Affiliate marketing and Facebook ads are two concepts that, at face value, might not seem suitable when used together. These concepts have their pros and cons in their own rights, but you can get them to work together to create a very profitable business with the proper knowledge.
The most common way they come together is to develop a landing page that offers Facebook users the opportunity to purchase something you are selling on behalf of a product owner, with an affiliate link that goes through to the product's sales page.
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However, it's not as easy as it sounds. There are many moving pieces to the puzzle that have to fit perfectly before you can even begin to see the first inklings of success.
I have broken down the steps you need to follow in detail in this article. These steps will give you all the tools you need to launch a successful affiliate marketing campaign.
Let's get right into it.
Can Affiliate Marketing Be Done On Facebook?
If you want to make money with Facebook ads, affiliate marketing is certainly something you can go for. However, before you start thinking about creating a Facebook page and running ads to your affiliate links, you should understand that there are many steps you need to go through.
Facebook allows advertisers to reach users based on particular parameters, such as their location and the content they like. For example, an advertiser can show ads only to Facebook users interested in a specific sport or those who have visited a page about a sporting event.
This technology is very detailed, and you can get very specific to target your chosen audience. However, this is where the problem lies. With so many options available to advertisers, there are times when not having all the knowledge can cause you to waste money.
A Step-By-Step Guide To Facebook Affiliate Marketing
Let's get started with the steps involved when creating a successful Facebook advertising affiliate marketing campaign.
Step 1: Create A Facebook Ads Account
First of all, you'll need to have a Facebook account. If you don't already have one, signing up for a new account is very simple.
After you've created (or logged into) your Facebook account, you'll then need to access the dashboard where all the ad magic happens. You'll need to go to the Business Manager to get started here.
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This is the central dashboard where you'll be able to control everything about your business. You'll be able to start running Facebook ads, see ad spend information, create the Facebook pixel, and have an overview of how you are doing in your affiliate marketing business.
Step 2: Select A Product
Choosing the right product to promote is critical for all affiliate marketers. While Facebook gives you an audience of people to advertise to, you still need to find the right product to sell.
This is particularly useful when looking to sell products in very crowded niches. For example, if your audience is into soccer, promoting something like weight loss pills isn't going to work. You'll end up paying for clicks but not have anyone wanting to purchase the product.
Since it is possible to be specific with your audience and show your ad only to those interested in a particular topic or like a particular page, you should use this opportunity and choose products that suit your chosen niche.
With that said, not all affiliate networks are created equally. Some affiliate networks will have particular offers available, while others will require you to sign up for specific offers, which are then unlocked.
Some will have products that promise the world but end up not delivering; others will have products that don't generate sales or commissions worth your time, and some might even be selling illegal products.
When selecting a product to promote on Facebook, make sure you find a network with products that people in your chosen niche will appreciate. At the same time, the network should have an affiliate program that makes financial sense (i.e., the products you choose have to provide a good commission for each sale that you make).
Providing helpful analytics within your affiliate program dashboard is also a good idea so that you can see that everything is lining up when using your Facebook ads manager to send traffic to an affiliate sales page.
Some affiliate programs that can help you get started are:
Step 3: Create A Facebook Page
To advertise on Facebook, you'll need to have a Facebook page to promote.
Creating your page is free, and you can get it done in minutes by following these easy steps:While you can use your Facebook page for marketing your affiliate products further, you do not have to advertise on your page's news feed.
With that said, you can create a page that offers information about your business and use it as an alternative to having a website - which is pretty convenient when you're running an affiliate marketing campaign.
In addition, some people will also like your page when they see your ads, which means that you can always further advertise to this audience directly on Facebook.
Ensure that you regularly update your page with important details about your affiliate marketing business and products that you're promoting to ensure that it is up-to-date with the latest information when people land on your page.
Step 4: Create A Landing Page & Thank You Page
This is one of the most crucial steps when setting up a Facebook ad. It can also make or break your affiliate marketing efforts since your landing page will decide whether people buy your affiliate product.
This is the page you'll be sending traffic from your ads to. If it doesn't look professional or doesn't make people want to purchase the product, they won't buy it, which means that you'll end up losing money, rather than making money on Facebook ads.
