Affiliate Marketing Trends 2022: Simple Steps To Monetize More Traffic

Some of the latest affiliate marketing trends will sweep up a worldwide wave of top-tier traffic and disappear just as quickly, like a conversion crashing flash in the night. On the other hand, some will move from strength to strength and stick around for years to come. But which is which and how do the best affiliate marketers gain ground in an ever-changing sector?

The Latest Affiliate Marketing Trends for 2022

Stick around as we chat with performance marketing expert and founder of AffiliateINSIDER, Lee-Ann Johnstone. We’ll discuss all the latest affiliate marketing strategies for 2022, including proven campaign creation steps, optimization tactics, etc. And while there’s no actual “one size fits” approach to the affiliate industry, we’ll send you down the right road with proven steps that you can adopt, measure, and refine. 

What is AffiliateINSIDER 

As in the name, AffiliateINSIDER is the ultimate digital marketing content hub, Podcast, training academy, and boutique agency for high-growth performance marketing and affiliation. AffiliateINSIDER also hosts the widely successful Amplify and Elevate Summits, which bring together affiliates worldwide to network, socialize and share their expertise online. 

Affiliate Trends Tips, and Insights

It’s time to uncover the latest affiliate marketing trends and campaign creation steps to monetize more traffic. We’ll take time to unpack a few topics in line with the below.

Where Is Affiliate Marketing Headed In 2022?

The world around us has changed incredibly. We’ve come out of a global pandemic, and we’re looking for better ways to interact online. At this time, it’s good to look at partnering with like-minded companies in the same high-growth sectors. Form these connections to better leverage customers and increase sales.

Watch Out for Micro Affiliates 🚀

You can hop aboard the “micro-affiliate” train if you haven’t already. These everyday influencers have audiences of around 1,000 to 100,000 followers and carry the potential to be great product ambassadors for your brand, especially when it comes to social. It will be interesting to see how brands leverage these relationships, how they engage with those content curators, and how they can unite them as part of their affiliate programs.

Get Started with the Latest Affiliate Marketing Trends 

When looking to monetize traffic and gain better leads, breaking the process down into a few key steps is good. 

Step 1 – Decide on a Platform 📣

You can promote products on almost any platform. Whether it’s starting your own dedicated website/blog, running your campaigns on social or a combination. Either way, it’s easy to get started once you’ve sided with the right channel/platform. If you’re straight out the gate, you can register a new domain, choose any of 2022’s leading website builders and get cracking. 

Choose Your Platform Based On What You’re Good At

If you’re good at creating content, hang out on Facebook or LinkedIn. Post comments and place links in your blog posts, product reviews, social posts, etc. If you’re more into posting videos or photos, maybe Instagram or TIK TOK is a better platform for your style. 

Step 2 – Find a Niche 📚

Next, you’ll want to target a niche from a larger market, i.e., while Gambling or Sports can be pretty hard to compete with, “Bitcoin Gambling” or “Virtual Horse Racing” or similar will help you find a better focus audience, etc. Furthermore, having knowledge and passion for the subject will keep you motivated.

Also, use the latest affiliate marketing trends and tools to find where your customers are spending most of their time online. Think about the products and services you’re promoting, and find the coinciding target audience with the highest potential to convert on your niche offer.  

Step 3: Find the Right Affiliate Network and Program 🧰

You can sign up and work directly with a brand’s in-house affiliate programs, but you’ll be logging into multiple programs each day, changing links and creatives, keeping track of passwords, etc. Short story? It can be a bit of a headache to organize. 

A more efficient way would be to join an Affiliate Network that curates multiple programs in one space, with one central login and one reporting dashboard. Affiliate Networks will simplify your admin at the end of the month. You want to be able to pick up offers and set them live quickly, so find the networks and programs where tracking links, creatives, and product information are readily available and easy to navigate through. 

I’d recommend working with five or six different networks simultaneously. You’ll have access to 150+ programs, but you’ll only need to bookmark six logins. 

Step 4 – Create Top Quality Content ✏️

Create content that is enjoyable, easy to understand, and aims to educate, inform, and problem solve. Embed your affiliate links naturally and publish consistently on your website, social accounts, blog, etc. Additionally, try out the products yourself to know firsthand the quality of the offer you’re promoting. 

Don’t Forget To Go Social 🎈🎈🎈 The beauty of becoming an affiliate marketer is that it’s entirely free to take the latest affiliate marketing trends and use them on various social media channels. You create a group, place your affiliate links and start promoting products.

Affiliate Marketing Strategy 2022. Thoughts to Consider

The above steps will get your affiliate business out the door and into the market. But that’s only half the battle won. Big brands will want to know that you have the power to convert leads into sales. 

Create a Lead Generation Model That Works

Create an affiliate model that builds lead generation because any brand will want to know that you have the ways and means to drive traffic back to their products. Focus and refine the mechanics of getting your leads, and always keep your Call to Action as visible as possible. Your conversion funnel and CTA’s must be easy to find. 

