Let’s be honest with each other. Affiliate marketing is huge. One in five brands rely on affiliate marketing for customer acquisition and over 30% of content creators report affiliate marketing as their main revenue source.
So, what does this mean? Simply put, there are hundreds (or even more) selling the same product(s) as you. The one way to stand out; differentiate yourself from others is by making creative use of video content.
Why video content and not blogs, images, etc.?
Video Content and Affiliate Marketing: A Dream Combination
Videos have a special pull that other content formats lack. The incredible ability to connect and engage the audience is why marketers want to use videos more and more.
In addition, the versatility of the medium enables it to fit into any type of affiliate marketing funnel. Moreover, nowadays it’s quite easy to find a video post production company within your budget.
Video content has already had an impact on affiliate marketing and its success in driving more sales will only increase its use in the future.
- 52% of people claim videos give them the confidence to purchase a product.
- One in two prospective buyers search for product/service videos before making a decision.
- Consumers are 4 times more likely to want videos than read text-based affiliate marketing content.
How to Use Videos in Affiliate Marketing?
A little bit about the versatile nature of video content. Affiliate marketers can use videos in numerous ways. You can include the content in multiple traffic or sales-generating funnels.
- A video buying guide educates consumers about the points they need to know before considering a product or service.
- Recommendation videos present an array of products/services in the consumer’s favorite niche.
- Unboxing and demo videos give the consumers a chance to see the product in action before making a decision.
- FAQ videos bridge the barrier between the consumer and the brand/affiliate.
- Email videos take valuable information to the leads instead of them coming to you.
- After-sale videos help develop long-term relationships with consumers.
This is only a short list of the ways video content can fit into your affiliate marketing campaigns. For the sake of this article, we are assuming a few things about affiliate marketers.
- They may not want to spend a lot on their affiliate marketing campaigns.
- They want to develop video content and strategy that’s effective yet not expensive or complicated.
- Considering the high competition, they may want to make use of affiliate marketing tools to generate quick results.
Tips to Level up Affiliate Marketing Game with Video Content
With the above-mentioned three points as the foundation, we have come up with some tips and tricks that’ll help you ace the affiliate marketing game with video content.
1. Create a Strategy for the Video Content
Regardless of the type of video content you’re about to produce, a clear strategy that encompasses everything from customer research to CTA, and the primary goal to impact words (to include), is a must.
This will streamline the video production process. Plus, it’ll save time and resources – valuable commodities to an affiliate marketer.
Even the simplest of videos need a camera or at least a smartphone. Make a list of basic video production equipment you’ll need.
If you’re planning to create videos in-house, then you need a video editor tool to convert raw footage into high-quality videos.
Every brand has a story to tell and video content is the best medium to convey the message. The story can be about how an idea became a product, how a product can solve a problem, or how it will impact the buyer’s life. Always add a story and emotional hook to the video to boost its impact.
2. Strategic Link Placement
An affiliate marketer’s main responsibility is to promote the affiliate link in the content he/she creates.
The affiliate link is the gateway through which prospects move to the product page or vendor’s website.
Video content presents you with several opportunities to place and promote affiliate links. Instead of hiding it somewhere, you could have them in the video.
For example, clickable annotation at one corner of the video can redirect the viewer to the product page. You can have the annotation appear throughout the video or just at specific times.
If you’re new to marketing then use a marketing suite from HubSpot or HubSpot alternatives. The right video marketing tools will reduce workload and speed up success.
3. Make Video Clickable with Hotspots
YouTube is the largest video hosting platform in the world. It’s also the second-largest search engine. The platform gets 2 billion active users every month and millions of videos are uploaded every week.
YouTube is a crowded place, but it’s the ideal platform to find your target audience. To stay ahead of the competition you need to include creative strategies in your affiliate marketing campaigns.
One creative way of using affiliate links is to make videos clickable with hotspots. With this, after watching a product video the viewers need not search for the product link in the description section.
You can make any portion of the video screen clickable. This will reduce the wait between watching the product and finding and clicking the link in the description.
4. Use Interactive Videos
Here is another method to make your video memorable. Interactive videos allow the viewer to alter one or many elements of the content to create a personalized experience.
Giving the viewers the power to control the content will boost engagement and generate interest in your product.
Surveys show that interactive videos increase attention span, engagement, and conversion. We have already discussed one of the most popular formats of interactive videos – Video Hotspots. There are three more that you can use in affiliate marketing.
Branched Stories: In this, the viewers get to decide the direction of the narrative (content). This can be accomplished using timestamps or decision points.
For example, in a how-to video showing the many ways a product can be used, the viewer can use a decision point to jump to that specific section of the video.
