Learn how to get more eCommerce affiliate program sign-ups.

A well-executed affiliate program can help you grow your audience and improve your marketing ROI. It can also be a great source of revenue for your business, especially if you have a large email list or are running a digital product business.

But simply setting up an affiliate program for your Shopify store is not going to start getting more sales.

The key to success with an affiliate program is to make sure that you get the right people to become your affiliates. 

15 tried-and-tested ways to get more affiliate sign-ups for eCommerce businesses

1. Set up a customized page

Just like any other key page on your website, you should have one to promote your affiliate program too – this should include the sign-up process, how it works, benefits, etc.

It’s essential to have a landing page that is designed specifically for the affiliate program. This will help you track your conversion rates and give you an easy way to monitor what’s working and what isn’t when it comes to your affiliates.

This should include all of the information that affiliates need to promote your product or service, including banners and text links, as well as any special offers that may be available for them. Make sure that your affiliates can easily find this page on your website and share it with the right audience.

2. Promote on the website – announcement bars, footer links, pop ups 

You need to let your website visitors know that you have an affiliate program available! 

You can do this by placing an affiliate banner or link in a prominent place on your site. We recommend that you put the affiliate link on the homepage of your website so that new visitors can easily see it when they arrive at your site. You may also want to add an announcement bar or footer link to help drive traffic to the page where people can sign up as affiliates.

3. Optimize your order thank you page

Apart from showing only order details and confirmation, you can also display your affiliate program benefits on your order thank you page. This can help convert existing customers into affiliates. And active buyers will most likely always belong to circles that are more likely to convert as they have similar needs. 

With Shopify affiliate marketing apps like Enlistly, this little tweak is easy to implement. This way you can convert newly acquired customers excited about their purchase, into affiliates. 

4. Promote on social media

People are spending more time on social media than ever before.

Promoting affiliate offers on social media is one of the easiest ways to get sign-ups from new customers quickly because most people spend time on these sites every day browsing through news stories, photos, and videos.

If you’ve worked hard to build up a following, why not use it to get people to sign up for your affiliate program? You have a direct line of communication with these people, and they’re more likely to take action when you tell them about something.

5. Promote in your email newsletter

If you are a marketer, the two most important things you can do for your business are to build a list and write emails.

Email is still a very powerful tool for getting sign-ups.

eCommerce companies usually send emails with their ongoing offers and discounts, but a good idea is to also include details of the affiliate program and why the subscriber/customer should sign up for it. 

6. Promote success stories

This is one of the best ways to promote your affiliate program. If you have a successful affiliate, showcase their success story and encourage others to follow in their footsteps.

If you have a list of successful affiliates who are earning commissions from your products or services, showcase their success stories to attract more signups.

You can showcase these success stories on your website or blog, in email newsletters, and in social media posts. Similar to how reviews work to get more online shoppers to convert, stories can help you get more affiliate sign-ups.

7. Manual outreach

Create a list of 10-15 highly qualified people – these can be individuals, micro or macro influencers who have an audience similar to your target audience. You can then manually reach out to them. 

It’s not the most efficient way of doing things, but it will help you find good and quality affiliates who actually want to work with you instead of just signing up for any brand they can get their hands on.

If you have an existing email list or any other form of contact information for people who have shown interest in your company, then you should definitely use this data to find potential affiliates. The more specific your criteria are, the more likely you are to find someone who fits your needs perfectly and get more affiliate sign-ups.

8. Convert your biggest fans

If you have a dedicated fan base, consider inviting them to join your affiliate program. This is a great way of getting sign-ups, but also building a community around your brand and increasing the likelihood that they’ll be advocates for you.

It’s important to note that not all affiliates are created equal, so it’s always worth testing different strategies for finding affiliates and monitoring their performance.

9. Join affiliate communities and groups

It’s important to be a part of the affiliate community in your niche, especially if you’re just starting out. You’ll get valuable tips from experienced marketers and learn what kind of offers work best for their audience.

