5 Ways to Build an Affiliate Marketing Email List

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Download a free email list of 100 affiliate marketers from the US

Affiliate marketing helps brands increase brand awareness and get more customers cost-effectively. Both eCommerce businesses like Amazon and SaaS companies like HubSpot resort to this cost-efficient and high-ROI strategy for one primary reason – you only pay for a successful conversion.

But what are the best strategies to find the right affiliate marketers for your brand and build an affiliate marketing email list?

In this article, we’ll help you find the answers (along with some examples to get you inspired) to the two most pressing questions:

  • How to build an affiliate marketing email list?
  • How to reach out to your affiliate email list?

Why you should build an affiliate marketing email list

Brands that use affiliate marketing record an average ROI of $15 for every dollar spent, equating to a 1400% return. 

This high ROI is, in part, due to the nature of affiliate marketing – you pay a fixed margin to each affiliate based on the conversion model you have picked (purchase, clicks on the link, or “Add to Cart”). This means you only spend money when a mutually decided action takes place, making it a low-risk strategy.

And the fact that 74% of U.S. online shoppers check multiple affiliate websites before making a purchase only reaffirms the importance of affiliate marketing.

So, having an affiliate marketing email list allows you to do personalized and highly targeted outreach. With this direct and precise approach, you increase the chance for affiliates to accept a collaboration with you.

5 Ways You Can Build Your Affiliate Marketing Email List

Building an affiliate email marketing list can be time-consuming and equally challenging. Here are five simple yet effective ways you can try out.

1. Use a creator dashboard

Creators have a dedicated audience that looks up to them for product or service recommendations. So, you can reach out to the creators in your niche and turn them into affiliates for your brand.

Although you can search for creators manually, the easiest way to find good creators in your niche is by using a creator discovery platform like influencers.club. 

Using our platform you can find any creator in any niche that already promotes affiliate links. This way you can get creators who are experienced in promoting products and that have an influence on their audience from Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Patreon, Twitch, etc. 

Here’s a step-by-step process on how to use the dashboard to find an email list of affiliate marketers:

1. Go to our creator discovery dashboard with 80M+ creators (you can register for free)

2. Use 40+ data points like niche, keywords in bio, number of followers, engagement rate, location, etc.

3. Select the option of “Promotes affiliate links” to get info on only those creators who work as affiliates for brands.

find affiliates dashboard

4. Click on “Show Results” and get your list.

Export a custom affiliate marketing email list

You can now export this list, access every creator’s email in the list, create a mailing list, and start with your outreach.

Get a custom email list of affiliate marketers from anywhere in the world

2. Create an affiliate marketing program

Many affiliates actively seek brands to partner with and share them as recommendations in their community. You can attract these affiliates with a dedicated landing page that can show up on Google search whenever someone types [your brand] + affiliate program.

Here are some tips, along with examples:

  • Clearly outline the terms and conditions: Be specific about your program and what the affiliates will earn from it. Here’s how Shopify shows which referrals are eligible for commission:

And  here’s how that breaks down based on merchant’s location:

  • Be clear about the kind of affiliates you’d like to bring on board: You can talk about your brand’s values or the kind of characteristics the right affiliate would have. This filters candidates and brings you the most relevant participants. Here’s how HubSpot portrays it.
HubSpot affiliate program
  • Add FAQs: Address questions that your affiliates might have. This will increase clarity and reduce your team’s time spent answering the same questions. Here’s how Canva has a detailed FAQ section, followed by a quick line on how affiliates can reach out if their questions are not answered.
canva affiliate program

Pro-tip: Many affiliates may not use Google search to discover your affiliate program. To attract these people, you can talk about your program on purchase confirmation emails, engagement emails, and social media.

3. Find creators already interacting with your brand

Are you getting repeated sales? Do you have happy customers that openly talk about your brand? You could turn these customers into affiliates for your brand.

This is a win-win move for both your brand and the customer. Customers feel valued when they get something in return for talking about your brand. And you can easily find affiliates among your loyal customers without searching for affiliates that are a good match for your brand. 

But searching for creators among your customers manually can take a lot of time. You have to go through a huge list of customers, find their profiles on social media, go through tags and hashtags, and so on. Instead, you can use our enrichment service. You can import your customer list, and we will match the list with our 80M+ creator database and find every creator from the list and their email addresses. 

We can even filter out creators that already promote affiliate links so you can partner with experienced affiliate marketers.

Find affiliate marketers among your customers

Upload your customer list and we’ll locate creators on all platforms, plus their email and 40 additional data points.

*No credit card required

4. Create lead magnets and freebies

A lead magnet is something you offer (ebooks, guides, downloadable templates, etc.) to visitors in exchange for their contact information (generally an email address). 

