It’s 2020. With over 50 percent of the global population using some form of social media, isn’t Facebook old hat by now? Don’t count on it. With close to 70 percent of Americans using Facebook (and 74 percent of them visiting daily), it’s not in danger of losing relevancy any time soon. But what does it mean for you — particularly if you want to monetize on Facebook?
It means that successful affiliate marketing on Facebook has never been easier, more effective, or more profitable. But there’s a catch. With over 2 billion users and 5 million advertisers currently using the networking giant, standing out among them takes as much strategy as it does creativity. And sometimes more than a little luck.
Yes, you can monetize with affiliate marketing on Facebook. Quite successfully. But it’s going to take your time, attention and energy. Luckily, there’s a whole slew of tools available which can take most of the leg work and second guessing out of affiliate marketing. Whether you’re entirely new to affiliate marketing or simply uncertain which types of channels are best for you, here’s what you should know.
How to monetize using affiliate marketing on Facebook: is it the right platform for you?
What is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a relatively simple concept; one which involves acting as a third party advertiser by promoting a product or service (frequently as part of an affiliate network) for a commission. If successful, you can monetize with affiliate marketing simply by having a steady cash flow of passive income with little or no initial investment on your end.
Some affiliates are focused on becoming reputable bloggers and topic owners, and that’s a long-term strategy. Others monetize from artful traffic management, which involves acquiring, say, Tier 1 iOS traffic, and leading it to the landing pages with offers. This strategy requires less time for the blastoff but can be drastically resource-heavy when fulfilled manually. Hence, many affiliates rely on automated solutions for matching traffic with offers.
It’s not unheard of for successful affiliate marketers to earn well over six figures a year from their venture. But it’s more common to stagnate in affiliate marketing by failing to explore potential opportunities in the field. And right now, one of the most effective and profitable opportunities to monetize with affiliate marketing is with social traffic, particularly that from Facebook.
Why use Facebook for Affiliate Marketing?
Despite naysayers, affiliate marketing is one of the most profitable avenues for passive income — when optimized correctly. The problem is that the very term passive income can be a little misleading. For one, passive income is anything but passive. Beginners frequently assume that simply buying a lot of advertising space will lead to overnight success. It doesn’t. Like any other form of marketing, affiliate marketing requires the right content, the right strategy and the right platform.
That’s why Facebook can be a veritable goldmine. You’re not just leveraging the name recognition of the most popular social media network in the world. You’re doing so organically.
The strength of social media is that it’s accessible to anyone. You don’t have to be a celebrity to be considered an influencer. In fact, you may be able to drive your social media traffic simply by your networking skills alone, not your name recognition. Build enough of a following or catch your target audience’s pain points, and an affiliate marketing post will look like any other update you might make.
Some key numbers on why Facebook is a successful advertising solution
- According to recent research from the Pew Research Center, 74 percent of Facebook users have a combined household income of over $75,000.
- With over 500 million unique visits per month, Facebook is the fourth most visited website in the US—exceeding even Amazon.
- Over 80 percent of all social referrals to eCommerce sites in the US comes from Facebook.
- The average Facebook user spends an estimated 38 minutes checking in each day.
- Facebook estimated an increase of 37 percent in impressions for Facebook Ads during the third quarter of 2019.
Pros and Cons of using Facebook when you monetize with affiliate marketing
Pro: Facebook has instant name recognition
While the popularity of social networks may come and go, Facebook has a staying power that’s virtually unrivaled — even among users over the age of 65 (now considered to be the fastest-growing demographic among Facebook users.) You can’t predict tomorrow. But Facebook has over 16 years of dominating the social media landscape—and longevity counts more than anything in digital media.
Con: More people are taking a break from Facebook
There are numerous reasons why people are choosing to break their social media habits. And while very few of them are the direct result of marketing, their shopping habits are going to be reflected by their lapse. But with over 40 percent of Facebook users reporting they actively take periodic breaks for several weeks or more, realizing the right time to monetize with affiliate marketing can be trickier than you think.
Pro: Affiliate marketing on Facebook is effective & simple
The key to successful affiliate marketing is customer engagement. And there’s no easier way to reach out directly to your audience than through social media. You don’t necessarily need to purchase advertising space to monetize on Facebook, although it can be effective. All you need to do is to generate engaging and insightful content regularly. Content that speaks directly to your followers, not at them.
Con: It’s easy to get banned from Facebook if you’re not careful
An area they do take issue with is excessive affiliate linking. It’s not hard to see why. Spamming followers multiple times a day with affiliate links is a surefire way to lose multiple customers a day. Pay careful attention to Facebook’s branded content policies if you plan on affiliate marketing. They’re constantly being updated, and violation of just one rule can result in having your page taken off permanently.
Pro: You’re getting the widest exposure possible on Facebook
Monetization with affiliate marketing isn’t just about finding the perfect niche. It’s about capturing the widest audience possible. Facebook might trail just slightly behind YouTube and Twitter in the US, but it remains the most popular social media platform in the world with some 2.4 billion active users — over a third of the global population.
Con: It’s harder than ever to stand out on Facebook
The competition already has a head start from a few months to over a decade. That’s the reality of affiliate marketing — but that shouldn’t discourage you. You may need to think creatively to generate the right content for your audience, but that’s part of the challenge with affiliate marketing: the right content with the right frequency on the right platform.
