How to Turn Your Customers Into Affiliates

If you’ve been looking for new ways to attract affiliates, look no further than your existing customers. Your customers shop your brand, know and love your product or service, and can give your brand a social stamp of approval to their friends and followers. In this article, we’re going to review why your customers make the best affiliates and how to turn your customers into affiliates, transforming them from a brand user to a brand promoter.

Why Should I Turn My Customers Into Affiliates? 

There’s no one more familiar with your products or services than your existing customers (except perhaps yourself and your employees, of course).

Did you know that around 90% of international consumers trust referrals from friends and family more than any other form of advertising? 

Customers are: 

Trustworthy

Your customers provide a trustworthy voice, enhanced with authenticity in a way other forms of marketing can’t provide. There’s no one to sell them using clichéd, “salesey” language and marketing gimmicks. New customers hear or read a real person’s experience interacting with your product or service. Customer reviews are 12 times more trustworthy to consumers than marketing coming directly from your company. 

Honest  

Going hand-in-hand with trustworthiness is honesty. If the quality of your product or service doesn’t meet the standards of your existing customers, you’ll hear about it. This feedback is valuable to you in two ways: 

1. You can use this valuable feedback to improve upon your product.
2. Your customers can attract new customers using their own vote of approval. 

85% of consumers find user-generated reviews more persuasive than brand media advertising. Your customers’ feedback > any advertising you post on social media.

Loyal

A happy customer is a loyal customer and happy customers are more likely to share their experience if there is a reward at the end of the rainbow. 

Rewarding your existing customers yields brand loyalty and brand loyalty yields a lot of sales in your future. Crowning your customers with the title of an affiliate is exciting for your most loyal fans. Offer monetary rewards like a percentage of a sale, better discounts, or add in freebies like an extra service or product. 

So, now that you know why customers make the best affiliates, let’s learn how to turn your customers into affiliates. 

How to Turn Your Customers into Affiliates

It all starts with superb customer service

Superb customer service delivers value to your customers, keeping them happy and engaged with your business. Investing in customer service cultivates a loyal customer base, refers additional customers, and provides excellent customer testimonials and reviews.

Loyal customers help attract new customers to your business, free of charge! Any affiliate program starts here. When a customer believes in your product, the product sells itself through their excitement and the product sells itself.

According to Hubspot, a 5% increase in customer retention leads to an increase in profit by 25%. Repeat customers are 300% more likely to spend more money with your brand, causing you to spend less on your business's operating expenses.

Not only do you save money, but happy customers are likely to refer your product to others. Around 70% of customers like to share their positive experiences with a company with six or more people. That means for every loyal customer raving about your company, you may have 6 additional customers.

Remember we talked about how customers are loyal? That’s only when they believe in the brand. And it’s a lot less expensive for your company to retain an existing customer than to acquire a new one.

It’s the ideal domino effect: loyal customers→ friends and followers→ more customers→ $ for you.

Your customers are your best--and least expensive--a form of marketing your products, which is why they’re the perfect affiliates.

Have a stellar affiliate landing page

This part is very important, perhaps the second most important (behind superb customer service). Your landing page may be the first thing the customer sees when learning about your affiliate program. Stellar landing pages imply seriousness and legitimacy.

Recipes for a landing page:

1. Visibility: your page must be visible and contain affiliate-specific content.

2. Enticing: We suggest adding in a video on how your program works, a clearly outlined and succinct program feature section. Keep it simple. No complicated language or large blocks of text. The language in this section should be succinct. Punchy. Bullet points are necessary.

3. Specific: Most importantly, highlight the commission percentage. Most programs clearly show the commission bonus they offer on their website. This way your customers know exactly how much money to expect. But don’t stop here! Also display all aspects of your commission structure, how payouts work, and add details of what makes your program special.

4. Optimized: All aspects of your landing page should meet the criteria for Google’s Core Web Vitals and all standards for SEO optimization. Around twenty-five percent of affiliates find your program through your website. You want to arm yourself with as much SEO ammo as possible like keyword research. Tip: Your sign-up button must be visible and preferably at the top of the page.

Clearly featuring your program on your landing page establishes your legitimacy as an affiliate program. Once you’ve built your landing page, you’re ready to set up your affiliate email marketing campaign.

{{blog-cta}}

Email your brand-loyal customers 

Once you’ve identified your loyal customers, it’s time to send emails. The research found that for every dollar spent on email marketing, sellers can earn up to $44, with nearly 4.3% of consumers buying from these campaigns. Not only that but 73% of consumers named email as their preferred marketing channel. So, not only can email generate revenue, but it provides an easy medium to connect with your customer base and recruit them into affiliates. Create a stellar email template and landing page for your affiliate program and start sending out some emails. 

LeadDyno lets you set up emails to automatically send to affiliates or new customers. Set the frequency of your emails with whatever frequency you choose. 

Send enticing affiliate invitations to your existing or new customers and send follow-up emails to keep your business on their front of mind. 

Which goes along with our next point…

Offer coupons or a sign-up bonus

To entice them, set up a rewards program and highlight it in your email. With LeadDyno you can easily set up how much to pay your new affiliates. You can even offer them an extra 5-10% first-sale extra bonus. Or a $50 sign-up bonus for joining the program. 

Or instead, offer them a 20% off coupon (or however much you want) for their next purchase at your store or for your service. Not only will they feel like they’re getting a great deal on a product they believe in, but it further fortifies their faith in your brand. It personalizes the experience. Your customers will feel special when you choose them to join your program. And they are special, so treat them that way! 

Along with coupon or sign-up bonuses, you can also…

Offer loyalty programs

Many affiliate programs are now offering VIP programs or loyalty programs for affiliates who not only make the mark but exceed sales expectations. 

This is another great part of your program to highlight on your landing page. Highlight important loyalty program features like free products, extra coupons or percentage off for every purchase, or even monetary gift cards. 

Send thank-you notes to new affiliates 

Thank you notes are an avenue to add a personalized touch and surprise your customers. Better yet, add in a coupon for the specific product they like from your business and they’ll feel extra special. Add in a letter explaining why you’re thankful for their business and dedication. This way, you’re more than a faceless money-grubbing company. 

But most importantly…

Keep your affiliate program simple

Make signing up easy, instructions clear features prominent and direct, and don’t overcomplicate the process. Less is always better when it comes to everything in life (unless it’s coffee, in that case, more is always better).

Conclusion

In conclusion, turning your customers into affiliates is the easiest way to recruit affiliates. Customers are trustworthy, honest, and loyal. Once you figure out the vision for your affiliate program, set up your landing page, and send your emails out, maintain your affiliates by offering them VIP promotions and incentives. Always thank your affiliates for their hard work in promoting your brand. Keeping all of this in mind, don’t overcomplicate the process. As a wise family member once told me: Keep it simple, silly.