If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
Oh wait, this isn’t a philosophy class. So let’s ask another question, shall we?
If you try to sell something and no one knows about it, will it work?
Much easier to answer, right?!
Affiliates need traffic. It’s the most basic truth about this business. And probably the one thing that eludes most — for good reason.
How do you get people to care? Do you really have to carpet bomb entire mailing lists, forums and websites in your niche to boost your viewership?
Probably.
However, there are other ways to make some noise without resorting to annoying and/or spammy tactics.
You could create exceptional content that is worth people’s time.
You could have a great link building strategy.
You could incentivize people to click on your links… wait no, don’t do that!
Or, you know, just pay someone to do the grunt work for you.
And on that note, time for some magic with influencer marketing!
Turning a Two of Clubs into an Ace of Spades
A magician is nothing if he doesn’t master tricks while being a true entertainer.
Want proof?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gtm4vp1X6fQ
We can’t really help your entertaining skills, but we do know a thing or two about tricks.
Yea ok, maybe not on a making-100-people-disappear Criss Angel level (did that really happen?).
We excel at pulling rabbits out of hats. It’s so simple it hurts. Yet, there’s an illusion of greatness at work even if it’s part of every magician’s pedigree.
If you understand how to run this show, imagine all the things you’ll manage to do! Turning duds into studs with the wave of a figurative wand.
Influencers will help you get that “wow effect” while pursuing your own goals.
It’s your silver bullet.
Influencer Marketing is Serious Business
There’s big money with social media and that’s one major reason why it should be on your radar.
In case you’re wondering how influencer marketing can boost your results, let’s take a look at the following graph:
Influencer marketing budget in 2018 according to Linqia
A whopping 39% of marketers plan to increase their influencer marketing budget in 2018. That’s insane!
Around 2017, interest in this phenomenon skyrocketed as evidenced by Google Trends:
Why do you think marketers invest heavily in this strategy?
Maybe it has something to do with this little gem: 81% of marketers that tried influencer marketing report that it is an effective channel.
Sure, that’s an eMarketer quote from 2015, but it’s still impressive nonetheless!
Influencers have huge followings due to being great entertainers, experts in their respective niches or both.
Using their social media presence as a marketing weapon is super effective for a number of reasons. Chief among them is because more than one in three followers (38%) trust what influencers have to say about brands rather than what brands tell about themselves.
So, um, what is influencer marketing again?
We’re getting a little bit hasty in here and forgot to properly introduce the concept of influencer marketing to you. Let’s get down to it!
Really, all you have to do is picture someone with 250,000+ followers* as your loudspeaker for a minute. You’ll be asking for a shoutout (cool buzzword heh?) about your brand on his or her social media accounts; Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, etc.
*Influencers with less than 250,000 followers are called micro influencers.
The concept isn’t really new. What makes influencer marketing so attractive in the first place is that it can be mostly anyone, anywhere. You don’t need to target celebrities. There are influencers in all walks of life, from yogis to makeup artists to — you guessed it — magicians!
The trick of there being no trick at all
You know when we said earlier that you’d pay someone to do the hard work? We lied.
It’s easy to think of influencer marketing as that wellspring you keep pumping money into, giving leads on autopilot in return.
That’s not really how it goes.
Otherwise, all you’d have to do is find an influencer in your niche, offer them some money and wait for results. We know that for some people it’s enough, but we’re going to teach you how to beat them on their own playing field.
Influencers cherish their reputation above everything else because they know trust takes years to build and seconds to crush.
Essentially, what you’ll be looking for are influencers that:
- Match your message
- Have a great reach
- Have a high level of trust and credibility
Contrary to popular belief, this type of marketing is kind of a slow burn. Self-respecting influencers don’t care about quick payouts as their reputation would suffer from it. But the most important thing is to deliver something where everyone wins: you (the affiliate), the influencer (medium) and the followers (potential leads).
What separates celebrity endorsement from influencer marketing is how you’ll be using their reach to your advantage. While the former almost always involves financial compensation, the latter doesn’t.
Interestingly enough, influencers would rather have access to privileged info and exclusives than cold hard cash.
It’s all about being respectful and building a mutually beneficial relationship.
If I’m an authority in reviewing collectible card games, getting exclusive previews for an upcoming set is a much better deal for me than, say, being paid to sell your product or service.
At first glance, the difference might seem trivial. However, one option paints you as a shill while the other builds up your credibility.
Are you beginning to understand what makes influencer marketing so enticing?
Walking on water
As an affiliate, using the power of influencer marketing requires patience.
It’s no walk in the park; you’ll need to learn how to walk… on water!
To do so, first accept the fact you will need to target micro influencers whose followings are slimmer — but still valuable.
In an ideal world, you’d care about building a great relationship.
Unfortunately, that’s a tall order. But by all means, try to do it: it’s worth it in the end!
One solution you could envision is to reach out to the people behind adult influencers.
Knowing full well that most social media accounts are managed by third parties, choosing this path will allow you to jump right into the action. At a cost, naturally.
The other option is trying to get in touch with influencers themselves.
Let’s say you want to promote one of the best cam offers from CrakRevenue...
You could get in touch with a popular camgirl and use her social media account (Twitter, Instagram, etc.) to your advantage. You’ll need to get in touch somehow. There’s not really a resource that’ll save you time, so your best bet is to use email marketing.
That’s close to a cold-call and might indeed be considered more annoying than anything else.
So, how do you do it? Use common sense. While you can’t offer much else than money as an affiliate, securing such a deal is possible and requires tact.
Here’s a few pointers:
- Learn to write effective email campaigns
- Introduce yourself properly
- Be honest & polite
- Explain in detail why you think she’s a good fit for what you’re promoting
- Tell what’s in it for her and her followers (super important!)
And a few DON’Ts (for good measure):
- DON’T pressure her into accepting your business
- DON’T have a holier than thou attitude
- DON’T spam
- DON’T take anything for granted
Will influencer marketing work for me?
That’s up to you really.
The thing is, it’s more difficult for affiliates than advertisers who are in total control of their brands — being able to offer special deals & discounts as part of their marketing plan.
You’ll often read about the success stories of big brands like Sprint, GAP or Coca-Cola who successfully leveraged the power of influencer marketing.
So if you’re an affiliate AND promoting adult to boot, you’re already two steps behind. Which means it’s going to require more work, but we at CrakRevenue like to think of it as a bigger opportunity since it’s a less saturated marketing tool at your disposal.
Here’s a summary of what’s needed to run successful influencer marketing campaigns:
- Time
- Patience
- Exceptional offers/products (what we’re all about!)
- Tact
- Knowledge
- Ambition
As we’ve said before, affiliates are masters of their own destinies. It’s a business, and how you run it is up to you.
Making way for Affiliate Houdinis
Use the magic of influencer marketing to escape traditional promotional methods.
The world is changing fast and you need to find new ways to reach potential leads.
Metrics like traffic & clicks are fine, but there’s much more going on now. You want to captivate an audience and turn them into repeat customers!
Have you ever used social influencers as part of your marketing plan? We’d like to hear your stories, be them of failure or success.
