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Although numerous methods exist for cultivating prospects and boosting revenue within your digital course enterprise, partner marketing stands out as exceptionally potent.
Regardless of whether your aim is to enroll your initial cohort of one hundred learners or to expand your operations significantly, partner marketing offers a valuable means to realize your objectives.
In my capacity overseeing Partner Marketing at StationX, I direct the referral network for our educational platform, have collaborated with numerous partners, and developed this network into a substantial revenue stream for our company.
I have compiled this comprehensive manual to provide you with a detailed, sequential walkthrough on establishing a referral program for your enterprise.
This manual is replete with practical tactics, validated structures, and ready-to-use templates that will prove beneficial as you develop and expand your referral network.
Let us commence.
Affiliate marketing represents the methodology of engaging third parties to advocate for your offerings through their online platforms, such as websites, YouTube channels, email communications, and similar avenues, in return for a monetary reward.
Partners employ distinctive hyperlinks (known as affiliate links) in these promotional activities to channel potential customers to your website and conversion pathways. When an individual clicks one of these referral links, a tracking cookie is set to monitor their subsequent actions and conversions.
Ultimately, should an individual purchase a product (for instance, enroll in a course) subsequent to clicking an affiliate link, the respective affiliate receives compensation, either as a predetermined sum or a specific portion of the transaction value, known as a commission.
Affiliate marketing functions as a form of performance-based marketing, meaning you compensate your partners only upon the successful completion of a sale.
That being acknowledged, initiating and cultivating an affiliate program does not necessitate a substantial financial outlay, rendering it particularly suitable for proprietors of smaller businesses operating with constrained budgets.
For example, if you are just embarking on your venture, utilizing advertising on platforms like Google and Facebook might prove excessively costly, particularly if your field is highly competitive. In such a scenario, affiliate marketing would present a more viable alternative.
Another significant benefit of affiliate promotions is the capacity to achieve outcomes much more rapidly than with any alternative organic marketing approach.
You are not required to cultivate an audience from the very beginning; instead, the affiliates furnish a “pre-existing” audience for your online course promotional efforts.
All these elements converge to position affiliate marketing as one of the most expandable marketing methodologies available. It empowers you to grow your business with minimal expenditure and at maximum velocity.
Consequently, it should not be surprising at all when I inform you that 81% of brands depend on the affiliate channel to advertise their products and services.
It becomes even more logical to utilize an affiliate marketing strategy as an online course creator because you are distributing a digital item and do not actually need to increase your operational capacity to accommodate higher demand.
Furthermore, there are minimal additional costs associated with selling courses, enabling you to provide more generous commissions to incentivize affiliates to promote your products more vigorously.
In summary, affiliate marketing stands as the most efficient method to promote online educational programs. If you can successfully institute an affiliate program, you can concentrate on developing and delivering courses while others manage the sales aspect.
In the subsequent sections, I will demonstrate precisely how to initiate an affiliate program for your enterprise.
The process of establishing your affiliate program primarily involves two key actions: selecting your affiliate platform and determining your commission rates. Let us explore each of these elements in greater detail below!
The initial alternative involves enlisting with an affiliate marketplace — an external platform that connects individuals or companies selling products with affiliates. This platform functions as an intermediary between the two groups and manages all aspects of the process.
Therefore, affiliate marketplaces typically provide all the necessary functionalities for you to:
More significantly, these platforms boast an extensive network of registered affiliates, which simplifies your efforts to discover and enlist new partners.
For instance, ClickBank hosts over 12,000 vendors and 100,000 affiliates on its platform and is recognized as one of the premier affiliate networks for promoting digital offerings.
In a similar vein, ShareASale is another widely recognized affiliate network, featuring over 15,000 brands and more than 200,000 affiliates. Numerous such affiliate networks exist, and a compilation of the leading ones can be found at this link.
Although affiliate marketplaces streamline the process of launching your affiliate program, the associated expenses render it a less practical choice for many online content creators.
For example, ShareASale imposes a singular setup charge of $550, in addition to a transaction fee equivalent to 20% of the commission you dispense to your affiliates.