You can also learn about new affiliate networks, products, and offers your competitors are using. You can even join Facebook groups dedicated to discussing specific affiliate programs or networks.

10. Optimize the sign-up process

The sign-up process is a critical part of your affiliate marketing program. The goal is to get people to sign up, but you also want to ensure they are signing up with the right information.

If you are using an email auto-responder or drip campaign, this is especially important. If someone signs up for an account and then gets an email from you asking for their name and address only to find out later that they don’t fit your criteria, chances are they will never come back again.

Take the time to make sure that any information you request is necessary for your program. If you have multiple options for sign-up, consider them separately so that each option has less than 15 questions required for completion.

Furthermore, make sure that your sign-up process is not lengthy – the longer it is, the higher the drop-offs.

To combat this, Enlistly can help people sign up using social media accounts as well so that it becomes easier for them. Check it out here. 

11. Ensure quick payments

Most times, affiliates don’t get paid timely. 

If your affiliates do not receive their commissions quickly, they will begin looking elsewhere for sources of income and may not recommend your products again.

For this reason, it is crucial that you have an efficient payment process in place so that your affiliates get paid as soon as possible after a sale has been made.

A good idea is to automate payments. That’s where Enlisty can help you. Built for Shopify, Enlistly is the fastest way to get an affiliate program set up. In less than 2 minutes you’ll have a full-featured affiliate management platform with real-time order tracking. It’s free to get started.

12. Run a referral program

Get your existing affiliates to refer to your program and bring in more affiliates. In return, give them benefits/commission on every successful affiliate sign-up. 

Instead of unhealthy competition, build a sense of community and growing together to encourage more participation from your affiliates. 

13. Run targeted ads

One way to get more eyeballs on your eCommerce affiliate program is by running paid advertising campaigns. You can run ads on Facebook, Instagram, Google AdWords, and more.

The key is to target potential customers with similar interests as your audience. If you’re an eCommerce shop selling electronics, then target people who have shown interest in electronics or computers.

If you sell health and wellness products, then target people who are looking at health and beauty products online or have shown interest in those topics online or offline. The more targeted the ad is, the better chance it will convert into a sale.

14. Promote affiliate content on your own accounts

You can promote your affiliate member’s content on your social media channels. Consider it like giving a shout-out to your affiliates.

This will help increase the visibility of your brand and also encourage your members to share their content with their audiences as well. And any visual content on your products/services is always a yay! Also, by promoting their content, you are helping them build their own following which will ultimately lead to more sales for you.

And when your audience sees that the brand working with these affiliates is helping them achieve their goals, more people are bound to join the program. 

15. Set a valuable commission

The most important factor in whether affiliates will promote your brand or not is how much they will earn if they refer someone who signs up. If you offer too little of an incentive, affiliates won’t bother promoting you. 

On the other hand, if you offer too much money per sale, then their incentive becomes more about getting paid than actually helping customers find value in your products or services.

If you are unsure of what to pay, then take a look at other brands similar to yours and see what they are offering. Also, don’t forget to factor in the value of what they have to offer (i.e their website traffic) and the potential for repeat sales.

And most importantly, clearly mention your commission policies before the member signs up for your eCommerce affiliate marketing program. This helps in creating a great incentive to get them to sign up in the first place and also avoid any confusion later on.

Wrapping up! 

In the last few years, eCommerce affiliate marketing has become one of the most popular ways to promote brands. Affiliate programs are a great way to get more exposure for your brand, especially if you’re just starting out.

But not all affiliate programs are created equal. Some are better than others and some businesses make more money from their affiliates than others do.

The difference between an average program and a good one is how much effort it takes to convert people into sign-ups. We hope the tips mentioned above can help you craft your affiliate program converts well.

Still unsure or need additional help to get more affiliate sign-ups?

Check out Enlisty – The seamless affiliate management tool. Built for Shopify, Enlistly is the fastest way to get an affiliate program set up. In less than 2 minutes you’ll have a full-featured affiliate management platform with real-time order tracking. It’s free to get started.

Install the app today!