Marketer’s Playbook For Working With Influencer Discount Codes and Affiliate Links (2024)

Influencer marketing is a fantastic tool for creating brand awareness, but it’s even better when it drives sales. Many brands now use influencer affiliate marketing to share promo codes or create exclusive affiliate links that the influencer’s followers use when making a purchase. This arrangement provides many benefits, including:

  • Giving brands the ability to track the ROI of their influencer campaigns easily.
  • Presenting influencers as heroes who share exclusive discount opportunities with their followers.
  • The creation of more awareness and conversions because of influencer promotion.

With such impressive benefits, it’s difficult to ignore discount codes and affiliate links when setting your influencer marketing strategy. This blog explains how to get started with affiliate marketing and optimize your strategy to generate more revenue for your brand.

Influencer Discount Codes And Affiliate Links

Shoppers are always looking for discounts online shopping and influencers can share bespoke discount codes on their social media pages. Users can enter the code at checkout to receive a discount on their purchase. Affiliate links work in the same manner, only that instead of a code, the influencer gets an exclusive link that followers need to use to get a discount on their purchases.

So, let’s look at each of these models and how they complement your marketing strategy.

Discount codes

An influencer discount code is a unique code that shoppers use at checkout to get a discount on the items they are buying. Brands give these codes to influencers who share them with their followers across different channels and media. Depending on the influencer and the brand itself, the codes can take forms such as SpringSale, SuperBoy15, or Alicia30OFF. Influencers share them in their captions, as overlays on pictures, or as stories.

Affiliate links

Influencer marketing affiliate links are dedicated URLs that include added parameters that the influencer shares as part of your referral marketing program. The URL helps brands attribute sales to the influencer and provide them with a commission from each sale. Referral links direct shoppers to the target landing page, and most analytic tools can track them to help brands see the traffic and revenue they generate.

Marketer’s Playbook For Working With Influencer Discount Codes and Affiliate Links (1)

Why You Need Them

Results are all that matter in your marketing strategy. Here’s how discount codes and affiliate links contribute to your marketing goals.

Sales conversions

For businesses, affiliate marketing through discount codes and affiliate links offers high sales conversions without consuming large advertising budgets, thereby ensuring a high ROI for the campaign. A successful affiliate link campaign can bring in more traffic and sales than a traditional marketing campaign. This is because affiliate programs are good at converting tentative shoppers who were just window shopping but are compelled to purchase when they come across promo codes. Followers are also attracted to the products their favorite influencers are using. This results in more sales, especially when the influencer shares promo codes that give users a discount.

Tracking sales

While it’s difficult to track direct sales with other advertising channels like traditional media, affiliate marketing allows for seamless sales attribution. By issuing an influencer a unique code, you can track how many purchases have been made with that code. Affiliate links can also be tracked on most analytic software, helping you gauge how effective a campaign has been.

With the tracking data, you can tell which influencers are ideal for your brand and understand the products suited for certain types of promotions.

Giving customers new options

Discount codes help customers discover new products and services. No one wants to miss out on a sale, and users will gladly jump on new products especially if they can acquire them for a discount. Followers are also attracted to the products their influencers are using and are open to trying new products that the influencer has recommended.

Improving the user experience

Shoppers love discounts on the products they need. They are happy to shop when brands have exclusive deals to acquire the products they need for a discount. And since the discounts are promoted by the influencers they trust and adore, the shopping experience is enhanced and brands earn loyal followers.

Marketer’s Playbook For Working With Influencer Discount Codes and Affiliate Links (2)

Discount Codes vs. Affiliate Links

While discount codes and affiliate links are both ideal for introducing your brand to a larger audience through appropriate influencers, these two influencer strategies have different structures and functionalities.

Discount codes are special codes that an influencer distributes to consumers that they can use during checkout.

On the other hand, an affiliate link is a separate page with a URL, and each link is unique for every influencer. Affiliate links drive traffic to target landing pages, making it easy for marketers to attribute sales and track commissions.

The one you choose is up to you – it depends on how you want to track your progress!

