Affiliate marketing is a pretty clear-cut business model in my opinion.
“Promote affiliate products, and each time someone takes an action you require, which may or may not be to make a purchase, you get a fair commission”. (simple isn’t it?)
The affiliate marketing pricing model can be pay per lead (PPL), pay per click (PPC), or cost per sale (CPS).
The problem usually is “the how”, when it comes to promoting your affiliate links, and today, we will touch on the best ways to go about it.
This article highlights the best practices, regarding promoting affiliate links on YouTube.
YouTube is the world’s second most visited website and it’s worth over 150 billion dollars.
This makes YouTube a fantastic ground for business and affiliate marketers can profit a lot from this platform.
If you have a YouTube channel and are already getting views and traction on your channel, becoming an affiliate for a few brands and networks, is an excellent way to earn extra substantial income.
It is an excellent addition to the earnings you get from sponsorship and the Google AdSense program.
It is easy to find excellent affiliate programs for Youtubers, as there are a ton of good options you can kick off with.
If you are an affiliate marketer already, becoming a YouTuber is an excellent way for you to get free quality traffic to your affiliate links.
Now that we have touched on why you might want to consider promoting your affiliate links on YouTube, let us get into how to promote affiliate links on YouTube properly.
Ways to Promote Affiliate Links on YouTube
1. Via Your video descriptions
One excellent step you can take to promote affiliate links on YouTube would be to include these links in your video descriptions.
Let us say, you are a lifestyle Youtuber and typically include excellent lifestyle products in your videos.
You could let your viewers know that they can find links to purchase the products that were featured in your video in the video description section.
Your video description gives you enough room to include as many affiliate links as possible.
All you need to do is to clearly state what product each link is for, to make it look well put together.
Also, I usually advise that you shorten and cloak your affiliate links before you include it in the description.
This also helps the links not to look spammy or too long.
You can achieve this by cloaking all your affiliate links with software like Clickmagic.
With this tool, you can also track accurately every click your affiliate links get and also the conversions.
It is also imperative to inform your viewers that some of the links posted may be affiliate links, which you might earn a small commission from.
Also, let them know that they would not be charged extra for the commission you earn from them purchasing through your link.
C’mon! You are a fantastic creative.
I believe that you can craft an award-winning disclaimer that lets your subscribers understand how the process of making a purchase from your affiliate link works, and which ultimately moves them to support your channel by actually buying from your link.
2. The About Tab
When it comes to some of my favorite YouTube channels, I find going to the About tab to read whatever is there just because I find it interesting.
If you are a strong affiliate with certain brands, i.e. you have a long-term partnership with certain brands, and promote their product or products often, including your affiliate links in the About tab is a great way to promote your affiliate links.
You can have as many as ten in this About tab.
Also, do not forget to make the About tab of your channel interesting to read, it helps to add pizzazz to your channel, and person.
And you know, when people find you interesting or knowledgeable, they are more likely to purchase through your affiliate link, as they at this point trust your judgment.
3. In your comments
The ability to pin your comment at the top of your comments section is perfect when it comes to promoting your affiliate links on YouTube.
If you have affiliate links that would go perfectly with the products in your video or even the theme of your video, you can always quickly remind those in the comments section that they can purchase the products via the links.
You would then go ahead to include it in the comment you pin.
Also, there will always be people in the comments asking for links to buy your recommended products, and you can make good use of this opportunity by supplying your affiliate links, to help them make a purchase.
Please, try not to make your links look spammy, as this gives your channel an unreliable look.
People have been known to randomly leave affiliate links in the comments; people are most likely not going to click through those spammy links to make any purchase.
It only ends up taking away from the general appeal of your channel.
4. The community tab
We all know that YouTube originally was to support videos and comments, but via the community tab, creators are able to share post updates, polls, and other ways in which their interactions with their viewers and subscribers, are even more interesting.
Via the community tab, you are able to connect even better with your viewers in a more personal way.
This is why the YouTube community tab is a great place to post your affiliate links.
You can add these links to your post updates.
Tagged to a photo, or just a short write-up up which gives room to carry said affiliate links.
There are so many ways you can use the community tab to your advantage in regards to promoting your affiliate links on YouTube, so be creative about it.
Final Tips on How to Promote Affiliate Links on YouTube
As a Youtuber, there are tons of affiliate programs that you can take advantage of, to skyrocket your YouTube earnings.
If you already have a great personality, then you are already halfway there my friend.
All the ways to promote affiliate links on YouTube listed here will definitely help you better promote your affiliate links, but if your video quality is crappy, this won’t do so much for you.
Begin by creating interesting and top-quality videos and endeavor to grow your YouTube channel.
Also, ensure that the videos you make are related to the affiliate products you promote.
This way, you can be sure that your subscribers are more likely to make a purchase via your affiliate links, as they are already interested in the type of videos you make.