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Here are some things that you should look for when creating a landing page:
While you can send traffic directly to a general website that you own (never send people directly to an affiliate link on Facebook), having a landing page is crucial if you want to optimize your ad campaigns and get a good return for your investment.
Having a specific landing page for your ads will also help with analytics and tracking since a regular page on your site will be accessed by other people who have not clicked on your ads, which can skew your data.
One Of The Essential Elements Of A Landing Page
Having an opt-in form helps with leveraging Facebook ads and social media marketing. Take a look at other affiliate marketers that have been successful with Facebook ads. You'll notice that they place opt-in forms on their landing pages so that people interested in the offer can get more information about it and hopefully purchase the product after opting in.
This also considers that only a few people will buy a product directly after clicking on an ad. As such, you can use landing pages to build your email list for those that don't.
If you have a landing page, you should also have a follow-up page for those that decide to opt in. This is known as a thank you page, and it should be relevant to the offer presented on the landing page.
This means that if someone has clicked on an ad for an affiliate product, then visited your landing page and decided to sign up, they will see a thank you page that is related to the affiliate product that they were reading about.
This is important since it helps with conversions and makes people feel like they're in good hands when they visit your website; after all, they went through the effort of clicking on an ad, visiting your landing page, and opting in. Having continuity will ensure that these people are one step closer to buying the affiliate product you're promoting.
In addition, if someone goes through all of these steps and decides not to buy after opting in, then at least you have an email address to which you can send follow-up messages.
Step 5: Set Up Conversion Tracking
This is another must-have piece to being a successful affiliate marketer. Tracking your ads and using data to understand what you're doing well and where there are improvements to be made is an essential part of running a business.
There are many different kinds of tracking software out there. However, I always recommend using the inbuilt, native Facebook analytics when you're starting (or even as an advanced user).
Setting up conversion tracking (also known as the Facebook pixel) involves setting up a code on your landing page that you can then track with Facebook.
This is done by adding the pixel to the header section of your website. Your ad campaigns will then provide valuable data on what people are doing after they visit your landing page, which you can use to optimize ads and understand what's working and what's not working so well.
Tracking analytics also means that you'll be able to see how many people went through all the steps (clicked on an ad, visited your landing page, signed up, etc.) but never ended up buying anything. This information would help you determine why people aren't making purchases even though they reached your landing page.
After all, there had to be some initial interest since they clicked on the ad and arrived at your website, right?
It's important to know why these people are dropping off so that you can figure out how to improve conversions.
Step 6: Set Up An Autoresponder
I previously mentioned that having a landing page and a thank you page will help build your email list.
When someone opts into your landing page, you will have set up an autoresponder that will send them a series of emails over the next few days, weeks, and months. These are automatically sent when they submit their email address on the form.
This is known as an automated sales funnel and is something that every affiliate marketer needs before successfully selling affiliate products online.
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Building an automated sales funnel helps with conversions since people who opted in are receiving helpful content that solves their problems without going through the effort of searching for it elsewhere. This is yet another reason why using targeted ads is essential. If someone has already expressed interest in your product by clicking on an ad and visiting your website, then they would be interested in receiving follow-up messages to learn more about what you're selling.
Some of the essential features the right autoresponder software should have include:
Step 7: Set Up Your Ad
Finally, it's time to set up your ad.
Here, it's crucial to understand your market and its various pain points.
For example, if your target market is small business owners and you're selling a program that teaches how to outsource work, then perhaps the best ad would be one that speaks directly to their pain points, such as:
"Feeling overwhelmed with too many tasks on your to-do list?" or "Not enough time in the day to get everything done?"
Address their fears and concerns so they know you 'get' them. This way, they'll trust you more and are more likely to buy the products you recommend.
Once you know what kind of emotional trigger needs to be pulled, it's time for some creativity.
Your ad should include:
If you're using Facebook ads for e-commerce, you must follow the same process. That is, understanding what pain points people have and what language you should use to speak to them are both crucial steps
Step 8: Understand There Are Different Types Of Facebook Ads
While image ads are some of the most popular types of ads on Facebook, there are different types of advertisements that you can use in your marketing.
