Hello! I am Jamie Kennedy, the executive podcast producer of Brave Moon Podcasts. I am here to clarify affiliate marketing for podcasters. I will share insights on how anyone, regardless of their number of listeners or followers, can get started with affiliate marketing. I will outline three approaches to affiliate marketing and share five hacks for success.
In this blog article, we delve into the world of affiliate marketing, exploring its benefits and how it can be seamlessly incorporated into your podcasting strategy.
We discuss the three main approaches to affiliate marketing: joining an established affiliate network, partnering with specific brands through their affiliate program, and directly partnering with specific brands. Additionally, we share five useful hacks for successful affiliate marketing, providing you with the tools you need to master affiliate marketing for your health and fitness podcast.
In this episode, we talk about…
The basics of affiliate marketing and how it can benefit podcasters.
Three different approaches to affiliate marketing.
Five hacks for successful affiliate marketing.
Transcribed Podcast Episode
Hey coach. So many people I talk to believe that affiliate marketing is just for the podcast big timers. But they’re wrong.
Affiliate marketing is definitely not for the elite. You don’t need to have a certain amount of listeners or followers to get started either. If you have a health and fitness podcast, business or website, adding affiliate marketing to your plan can not only boost your income but can also be used to bolster the relationships you have with your listeners, even driving new listeners to finding you too.
Affiliate marketing really is something you could be doing right now in your podcast to generate commission for every recommendation you make.
So how does affiliate marketing work? There are 3 ways you can approach affiliate marketing and I’m going to share with you all 3 approaches with you in this episode.
Did you know that the affiliate marketing industry is expected to grow to $8.2 billion dollars by 2028? This is not a small stat. Affiliate marketing works for brands and it works for the little guy, helping us earn money from our heartfelt recommendations.
And when I say it’s working for the little guy, I’m not kidding. The average monthly bonus income earned from affiliate marketing is $7,194. And you could join the affiliate pack.
But let’s start with the basics. What is affiliate marketing?
Think of it like this: Imagine you host a podcast dedicated to helping listeners achieve their fitness goals. You've built a loyal audience who trusts your advice and recommendations. Affiliate marketing allows you to partner with companies that offer products or services relevant to your listeners' health and wellness journeys.
Here’s how it works: You identify companies whose fitness trackers, workout apparel, or healthy meal delivery services align with your podcast's message and what you genuinely believe in.
You sign up for that particular company’s affiliate program. Some companies have their own affiliate program, some go through a mass affiliate program, and some you reach out to directly. But we’ll get to that later in the episode.
During your podcast episodes, you mention these products, highlighting their benefits and how they can help your listeners reach their goals. You'll then include a unique affiliate link in your show notes or description.
If a listener clicks your affiliate link and makes a purchase, you earn a commission from the sale.
It works on so many levels: Your audience discovers valuable products that can help them achieve their fitness goals, you're rewarded for the recommendation, and the company you admire makes a sale. It's a win-win-win situation!
Think about it - your clients already turn to you for personalized advice on products, supplements, and healthy food options. Podcast affiliate marketing lets you extend this service to a much wider audience. You're essentially broadcasting your trusted recommendations to thousands of listeners, all eager for your insights. It's like having a massive group fitness class where you can share your expertise and help countless individuals on their journeys.
The key difference here is scale. In one-on-one sessions, you wouldn't receive a financial reward for recommending a healthy meal delivery service. However, podcast affiliate marketing allows you to partner with these companies and earn a commission when listeners you've influenced make a purchase. It's a fantastic way to generate income while staying true to your core mission: helping your audience achieve a healthier and happier life.
Now let’s talk about the 3 approaches to podcast affiliate marketing, and then I’ll share with you my favorite affiliate programs to help you get started.
The first approach is my favorite, because it’s simple, straightforward and rarely requires talking or convincing a person to let you join. And it’s to join an established affiliate network.
These networks are often vast digital marketplaces filled with products. And in your case, fitness products – like protein powders, yoga mats, the latest fitness trackers, you name it! A perfect example of this is Amazon Associates Central. When you become an affiliate with Amazon, you can suggest any product, book, item, or service offered through Amazon - and get a commission for every person you convert. You can even make money from a person who clicks on Amazon through your link, but then purchases something else.
Here's how it works:
You sign Up: You create an account on the network and browse their product listings. You do have to share information like where you’ll be posting these recommendations, like your podcast, socials, website, etc. And you do need to me 3 qualified sales within 3 months. But I have faith you can make it happen.
Once you approved, you then Select products that resonate with your podcast's theme and that you genuinely believe in.
You then generate a unique affiliate link for each product you want to recommend. The network helps you do this very easily.
Then you weave these links into your podcast content, highlighting features and benefits relevant to your listeners.
Finally, When a listener clicks your link and makes a purchase, you earn a commission from the sale.
