A complete guide for content creators

Recommending products and getting paid for sharing what you love is not only rewarding but gratifying. This is Affiliate Marketing. And is very prevalent on social media. For every post you dedicate to these affiliate products you are paid a commission. Or for every referral that buys through your affiliate link. We see this commonly with big name celebrity influencers such as Kim Kardashian showcasing a product, or mega influencers such as HuddaKattan.

Whilst they have followers in the millions and are generally paid a hefty price for sharing what they have. However, if you’re starting out, a rising influencer, mid or micro influencer or simply a content creator – even with as little as 1,000 followers (with decent engagement), you can join Affiliate Networks giving you access to brands you wish to promote. This is also a great way to broaden your brand presence and drive sales.

Contents

The benefits of Instagram Affiliate Marketing

How Affiliate Marketing works on Instagram

But first, are you eligible?

A step by step on how to launch your first Affiliate Marketing campaign on Instagram

• Join Affiliate networks
• Or join Instagram’s Affiliate networks

Some tips from RevGlue

How to promote Affiliate links on Instagram:

• Firstly, ensure you have a good page
• How to add Affiliate Tags to story
• Highlight your favourite product in your Insta post and get paid
• Use RevSocial
• Showcase your Affiliate Product in reels
• Add the link in bio
• Penned words

 

The benefits of Instagram Affiliate Marketing

By trying Affiliate Marketing, it’s a great way to grow or scale your brand or business. Also all major Affiliate networks such as AWIN, Rakiten, ShareASale and CJ Affiliate are supported by Instagram. It’s also an effective platform for attracting consumers, as you have the flexibility to utilise a range of media from videos and image features. And that’s no surprise why Instagram is the best social media platform used by brands for influencer campaigns.

It’s an effective way for brands to make sales, as according to TurnTo Networks, 90% of consumers say user-generate content influcners their buying. And that’s because they are seen as more personal and more authentic compared to brands. Also, two-thirds of these consumers say it’s a good way of evaluating if the product works before they make a purchase.

More than 500 million users check the app every single day, offering a unique platform which hosts different features and media types, which paves the way for more opportunities in Affiliate Marketing.

 

How Affiliate Marketing works on Instagram

Affiliate marketing is all about linking, and linking strategically. And ensuring you are offering value to your engaged, niche community. Now, those affiliate links should link to products that are likely to appeal to your audience and fit your brand or personality too. This increases the likelihood of purchases, but also continues to deepen your relationship with your followers as you better understand their needs.

Now there are some places where you can and cannot add your affiliate links. And to clear the confusion, it is not shopping tags on Instagram as Affiliates (you) or influencers (you) will not earn any commissions from that.

Before we get started on how you can get started with creating your first affiliate campaign. It’s important to note if you are eligible?

But first, are you eligible?

Instagram has detailed a partner monetisation policy. It encourages the monetisation of only organic content and not artifically boost views for engagement. They also cannot falsify their following and engagement, as transparency is crucial when partnering with potential brands. Another obvious one is to not post content which evokes hate speech, calls for violence or sexualised content.

Another area to check is that are you eligible for the Affiliate Programs you sign up for. For example Shopify Affiliate Program requires the Affiliate to have a strong presence online with a positive track record of making sales.
 

A step by step on how to launch your first Affiliate Marketing campaign on Instagram

Sign up with Affiliate networks or products

There are many Affiliate Networks you can join; namely AWIN, Rakuten Marketing, Amazon Associates, ShareASale are some well-known names giving you access to thousands of Affiliate Marketing programs.

These are marketplaces which contain a wide variety of businesses, products and services for influencers and content creators to promote. Here are a few you can try:

AWIN: A leading performance marketing networks, allowing you to connect with high ticket items or partnerships that are high paying. They provide over 10k campaigns for you to choose from. 

ClickBank: As we always say, pick a niche or brand which reflects yours. They will have many products you can promote on Instagram.

Or, sign up with Instagram Affiliate Programme

The other option is to sign up with the Instagram Affiliate Programme. Instagram has recently announced new affiliate marketing programs, to ease how creates earn money from product promotions. 

It’s new native affiliate program or tool allows creators to find new affiliate products available to purchase within the app, and then share them with their followers whilst earning commissions. It is similar to the shopping features on Instagram. You can see an example in the below image:

However, brands that are cautious and care about how they are portrayed may not join this scheme, as they would want a creator who reflects their brand and go through some kind or approval process. At the moment, it is nowhere near the affiliate networks mentioned before. 

Some tips from RevGlue

Ensure you choose high ticket items or those with a high commission rate. It is not always easy to make sales, and you want your campaign or promotions to be worth the effort.
Also, make sure you find brands, products or services you trust in and will add to your personal brand value. Will your followers be happy with the product? Ensure the brand not only aligns with your values but also has a good reputation.

 

How to promote Affiliate links on Instagram:

Firstly, ensure you have a good page

Does your page have a strong identity? Remember, it’s not about appealing to everyone and anyone, but to followers that are interested in a niche or subniche, whether that be in fashion, beauty, healthcare, design and so on. It’s always important to feed them with content that is of value to them in a consistent and regular basis. 

The most important (and time consuming) part is to make quality content. Make sure the content are all of quality photos and videos that not only delight and entertain but inform. The post should also strike curiosity. When a target audience lands on your Instagram page, they should enjoy exploring it.

How to add Affiliate Tags to story

The swipe feature on Instagram stories is something we’re so familiar with. It’s a great and easy option to allow people who want to find out more information or make a purchase, they just need to simply swipe up a story which leads them onto a new page. However, this feature is only available in business accounts that are verified or have at least 10k followers. Make sure to include a CTA so viewers know where to access the link. The great thing about stories is that they have a lot of fun features that encourage followers to interact with you.

Highlight your favourite product in your Insta post and get paid

You can use a link shortener like BL.ink and produce branded URLs that are easy to remember. Some keen followers may decide to capture the post on screenshot to then manually type on their browser. A tip is that if you can utilize a coupon code instead of a URL, then it makes it easier for followers to remember. 

Use RevSocial

You can automate and mass post with RevSocial, our free tool which allows you to choose a product or brand in any niche and add them to your collection before mass posting a series of affiliate product images or posts for Instagram. With our unique dashboard you can track conversions and commissions from the categories you set up.

Showcase your Affiliate Product in reels

We would suggest you have a strong Call to Action, that is memorable and encourage action. It could be in any format, such as text or audio. Remember the reel videos are in a 9:16 portrait format. Again, ensure the Affiliate link url is short and easy to remember. 

Add the link in the bio

One of the main challenges of Instagram is how difficult it is to find links and land on an external site. However, a link in the bio is a great technique to learn users know from the Insta post that in order to make a purchase they have to click the link in the bio. However, there is that when there are multiple affiliate products or past affiliate products can be missed. Ensure the link is shortened using tools like bitly.com. That way if someone can’t click through they can type the url depending on how willing they are to make that effort.

Penned words

Beginning an Affiliate Marketing journey on Instagram can feel overwhelming at first however, with the above advice it can become easier. Remember, it’s always about sticking to a specific niche and finding brands that align with it. Always ensure the quality of your campaign is the best it can be and be tactful in promoting the affiliate links.