Subsequently, you must also factor in the expenses incurred on your part related to the intricate setup and integration procedures.
Another element that causes concern for many creators is the perceived deficiency in autonomy.
With affiliate networks, you do not have ownership of the platform, compelling you to adhere to their specific terms, conditions, and content guidelines, and new promotional offers and creative materials generally require approval before activation.
Is there a different approach?
The alternative method involves establishing an affiliate program under your own conditions by utilizing dedicated affiliate software.
Primarily, all online course platforms provide integrated affiliate management tools.
Regardless of whether you employ a comprehensive, all-in-one platform such as Kajabi or a specialized course platform like Thinkific, they incorporate built-in utilities to assist you in configuring and overseeing your affiliate program.
Secondly, if you utilize sales funnel software such as Kartra or ThriveCart, these also possess inherent affiliate marketing functionalities.
Alternatively, should you desire more robust affiliate tracking and reporting capabilities, opt for a specialized affiliate marketing instrument like Rewardful.
Launching an affiliate program independently of a marketplace is preferable for the majority of individuals. Possessing the liberty to operate according to your own terms and conditions typically translates to greater profitability and the absence of third-party commission fees.
After you have settled on the methodology and platform for your affiliate program, the next step is to decide the commission percentage you will offer to your affiliates.
The rates for affiliate commissions fluctuate based on your specific industry niche and the nature of the program you are offering. Take these elements into account when establishing affiliate commission percentages:
I have observed creators proposing affiliate commissions as minimal as 10% for online courses, but I would personally advocate for a more generous commission.
Since you are marketing a digital item (an online course), and there are no replication costs, I suggest establishing a minimum affiliate commission of 30%.
At StationX, we provide a 40% commission on all products, despite the industry standard being approximately 20%. This approach has been a primary factor contributing to the success of our affiliate program.
And if your goal is to differentiate yourself from the competition, you could even establish your affiliate commission rate at a level as high as 50%.
For example, Amy Porterfield provides a 50% commission to all affiliates for the promotion of Digital Course Academy. Consequently, she attracts some of the foremost affiliates in the sector to endorse the program.
Another critical choice you must address is whether your affiliate program will be accessible to everyone or operate on an invitation-only basis.
I prefer extending an open invitation to all, as this simplifies the process for potential affiliates to approach you, thereby enabling you to connect with a broader spectrum of partners.
I would simply implement some form of screening procedure to ascertain whether an individual is a suitable match for the program or not.
You should verify that your potential affiliate:
Lastly, it is necessary to develop a public-facing affiliate page to disseminate all relevant details concerning your affiliate program. From this page, interested affiliates can submit their information via a registration form.
Once your affiliate program is configured, it is time to advance to the subsequent and most vital phase of your affiliate marketing endeavor, which involves identifying affiliate partners who genuinely possess an audience and can assist you in achieving tangible results.
The triumph of your affiliate program hinges on your capacity to identify genuine supporters for your brand — individuals who have faith in your product and are prepared to invest the necessary effort to generate sales.
Unless you lead a well-established organization, it is rather improbable that individuals will proactively inquire about your affiliate program. Consequently, you will need to actively seek out potential affiliates, initiate contact, and persuade them to collaborate with you.
Let’s examine effective methods for locating new affiliates for your online course.
This represents my most favored approach. The concept involves locating affiliates who are presently endorsing your competitors’ offerings and persuading them to advocate for yours instead (essentially, to attract your competitors’ affiliates).
I will guide you through this process in three straightforward steps.
Step 1: Compile a roster of competitors who operate an affiliate marketing program. This will require leveraging your industry knowledge alongside conducting some investigation.
Step 2: Determine the typical structure of each competitor’s affiliate link. You can accomplish this by identifying a few of their affiliates and scrutinizing their respective affiliate links.
For instance, one of StationX’s rivals is a well-known educational platform named Pluralsight.
Through some investigation using Google, we were able to identify several of their affiliates, and upon examining their affiliate links, we observed that all the affiliate URLs commenced with pluralsight.pxf.io.
