Affiliate marketing is necessary for you to move toward higher sales and better brand awareness. Guys from Refersion prefer the term influencer marketing because it more clearly represents the core of what they do: help you introduce your brand through your representatives. What form your affiliate program takes will depend upon your industry, your expectations, and the resources you’re starting from. Define your goals and benchmark your progress to gauge your success at every level. 

No matter which form your program takes, you need to track your progress. Total earnings per influencer, their average order value, as well as the effective earning per click that they earn are all key performance indicators (KPIs) that you need to stay on top of. This will help you identify your top performers as well as spot any weaknesses in your approach. 

An effective program blueprint may differ per company but the core values remain the same: offer great incentives to your carefully-chosen partners and empower them to represent your brand to the best of their abilities. Start with your existing customers. A VIP loyalty program is a great way to search out people who already know and love your brand - they just need a small nudge to become great representatives. Make sure that you have a competitive commission structure or rewards that make sense for your demographics.

Freebies, store credit, and swag are great for beginning incentives. Once they’re signed up and have made a few sales, you can move on to branded merchandise like shirts, hats, and tote bags to keep motivation strong. This can be combined with store credit, member discounts, percent-of-sale commissions, or flat rate commissions. Keep up the spirits of your influencers with exclusive forums, Facebook pages, and/or social media channels. This will make them feel appreciated and connected in a close-knit community of their peers. 

Leaderboards, competitions, and surprise bonuses can further incentivize your influencers. Don’t let your program become stagnant, or your reps may become complacent and fall behind on sales goals. In order to keep your influencers feeling like part of the team, make sure that “office hours” are available for questions and concerns, even if it’s only by phone or video chat. Congratulate the reps with the most sales, and offer help with a marketing strategy to those who are falling behind. Monitor all the data you collect to see which marketing channels are most effective. A team of influencers all using a slightly different angle can really show you what works and what doesn’t--but only if you’re paying attention. 

Make sure payments to your influencers are timely and arrive without a hitch. Nothing kills motivation like waiting to get paid, and it will erode the trust in your working relationship. Make sure you’re paying a competitive rate and that your reps are satisfied with their perks, lest a competitor lure them away with better rewards. 

Refersion is a powerful affiliate marketing platform that gives you all the tools you need to execute every aspect of your affiliate marketing strategy. From your sign up page, identity verification, and onboarding to ROI tracking and content strategies, they will help you build the program that’s right for you. And when it comes to finding the influencers whose voice will fit your brand, they also help you seek them out and draw them in with the content, rewards, and commissions structures best suited to your company. 

Refersion also offers you access to their Marketplace. Post an offer that can be seen by 5,000 individual and enterprise affiliates who are actively looking for merchant partners. 

A lot goes into the ideal influencer program, and Refersion has you covered every step of the way.