Setting them up

The most important thing to do when developing your affiliate marketing plan is to create and manage your discount codes and affiliate links. Broken links will frustrate shoppers and unmonitored promo codes can be abused by users. Here’s how to set up your discount codes and affiliate links.

Discount codes

When creating discount codes for your influencers ensure they are short, easy to remember, and relevant to the individual influencer. In most cases, the best thing to do is use the influencer’s name and merge it with the percentage discount shoppers receive when they use the code at checkout.

For example, if you are working with Beyonce to promote your products, you can use BEYONCE20 for a 20% discount at checkout.

Affiliate links

To create affiliate links, you first have to choose the products to include in the affiliate program. You can include all your products, but choosing your popular products is advisable to boost revenues and affiliate earnings. Then, decide on your affiliate pricing and choose an affiliate management app to generate links for your influencers.

Potential pitfalls

Proper setup will help you generate more sales and create brand awareness with affiliate marketing. However, you should be on the lookout for certain pitfalls that can mess up your campaigns.

With discount codes

Some promotions will appeal to your consumers better than others. In certain cases, dollar-off discounts perform better than percentage discounts.

Another challenge you may experience with discount codes is your profit margin. When you offer buyers a discount, you eat into your profit margin, which could affect your business performance. For this reason, you need to set a modest discount rate that helps you appeal to shoppers while ensuring you make enough money to run your business successfully.

With affiliate links

Affiliate links aren’t as complicated as discount codes and are much easier to manage. However, you need to monitor them closely for broken links resulting in a poor user experience. Influencers will do all they can to get users to click the link, but they need to be sure that the links direct buyers to the right destination to complete the purchase. Otherwise, your customers will be disappointed and avoid any future promotions by your brand.

Marketer’s Playbook For Working With Influencer Discount Codes and Affiliate Links (3)

Brands That Use Influencer Discount Codes And Affiliate Links Properly

Many brands have successfully leveraged discount codes and affiliate links to grow their revenue. Here are a few examples.

Daniel Wellington

Created in 2011, Daniel Wellington is a Swedish watch brand that generates about $220 million in annual revenue. The brand creates watches with a sleek design and competitive price. So, what’s the reason for its massive success? Influencer marketing.

Marketer’s Playbook For Working With Influencer Discount Codes and Affiliate Links (4)

Figure 1: Daniel Wellington influencer marketing with discount codes. Source – Instagram

The brand often works with micro-influencers who receive free watches and promotional codes that give their followers a 10 – 20% discount. The codes are valid for a short time to create a sense of urgency and motivate users to act fast and buy.

Fern & Petal

Fern & Petal partners with influencers to promote their wellness products. The brand specifically works with local influencers in the wellness niche to help them connect with their ideal customers.

Marketer’s Playbook For Working With Influencer Discount Codes and Affiliate Links (5)

Figure 2: Fern & Petal Brand Ambassadors. Source – Fern & Petal

The influencers get a percentage of the sales, and the bigger the audience, the more they earn. The brand has several influencer tiers with a base percentage for sales. Influencers climb up the tier when they bring more customers and get a bigger cut for net sales.

Pro Tips To Scale

Use online software to monitor influencer results with discount codes and affiliate links. These tools will help you track the sales and conversions from the influencers you are working with. Use the discount code tracking data to make budgeting decisions such as whether to continue with the same influencers or drop them for other impressive content creators.

Affiliate marketing is an appropriate way to connect with new audiences and grow your audience. Discount codes and affiliate links help you appeal to your customers and motivate them to make a purchase.

Your campaign success with affiliate marketing depends on the influencers you choose to work with. The right influencers will help you reach targeted consumers who could benefit from the products you are selling. Atisfyreach, our AI-driven platform makes it easy for brands to find the right influencers to work with. The platform has a rich database of influencers and its algorithm will match you with the ideal influencers based on your budget and goals.

Get in touch to register your interest today.