This is a great way for brands to get people to sign up for their email list, many of which might be good candidates for your affiliate program.

To ensure people actually download these freebies or opt-in for lead magnets, they must solve a problem for your target audience. You can even promise an outcome that your lead magnet delivers.

So think about what affiliate marketers might need. Here are the three common formats for lead magnets:

  • PDFs and ebooks: This could include guides on a particular topic, readymade templates, checklists, or cheat sheets. Here’s an example from Love and London.
Offering guide as a lead magnet to collect affiliate emails
  • Videos: With video content becoming popular, webinars, tutorials, and exclusive-access videos can hold a great opportunity for building an affiliate marketing email list. Here’s how Neil Patel uses his personal success story to offer something valuable.
  • Tools: This could include quizzes, toolkits, and formulas visitors can use. This is also a great ploy to get more people to interact with your product.
Tool as a lead magnet for building an email list

How to Reach Out to Your Email List?

As important as it is to find the right affiliate marketers for your brand, you need a solid plan to reach out to affiliates and build long-lasting relationships with them. Here are some tips recommended by our outreach specialists at influencers.club.

1. Personalize your message

Your message should show the recipient that you have taken the time to understand their audience, content, and interests. You should also tailor your pitch to include why your affiliate program would be a good fit for them and how it can benefit their audience.

Here’s an email template we have used at influencers.club and got an average 41% reply rate.

Subject line: @{username} <> {company name}

Hey {first name}{your name} here from {company name}, a company focused on {shortly explain what you do}.

{personalization based on their most recent posts, interests, life events, etc.}

Based on {why you think they are a good fit}, we’d love for you to be a part of our affiliate program.

As an affiliate, you’ll earn commissions by promoting our products/services to your audience.

Here’s how it works:

{write all steps using bullet points and mention benefits}

For participating, you’ll receive free products valued at up to {amount}.

Once approved we’ll ship you the products so you can promote them to your audience and start earning commissions.

We are accepting {X} applications in the next {X} hours as we are looking to fill the spots on an immediate basis.

{first name}, can I count you in?

{your name}
{company name}

2. Highlight the benefits

As important as it is to highlight the terms of your program, it’s equally important to showcase the benefits it’d bring to affiliates. This could be competitive commission rates, high-converting products, promotional support, a dedicated affiliate manager, or exclusive perks.

You can even emphasize how partnering with your brand can help the creator come up with unique content their audience would love, monetize that content, and grow revenue.

Here’s a good email example from Ryan Law, director of content marketing at Ahrefs, stating the exact amount the affiliate will earn on each successful referral.

3. Provide value upfront

Affiliates try to earn more money by getting people to act on their CTAs. 

By providing value upfront, you can help them achieve this objective and increase conversions for your brand. 

This value could be in the form of free product samples to help them understand its unique features, custom creatives that can appeal to a wider audience, and affiliate tools that help them streamline their promotions and campaigns.

Some companies even offer resources to help affiliates create focused content, schedule posts at the right time, use persuasive writing, etc. For example, here’s how Encharge talks about the affiliate success kit it provides on its landing page.

4. Follow up

Once you have sent them the outreach email, you can follow up after a couple of days to answer any questions they might have, address concerns, or provide additional information as needed.

Unlike one-off partnerships like holiday influencer campaigns, affiliate campaigns are long-term focused. This is why follow-ups are crucial. and it shows the recipients that you are responsive to their needs. This open line of communication fosters a positive and productive relationship.

To Sum Up

Building an affiliate marketing email list may take some strategizing, experimenting, and your time. But with returns like increased sales, more brand exposure, and enhanced trust, it’s a marketing strategy you can’t miss out on.

The strategies mentioned in this article will help you build an email marketing list that you can further nurture with the right outreach tips. If you are looking to find emails of affiliates easily sign up for free to our creator discovery dashboard and search through our database of 80M+ creators (40 filters available for easy, fast, and precise searching).

Get an email list of affiliates on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok

Search through our 80M+ creator database and find the best affiliates in any niche and from anywhere in the world.

FAQ

Evaluate your goals and product type to select a conversion model, such as pay-per-sale, pay-per-click, or pay-per-add-to-cart, aligning with your strategic objectives.

Assess their metrics, provide additional support, and consider renegotiating terms. If improvements aren’t seen, it may be necessary to end the partnership.

Offer competitive commissions, ensure timely payouts, and provide support materials. Regularly update your program based on industry standards.

Segment and personalize communications based on affiliate performance and audience demographics. Regularly cleanse and update your list, and use analytics to refine engagement strategies.

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*No credit card required