Why is this so important? Well, simply because email marketing is one of the most effective marketing channels. Although it is an often underestimated source of new customers, and therefore affiliate sales, it actually has a strong return on investment of 4,200%, which means that for every dollar spent on email marketing, you can get a return of 42 dollars on average.
Does email marketing still work?
When we think of affiliate marketing, we usually think of content publishers, social media marketing (YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc.), websites or journal content, etc. And it seems that few people take email very seriously when it comes to affiliate marketing. Many small businesses and bloggers just starting out don't realize the importance of an email list.
Related: The ideal SEO link profile: how to distribute your link anchors
Have you ever noticed how many emails you open and read in a day? If not, here's a simple stat for you: According to an Adobe study, people spend an average of 2.5 hours a day checking personal email, and on top of that they spend about 3.1 hours checking their work emails. That's a good thing for affiliates, isn't it?
Also, consumers are more likely to interact with email than other channels such as direct mail, phone calls, text messages, social media, mobile apps, and even chatbots.
All of this, along with the fact that 59% of respondents in the SaleCycle study said email marketing influenced their purchasing decisions, makes affiliate email a powerful tool for your passive income.
Now that you understand why you shouldn't miss the opportunity to test out different email marketing campaigns, let's move on to a more pressing question, which is how to build your email list.
What tools can you use to build your email list?
It doesn't matter whether you are promoting digital products, services, or selling goods with an affiliate program or affiliate platform, you still need to build your email list to effectively sell your digital products. affiliation.
And, to be honest, it's not that easy to get people to join your email list in 2020 – there's so much information to process that people are careful what they're spending on. their time.
However, there are several legitimate tactics you can use. Let's talk about some of the most popular of them.
1. Add a valuable lead magnet to your website
Website or blog owners are used to using different types of magnets to grow their email list. A magnet is an item of value that you offer to your website users for free in exchange for their email address. For example, e-books, PDF checklists, reports, etc.
Here is an example of a lead magnet made by us: 100 free backlinks that make you rank.
2. Collect emails using online quizzes
Quizzes are simple to design and promote, so you can use them to grow your list. They are interesting for users and beneficial for you. Just ask participants to give you their email so you can send them the responses and voila – your email list is replenished.
For example, if you write about SEO and competitive research, consider creating a quiz on one of the following topics:
“Test Your SEO Knowledge – A Free Quiz”.
“Do you know your competitors well? Take this free quiz
“Free quiz: what is your marketing IQ?”
3. Add a widget to your blog
Another way to build your email list is to add a widget to each of your blog pages. These widgets usually get a high conversion rate.
If your users like the content you create, they will be more likely to sign up for your newsletter to receive your content in their inbox.
4. Create a pop-up on your website
You can use this trick to promote your lead magnet, your quiz, or just to get people to subscribe to your newsletter. The average pop-up conversion rate is around 3.09%, which seems like a low number, but if you have 100,000 visitors to your site, you actually get 3,000 subscribers!
However, care should be taken when adding pop-ups and widgets to your website, as it should not be overdone. Otherwise, people are going to get annoyed by all those triggers and leave your site faster. And you obviously don't want that to happen.
Should you buy an email list for affiliation?
The short answer is: no. And there are quite logical reasons for this.
First of all, nowadays it is very easy to identify spam and this is what you can expect from people if they are not your subscribers. Also, you don't want your emails to be marked as spam, as this will negatively impact your brand awareness.
Also keep in mind that buying email lists is illegal in some countries (read more about GDPR and the CAN-SPAM Act).
How to send emails effectively
Building your email list is an essential part of your email marketing efforts. However, there are several other metrics that can directly impact your affiliate offers or sales, such as open rate, click through rate, and churn and bounce rates. So let's briefly define each of these important ratios.
Open rate is the total number of people who opened your email.
Click-through rate is the percentage of subscribers who clicked on the links in the email.
Unsubscribe rate shows the percentage of people who unsubscribed from your email list. Churn is normal as long as it is below 0.5%. If you have a higher rate, you should consider working on your email list, segments, topics, etc.
Bounce rate is the percentage of subscribers who didn't receive your email because it was bounced by a receiving email server.
Your goal as an affiliate is to increase open and click-through rates and decrease unsubscribe and bounce rates from your emails. So here's the ultimate checklist to help you create an email that works.
1. Write a clear and useful subject line
You want your email to be read, and for that you need to bring value to your newsletters. The same goes for the subject – give people a reason to open your email.
Try to make it as personalized as possible to increase your chances of getting a high open rate. For example, use your subscriber's name to make your email more visible to them.
2. Use a subject line tester to make sure it's going to work
There are plenty of free solutions that make testing your subject line quick and easy. Typically, these services ask for your email address (how ironic!) and voila, you have a perfect tool to make sure your subject line is going to work.
3. Always try to A/B test your subject lines and email content
If you are using an email service provider like Mailchimp or others, it is not that difficult to properly test your subject lines and even your email content. Using A/B testing in your email marketing can help you get better results in terms of open and click-through rates (and click-through rates).
4. Avoid phishing phrases and spam trigger words
There are several words you should try to avoid when creating a subject line. By getting rid of these words and phrases, you can increase your open rate.
You can find a full list of these words on HubSpot's blog here.
5. Don't forget to use emojis (if applicable)
In a way, emojis are very underrated in email marketing. However, you should definitely A/B test them with your followers. If an email with emojis in the subject gets a higher open rate than an email without emojis, you can continue to add emojis to your subject.
Just remember to add them when applicable and relevant to your topic, and don't overdo it. This is the type of situation where less is more.
6. Segment your audience to provide valuable and relevant information
You need to segment your audience in order to deliver relevant information to the right people. For example, if you're writing an email about dog food to people who don't have pets, you can't expect much interest from them, can you?
7. Add call-to-action buttons to your affiliate email
Instead of just using links, consider adding a CTA (or call-to-action) button to prompt the reader to take the targeted action.
In summary :
Affiliate email marketing can be hugely beneficial to you if you do it right. First, build your affiliate marketing email list using different triggers and tactics.
Before launching an email marketing campaign, remember the importance of metrics such as open rate, click-through rate (and CTR), and unsubscribe and bounce rates.
Your goal is to have high open and click rates and low unsubscribe and bounce rates. To do this, be sure to create a clear purpose and valuable content for the intended audience.
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