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Marketer’s Playbook For Working With Influencer Discount Codes and Affiliate Links (2024)

FAQs

What is the affiliate marketing strategy for influencers? ›

What is influencer affiliate marketing? Influencer affiliate marketing is a marketing strategy that encourages individual influencers (sometimes called affiliates) on any social network to promote your brand in exchange for a commission on sales, lead signups, or clicks.

Do influencers get commission from discount codes? ›

Commonly, influencers earn money for each customer they bring in. That means that whenever a person buys a product using a discount code or an affiliate link provided by a particular influencer, they earn a commission based on their contract with the brand.

How do influencers use affiliate links? ›

Brand ambassadors and influencers can also use an affiliate program. Oftentimes, rather than placing links within written content, as many other publishers would use, you may receive a coupon code that your followers can use, which will give you a commission.

How much do influencers make off of discount codes? ›

You can expect to generally make 5-30% commission in affiliate marketing contracts. Often, bigger influencers are at the 8-12% range. Have you seen influencers who promote a discount on a product or service with a personalized code or URL? Those people are likely affiliate marketers.

What are the 4 core players of affiliate marketing? ›

The industry has four core players: the merchant (also known as 'retailer' or 'brand'), the network (that contains offers for the affiliate to choose from and also takes care of the payments), the publisher (also known as 'the affiliate'), and the customer.

What is the golden rule of affiliate marketing? ›

What is the golden rule of affiliate marketing? Ah, the golden rule of affiliate marketing - it's a simple one: promote products that you genuinely believe in and that are relevant to your audience.

What is the commission structure for influencers? ›

It's the practice of having an influencer who is repping your product earn a commission for every sale of said product. As of 2021, Instagram influencers generally make 5-30% commission in affiliate marketing contracts, with bigger influencers starting in the 8-12% range.

What is a typical commission rate for influencers? ›

According to InfluencerMarketingHub, the standard Instagram influencer rate sheet based on reach is as follows: Nano influencers (1000 - 10,000 followers): $10 - $100 per post. Micro influencers (10,000 - 50,000 followers): $100 - $500 per post. Mid-tier influencers (50,000 - 500,000 followers): $500 - $5,000 per post.

Do people make money from discount codes? ›

Coupon websites are a popular way of marketing your brand; it benefits everyone – buyers, sellers, and brokers. In many ways, they are similar to affiliate advertising and marketing. You will receive a commission every time someone uses your coupon on a website to make a purchase.

Do influencers get paid if you click on a link? ›

Display Advertising

Once in place, the influencer can earn money in one of two ways. First, they might get paid for each click. Known as cost per click (CPC) ads, the blogger gets a small amount of money every time a site visitor actually clicks on an ad that displays on their website.

How do affiliate links pay you? ›

Affiliate marketing is the process by which an affiliate earns a commission for marketing another person's or company's products. The affiliate simply searches for a product they enjoy, then promotes that product and earns a piece of the profit from each sale they make.

How do influencers get paid from links? ›

When someone makes a purchase on a website after clicking through a trackable link or using a specific code, the influencer who posted it can earn a commission from that sale in what's called affiliate marketing.

Who is the highest paid influencer on Instagram? ›

1. Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano) One of the most well-known football players in the world, Christiano Ronaldo hardly needs an introduction.

What brand pays influencers the most? ›

Brands That Pay Influencers
  1. Fabletics. Fabletics is an active-lifestyle brand that sells both women's and men's activewear. ...
  2. Fashion Nova. ...
  3. Flat Tummy Co. ...
  4. Goli Gummy. ...
  5. Lululemon. ...
  6. Amazon Fashion. ...
  7. Walmart. ...
  8. PrettyLittleThing.
Mar 22, 2023

How much does an influencer with 100k followers make? ›

For instance, less famous influencers with up to 10k followers may set their rates at $25-$50 per post, an established one with 30-80k followers may charge $150 or $350 a post, while a celebrity with over 100k followers can charge between $1,000 and $500,000 a post.

What is the hardest part of affiliate marketing? ›

Generating Traffic: Without traffic, an affiliate site will not make any money. This is the biggest challenge for most affiliate marketers in finding ways to generate consistent traffic to their sites.

