Since it’s a more cost-effective and low-risk strategy, you’ve switched to affiliate marketing to attract prospective customers to your eCommerce store. Then you decide to launch an affiliate program but don’t know how to recruit affiliates to market your products.
Understanding that, UpPromote has decided to aggregate and classify the affiliate recruitment series to help eCommerce merchants learn more about tips, tricks, and tactics to find affiliate partners.
Before jumping into the main section of tactics on how to find affiliates, get to know affiliate marketing first.
What is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing strategy motivating individuals (your affiliates) to promote your products/ service for commission exchange.
At the most basic, three parties involved are:
Merchants (also referred to as sellers, or brands, advertisers) sell products/services.
Affiliates (sometimes referred to as publishers) are those responsible for selling the merchant’s product/ service to their sizable audience.
Customers are consumers that fit within the affiliate’s target audience.
The merchant creates a unique referral link for the eCommerce business model for affiliates to measure traffic directed to the website. The affiliate receives a percentage of sales (also called commissions) made through those links.
How Does Affiliate Marketing Work?
#1 You and affiliate collaborate either through a third party or directly
#2 The affiliate shares the product/service (typically through a referral link/ a coupon) to their audience
#3 The potential customer get engaged with the affiliate’s link
#4 The customer arrives at your landing page
#5 The consumer purchases your product
#6 The affiliate earns a commission
How affiliate marketing works
You would get more and more customers and rocket sales with less effort.
Affiliate marketing involves many tasks, including managing affiliates (invite affiliates, assign coupon/ affiliate link, pay affiliates), track performance, etc. That’s why merchants like you need a powerful affiliate app to handle those things.
UpPromote: Affiliate Marketing is a comprehensive app that helps you conquer the top of affiliate marketing with ease with powerful features such as
- UpPromote Marketplace: Expand the network of potential ambassadors/influencers.
- Reliable tracking process: Track every click, order from affiliates with various tracking methods (affiliate links, coupon code).
- Powerful management: Customize everything to match your brand and take full control of how affiliates refer to your business.
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Why use affiliate marketing? – Guilde on How to Find Affiliates
Affiliate marketing spending in the United States alone is predicted to reach $8.2 billion by 2022 (Statistica).
Why do businesses spend so much money on affiliate marketing? The following are some of the advantages of using affiliate marketing for your brand:
- Cost-effectiveness
With affiliate marketing, you’re not wasting money on places not showing their worth if you pay commissions when the conversion occurs.
Moreover, without spending the expenditures of establishing a full-fledged marketing campaign, recruiting affiliates is a straightforward technique eliminating the need to invest money in an unproven industry for testing.
Aside from cost-effectiveness, lost cost corresponds to lower risk. As a result, affiliate marketing is also recommended for various businesses, including small businesses on a budget.
- Targeted traffic
As you handpick your affiliates, you can ensure that the traffic coming to your site is from people interested in your product or service. This is because affiliates who connect with your brand will most likely have others in their circle of influence benefiting from it.
- Flexibility
Any industry can benefit from the affiliate marketing strategy, whatever goods or services are.
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No matter what niche you’re in, you’ll be able to locate various affiliate programs once you get started in affiliate marketing.
Moreover, you can scale up or down your affiliate program at little or no expense. It also provides you with a cost-effective option to expand your organization.
- High ROI
Affiliate marketing is one of the most excellent methods to get the highest return on investment.
Why? Since you are directing your marketing efforts through an affiliate that has direct access, influence, and responsiveness to a highly focused reception audience that is more inclined to purchase your company’s products.
How to Find Affiliates? The Ultimate Guide to Affiliate Recruitment
Affiliates are the key to your affiliate campaign success. You will need to put in some effort to discover the best affiliates to join your program, but it will be well worth it.
First, you should understand different types of affiliates to figure out the best matching affiliate partners for your campaign.
Popular Types of Affiliates
Social media KOLs/ influencers
Many people obtain fame online by appealing to a specific demographic. These individuals use their skills to amass a vast and devoted fan base from models to reviewers.
Influencers have a strong reputation in a particular industry, and people are more likely to trust their friends, relatives, and idols than the selling firm.
Before purchasing a product, buyers are more inclined to seek recommendations from individuals they know. Therefore, influencers’ voices would be influential in the decision-making process.
That’s why these people are some of the most beneficial affiliates that merchants should consider.
Working with influencers is no easy task, from influencers’ outreach tactics choosing the right ones, how to find affiliates, etc.
