy to create, but they can also be used in any niche and on any affiliate channel you are present. Maybe adding them to your regular content mix would just be what you need to see a boost in sales?
1. Product roundup
Who hasn’t at least once read a “10 best products to take on a trip” or a “15 best calendar apps” list? You have to admit, they save quite a bit of time – you don’t need to search for products yourself and then compare them. Instead, everything is in one place. Plus, the article or video is broken down into bite-sized chunks, which makes it easy to scan for the information you need whenever you need it.
No matter what niche you are in, you shouldn’t have too many problems creating such a list yourself – you only need to do a bit of research. DIY blog? You could list 10 tools that can help your readers with creating home decor. Instagram channel with beauty tips? How about making a list of the best products to use during the summer? The options are virtually endless.
What’s even better is that such lists are great places to insert your affiliate links naturally. For example, after a short summary of a product or service, you can leave a link to the merchant’s page so that people can check out the product themselves.
But you should be aware that you can’t just put 10 or 15 random items in an article, add the affiliate links to each and call it a day. There are thousands of roundups and listicles on the internet. So unless yours is fresh and original, you have little chance of standing out. As such, you need to do your homework first and research a topic which your audience will find helpful but hasn’t already been covered repeatedly.
2. Product review
Most affiliates start by creating a blog or video review of a product/service they have used or place they have visited. They do it purely because these are the easiest to write – almost everyone has written such a review at least once. All you need to do is pick a product, tell your followers why you chose it, how you used it, and whether or not it worked the way you expected. Of course, we all know about the power of a good review – 91% of 18-34-year-olds trust online reviews almost as much as their friends’ recommendations!
But while you probably don’t have any problems writing a private review of a product or place, crafting a review that is supposed to encourage your readers or followers to buy a given product is a bit trickier. You obviously want people to click on your affiliate link and try out the product, so it should be obvious that you need to show the promoted product in the best light possible, right?
Sharing your dissatisfaction with a product, as well as things you think can be improved, helps build trust with your audience. Regardless of the consequences, it shows that they can rely on your judgment ever since you will talk honestly with them about the good as well as the bad of said products. Additionally, you are welcome to share your tips or workarounds for the problems – you just need to mention them first.
3. Product comparison
Comparing two or more similar products together is another great way to give your audience a little nudge toward a product you are promoting. Due to the growing number of products with almost the same features and working almost identically, it can be a bit confusing to decide which ones are worth buying. That’s why “Product X vs. Product Y” type side-by-side comparisons can be so valuable.
Compared to roundups where there are several products with only short descriptions, product comparisons are far more detailed and informative. Plus, you have enough space to show your readers the reviewed products in action – for example, how you used a hand-blender to create homemade smoothies (and how much time it took you to wash them!).
However, how do you decide which products to compare? The best tip here is to think about which products your readers and followers may be looking for themselves. Better yet, ask them what kind of product comparisons they would like to see on your channel.
4. How-to articles and tutorials
Personally, I love how-to articles and tutorials – they are the first thing I research whenever I need to do something new. All of the steps are mentioned in an article or video, so I know exactly what to do. I can see how another person did something and the result, which means I can see whether or not I’m doing things correctly. It is common for tutorial creators to include what to do if something does not go as planned, as well as a list of tools and products they used.
This is precisely where your opportunity to make extra sales lies. You can show your followers how to use a given product to complete a task, whether it’s doing an evening makeup or renovating a garden table. What is essential is that the tutorial should be relevant to your niche and related to something your readers might want to do or have problems with.
Tutorials are a perfect idea for video content. You can show your audience how you use the products you are promoting in action and what results you achieved with them. If you are promoting SaaS apps or solutions then creating a video tutorial also gives the extra benefit of showing viewers where exactly each feature or option is, making it much easier for them to use said app later by themselves.
5. Resource page
Do you sometimes get questions from your followers about what tools you use to create your YouTube videos, what types of beauty products you would recommend, or what mobile apps you use most often? Or maybe you have a list of blogs or video channels that you follow regularly and want others to check them out as well? Then a great idea would be to create your own resource page with the products you regularly use and recommend!
You can list anything that you think might be helpful or interesting for your readers, which could be blog posts, articles, products you love using, or apps and tools you can’t imagine doing work without, etc. And if you add affiliate links to this page, then you can also use it to generate more sales for you.
The main rule with tools here is the same as with promoting your main affiliate products – only add and recommend tools, products, or services that you have used yourself and are 100% sure you want to share with others. Once you post them as your “tried and tested” tools, your followers might ask you about specific features or for your tips on using those products. It wouldn’t look good if it became apparent that you aren’t exactly sure how a given tool or product works, would it?
Also, it is always a good idea to put these tools into categories for easy searching and describe in a few sentences how long you’ve been using them, how you chose them, and why you recommend them to them. If you have any content or stories related to those products, you should add them!
Conclusion
No matter what industry or niche you currently work in, these five types of affiliate content can help you answer that “What should I post about?” question and drive more affiliate sales. You won’t be merely promoting a product through these types of content, but giving your blog readers or YouTube channel viewers the information they need and showing how a product you are promoting can help solve a problem they have. And the more useful your content is, the greater the chances that your followers will click on your affiliate links.
So take a look at your niche and think about which of the above ideas would fit your channel best. Maybe you’ll actually find your “bestselling” content type there?