What are the 3 pillars of affiliate marketing? ›

The Core Pillars of Affiliate Strategy
  • Affiliate Communication.
  • Incentivizing Via Your Commission Structure.
  • Leverage Promos.
  • Execute On A Full-Funnel Strategy.
Jun 6, 2019

Can you make 6 figures with affiliate marketing? ›

Affiliate marketing is still a great way to set you on your journey to a business that has no issues in generating six figures. Not only because it has a considerably high chance of making your first initial figures, but more importantly, it educates how to sell digital products.

What is 80 20 rule in affiliate marketing? ›

The 80/20 rule in content marketing states that 80% of your content should focus on providing value to your audience, while only 20% of your content should promote your brand or product. It ensures that you provide valuable content to your audience while promoting your brand or product.

What is the real secret to affiliate marketing? ›

Be dedicated to your promotion

One of the most important affiliate marketing secrets is that more quality content makes you appear as an expert on the topic. Once your audience notices the value you bring by addressing their questions, chances are they might come back for more information.

What is the rule for influencers? ›

The government in India has issued new endorsem*nt rules which state that sponsored content must be clearly labelled by social media influencers as such or they will have to pay a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh (USD 12,349) for the first time and a repeat offender will have to pay fine of up to Rs 50 lakh (USD 61,746) or ...

How many posts should an influencer make? ›

Posting multiple times per day is a good strategy for quickly growing your audience. However, you may want to post less often if you're focused on quality over quantity. In this case, it's better to focus on creating well-thought-out pieces that will really resonate with your audience.

How much should I charge for link in bio? ›

The pricing for a Link in Bio is entirely up to you and the value you place on your profile. In my opinion, I would never charge under $100 for ANYTHING, but again, this is up to your discretion. Remember, your bio is prime real-estate on your profile, so it's 100% worth getting money for any links placed there!

What should influencers be charging? ›

Number of Followers and Engagement Rate

In fact, according to Later's free Creator Rates Report, for a singular Instagram Reel, influencers can charge (as a baseline fee): Nano creators (0-10K followers): $100-$200. Micro creators (10K-100K followers): $200-$1K. Mid creators (100K-500K followers): $1.5K-$5K.

How do you negotiate price with influencers? ›

How to deal with creators: 11 tips to consider during influencer negotiation
  1. Be specific on content. ...
  2. Discuss content usage rights. ...
  3. Keep repurposed content in mind. ...
  4. Prepare for contingencies. ...
  5. Talk about brand exclusivity. ...
  6. Ensure non-disclosure. ...
  7. Define engagement expectations.

What are good influencer rates? ›

Instagram influencer pricing
Type of InfluencersRate
Micro (10-100k followers)$100-500
Mid (100-500k followers)$500-$5k
Macro (500k-1m followers)$5-$10k
Mega (1m+ followers)$10k+
1 more row
Jan 16, 2023

What percentage discount is most attractive? ›

The amount of discount can vary from relatively small to relatively big, but when this is smaller (typically under 10%), this method of displaying the price will be less effective. On the other hand, if you can show large discount percentages (typically 50% and above), the deal will look more attractive.

Is a discount code a promotion? ›

Promotional codes are alphanumeric strings that online stores offer to encourage purchases on their website and are typically associated with an overarching promotional marketing strategy. The discount associated with a promo code can apply to individual products or an entire order.

What is the difference between promo code and discount code? ›

They all basically refer to the same thing and serve the same purpose – to lighten the cost burden of the consumer. Promotion codes, however, are given for specific product to create hype and buzz for that product as well as increase its popularity.

How much do influencers make with $1 million followers? ›

According to USA Today, an influencer with 10,000 to 50,000 active fans can make a few thousand per post. Instagram influencers with up to 1 million followers can see $10,000 per post. Have over 1 million followers? You could charge $100,000 or more.

How many followers do I need for affiliate marketing? ›

How many followers do you need for affiliate marketing? There is no specific ideal number of followers for affiliate marketing, however, a good number of 5,000 to 15,000 followers is enough to become an affiliate marketer. Also, your engagement rate should be at least 100 likes per post.