Coupon distribution websites
Coupon sites are function-based affiliates who operate in a more organized way, garnering traffic by providing a coupon site service for promotion needs to their audience.
You may leverage coupon websites to attract first-time shoppers to your site and urge them to make a purchase. After all, who can resist a good deal?
Agency partners
Collaboration with agencies familiar with B2B sales cycles can help you recruit business customers and be advantageous if you run a B2B affiliate program. Remember that an agency partner could become your customer, implying that they are already knowledgeable about the product or service you are selling.
There are many other types of affiliates such as PPC, mobile app, email/newsletter publishers. Affiliate types can vary depending on your business type.
Other affiliates in front of you are your customers, who are already buying your products/ services. If they have a good experience, why don’t you ask them to become your affiliates?
However, converting customers to affiliates requires little effort that you should not ignore; moreover, there’re some mistakes you should avoid, such as not communicating with them often or not providing enough information about your affiliate program.
Guide to get affiliates for any industry
Affiliate recruiting differs by business and industry and might be challenging at times. That’s why we’ve combined affiliate recruitment strategies for 14 different sectors that you can pick up the one for your eCom firm now.
#1 Find affiliates for fashion brand
Growing a fashion brand takes time and effort; finding affiliates is harder. That’s why you must know where to look for affiliates that can assist you in growing your fashion business.
Some easy ways to find affiliates for your fashion online store are:
- Reach out to social media influencers
- Fashion coupon/ deals sites
- Ask your existing customers
- UpPromote Marketplace (filter Fashion industry)
#2 How to find affiliates for beauty brands?
Beauty is a big industry with hundreds of brands. The chance for explosive earnings for beauty brands is promising with affiliate campaigns. However, many online beauty firms have faced challenges in finding affiliates to promote their business.
Methods to recruit affiliates for beauty brands you can apply to are
- Approach beauty influencers on Instagram, Google
- UpPromote Marketplace (filter Beauty and Health industry)
- Coupon sites
- Beauty products review/ comparing sites
- Use existing affiliates to recruit affiliates for beauty brands
- Beauty groups
#3 Get affiliates for jewelry brand
If you’re looking for an affiliate marketer to help you build your jewelry business, you’re already ahead of the game. Jewelry has become one of the most profitable industries, with people worldwide spending billions of dollars on it.
You have the most fantastic items, a promising niche market, ready-to-go affiliate programs, and so on, but your income hasn’t increased since you don’t know how to recruit the proper affiliate. Finding affiliates is crucial to expanding your business, but where do you start?
Places to look for top-tier jewelry brands are:
- UpPromote Marketplace (filter Jewelry)
- Social media (Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter)
- Your website
- Price comparison website
- Regular customers
- Lifestyle and fashion niche affiliates
#4 How to find affiliates to sell sports products
From an affiliate’s perspective, the rising change of eCommerce and the shift of attention and marketing resources toward the affiliate area imply that publishers have substantial potential. Advertisers compete for affiliates with active and engaged audiences in the industry.
You’re increasingly looking for sports bloggers and content affiliates as a merchant. So, how would you find potential sports affiliates for your brand in the burgeoning affiliate market?
- Speak to your existing clients
- Use Google to find sports (micro) influencers
- Spot influencers on Youtube
- Find sport and fitness influencers on Instagram
- UpPromote Marketplace (filter sports industry)
- Your affiliate landing page
- Work with an affiliate recruitment agency
#5 Recruit affiliates for appliances brand
If you are merchants who have business in appliance brands and looking for influencers that help you promote your products, some of the how to find appliances affiliate are:
- UpPromote Marketplace (filter Appliances industry)
- Niche Blog
- Turn Customer into Affiliates
- Social Media (Instagram, Youtube)
- Working with an influencer marketing agency
#6 Affiliate recruitment for the gardening industry
Regarding gardening, affiliate marketers have practically no limits on what they promote since people want to adorn their homes or create a space for their family, leisure, or trophy-winning flower/herb gardens.
Some tips on how to find top-tier affiliate affiliates for gardening businesses are
-
- Turn customers into affiliates
- Social Media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)
- UpPromote Marketplace (filter Gardening industry)
- Working with influencer marketing agencies
#7 Expand affiliate team for hobby niche
Doing something you love is one of the best ways to start an online firm. When you start using affiliate marketing to promote your hobby brand, you’ll immediately realize that acquiring affiliates is a complex undertaking.
