Take the Win #25

RBL Flywheel Newsletter #25

Hey team! 👋

I’m on the road in NYC so you’re getting a quick one from me today. If you like this let me know because I am thinking of doing more quick thought editions going forward.

And no, it’s not because I love hot takes (I do) but because I want to give you some practical advice you can use TODAY.

To this point, we have provided a lot of detailed best practices to frame and better understand affiliate marketing.

But…

If you have an existing program and you are looking for a quick win that you can get on the board this week’s newsletter is for you.

Let’s hit it!

It would not be me if there was not a list involved. So we got three quick hit wins, once for each area:

1. Social

2. Search

3. Efficiency & Profitability

Gift to potential fans 🎁

Gift your product to 100 potential micro-mid-tier influencers likely to post about your brand. 25% will likely post about your brand as an influencer on social channels.

Once they post you can work with them to set up a more ongoing collaboration based on gifting, commission-based payments, and flat fee payments for posts. You can even tap into existing customers to see who your existing fans are to ID them.

This can be a great exercise as it identifies influencers that are already fans of your product/service and is a semi-organic approach. It allows you to ID new partners to work with.

Whitelist ⚡️

Once the influencers have been identified and you begin a working relationship, you can ask them to whitelist their great content touting how great your product is.

Once agreed whitelisting allows brands to promote influencer content on paid channels as an ad that has more third-party validation than simply a brand telling their customers how great they are.

Compliment your SERP 🔎

For brands that have a lot of competitors bidding on their brand and non-brand search queries. We recommend working with a trusted affiliate in paid search that can push your competitors down and improve your search engine results page.

Select affiliate partners can accelerate what is typically slower moving compared to programmatic channels but act as a tactical partner to promote your brand on Google and Bing.

You can work with them to set bid caps and select appropriate keywords to ensure that you are aligned and more efficient with Paid Search / PPC spending and not increasing your costs.

Dynamic Commissioning 💸

Work with your affiliate network to set up a smarter commissioning strategy.

Why pay partners 10% of sale revenue for all products?

Do some of your products have higher margins than others?

Do some products need to be moved/liquidated at times?

Do some Best Sellers that are in high demand not require as high a commission as others?

Far too many brands sleep on dynamic commissioning - the process of setting payouts and commissions not just at the program, or category level, but at the SKU level.

This allows a brand to save precious capital when we are all looking for efficiency and profitability

Take The Win! 🤟

I hope this helps you secure some easier quick wins for your brand to improve your program!

Excited to hear what you think, have a great rest of your week!

Tye