What is great about podcasting and affiliate links is that your podcast is evergreen, forever attracting new listeners who potentially would love your recommendations. So you always have the opportunity to make money from your recommendations, as long as your podcast and affiliate links are active.
The second approach is by Partnering with Specific Brands through their affiliate program.
This approach is also awesome because you don’t usually have to convince someone (too hard) of your worthiness to be part of their affiliate program.
There are a lot of companies, whose products or services aren’t on a shared affiliate network like Amazon, who run their own affiliate program. MyProtein, Fitbit, and Alo Yoga are just a few of the thousands of health and fitness companies that allow you to become affiliates for them directly. Let’s say you live in Alo Yoga leggings; why not recommend them to your listeners with your unique code?
What’s great about this approach is that many companies are keen to participate in this way of marketing. Essentially, it’s no money out of their pocket, and they only pay you when you help them make a sale.
What I also love about this approach is you can have such great brand alignment. Whereas Amazon can sometimes be considered very generic, a direct connection with a brand like Fitbit can really boost your own brand image by aligning yourself with these topnotch brands.
Remember: When using this approach, commissions come in different forms. So be sure to review the affiliate program you’re signing up for to ensure you’re happy with your commission opportunities.
The third approach is by partnering with specific brands directly. You can guess this is the hardest way, because it does in fact require you to put in more effort by approaching the brand directly. You’ll need to find out who their marketing team is, and get an in with them. It’s 100% achievable, but it does require you to sell yourself a bit more.
Essentially, you would need to connect directly with the brand, discuss their products, and negotiate a unique discount code for your listeners. This code, like "BRAVEMOON15," offers your audience a percentage off their purchase.
Companies are often still very keen to collaborate like this because again, there's no financial commitment required to get started and it's a low-risk way for them to test your effectiveness.
What I also love about this method is that you’re developing a direct connection with the brand, potentially influencing product development or securing exclusive promotions. Imagine suggesting a new flavor of protein powder to MyProtein or requesting a special makeup from Fitbit.
To recap the 3 approaches, you can (1) join an affiliate network like Amazon Associates. (2) You can join an affiliate program with a specific brand you love, or (3) You can reach out to a specific brand to discuss an affiliate collaboration.
Now that you know the 3 approaches, it’s time for 5 hacks, in which I’ll be sharing some awesome affiliate networks to consider along with some insider secrets of how I personally handle my affiliate marketing programs.
Hack #1 - The top 3 affiliate networks are Amazon Associates, ShareASale and CJ Affiliate. Amazon is great because it has such an enormous product selection across various categories, plus it’s got such trusted brand recognition. It also offers recurring commissions for any customer who does the Subscribe & Save feature. They also have so many sales, so it’s really easy to suggest sale items to your followers on socials, too.
2. ShareASale: Extensive network of merchants across diverse niches, advanced tracking tools, and dedicated account managers for high-performing affiliates.
3. CJ Affiliate (formerly Commission Junction): Large network of reputable brands across various industries, high-quality marketing materials provided by merchants, good commission rates for certain programs.
Hack #2 - When you’re trying the 3rd approach to affiliate marketing, which is to collaborate directly with a brand, a sneaky trick to get your foot in the door is to start posting on your socials about the brand you want to affiliate for and tagging them every time. Feel free to share the post to their DMs, as well. The bigger the company, the harder it will take to grab their attention. However, I did this when I was interested in collaboratiing with Podcastle, and they reached out to me almost immediately. I’m now BFF’s with their CMO, so I would call that a win. I should also mention, I used to be the marketing manager at Virgin Active, and if there had been any person that posted regularly about visiting Virgin Active and sharing how much they loved the gym, I would have for sure reached out about a collaboration. This behavior is what companies love.
Hack #3 - If you do start to collaborate with a brand on an affiliate basis, make sure you establish ground rules and the amount you would earn per sale.
Hack #4 - Always, always make sure that you disclose to your listeners and followers that you are part of an affiliate program. It’s important for legal reasons, but also so that you’re fully transparent with your audience. If you’re looking for a decent disclaimer statement, check out the one in my show notes.
Hack #5 - One of my clients, who recently signed up to be an affiliate, was concerned about the value she was offering her listeners. What were her listeners getting out of her affiliate links? And so I reassured her – the true value lies in her expertise! You've spent time researching and using products that make a difference. Now, you're the curator, sharing these gems with your audience who trusts your knowledge. Weave these recommendations naturally, focusing on products you truly believe in and that complement your content. Share your experiences, offer options at various price points, and always prioritize the listener's benefit. This "curator" approach builds trust and sets you up for long-term affiliate marketing success.
For You, On Us
Join the free webinar! Explore the strong connection between growing your audience and increasing your podcast’s revenue. A vibrant, engaged community is the foundation of a successful podcast business. Don’t miss this chance to learn and grow. Sign up now for the webinar: “Building a Profitable Podcast”
Happy podcasting.
