When blogging first broke onto the scene, it wasn’t more than a community of people sharing what was on their minds using a never-before-seen platform.

But these days, things have changed quite a bit. The internet has become the center of the universe and blogs have transformed from being spaces for the expression of art to a viable way of making a living.

Part of the reason this is possible is thanks to affiliate marketing, the process of selling other people’s products in exchange for a commission.

In general, affiliate marketing can be quite lucrative. But it’s a process that’s a lot more involved than simply offering reviews and recommendations to your audience.

You need to have a good idea as to what your audience wants, and then you have to find ways to convince them that they need what you’re selling, and that they need to buy it from you.

However, most bloggers who put in the time will be able to build up a steady income stream thanks to affiliate marketing.

Yet once you get to a certain point, it becomes difficult to grow, unless you employ one or all of the following strategies.

Optimize Your Content With A/B Testing

Most bloggers sort of fall into affiliate marketing. They succeed in attracting visitors, and then over time, they make some sales from this traffic.

But this type of haphazard approach won’t last for too long. At some point, you will need to redo some of your conversion content so that it gives you the best possible chance of turning people into customers.

In general, there is no one way to optimize content. What works will depend on your audience, and because of this, it will be smart to set up some A/B testing.

This is the process of exposing your audience to several pieces of content to see which one is the most successful.

However, there are some core characteristics of successful conversion content that you should always include, such as:

• Don’t bury the lead. This is an old rule of journalism, and it applies to conversion blogging as well. You only have a few seconds to convince people who land on your page to stick around and read the whole thing. As a result, make sure you tell them right away what they will get for their time spent reading, and make sure this aligns with their reasons for coming to the page in the first place.
• Be smart about CTAs. Your calls to action are going to be what makes or breaks your conversion content, so you need to make sure you nail them. Don’t use too many in your content, as this then makes your writing seem to promotional, but you also need to make sure to put them where they will have the most effect. This is an example of where A/B testing can be very helpful. You can put CTAs in different places, and in different formats, to see which work bests.
• Make it visual. Nothing turns people away more than landing on a page and seeing a huge block of text. Make sure to split up your writing into subsections with no more than three paragraphs and keep each paragraph to just a few sentences. Also, add in images wherever you can so that the post is more interesting and engaging.

Exploit New Traffic Sources

In the end, affiliate marketing is all about the numbers. The idea is to drive as much traffic as you can to your site so that as conversion rates stabilize sales numbers go up as well.

So, when faced with the prospect of trying to boost affiliate sales, you’ll need to spend some time thinking about how you will boost traffic. Some of the better ways to do this are:

• Run an SEO campaign: You should already be doing this, but considering that organic search is the top source of traffic for sites around the web, you should always be looking for new opportunities to improve your rankings and your search engine exposure.
• Promote on social media: Platforms such as Facebook and Instagram produce great engagement. Spend some time learning about the specifics of your audience so that you can run a targeted campaign that will succeed in boosting traffic numbers.
• Use influencers: As a blogger, you too are an influencer. You have a unique ability to sway the thoughts, beliefs and actions of your readers. But you’re not the only one doing this. Working with other influencers with a similar focus will help you tap into their traffic and grow your own group of followers, helping to boost conversions along the way.

Make Use Of AI

In the grand scheme of things, artificial intelligence is brand new, and most people are still trying to figure out what it is and how it can be used. But in the meantime, AI applications have helped reshape the way we do things.

For you as a blogger, the way to make use of AI right now is to invest in a customer relationship management (CRM) program.

These platforms can do so much that we could dedicate an entire post to discussing all their different features. But perhaps the most notable thing AI can help you with is learning about your audience.

CRM software can tell you where each one of your site visitor’s came from, what they did when they got to your site, what they purchased, and what they clicked away from.

And it can also give you insight into the demographics of your audience, helping you better understand your market.

All of this information can be used to hone your content and your traffic strategies to better target those who will respond best to your messages.

Offer Promotions

This is a sales tactic that has been around since the beginning of time, so there’s no reason to think it wouldn’t work in your campaign to boost affiliate conversions.

Discounts, two-for-ones, referral programs, and loyalty programs are all great ways to get people who might be on the fence to jump over and make a purchase.

If possible, try to make these promotions as personal as possible. This is what people want, and it’s what works best. And this is where a CRM platform will once again come in handy.

Not only will it help tell you what people want, but CRM systems can be integrated with email software to send out targeted material that will allow you to connect more directly with people and boost sales.

Form Related Partnerships

Lastly, if you want more affiliate sales, then start thinking about selling more stuff. If you’ve gotten to the point where you have been able to make some sales, then consider branching off into new areas.

This is where it pays to think about your blog as a store; if you’re successful selling one line, then it makes sense to add another.

However, when you do this, make sure you’re sticking to what has helped you get to this point. Starting out selling athletic equipment and switching to electronic accessories might not work great, whereas adding some content promoting dietary supplements and energy drinks could be very effective.

Boost Your Affiliate Conversions Today

All of these strategies can support your effort to boost affiliate sales, and there’s no reason why you can’t begin implementing them today.  

Take some time to figure out what might produce the best results, and then get to work. There’s money out there waiting to be made.