Some hobby affiliate recruitment practices you can apply to are
- Convert customers to affiliates
- Affiliate management agency
- Look for hobby influencers through Instagram (hashtags)
- Find influencers on Google, Youtube
- UpPromote Marketplace (filter Hobby industry)
#8 Grow affiliate team for the food industry
The food industry has infiltrated the ever-changing economy, making food accessible to everybody. Grocery services, wine clubs, meal kits, and various other services may all be accessed with minimal effort on the internet. It appears to continue to grow to accommodate the increasing demand for uncluttered selling media during and after the outbreak.
As a result, affiliates are reasonably active in the food and beverage business. As a result, many merchants struggle to discover relevant partners with decent audiences for their food businesses and have no idea where to go.
Five tips for finding new affiliates in any vertical for your food business are
Your customers
- UpPromote Marketplace (filter Food industry)
- Bloggers (Start with Google; Hone the power of Facebook; Work with blog indexed; Find bloggers on Stumbleupon)
- Micro-influencers (Discover the power of industry hashtags; Look at your social media followers)
- Search for influencers using influencer platforms
- Join food affiliate networks
#9 Recruit affiliates for technology and electronics business
The electronics market constantly expands and changes as improved innovation and features are produced. Some of the best practices to expand your technology and electronic affiliate networks are:
- Asking your customers
- Find affiliates on Facebook
- Find influencers/ KOL on Youtube with keywords
#10 How to get affiliates for Pet Supplies brands
Pet owners are willing to invest a fortune to keep their cat or dog happy, comfortable, and well-fed, which means there are plenty of opportunities for manufacturers to promote their products and affiliate marketing is the best way to do it.
The best tactics to get affiliates for pet supplies brands are
- Turn customers into affiliates
- Social media (Instagram, TikTok)
- UpPromote marketplace (filter Pet Supplies Industry)
#11 Recruit affiliates for the book industry
Reading a book is a fun way to kill time, learn something new, or spend quality time with your kids at storytime. Thanks to digital technology, new books are now more accessible than ever before.
That is why there are so many affiliates in the industry, making it tough to locate them. Find book affiliates through
- Your customers
- Social media (Instagram, Facebook, Youtube)
#12 Grow affiliate team for moms and kids niche
Parents always have tons of questions for their kids, from products to foods. They always want to find the best products for their kids and prepare a solid future base. Thereby, the blog niches become the best place to search review products and information for all parents.
If you have business in mom & kids niches, you can find affiliates:
Segmenting mom bloggers’ affiliates to find the best matching your business: new mom, parenting twins, kids activities, family finance, working moms, food recipe.
Then start growing your affiliate network through Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, UpPromote Marketplace (filter Moms and Kids industry).
#13 Find top-tier gaming affiliates
Gaming is no longer merely a recreational activity in today’s day and age. While many people play online video games, the number of people who watch online video games and live streaming is significantly higher.
That’s why gaming is still a thriving industry for affiliate marketing, the best ways to find top-notch gaming affiliates are:
- Twitch
- Youtube Gaming
- Facebook Gaming
- UpPromote Marketplace (filter Gaming industry)
#14 Recruit affiliates for mobile phone niche
The development of technology has made mobile phones the most prominent device for everyone to communicate, and the mobile phone industry has also turned into a potential field for all merchants.
To find affiliates for the mobile phone industry, you can:
- Look for potential influencers on social media (Youtube, Facebook, Twitter)
- UpPromote Marketplace
Protips for affiliate recruitment
#1 Google search: Using keywords to find affiliates/ influencers
It will be easier to decide if you clarify your brand goals, images, critical values, and target customers. Then you’ll be able to quickly generate a list of keywords (adjectives) that define your fashion brand and target market.
For example, if you’re running a women’s boho clothing brand focusing on both classic and contemporary trends while also employing environmentally friendly materials, here’s the keyword list:
- Bohemian, hippie, whimsical
- Free-spirited, carefree
- 90-inspired, vintage, contemporary
- Fabric-lined, embroidered, feminine
- Environmentally-friendly, eco-friendly, green, sustainable
- Trend-leading, innovative
Then you can utilize some of these adjectives as hashtags or keywords when looking for influencers on social media or SERPs. Such as searching ‘boho fashion influencers’ will bring back plenty of excellent results.
Then, when looking for influencers on social media or in the SERPs, you can use some of these adjectives as hashtags or keywords. Searching for ‘boho fashion influencers,’ for example, can yield many excellent results.
