Affiliate marketing plans can change in a moment’s notice, and the onset of COVID-19 has shown just that. While the reality of many humans changes around the globe, the way marketers approach their affiliate marketing strategy must also change. But it doesn’t have to be discarded in times of trouble. Rather, your affiliate marketing strategy can be improved to help those in need.
In the face of a global crisis, there are a few ways you can work to support the people and businesses around you. This involves treating people with respect, providing them with helpful information to remain safe and healthy, and continue interacting in the marketspace — e.g., buying and uplifting businesses you personally support. Here are just a few ways you can help …
1. Support your affiliates
Your affiliates help you year-round, supporting your affiliate marketing strategy from quarter one to four. In strange times, your affiliates need your support, too. Consider offering a bonus to remind them their help is appreciated; give them a special discount code to offer to their audience; provide regular office hours where you’re available to mentor them and provide them with mental support.
2. Let people know you’re here for them
Whatever you decide to provide to your affiliates and their audiences, make it useful. Rather than just selling a product or service, work to make people feel seen. Show that you understand their struggles in this time, that you feel for what they’re going through, and that you’re interested in helping alleviate their stress.
3. Offer useful deals and coupons to loyal customers
In times of need, people are usually looking for a break. Times can get tough, and the simplest form of support can feel incredible.
If you’re looking to bring more people to your website, you could consider enticing people to seek out your products and services with the aid of coupons and deals. While you’re already pitching your products as personally useful, you could better their perspective by offering them a special code that provides a useful discount, free shipping, or a small gift. By reducing overall costs, people will feel incentivized to seek out assistance from your company.
4. Support fellow businesses that could use the help
Even if your company is traditionally business-to-customer (B2C), you could consider partially becoming a business-to-business (B2B) company. Business is regularly made out to be a competition, but, in times of need, it’s important to support your competition and other fellow businesses.
Not sure how to help other businesses around you? Consider reaching out to them to discuss the possibility of a cooperative relationship. You never know much they could use the help, and it’ll make for a relationship that will benefit the two of you — as you support them, they can similarly tell their audience about the benefits of your business.
If you’re looking for something more exciting, you could consider creating a collaborative product/service together which features the greatest qualities of both of your companies, working to entice audience engagement.
5. Optimize your website to be more informative
While you could keep your website the same as it’s always been, you should improve some pages and features to offer visitors — and potential customers — informative knowledge about the ongoing situation.
While your entire brand doesn’t have to be shifted to informing customers about the crises of the world, you can dedicate specific parts of your website to keeping people in the loop. This can include information about services to seek if serious help is required or speaking about how your company is looking to help the situation.
6. Focus on authenticity and empathy
A successful affiliate marketing strategy relies on regular engagement — utilizing your affiliates to promote brand awareness, thus getting more people to check out your website and convert into a customer. But if people are in serious need, the last thing they want to hear or see is someone intentionally trying to sell them something.
The Bottom Line
Remain empathetic and authentic in such times; focus your brand less on promoting products and services and more on how your brand is here to help. What you provide during this time is more about the support you can offer to people in need.