Step 3: Input this URL into an SEO utility such as Ahrefs to obtain a list of websites that link to your competitor by means of these affiliate links.
This method yields exceptional results because you are aware that these affiliates are already active in your niche, which makes your courses significantly more pertinent to their existing audience.
Another productive method for enlisting affiliates into your program involves identifying leading blogs within your specific field, a task you can accomplish through straightforward research.
Suppose I aim to find affiliates for our cybersecurity training platform. I would conduct searches using key phrases like:
These are the websites appearing on the initial page for your keyword, indicating that they are popular blogs and receive web traffic.
You should invest time in evaluating these websites to confirm their suitability for your affiliate program. Here are some basic questions to help qualify these websites:
You can also employ this tactic to discover popular YouTube channels, Facebook Groups, specialized forums, and essentially any platform that hosts an audience.
For example, to locate YouTube channels relevant to your niche, navigate to Youtube.com and perform a search using the identical keywords. Subsequently, review the list and similarly assess the channels.
You should now possess a curated list of prospective affiliates for your online course. The next step involves initiating outreach efforts!
The most effective method for contacting affiliates is through email. In a concise and amiable email, present yourself, describe your online course, and straightforwardly inquire if they are interested in a partnership.
But how can you obtain affiliates’ email addresses?
You have three available methods:
Method #1: Many websites display a contact email address on their homepage, “Contact Us” page, or even the “About Us” page. If you locate an email on one of these pages, you can utilize that email for your communication.
Method #2: If no email address is present on the contact page, you can employ a tool like Hunter.io to find one. You can also use it to confirm email addresses’ validity.
Hunter.io provides 50 complimentary searches before transitioning you to a subscription plan. It does not, however, invariably succeed in finding an email address.
And occasionally, it furnishes the email of an individual within the company who is unable to assist with affiliate program matters. In this situation, request that they redirect you to someone who can help.
Method #3: If the contact page lacks an email address, and you are unable to find one through Hunter.io, submit your message via the contact form.
This approach is not as potent as sending an email directly, as they likely have a designated folder for all inquiries from the contact page, and your message might become lost among the numerous submissions they handle.
Nevertheless, it remains a worthwhile attempt.
Now, it is incumbent upon you to compose your outreach email and click the send button.
The essential aspect is to maintain simplicity in your message and adhere strictly to the main point. Additionally, formulate a compelling proposition.
For instance, if you are contacting your competitors’ affiliates, you could utilize a template similar to this one:
Conversely, if you are simply reaching out to bloggers or content creators, you can employ a more generalized pitch:
If you wish to obtain these templates, you can access them for download here.
Bear in mind that these are merely illustrative templates, and always remember to personalize your emails by including the recipient’s name and ensuring the content you send is pertinent to them.
Furthermore, ensure you use an unambiguous subject line so that the prospective affiliate can readily identify the purpose of your email communication.
The subject line might read “Affiliate Name <> Your Brand Name” or “Proposal for Business Partnership,” or something of a similar nature.
Finally, it is imperative that you consistently follow up on your outreach emails. Individuals are often occupied and may set your email aside for later review, only to subsequently forget. Occasionally, they may require a gentle reminder.
If you are participating in an affiliate marketplace such as ClickBank or ShareASale, exploring your existing network is the most advantageous starting point. Subsequently, you can assess the top-performing affiliates within a particular category and extend invitations for them to join your program. Most marketplaces feature some form of integrated messaging system that you can utilize to contact your desired affiliates.
An established clientele represents an area frequently neglected by marketers. Nevertheless, individuals who have previously engaged with your courses possess the most intimate knowledge of your product and can serve as excellent representatives for your brand.
Therefore, you should seize the chance to enlist them as affiliates and tap into their respective networks.
According to a research study, 93% of individuals place trust in recommendations from friends and family. Consequently, motivating your customers to disseminate information can be a remarkably effective approach.
So, why not initiate contact with them and ascertain if they would be amenable to participating in your referral program?