- Leverage search operators
If you don’t think the search results are up to par. You can use Google search operators to narrow your search and increase the probability of finding the desired results.
| Operator | Purpose | Example Search |
| “ ” | Ensure that each result has the precise phrase (not just synonyms) inside the quote marks | “boho fashion” influencers |
| OR (all caps) | Show results for one or both search terms (these two operators are interchangeable) | eco-friendly fashion OR sustainable fashion |
| ( ) | Organize your search words into groups and manage how Google searches | (eco-friendly OR sustainable) fashion influencer |
| – | Remove it from the search if you don’t want to see results for a keyword with a dash before it | sustainable fashion -instagram |
| site: | Only display search results from web pages hosted on a single website. | site:instagram.com sustainable fashion |
For example, searching this query on Google: site:instagram.com sustainable fashion.
Then Google will filter Instagram profiles dedicated to sustainable fashion.
However, if you want to limit your search to influencers with a specific number of social media followers, you can search this query: site:instagram.com ‘k followers’ sustainable fashion.
Google will screen Instagram profiles with more than 1000 followers in this way.
You can change ‘k followers’ to ‘100k followers’ when looking for those who have more than 100.000 followers.
- Adjust search settings: Change region
If you want to work with influencers in your area or any specific place, you can change the region to find affiliates.
Go to Settings (in the right-bottom corner of Google search) > Choose Search Settings > Scroll down to Region Settings and choose the place you want.
#2 Recruit affiliates on UpPromote Marketplace
The UpPromote Marketplace is where you can grow your affiliate team. All you need is a Shopify website, and UpPromote installed on your store. Then you may go to the Marketplace to look for high-quality affiliates.
On UpPromote Marketplace, there are two ways to get affiliates for your online store:
- Displaying your affiliate program on the Marketplace so that affiliates may see if they are eligible to join.
- Otherwise, you can look for possible partners. This will provide you access to a list of affiliate profiles from which you can choose the best affiliates to welcome to your affiliate program directly.
Go to UpPromote Marketplace > Find affiliates > Filter to get your results. It will display a wide range of possible industry partners related to many hobbies, including brief biographies, industry involvement, language/location, and social media channels, such as Instagram or TikTok followers.
Explore top-notch affiliate partners on UpPromote Marketplace now!
Find affiliates on UpPromote Marketplace now!
#3 Find influencers on Instagram
- Using hashtags
People are spending time like crazy on Instagram. Finding affiliates on Instagram would be easy and pay off well in the long run. When it comes to Instagram affiliate marketing, you form partnerships with people with a large following, sometimes known as influencers, and pay them to advertise your product/service effectively.
Instagram Hashtags are a robust tool to help you locate your inspirational partners.
To find the related keywords, go to Best Hashtags, put your industry in the search bar, then the website will generate a myriad of keywords in the field for you.
Popular hashtags of some industries:
- Beauty Influencers
| General Beauty | #beauty
#beautycare #beautyful #beautybasics |
#instabeauty
#beautyaddict #beautyblogger #beautybloggerlife |
#beautytips
#gorgeous #beautyjunkie #beautyguru |
| Natural Beauty | #natural
#greenbeauty #cleanbeauty #naturalbeauty |
#naturalbeautyvibes
#naturalista #organicbeauty #naturalbeautylife |
#naturalbeautytips
#naturalbeautyshoutouts #naturalbeautyproduct #naturalbeautyproducts |
| Hair | #hair
#haircut #hairtutorial #hairgoals |
#naturalcurls
#perfectcurls #curlyhair #hairofinstagram |
#hairstyle
#hairstyles #hairoftheday #menshair |
| Makeup | #makeup
#makeuptutorial #instamakeup #makeupjunkie |
#makeupaddict
#makeupblogger #makeupoftheday #motd |
#wakeupandmakeup
#eyes #lips #lashes |
| Skincare | #skincare
#intaskincare #healthyskin #glowingskin |
#skincaretips
#skincareaddict #skincarelover #skincarejunkie |
#skincareproducts
#skincareroutine #clearskin #facial |
- Fashion influencers
| #outfitoftheday
#ootd #lookbook #lookoftheday #mylook #mylooktoday #todaysoutfit #whatiwore #wiw #whatiworetoday #streetstyle |