Tips on how to monetize using affiliate marketing on Facebook
Choose the right affiliate marketing strategy
You might have the perfect niche. You might have great ideas for an affiliate marketing campaign. But transparency is the cornerstone of any successful marketing campaign. You don’t want to come off like a desperate spammer. You want your campaign to seem more like a personal recommendation than a sales pitch. In essence, you want to advertise without advertising.
Many beginners choose to include direct links to their affiliates in a post. It’s quick, it doesn’t cost anything, and… you’ll definitely be banned for that. The social networks’ new normal is zero tolerance to bold advertising. What will a real pro do then? Link back to your own website or landing page. Though this website might be an elementary one-page lander, it may ramp up your revenue.
Focus on the right demographic
Digital marketing methods are as diverse as their audience, and demand both discernment and research. And the demographic of Facebook is constantly changing. Generation Z and millennials are still as tech-savvy as they were five years ago, but they’re moving away from Facebook towards other social media platforms at an increasingly rapid pace. Mind these facts next time you will be acquiring social traffic.
One excellent way to gauge your demographic is by creating a Facebook Group around your chosen niche. Time-consuming? Yes. But it can provide you with invaluable insight into your potential audience’s habits and needs and give you a sense of what they’re really looking for from a product. Insight which can help innovate your business strategy. A demographic isn’t just based on education, gender or income. It extends to the values an audience holds as well.
Rely on smart affiliate marketing tools
One of the biggest challenges for those who monetize with affiliate markting on Facebook is matching the audience they drive from FB to the offers they are promoting. These all-too-familiar activities of multiple landings, A/b tests and audience segmentation. In fact, most beginners are spending more time on adjusting traffic to offers and not on affiliate marketing monetization.
That’s why we’ve developed a tool here at Adsterra which can help monetize with affiliate marketing on Facebook. It’s called our Smart Direct Link and we’ve already seen affiliate marketers using it increase their revenue by an additional $1100 a month. It’s smart because AI powered; each time a user clicks on your link, our internal optimization process delivers advertising and content that matches their own interests.
What’s more, Smart Direct Link only matches users with relevant, high-paying offers to ensure you earn more without second guessing or costly analysis. Not only does the Smart Direct Link automate your Facebook traffic monetization, but it also saves you time on building landing pages. You need one lander and one URL instead of dozens.
Affiliate marketing best practices for Facebook
Do: Have all content ready prior to creating your Facebook profile as an affiliate marketer
This will save you a significant amount of time in the long run, especially if you’re using a tool like Buffer to schedule your postings.
Don’t: Post more than once a day
Especially when you’re just starting out. You don’t want to bombardcustomers with content to the point where they stop following you. Multiple postings a day simply makes you look desperate for business.
Do: Make certain your postings are image-rich
It’s been estimated that Facebook postings with images regularly draw over two times the engagement of plain text postings. Billions of posts are shared on Facebook each hour with videos in particular drawing the highest level of engagement.
Don’t: Use irrelevant or incorrectly sized photos
While Facebook will automatically scale photos under the minimum amount of pixels, the best results come from uploading images of at least 1200 by 630 pixels. Use original content whenever possible and avoid the overused stock images.
Do: Make sure your sales content tells the benefits
Ok, you stream traffic from Facebook to your website or landing page. But customers don’t just want the product you’re advertising. They want to know how it can affect their daily lives. A straightforward sale pitch? That’s not what they need. Dig deeper. Find the value. Speak the language of benefits.
Don’t: Make Facebook your sole platform for sales content
Unlike traditional marketing, versatility is the hallmark of affiliate marketing. If you’re just relying on Facebook to drive traffic, you’re missing out on a host of highly profitable opportunities. Social media should be just one tool in your marketing box. It just happens to be one of the most valuable ones.
Do: Engage with customers. It’s called social media for a reason
The time it takes to answer questions, respond to concerns and establish rapport with an audience is one advantage you have over larger businesses. Show them you’re a human being and not just a product pitch.
Don’t: React defensively or hostilely
The downside of social media is that absolute strangers feel justified in attacking you personally for no reason other than their own insecurities. Affiliate marketing in particular, tends to take a large share of abuse. Don’t let it get to you.
Conclusion
Social media remains one of the best opportunities for affiliate marketers to get started. It’s as user driven as it’s convenient. And as any marketer will tell you, knowing your audience is 90 percent of the battle.
Facebook or any other social traffic monetization will be surprisingly more powerful and fast-paced when you rely on automated solutions. Technology drives progress, and your affiliate marketing success is not an exclusion. Make use of tools that optimize your time and help direct the traffic to the most relevant offers. Adsterra Smart Direct Link is here for you.
BOUNUS: How to start getting money with your Smart Direct Link
Sign up as a publisher. Choose Websites from the left panel, then click the green Add new website button. Enter your website URL, pick Direct link from the Ad Units field. Your website will be sent to approval. Usually it takes several seconds or up to 5 minutes to verify the URL.
If you don’t have the site, just enter your Adsterra login again. You may also rent a domain specifically for monetization purposes and use it for direct link purposes.
