Want Better Conversions? Here’s 1 Simple Way to Do It

Increase Conversions Through Affiliate Marketing

I have become a fan of GBG since my friend introduced me to my very first seminar which dealt on Venture Capital or Bootstrapping. It’s inspiring to say the least when you get to sit among some of the smartest here in Mumbai, and listen in on a range of experiences, anecdotes and advice being given out. Moreover with the Startup environment in India only advancing, what with the no of angels and venture

capitals increasing the amount of investments made and in recent time the country coming up with an Entrepreneur fund, it’s great to have a support and networking system like GBG in place.

As a Startup I realize that one of the crucial metrics for a business is conversions. It’s conversions that bring in the revenue, and it’s the revenue that translates to sustainability and proof of concept.

This is why I am going to blog about a Sales Channel that is attributing about 17% to the total E-Commerce Sales in India. It’s called Affiliate Marketing.

What is Affiliate Marketing & How Does it Work?

Affiliate Marketing is the process of having an independent promoter, who could be an advocate or an authority of a certain topic or category, promote your Product or Services through a web property they may own. The distinct advantage that Affiliate Marketing offers a Startup vis-à-vis some of the other online marketing mediums that we’re used to is that you only have to pay for a pre-determined result, or action which more often than not is either a Sale or a Lead.

So for instance, say if I am in the business of offering custom tailored Travel Packages for people who are travelling on a budget, or if I am a website that functions as a marketplace for people who are looking out for houses on rent and vice versa then I can propagate the value of my business using an Affiliate Program by recruiting quality Affiliates.

Recruiting Quality Affiliates

I’ll explain this using the above example. There are thousands of creative individuals who discuss some of their backpacking journeys on their Blog. They make their experience come to life with the use of photos and videos that they would have taken while on the journey. This content is then shared with close friends and network, who in-turn would share it with their own close friends and network. Can you picture the amount of reach and engagement possible through this cascading scenario? If the same Blogger could make a subtle recommendation of my hypothetical travel business stating how I could help other users experience something similar, then think of the traction and traffic that could help me with. If any of those visitors landing on my website either fill in a form for more details, or ends up purchasing a customized package from me, I would then pay the travel blogger a fixed amount or a percentage of the Sale as a Commission for his promotional efforts. Similarly with the other business example, I could look out for Bloggers who specifically talk about the process of migrating to other cities, or the paperwork involved when you’re trying to either buy or rent a property in a city and inquire about their interest in promoting my business for an Affiliate Commission.

Lloyd D Souza is a backpacker who updates his Blog, Wanderer Notes, with all his travel plans and experiences. He has managed to build a strong followership on his Social Channels through the Videos & Photos that he shares of his experiences.

The advantage this offers a business is in the form of your return on the marketing spend. In most cases it starts off positive since you’re paying for an achieved result. I mentioned “most cases” because there are some businesses in certain niches that offer a 100% or more payout on transactions inorder to make the Affiliate Program lucrative.

In the current scenario you have businesses like Bewakoof and Redwolf that cater to the unique and quirky preferences of Indians in clothes and other merchandise, Nykaa who offer beauty and wellness products through a seamless online experience, Zepo who help businesses set up their e-commerce store in 5 minutes, and Babyoye who offer babycare products are some of the Startups that are leveraging on their Affiliate Program for incremental sales.

Zepo Affiliate Page

But for all of this, it’s important to understand who’s the right Affiliate for your business. I have done a separate article on my Blog that elaborates on the 5 Types of Affiliates that every business should look at recruiting for their Affiliate Program.

What are the Advantages of Affiliate Marketing & How It Can Help a StartUp

1) Organic Pre Selling – in today’s online shopping and online business engagement scenario people seldom make impulse purchases or decisions. There’s a lot of research and analysis that’s going behind the choices made by people. Even the smart phone or tablet that easily falls under an individual’s budget will go through immense scrutiny in the form of specifications, unboxing videos, reviews & testimonials and price comparisons.

Usually this type of research is done on content sites such as pricebaba, 91mobiles, individual blogs and Social Channels that essentially help warm up the customer to the idea of the purchase. Once the Customer is at the Point of Purchase, the business then just works on closing the sale.

2) Advocates – it’s always great to have someone vouch for your Product or Service. It’s also primarily what people are searching for before they decide to move towards a specific merchant and close the deal. It helps them make the right perceived choice.

Moreover, if you know of an advocate who is well followed and recognized for a specific topic or category, it only amplifies your chances of making more conversions if that person could be an advocate for your offering.

3) Virality – Social & Content are considered to be two of the biggest methods being used by businesses today around the world to market themselves to their audience. It significantly helps increase the percentage of leads and conversions generated for any form of business due to the outreach possibility that it provides through network sharing.

This can be put together and delivered by your Affiliate, who as we’ve been discussing could do a quick and effective job given the authority he/she holds.

4) Better Conversion Percentages – the conversions coming in through effective content is much more as compared to any other form of advertisement. This is primarily due to the high amount of relevancy for the user.

The Click Through Rates for a merchant are better when it comes through naturally created and relevant content since the user is recommended an option while perusing through information that he/she was searching for. Additionally statistics have shown that good content could lead to a 25%+ increase in current conversions; picture having a set of great content generating Affiliates.

5) Paying For Performance – one of the most lucrative options for Startups, Affiliate Marketing is geared for optimized and effective Customer Acquisition. This is preferred by businesses because of the result advantage that it offers. Businesses globally experiment with Click, Display and Impression based campaigns inorder to build awareness and drive traffic to the website, but it does require constant optimization due to the quick escalation seen in cost.

With Affiliate Marketing you primarily are bearing a cost for a successful action which could either be a smile inducing Sale, or a very relevant Lead which you can be placed in your Lead nurture cycle.

6) Leverage On Traffic – one thing that almost every Affiliate, that I have described in my 5 types of affiliates articles, who has been in the industry for a while can offer your business is the advantage of superbly targeted traffic.

I am sure I don’t even have to explain why that translates into a great thing for businesses like us.

Conclusion – so if you’re a business with a presence and facilitating transactions online, you should consider giving serious thought to the Sales Channel that is slated to grow by about 500% in the few years to come. Moreover, it’s worth a try since your cost is incurred only on conversions, and that’s what this channel can deliver the best.

Have you thought of setting up an Affiliate Program for your business? What are your views on the Pay For Performance Channel.