Interactive Video Quizzes: This technique is ideal for FAQ videos. The viewers get to clarify their doubts by selecting from the multiple-choice questions on the screen. The viewer doesn’t have to sit through the full video.
360-Degree Videos: Prospective customers don’t just want to read, but see the product from all angles. A viewer is more likely to trust you and use your affiliate link if he/she gets to see how the machine looks and functions inside.
5. Optimize the Videos
As mentioned earlier, YouTube is the second largest search engine. You can reach a higher ranking on the platform and capture more eyeballs by optimizing your affiliate marketing videos. Here is what you should do:
- Use suitable keywords in the title and description.
- Create a clear and complete description.
- Include the affiliate link in the description.
- Use affiliate links as annotations in the video.
- Create an effective call to action and include the CTA in the video and description.
- Add a custom thumbnail for each video.
6. Repurpose Long-Form Videos as YouTube Shorts and Ads
You can improve the ROI of video marketing by repurposing your content. For example, shorter clips of your explainer videos could be used as ads.
They could also serve as hooks in YouTube Shorts to drive more viewers to long-form content on YouTube or take them directly to the product page.
YouTube Shorts is fast becoming popular among youngsters on the platforms. Each day, YouTube is generating billions of views through micro videos.
Shorter videos appeal to the majority of the young audience who tend to lose interest fast. Short videos give you ample time to present visually appealing, to-the-point content that’ll generate results.
7. Go Live to Increase Affiliate Sales
Live videos are exciting for both viewers and affiliate marketers. It allows the marketer to receive instant feedback. The viewers need not wait for days or hours for their queries to be answered. Hence, for the target audience, live videos are authentic, realistic, and more trustworthy.
Instagram and Facebook provide several features to users planning to live broadcast their content. Notification is sent out to all followers just before the start of the live streaming. This will bring more eyeballs and eventually higher conversion.
Live videos on social media platforms are ideal tools to announce new products or discounts. You can also use live videos to discuss marketing strategy with your Tier 2 affiliates.
8. Use Video Content to Build a Community
The 80/20 rule also applies to affiliate marketing. Most affiliate marketers think they have only two responsibilities:
- Create effective gateways to the product page (or vendor website).
- Drive prospective buyers through those gateways to boost affiliate sales.
It’s more rewarding to develop a long-term relationship with leads and buyers. It’ll cost an affiliate marketer a lot less to nurture relationships and retain a customer than acquire a new one.
After-sale videos that guide the buyers on how to install or use the product/service will pave way for a long-term relationship.
In addition, you can stay in touch with customers through recommendation videos, new product launch videos, exclusive offer videos, etc.
9. Personalize Videos for Better Reach
The one size fits all approach will be counterproductive in affiliate marketing. Video personalization can improve results at every stage of your marketing funnel.
Relationship between marketer and prospective customer evolves as they move up the affiliate sales funnel. At each stage, you learn more about the lead which should help you create more personalized content.
You don’t have to rely on just one type of communication tool. In addition to using videos on social media, you can adopt other tools to dispense video content. You can use personalized videos on the website chat feature, email campaigns, etc.
10. Use AI to Create Quick Videos
In video marketing, both quality and quantity play a vital role in generating leads. Remember, video creation need not be a costly affair.
The latest AI tools allow content creators to generate videos from text or images. Affiliate marketers can repurpose their blog posts into suitable videos.
Reasons to use AI text-to-video generator:
- No video production or editing skills are required to use AI-based text-to-video tools.
- High-quality video production with low investment.
- No need to spend on actors, equipment, expensive editing tools, etc.
- Ideal for the creation of short videos for TikTok, Instagram, etc. Using a Tiktok or Instagram analytics tool can help you determine how your videos are doing.
11. Tap into User-Generated Content
Invite experts, market leaders, and other influencers to your unboxing or product demo events. Hosting influencers will give your content greater reach. It’ll also boost your credibility and trustworthiness among your followers.
Buyers who used your affiliate link to purchase a product are your customers too. Affiliate marketers can request consumers to share their experience of using the product or service. It’ll be the social proof that viewers are looking for to help them make a decision.
Final Thoughts
You can also achieve quick results by avoiding common affiliate marketing mistakes. Don’t fail to keep common mistakes in mind while creating a strategy.
Anyways, we guarantee our little tips and tricks on how to use video content effectively will make you an influential affiliate marketer.
The COVID pandemic has bought a paradigm shift in online shopping. Since March 2020, over 55% of affiliate marketers have witnessed an increase in revenue.
People’s appetite for online shopping is getting bigger and bigger. Now is the time to act quickly, and make use of our ideas to improve your affiliate marketing game.
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