How to recruit affiliates to your program using podcasting

If you have a successful business and you promote it with affiliate marketing, podcasting could be a great option to recruit affiliates. With a podcast, not only can you find great affiliates, it helps great affiliates to find you.

To make a podcast that attracts content creators to sign up for your affiliate marketing program, you need to deliver value, consistency, and clarity. This builds intimacy and trust.

It’s a lot like influencer marketing: the affiliate marketer has to deliver value on their own, so it takes value and consistency to motivate them. In this article, we’ll show you how to use podcasting to promote your affiliate program.

Value, Consistency, and Clarity

Your podcast has to be more than a company newsletter in audio form. What’s a story related to your company that you want to tell? Make your podcast a valuable listening experience, and not only will you draw an audience, but the audience will share your podcast with others.

Publish your podcast episodes consistently. This way, it becomes a habit. Not only can your audience look forward to it, but they also have an easier time recommending it to others.

Your pitch for your affiliate marketing has to be clear, concise, and memorable. Make it as easy as possible to sign up.

Listen to Some Podcasts

Maybe you already listen to podcasts, Pick a few very different kinds of podcasts, and listen to some episodes. When you’re listening, ask yourself:

• What makes this podcast an enjoyable experience?
• Does it include music, sound beds, or field recording? Does it have a particular atmosphere?
• How do the hosts communicate?
• Does each episode have segments? What kind?
• What about the introduction and the conclusion?
• How does the episode make you feel?
• What’s most memorable or confusing?
  

Take notice of how different podcasts communicate. Use this to inform how you want your podcast’s audience to feel when they hear your show.

What’s the Story You Want to Tell?

Every business has a story. People want to achieve something, come up against obstacles, and find a way to get over, around, or through them. Think about stories aligned with your company’s mission and principles. There are all kinds of interesting elements of any company, its products, and its services.

For example, Trader Joe’s brand podcast has episodes about the history of the spice trade or the chemistry of cheese. Again, your podcast should be something that people can enjoy on its own. That’s part of what will motivate people to sign up for your affiliate program.
Know your Ideal Audience and Podcast Niche

Imagine the person you’re trying to reach with your podcast. You already have a pretty good idea of who your business’ ideal customer is. What kind of information and entertainment do they enjoy?

Let’s say, for example, your company makes and sells time management software. What kind of person is your ideal customer? They’re probably someone who has lots of ideas and lots of responsibilities. They may be students, entrepreneurs, artists, or crafters. It’s safe to assume that they’re intelligent, curious, and have a pretty good education. If you know where their interests lie and hold fast to your company’s values, you can find a pretty good match that’s ripe for episode content.

For example, when we set up our affiliate marketing program for The Podcast Host Academy, we knew our customers would want to fund their podcasts. So, we incorporated our affiliate program into our course curriculum. This way, not only do they learn how to sign up for an affiliate program and gain confidence with it, we help each other grow.

A customer survey is always a good idea. Keep it short, and ask what kinds of information they’d want about your company, what they do for fun, and what they want to know more about.

The more specific your podcast is, the more likely you will cultivate an engaged, loyal audience. In the example above, the time management software company might want to make a podcast about time management for busy professionals. That’s pretty broad. What about time management for busy professional women, busy doctors, or busy women doctors who want more time to play golf? Think of this as enticing influencers to join your affiliate marketing program. The more specific your podcast niche is, the more your audience feels that your podcast is meant for people just like them.

Establish a Workflow

Some podcasters plan, record, edit and publish each podcast one at a time. Others use a process called batch processing or “batching.” They plan several episodes at once, record them, edit them, and set them up for publication in sequence. However you choose to make your podcast, the more you have a production system set up, the easier it will be to maintain this podcast over time.

Many podcasters work in seasons. They produce and publish their podcast for a few months and then take some time off to recharge and get fresh ideas. It’s easier to sustain the work of making a podcast in bursts of time than an unending slog.

Be Simple and Consistent

I’ve heard some memorable podcast episodes that include live performances, celebrity interviews, a full choir, and more. You don’t have to do this, particularly not when you’re first starting. What matters is consistency. You want to become a comfortable habit for your audience.

It doesn’t matter if you release a new episode daily, weekly, or monthly, as long as your audience knows what to expect. However long it takes you to make each episode is as long as it takes. So, if you know that it only takes you a few hours to make an episode, you can plan on releasing a new episode weekly. If you want to do something involving a lot of detailed editing and sound mixing, it’ll take longer.

Whatever it is, fulfill the promise you make to your listeners. If something comes up, and you can’t release the next episode, make a mini-episode and tell them. You don’t have to say why. Deliver a little bit of valuable content, and then move on to the next episode.

Make Your Affiliate Program Crystal Clear

When The Podcast Host describes our affiliate program, we offer a short link to our affiliate scheme page. A short link is easier for your audience to remember and act on. You can include this short link in your episode script and your show notes for each episode. That way, if someone’s listening while they’re driving or they’re up to their elbows in soapsuds, it’s easy for them to remember it later. Then, they can go to your website for details.

Our affiliate page describes the company and its products, the intended audience, and the commission structure. This includes a link so anyone can easily apply. When people know what the rewards and expectations are, they’re more likely to want to apply, succeed with the affiliate program and recommend it to others.

Again, the more consistent and straightforward the process is, the more likely people trust and buy into it.

Connection Is Key

If your goal is to get your audience to sign up for your company’s affiliate program, remember that these are people paying attention to your show. People in your audience may leave reviews of your podcast, post about your show on social media, or reach out to you directly. This is how you measure impact. Acknowledgment goes a long way. Some podcasts thank reviewers and supporters by name or at least mention that they reached out to them. You don’t want to reward the odd bit of negative feedback. But, when people send you positive comments, reviews, and so on, mention them. It makes them feel like your podcast and your company are for people like them.

When you promote your affiliate program, have the host read the promotion copy (instead of editing it in a separate, pre-recorded ad.) A recent study by Signal Hill Insights found that promotion copy read by the people recording the podcast performed 91% better than when a separate announcer or voice artist read the promotion copy. Also, audiences were 66% more likely to recall the information later on. This is probably because the flow of information is uninterrupted, and the audience already trusts the host.

The more your podcast allows your listener to immerse themselves in an interesting listening experience, the more it will build intimacy and trust.

Focus On Your Podcast Content and Relationships

When you establish your workflow, you’ll want to automate some of the tasks so that you can spend more time on the things that you can’t automate. Creativity, for example, takes time and effort. The human voice is irreplaceable.

With Tapfiliate you can start your affiliate program in just a few simple clicks. Discover the features, and get started today.