Video ads
Video ads are simply videos that you upload to Facebook. They can be anything from your company's promotional video to a tutorial on how to install the product you're trying to sell.
Poll ads
A poll ad is when you ask your audience questions about their pains and what they'd like to see improved. You can also put multiple choice answers for more advanced answers.
The goal of the poll is to gain insight into what people want before creating your product (if at all). Instead of investing loads of time, effort, and money into something people don't want or need, this would save you time and money.
Carousel ads
Carousel ads are just like image ads, except they allow you to upload up to 10 different images so you can show several angles of the product.
Slideshow ads
A slideshow ad is a video made up of various ads that Facebook automatically puts together to make one video. You can upload multiple images, and they'll be displayed in a slideshow format for you.
Collection ads
This ad type allows advertisers to showcase a collection of items that may or may not be related – it also gives consumers the ability to shop right from Facebook without leaving the platform. That means you have the potential of growing your e-commerce revenue – just by adding this feature to your Facebook ads.
Lead ads
Lead ads are a unique ad format where you can connect with people directly from Facebook - you don't even need to have a landing page to send people to.
You'll be able to collect their email address and other relevant data. You can then market to these leads via an autoresponder service.
Bonus Step: Create Remarketing Audiences
After you've been running your ads for a while, then it's time to create remarketing audiences for your Facebook ads.
This means that once people have visited your site via an ad but didn't buy, you can advertise to them again, so they see your ads again and hopefully make a purchase this time around.
By using Facebook Analytics, you'll be able to determine who these people are so you can market directly to them with sales copy they can identify with.
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For example, perhaps they were on your product page but left before converting – so next time they visit your site, show them an ad about how great your warranty is and why they should buy from you.
There's no limit to what you can do with remarketing campaigns, and it allows you to reach more people who may not have converted before.
Having a custom audience of people interested in what you have to offer allows you to create retargeting ads that usually cost less to run and are easier to get conversions from.
Pros Of Facebook Ads For Affiliate Marketing
The pros of using Facebook ads for affiliate marketing are numerous.
The one thing that's nice about this type of advertising is that you can build a large following to promote an affiliate product to and increase your commissions and revenue.
Once you've found the right product and the relevant target audience, then it's just a matter of running the ads until you reach enough people who will buy.
In addition to that, there's no need to bombard your friends and family with posts over and over again, hoping they'll buy something from you.
Cons Of Facebook Ads For Affiliate Marketing
While there are many pros to using Facebook ads, they also have some cons to consider.
One of the biggest ones is that they can be costly when you don't know what you're doing.
For example, if someone is running ads but doesn't have a clear offer and a call-to-action, then they might end up wasting hundreds or even thousands of dollars every month.
That's why it's essential to start small, test, and learn from your mistakes before scaling up.
Another con is that sometimes people don't like ads in general and would instead click away than buy something (even though it may be related to an item they've been looking at for months). This happens more often than not, which means you'd better make sure your copy is solid and people want to buy what you're selling.
In addition to that, you also need to ensure that your targeting is on point, since if not, the audience you're advertising to will either ignore your ad or look elsewhere to buy from.
Following Facebook Advertising Policies
Before running any ads on Facebook, it's essential to make sure you follow all Facebook advertising policies.
Failure to do so can result in account suspension or even getting your ads deleted entirely.
These rules are in place because Facebook wants to keep the quality of their site up without spammy ads causing any issues for their users.
While it may seem ridiculous that they delete certain ads, their policies help them avoid getting into trouble with various stakeholders.
As such, it's essential to read the complete list of policies before posting your next ad on Facebook.
Conclusion
When you understand how they work, you'll see various benefits of Facebook ads that can help you with your affiliate marketing campaigns.
Running a successful business in this day and age can't be done without the proper marketing campaign backing up your product or service. Facebook ads provide just the right channel to reach the desired target audience.
With the above tips in mind, you'll be able to create your first ad campaign in no time. Keep tweaking until you start seeing the desired results - this will help you scale up your efforts and find the success you want with affiliate marketing.