Do you have to pay taxes on affiliate links? ›

Generally speaking, affiliate sales are not categorized as sales, so you are not obliged to pay sales taxes on the products you sell. Your income comes in the form of service provided to your affiliate program owner. Therefore, the money you receive is not your gross salary. Instead, it is your service fee.

How do beginners promote affiliate links? ›

How to promote affiliate links?
  1. Insert affiliate links in your product reviews and tutorials.
  2. Add affiliate links to your resources page.
  3. Place affiliate banners on your website.
  4. Use affiliate links in your newsletters and email sequences.
  5. Embed affiliate links into your video content.

How much can a beginner make in affiliate marketing? ›

Beginner affiliate marketers could make as little as $0 to as much as $1,000/month. While having a pre-existing audience will speed up your business's growth, total beginners might require some time to set everything up before making affiliate sales.

How do small influencers get paid? ›

The most common way is getting paid by companies, brands, and services. Typically, they need to create content and get paid by the agreed rate. Some do commissions too — just like in affiliate marketing and collaborations. Another way is through product promotion or displaying ads on their content.

Do influencers pay taxes? ›

Influencers are considered self-employed and are responsible for paying their own self-employment and income taxes. If your tax liability is over $1,000, then the IRS recommends making quarterly estimated payments.

How much do influencers make from Amazon links? ›

Amazon influencers can earn anywhere from 1-10% from each sale. Influencers can then get their commissions from Amazon through direct deposit, gift card, or check. However, they have to meet the minimum withdrawal amount for each payment method.

Will Instagram pay me if I have 1k followers? ›

Instagram accounts with 1,000 followers make $1,420/month on average and up to $100 per sponsored post. However, Instagram does not pay influencers directly, so you can begin making money whenever you land your first sponsorship deal or join an affiliate program, even if you don't have 1,000 followers yet.

How many followers must you have on Instagram to get paid? ›

Some Instagram monetization features like "Badges," Instagram's tipping tool for IG Live, require that creators have at least 10,000 followers. Many of these programs also are limited to certain countries, have an age minimum of 18, and require accounts to be registered as business or creator accounts on the app.

What is the average salary of an Instagram influencer? ›

While ZipRecruiter is seeing annual salaries as high as $102,500 and as low as $14,500, the majority of Instagram Influencers salaries currently range between $38,000 (25th percentile) to $56,500 (75th percentile) with top earners (90th percentile) making $84,500 annually across the United States.

Who is the richest female influencer? ›

These are the highest paid social media influencers:
  • Cristiano Ronaldo, who makes $2,4 million per sponsored post.
  • Kylie Jenner, who earns nearly $1,8 million per sponsored post.
  • Selena Gomez, who makes nearly $1,7 million per sponsored post.
  • Kim Kardashian-West, who makes $1,6 million per sponsored post.
Feb 1, 2023

Who is the highest paid non celebrity influencer? ›

Check out the top 5 highest-paid, non-celebrity Instagram influencers and how much they charge per post:
  • Lele Pons: $180,000; 46M followers.
  • Charli D'Amelio: $173,000; 44.4M followers.
  • Addison Rae: $156,000; 40.1M followers.
  • Sommer Ray: $108,000; 26.8M followers.
  • Dixie D'Amelio: $100,000; 24.9M followers.
Apr 12, 2022

What do influencers send to brands? ›

In addition to the pitch, many influencers create and attach a media kit — a document that includes basic information about an influencer's account, engagement data, previous work, and contact information. Some influencers will send a media kit to every advertiser they work with.

What is a micro influencer? ›

A micro-influencer is an influencer with a follower count within the range of 10,000–100,000 followers. Influencers are typically broken down into four main types based on their follower count: Nano-influencers: 1K–10K followers. Micro-influencers: 10K–100K followers.

