1 blog post you need to increase your affiliate conversions
I know this may seem extremely obvious, but in order to make money with affiliate marketing, you need to actually show your audience how you have used a particular product or service that you are recommending.
Shocking, right?
Where a lot of people go wrong (including myself), is by writing a quick post, sticking links into it, and then expecting to make money.
To be successful with affiliate marketing on your blog, you need your audience to trust you and want to purchase something that you recommend.
This means actually using the product or service.
I like to tell people it is exactly how a friendship works. For example, if one of your friends recommends a new restaurant to try, you are more likely going to eat there since you trust their opinion.
And you would never tell one of your friends that you absolutely love a chicken salad at a new restaurant if you have never tried it.
This same concept needs to be applied when it comes to earning money with affiliate marketing on your blog.
Whether you are completely new to affiliate marketing or are already making money with it, the one blog post you need to write to increase your conversions is an in-depth review post.
Again, I know this seems obvious, but often times I see blog posts that just tell their audience why they should buy the item and they forget the important step of actually showing them why.
A review is the perfect post to help you show your audience how and why you like a particular item without having to be salesy or make them feel like you are pushing something on them.
If you need help getting started with affiliate marketing, you can check out my Affiliate Marketing Beginners Guide and then come back to this post.
Today I am going to walk you through my quick process of everything you should include in your review post to increase your affiliate conversions.
Step #1 Pick 1 product or service
The key to writing this post is only focusing on one product or service that you want to recommend.
It can become overwhelming for your audience when you start recommending a bunch of different products in a post. There are plenty of times when a list of products that you like will work in a blog post, but for this specific post it needs to be centred around one single item.
Before you jump right in and start writing, be sure it is an item that you can write an in-depth post about.
If you are unsure what product you want to write about in your niche, you can check out my 100 Affiliate Product Ideas To Recommend to help you get some ideas.
Start by making a list of some of your favorite products or services that you have personally used that are related to your industry and the topics you write about on your blog.
Here are a few suggestions:
Online courses
eBooks
Planners
Physical products
Software
Equipment
Next, you want to pick one of the items from your list that you can write an entire blog post about to show your readers why you like the product or service.
Keep the other ideas that you wrote down for another post that you can add to your content calendar.
Step #2 Go deep
The next thing you need to focus on is writing an in-depth blog post about the item you picked from step #1.
This post needs to be lengthy (2,000 - 3,000 words), and it needs to show your audience why they need it rather then telling them. This is where you will dig deep and write an awesome post that offers your audience:
An honest opinion about the product or service
Pros and cons
Your story and experience with the item
Your favorite features or benefits
A before and after, or transformation, with the product
This is what builds the connection with your readers. They can see exactly how and why you use the product and start to visualize why they need it.
This is a really important step because once you start to build loyalty with your readers they will begin to trust your opinion just like the friendship example that I explained above.
Step #3 Images or screenshots
An easy way to show your audience how you use the product or the results you have received is by including actual pictures of the item in your post.
Show your readers pictures of yourself using the product, or images of how it can be used, so that they can get a complete review of the item. This is another thing that helps to build trust with your readers, because they can actually see you using the item rather than just feeling like you are trying to sell them something.
These images will vary depending on your niche or the product you are promoting in your post. For example, if you are an affiliate for an online course, you can take screenshots of the transformation you had or the results you got from taking the course.
In this case, you wouldn't necessarily have images of you taking the course, but get creative and let your audience envision themselves taking the course and the difference it would make in their life.
Step #4 Drive traffic
The last step in this process is to drive traffic to this post so that you can increase your conversion rates and earn more money as an affiliate partner. One of the best ways to get started is by using Pinterest.
Here are 2 quick things you can do:
1 - Create several Pinterest images: Instead of having only 1 image to promote this blog post on Pinterest, make a couple to test which one works best. You can create a branded image, create a stock picture with text overlay, and make a pin with a collage of images of how to actually use the product you are recommending in the blog post.
2 - Schedule: To help drive more traffic to this post, you want to schedule it to be pinned to your relevant group boards and personal boards frequently. Use a scheduling service, like Tailwind, to help you effectively get more people to read this blog post. Now it is time for you to take action.
Have you ever written an affiliate review post?