For instance, if you instruct a course on florist design, it is probable that most of your students are connected to some form of florists’ network (e.g., a Facebook Group, a specialized community, etc.). And some may maintain an active presence on social media or even manage their own blog.
Numerous leading marketers employ this tactic for recruiting affiliate partners. For example, I enrolled in the Pinterest Traffic Avalanche course, and upon its conclusion, the creators invited all participants to join their affiliate marketing initiative.
With this approach, the objective is to enlist individuals who are genuinely pleased with your product and are seeking to earn some income. These individuals can become your most ardent brand champions, as they trust your product, believe in your brand, and are eager to share it with others.
Numerous other methods exist for recruiting affiliates for your brand, and this video enumerates several of them.
Enlisting affiliate marketers constitutes only one part of the undertaking. The remaining part involves encouraging them to actively endorse your online courses.
A standard affiliate marketer typically promotes a variety of different products, so it is crucial to maintain their engagement and communicate with them consistently.
This is the stage where affiliates become familiar with your program. A successful affiliate integration process encompasses communication, direction, and assistance from their initial sign-up through their final sale related to your online course.
Integration is a vital component of every affiliate program because the manner in which you onboard affiliates will have a direct bearing on their success within the program.
To begin, you should dispatch a welcome email to your affiliates containing information on how they can gain access to their affiliate dashboard, locate their affiliate links, and retrieve promotional materials and graphics.
Furthermore, you must convey all program specifics, including commission rates, cookie duration, payment schedules, and terms of service.
Here is the welcome email communication we distribute to our affiliates at StationX:
Nevertheless, the integration process involves more than just dispatching a welcome email.
You should arrange periodic reminder communications to prompt them to share their affiliate links, generate new content, and to check on their progress or ascertain if they require any assistance.
You can also send them congratulatory emails or offer a small bonus when they achieve a particular milestone. This serves as an effective means to express your gratitude for their efforts and encourages affiliate marketers to prioritize the promotion of your product.
This is also the juncture to establish a communication pathway so affiliates know precisely whom and where to contact regarding topics pertinent to the program.
Finally, it is vital to tailor your affiliate program. Each affiliate will possess a different level of experience. Some are established influencers, while others are entirely new to this field. Novices may require considerable guidance, whereas more seasoned affiliates can contribute to brainstorming sessions.
Supplying affiliates with promotional resources to utilize can significantly enhance the program’s overall effectiveness.
Listed below are several items you should furnish to your affiliates:
Content primarily consists of product descriptions and approved text for email campaigns and social media posts.
Crafting effective copy is among the most demanding tasks, so furnishing pre-drafted content is essential. This is exceptionally useful for affiliates who lack the expertise or means to create persuasive promotional text.
Additionally, this will ensure that your affiliates consistently reflect your brand’s voice. If numerous disparate promotional materials are circulating with varying tones and information, you risk diluting your brand identity.
Here is the swipe copy we were provided for Digital Course Academy. It contains pre-written emails for each campaign, which greatly simplifies our efforts to promote the course.
With ready-to-implement templates, you dictate the desired presentation, and affiliates can simply copy, paste, personalize, and it’s complete!
Another excellent strategy to encourage your affiliates to endorse your products is by providing creative resources for your top-selling items, categories, or your highest-performing affiliate partners.
These creative resources typically encompass ready-made graphics and videos designed for your marketing initiatives. The objective is to enable affiliates to utilize them on their websites, social media platforms, and in email communications.
For instance, if you wish for your affiliates to promote a webinar you are conducting, you can supply them with pre-designed banners in various sizes.
Amy Porterfield furnishes affiliates with graphic assets for endorsing her masterclass.
This facilitates your affiliates’ ability to promote your products swiftly and thereby enhances the probability of their active promotional engagement.
Your brand guidelines explicitly stipulate how affiliates are permitted to advertise your brand and products on their respective websites.
You might address specifications such as:
And additional elements! This also serves as an excellent method for maintaining consistency across all aspects related to your brand.
You can include details regarding your brand’s history, mission, core values, and overarching vision so that affiliates can gain a more profound understanding of your business.