How many views on reels to get paid? ›

Since launching Reels, Meta tested numerous ways for creators to monetize their projects, including the Reels Play bonus program, which pays a “bonus” to anyone whose Reels get at least 1,000 views over a 30-day period. The Reels Play bonus program pays creators up to $35,000 per month, but it's an invite-only feature.

How do influencers start out? ›

To establish a presence as an influencer, you need to provide high-quality, relevant content to your targeted audience that showcases that you are an expert and valuable resource. You must decide what formats your content will take and how you will share this content across your social media platforms.

What is key influencers strategy? ›

The key to developing an influencer strategy is determining your target audience. You need to learn first the demographics and interests of the audience you are targeting so you will know the format of your content and which channel will work the best for your strategy.

How to plan an affiliate marketing strategy for content creators? ›

Before you dive into creating any kind of affiliate program, it's essential to plan your strategy for success.
  1. Identify Your Target Audience. ...
  2. Work Out the Location Details. ...
  3. Choose Your Affiliate Programs. ...
  4. Set Goals. ...
  5. Create Your Content Plan. ...
  6. Create Content with Affiliate Links. ...
  7. Create Compelling Content. ...
  8. Promote Your Content.
Jan 26, 2023

How do I promote my affiliate marketing on Instagram? ›

Step 1: To onboard, head to "Professional dashboard" and tap "Set Up Affiliate". Step 2: Once onboarded, navigate to the shop of your choice, select the products you plan to promote and save them to your wishlist. Step 3: When creating your affiliate content, you can tag the products you've saved.

What is 5 step action plan for influencer marketing? ›

This Slide depicts five step action plan for influencer market opportunities which contains identify online audience, search for right person, monitor influencers for opportunities, take action and engage and evaluate results.

What are the three approaches to influencer marketing? ›

One useful method for the classification of different influencer marketing strategies is by dividing them into three groups. These 3 types of influencer marketing measures are divided based on their timeframe: short, medium, and long-term.

What are the top three qualities required to succeed in influencer marketing? ›

Here are 4 important qualities influencer marketers must possess:
  • Influencer Marketer Quality 1: Professionalism. Professionalism is certainly an important quality for any industry. ...
  • Influencer Marketer Quality 2: Communication. ...
  • Quality 3: Flexibility.

What is the most important KPI for influencer marketing? ›

Social Engagement

Engagement is one of the most important KPIs to track in order to determine the performance of your influencer marketing campaign. On Instagram, engagement is measured by the number of likes and comments on your campaign post or story/video views.

What is KPI for an influencer? ›

Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) allows influencers to gain an in-depth understanding of their target audience and whether their content is successfully promoting their brand on social media.

What are the three tiers of influencers? ›

Mega-influencers with more than a million followers (think celebrities) Macro-influencers with 500K to 1 million followers. Mid-tier influencers with 50K to 500K followers. Micro-influencers with 10K to 50K followers.

How do I teach affiliate marketing like a pro? ›

Follow these seven simple steps:
  1. Step 1: Choose your niche. Your niche is the category you want to talk about and promote. ...
  2. Step 2: Decide on a content platform. You can do affiliate marketing on any platform. ...
  3. Step 3: Find affiliate programs to join. ...
  4. Step 4: Create great content. ...
  5. Step 5: Drive traffic to your affiliate site.
Dec 12, 2022

Which social media is best for affiliate marketing? ›

Channels like Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest are perfect for affiliate website, Etsy marketing, eBay, or Shopify marketing strategies. Create quality listings and product displays and encourage clicks on your posts and affiliate links with enticing content – generating commissions in return.

How many followers do you need for affiliate links? ›

How many followers do you need for affiliate marketing? There is no specific ideal number of followers for affiliate marketing, however, a good number of 5,000 to 15,000 followers is enough to become an affiliate marketer. Also, your engagement rate should be at least 100 likes per post.

How much do Instagram affiliate marketers make? ›

Using affiliate links on IG can earn in the region of $5,000 per month. While it may seem that Kardashian-style mega influencers rule the platform, more brands are looking to partner with niche creators rather than macro-influencers. This points to a trend that benefits affiliate marketers: people trust people.

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