How to set up your dropshipping affiliate program

Do you have a dropshipping store? Are you thinking about ways to increase your sales? A dropshipping affiliate program is a great way to do this.

When combining dropshipping and affiliate marketing, it’s essential to consider different things. Dropshipping has additional considerations than a traditional ecommerce store. This article will guide you through.

What is dropshipping?

If you haven’t heard about dropshipping already, it’s a different business model from traditional eCommerce. A dropshipping company purchases items from 3rd party suppliers and shows these products on its website.

Once a customer has chosen and paid for a product, it gets shipped directly from your preferred 3rd party supplier to them. You, as a drop shipper, don’t have to do any order fulfillment yourself. However, you are still responsible for customer service and communication with your customer.

Dropshipping can be a great way to earn money without the costs of a traditional ecommerce store. In a conventional ecommerce website, they would have to store inventory and be responsible for shipping and all of the expenses associated with that.

Dropshipping profit margins are slightly different from traditional ecommerce stores. If you use Chinese companies like Aliexpress, Shein, and others for dropshipping, your profit margins can be between 100-500%. If you use a supplier in Europe or the US, profit margins can be 10-15%, depending on the product.

What is affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing is a low-cost way to market your products to different audiences. You pay a percentage commission on every sale that gets referred by an affiliate.

Affiliates are the people promoting your products to their audiences, for example, an influencer or a blogger. They use an affiliate link (or referral link) or coupon codes. You only pay when they refer a direct sale to your website, so the risk is lower.

What’s the difference between dropshipping and affiliate marketing?

There are similarities and differences between dropshipping and affiliate marketing. The most significant difference is that Dropshipping is the method for getting products to consumers. Affiliate marketing is a marketing strategy aimed at increasing sales. Each time your affiliate earns a commission on every sale they have a direct hand in.

They are both relatively low-risk and have low startup costs for brands just starting.

However, combining dropshipping and affiliate marketing can be a winning marketing strategy. It’s a great way to increase your sales for your dropshipping store. Dropshipping advertising doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg.

The benefits of having a dropshipping affiliate program

There are plenty of benefits of having an affiliate program if you have a dropshipping company. These include increased revenue and traffic, reaching new audiences, and diversifying your revenue streams.

Increased revenue: With an affiliate program, your affiliates get paid only when they refer someone who then goes on to buy. This way, you are only paying for actual sales made.

Increase traffic: Affiliates promoting you on their websites, social media, etc., will drive more traffic to your website.

Reach new audiences: With affiliate marketing, you can have several different types of websites promoting you. This gives you the chance to reach new audiences and potential customers in places you might not typically think about.

Diversifying your revenue: Being promoted on different websites and social media means creating diverse revenue for your business. Only being promoted by one type of affiliate is like putting all of your eggs into one basket. If something were to happen to their website or social media, then overnight, you have lost revenue.

Increased conversion rates: Having an affiliate program can help you to increase your conversion rates. Word-of-mouth marketing is powerful and can make a huge difference with intent. If you are working with affiliates promoting you to their user base, this can help to increase your conversion rate.

How to scale a dropshipping business using affiliate marketing

Knowing how to market your dropshipping business using affiliate marketing is straightforward when you know how.

Set up your affiliate program

First, you will need to set up your affiliate software using top affiliate marketing software. This will enable you to track the results of your campaigns, be data-driven, and allocate commissions to your affiliates easily.

Figure out your commission rate

Next, you will need to work out what your commission rate should be for your affiliate program. Take your profit margins into account, and leave room for increases if you want to run promotions with your affiliates. If you have a high dropshipping profit margin, your commission rate can be higher. This will also likely be more attractive to affiliates who are looking to join your affiliate program.

Learn more about how to set your commission rates.

Recruit affiliates

Then, you’ll need to recruit affiliates to your program. There are several different affiliate types you could connect with – influencers, comparison websites, cashback sites, content creators, remarketing, paid search, etc.

You can also get your happy customers to refer a friend. It all depends on your target audience and where they spend their time online. It’s essential to ensure that affiliates have quality content on their promotional channels to maximize your chances of success.

Learn more about affiliate recruitment and finding influencers to promote your brand.

Run promotions with your affiliates

Once you have your affiliates, it’s time for them to start promoting your online store. Ensure that they have all of the creatives they need, including banners and a data feed including product images. When working with affiliates, you could get them to do product reviews, blog posts, or social media posts.

Start your dropshipping affiliate program today

We hope this article has given you an idea of how to get more sales for your dropshipping store. Tapfiliate offers a free 14-day trial to help you get started.