#fashion
#fashiongram #instafashion #instastyle #fashiondiaries #fashionpost #fashionblogger #fashionista #fashionable #fashiongirl #fashionnova |
#fashiondesign
#fashiondesigner #fashiondaily #fashionaddict #fashionlovers #fashiontrends #fashioninspo #clothes #clothing #clothingline #dress |
#mensfashion
#menfashion #mensfashionpost #mensstyle #menstyle #mensstreetstyle #menswear #mensweardaily #menwithstreetstyle #menshoes #menwithclass |
- Jewelry influencers
| #jewelry
#jewelryaddict #jewelrydesigner #handmadejewelry #jewelryaddict #jewelryobsessed #jewels #jewelrydesign #instagood #instajewelry #jewelrygram #jewelrylover #jewelryoftheday #jewelryblogger #jewelryartist #jewelrytrends #jewelrymaking |
#accessories
#earrings #ring #rings #necklace #bracelet #bracelets #pendant |
#fashion
#style #handmade #beautiful #art #stylish #trendy #ootd |
#gold
#silver #diamonds #diamond #gemstones #gemstone #goldjewelry #diamondjewelry |
- Travel influencers
| #travels
#travel #traveler #traveller #travelling #travellife #travelblog #travelblogger #traveladdict #traveldiaries #travelingram |
#travelphoto
#travelphotography #travelgram #mytravelgram #instatravel #ilovetravel #igtravel #instago #traveltheworld #travelpics #travelbug |
#aroundtheworld
#globetrotter #seetheworld #visiting #wanderer #worldtraveler #bucketlist #bucketlistadventures #wandergram #wanderlust #wonderfulplaces |
#adventure
#adventures #adventurer #adventuretime #backpacker #backpacking #explorer #explorers #exploretheworld #exploremore #getaway |
- Food influencers
| #food
#foods #foodporn #foodgasm #foodie #foodies #foodphotography #foodblogger #foodstagram #foodbeast #foodlover |
#instafood
#igfood #foodtruck #foodart #foodoftheday #foodpic #foodpics #foodgram #foodblog #healthyfood #cooking |
#vegan
#veganfood #chefmode #breakfast #lunch #dinner #eat #dessert #hungry #hangry #tasty |
#eat
#eating #eats #delish #yum #yummy #nomnom #forkyeah #recipe #recipes #recipeoftheday |
- Sport/ Fitness influencers
| #sports
#sportswear #sportsphotography #instasports #sportsday #sportshoes #sportstyle #sportsbra #sportsman #youthsports #sportsphotographer #sportsbikelife |
#fitness
#fit #motivation #fitness #instafitness #fitnessgoals #fitnessmotivation #fitnessjunkie #fitnesslover #fitnessblogger #fitnesstips #fitfluential #fitlife #fitfam |
#gym
#workout #training #fitspo #getfit #youcandoit #goalsetting #trainhard #noexcuses #exercisetime #gymlife #gym #gains |
#healthy
#healthyeating #healthyfood #healthylife #healthylifestyle #healthyrecipes #fitfood #nutrition #eatclean #cleaneating #mealprep #sportsnutrition |
- Gardening influencers
| #flowers
#flower #florist #flora |
#plantlover
#houseplants #plants #plantsofinstagram #plantsmakepeoplehappy #plant #indoorplants #plantlife #plantlove |
#green
#greenery #greenhouse #garden #gardens #gardenlife #gardendesign #gardeninspiration #mygarden #grow #landscaping #landscapedesign |
- Pet industry
| #pets
#petstagram #petsofinstagram #petsagram #instapets #pets_of_instagram #pets_of_our_world #pets_perfection #lovepets #petsofinsta #petsarefamily #petslover #inspiredbypets |
#petshop
#worldofcutepets #petsmart #littlestpetshop #petstore #cutepets #petscorner #picpets #exoticpets #friendlypets #delight_pets #mypets |
#rescuepetsofinstagram
#petsitter #petsitting #petsofig #whippetsofinstagram #madelainepetsch #puppets |
#4 Find affiliates on TikTok
One interesting note for all merchants thatGen Z nowadays uses Tiktok more than Instagrams or Facebook, Twitter. Over half of Gen Z consumers are now on TikTok. This is absolutely a social platform for the next generation.
For all merchants who want affiliate recruitment expansion, you should not ignore the potential of this platform.
You can set up a TikTok profile for your business to locate those partners, then watch some TikTok videos related to your industry. Tiktok algorithm will calculate and “read your mind” and then suggest videos of people willing to do affiliate marketing for your brand.
Or you can search for popular hashtags on TikTok to locate your potential affiliates. Look for popular hashtags on Tiktok here for your affiliate recruitment expansion.
Wrapping up
Learn how to find affiliates for your affiliate marketing program by tweaking your strategy, making a minor financial commitment, and networking. Remember that affiliate recruiting should be front of mind when expanding your program. Best of luck with your recruitment efforts!