One of the practices we strongly advocate is enabling your affiliates to promote your complimentary offers.
Initially, you must construct a sales funnel where individuals can obtain a lead magnet, followed by a sequence of email communications.
Then, it is essential to activate affiliate tracking for that specific funnel so that affiliates can direct traffic to the funnel itself, and not solely to your sales pages.
At StationX, we utilize a cybersecurity career guide as our primary lead magnet. Our affiliates are also able to direct traffic to this resource, and when one of their referrals converts into a paying customer, the affiliate is compensated for the sale.
Therefore, if you possess a complimentary e-book or any alternative lead magnet, your affiliates can email their audience, encouraging them to subscribe to your email list, and subsequently, you manage the sales process. You will observe improved conversion rates in this scenario due to the more nuanced marketing approach.
A significant amount of promotional activity can be generated by hosting contests, which is why leading affiliate programs frequently conduct such events.
Affiliates will exert considerable effort to drive sales in pursuit of winning that prize! And since they actively contribute to increasing your sales, why not reward them and inject some enjoyment into the process?
You can organize a competition based on the highest conversion rate percentage or simply adjust your existing affiliate program to include additional incentives and gifts for affiliates who achieve specific milestones.
I took part in a competition organized by Stu McLaren for his course affiliates. He conducted multiple contests throughout the launch phase and offered incentives valued at thousands of dollars, which stands as one of the primary contributors to the success of his affiliate launch.
Here is a preparatory checklist that you should complete prior to the contest’s commencement:
These occasions are outstanding for expressing gratitude to your affiliates and encouraging them to maintain their business relationship with you.
All efforts are futile if you are uncertain whether the affiliate program you have established is yielding results or not. That is why it is imperative to regularly monitor the program’s performance.
To begin, I suggest you track several key performance indicators:
Monitoring these metrics will ensure that everything aligns with your objectives, and that you are progressing correctly towards expanding your affiliate program to your desired scale and profitability.
For instance, if you observe a high number of inactive affiliates, you can connect with them and inquire if they are lacking anything (which could be additional resources).
The positive aspect is that you do not need to track everything independently. Your affiliate program platform should feature a dashboard where you can view all the data centrally and, if necessary, even export it.
This is how Kajabi’s report on top-performing affiliates appears:
Here you can observe the revenue they have generated, their most recent sale, the number of conversions, their commission amount, and so forth.
When you monitor your affiliate program’s effectiveness, you will undoubtedly identify certain elements that are not performing optimally. It is standard to make modifications to your program, but it is crucial that your affiliates are informed of these changes.
We have thoroughly detailed, in a step-by-step manner, how to launch an affiliate program for your online course enterprise within this guide. There is no question that affiliate marketing can assist you in attracting your desired clientele and growing your business.
To operate a thriving affiliate program, you must adhere to your outlined procedures meticulously and monitor your advancement throughout the process. Here’s a brief summary of the key points we covered in this article:
If you are new to the endeavor of selling online courses, we trust this information will enable you to develop the most effective affiliate program and boost sales for your business.
Have you previously utilized affiliate marketing to promote your business activities? What particular methods did you employ for recruiting new affiliate partners? Kindly share your experiences with us in the comments section below.
Daniel NicFounder, SellingOnliceCoursesGuide.comis an entrepreneur and digital education specialist who founded sellingonlinecoursesguide.com, a platform dedicated to helping creators and educators successfully navigate the online course marketplace. Through his website, he shares insights and strategies for developing, marketing, and monetizing online educational content. His work focuses on empowering course creators to build sustainable online businesses while effectively sharing their knowledge with students worldwide.
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Copyright © 2024 by SellCoursesOnline
Daniel Nic is an entrepreneur and digital education specialist who founded sellingonlinecoursesguide.com, a platform dedicated to helping creators and educators successfully navigate the online course marketplace. Through his website, he shares insights and strategies for developing, marketing, and monetizing online educational content. His work focuses on empowering course creators to build sustainable online businesses while effectively sharing their knowledge with students worldwide.
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