Understand the Affiliate Brand You’re Promoting

Understanding how best to represent a brand online is an essential factor to consider. As the brand’s representative, you carry the same voice that they do. You’ll need to constantly strive to promote brand products and services according to overarching advertising guidelines. It also helps to know the mechanics of the affiliate program so that you’re always able to market offers responsibly, effectively, and respectfully. Remember, partners side with affiliates who consistently add value to their brand’s sales chain. 

What is a Fair Budget to Get Started as an Affiliate Marketer?  It depends entirely on the affiliate marketing model you want to build and the latest affiliate marketing trends you’re adopting. Are you simply driving traffic to your website to promote your links? In this case, your budget could be €2,000 for a simple WordPress blog. If you’re building a complex tool or product with a built-in subscription model, you’re in line to spend a lot more.

What Industry Niches Would You Recommend? 

Affiliate marketing trends paired with the right niche are a great combination. Gambling and e-Commerce are powerhouse verticals that grew even more significant over three years. Additionally, SaaS and Subscription-Based Technology are some of the fastest-growing verticals in the affiliate space right now. 

The Cryptocurrency market was and still is a Booming Sector. Blockchain will continue to disrupt the Finance sector, and there’s no better time for affiliates to ride the FinTech wave. Furthermore, if you want to be as forward-thinking as possible, start researching NFT offers.

But remember, while these affiliate trends may well be the future, you’ll always want to gravitate towards the products and tools your audience uses and monetize that traffic with relevant offers.

 

Most Important Reporting Metrics To Consider? 

Impressions, Clicks, Conversions (Sales) are the big ones. Looking at Repeat Purchases can be very useful, especially in the gaming sector. Clients and brands will be looking at the lifetime value of the client and their ability to make repeat purchases, i.e., topping up their player accounts, purchasing credits, etc.

Remember that every sector will have particular performance metrics. Whereas a 5% conversion rate is excellent in some industries, in others, the target might be closer to 45%

How Long Before You Start To See Returns? 

You could start a Facebook community and have a thousand people in it. Depending on your marketing strategy and the amount of time you put in, you could boost your traffic significantly in a short space of time.  I launched a LinkedIn newsletter and had 1,600 signups within a week. 

If you are effectively targeting your marketing campaigns, you can never fail. Be sure to put out offers/content that brings in quality traffic. The end goal is to monetize that customer, but it could take 3 three different offer types and a few attempts to get there. 

Any Advice For Affiliate Marketers Who Are Just Starting? 

It all comes down to using the latest affiliate marketing trends in line with the below points. 

1. Get To Know Your Account Manager 🙋‍♂️

Establish a relationship with your affiliate program account manager as early as possible. Get a good understanding of how you can tie in with the company’s business model and see where and how you make the most impact on the brand. 

Remember, you get account managers for online advertising networks and affiliate programs. If you’re running campaigns through an Ad Network, you should reach out to an account manager to better understand what works and what doesnt. 

You can read more about what to look for in an affiliate network, program, or advertiser platform with the 2022 Beginner’s Guide to Affiliate Marketing. 

2. Start With Smaller Affiliate Programs 🌱

When you work with many more prominent affiliate programs, it can take a while to get noticed. You need to deliver decent numbers before they want to talk to you most of the time.

So, take the latest affiliate marketing trends and start promoting offers through networks/programs that are more accessible. Work with some smaller brands to get the insights and data you need to get good at affiliate marketing. You’ll get face time with account managers, and you’ll be able to hone your craft and perfect your offering with help from the brand. 

3. Network With Industry Experts

Meeting, communicating, and networking with the right industry professionals is vital to your success as an affiliate marketer. Make sure you go to a few significant events on the global affiliate calendar and network online as much as you can. Be sure to spread the word about your affiliate brand wherever you go. Break down those barriers, and side with the right partners and programs to unlock those sought-after commercial deals. 

Any Recommendations for Affiliate Marketing News and Events? 

Networking at events is crucial, and I attend the IGB Affiliate Summit and the AWC Affiliate Summit. Go online and research 2022s upcoming affiliate events. We also run the Elevate Summit, which is happening again in June 2022. It’s an entirely virtual learning conference that gives you the chance to network, learn and grow your affiliate marketing presence. 

Reach Out AffiliateINSIDER

You can reach out to Lee-Ann Johnstone via LinkedIn or through AffiliateINSDER. Chat to the team to see how best you ​​can launch, scale, and grow your campaigns with the latest affiliate marketing trends and insights

Wrapping Up The Latest Affiliate Marketing Trends

The Affiliate road ahead doesnt have to be scary. With the right offers, tools, and services in your corner, you can ace your affiliate game and bring in higher conversions. If you are looking for a partner to help you take your conversion to the next level, reach out to the Adcash Advertiser Platform Team. Our affiliate pros will analyze your site and make targeted suggestions on how you can boost your revenue/bottom line.