Affiliate Marketing Channels: What are the Best Alternatives to GAFA (the Big Four)?

Think you know the best affiliate marketing channels for your ads and links?

If you answered Facebook or Google, it might be time to think again.

The average conversion rate for affiliate marketing campaigns is somewhere between 0.5% to 1%.

Grabbing viewer attention is tough, and getting your affiliate ads noticed among the crowd is even harder.

While big platforms have their merits, you may be able to get higher engagement and conversion rates on less crowded platforms and channels. 

In recent years, there has been an explosion of opportunities for affiliate marketers to expand their reach. Here are some of the best affiliate marketing channels (besides the obvious GAFA) to promote your campaigns and reach potential buyers you might otherwise miss.

1. SMS Marketing

Let’s start with a bit of old-school technology that still works like a dream if you know what you’re doing. 

The humble Short Message Service (SMS) or text message gets open rates as high as 98%, which means you maximize your exposure whenever you send out a message.

Another perk of SMS is its simplicity. You don’t need fancy design or lengthy copy. Short, punchy texts are enough, maybe throwing in an emoji or two for good measure. 

With more than 5 billion mobile phone users worldwide, SMS reaches people directly, whether they have a smartphone or not. People check their phones constantly, which means text messages are almost always opened and read.

The downside of SMS marketing is that people protect their phone numbers with their lives. No one wants their phone pinging all day with unwanted messages, especially with so many scams and spam flying around. People are way more wary about clicking links that land in their message boxes these days.

The way around this is to be transparent. Be clear about what people are signing up for when they give you their number. For example, if they sign up for weekly deals, don’t start sending out daily messages. Remember to offer real value, like exclusive discounts or early access to products.

Here are a few tips to make sure your SMS messages get read and clicked.

• Start strong: Grab attention with a compelling offer or curiosity-driven question. You’ve got limited space, so make those first few words count.
• Keep it short and sweet: SMS isn’t the place for lengthy text. Aim for quick, to-the-point messages. 160 characters or less does the trick.
• Personalize when possible: Use the recipient’s name if you can and tailor the message to their interests or past behaviors. 
• Timing is everything: Avoid early mornings or late nights. Think about when your audience might be most receptive to your message.
• Clear CTA (Call-to-Action): Tell recipients exactly what you want them to do, such as clicking your affiliate link or visiting your blog.
• Offer real value: Offer something valuable like an exclusive discount, important update, or quick tip.
• Test and learn: Always test different messages to see which ones work best. Use different links in each message to see which gets clicked the most.
• Respect privacy: Comply with data protection regulations and respect user privacy. Make opting out as easy as opting in.

2. Email Marketing

The number of email users worldwide topped 4.3 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach more than 4.8 billion by 2027.

When you consider that 99% of email users check their inbox every day and the average open rate is around 40%, it becomes clear that email marketing is still a powerful way to reach people.

For affiliate marketers, one of the advantages of email is the ability to segment lists and send targeted, relevant, and personalized offers to different audiences. Personalized email subject lines have been shown to double open rates.

Many email marketing best practices are the same as SMS marketing, such as choosing your sending times carefully, personalizing your message, and testing and refining. Below, you’ll find some specific tips for email marketing. 

• Segment your audience: Tailor your emails based on user behavior, interests, psychographics, and demographics. Work out what kind of messaging will resonate best with each specific segment.
• Use subject lines that spark curiosity: For good open rates, your subject line must promise the reader something. Make it catchy, clear, and concise. Personalize your subject line if possible.
• Optimize for mobile: An estimated 50 to 60% of emails are opened on mobile devices, so ensure your emails look good and function well on smartphones and tablets.
• Run A/B tests: Test different elements of your emails – from the subject lines to the design and CTAs. 

3. Social Media Platforms (besides Facebook)

While Facebook may be the king of social media, there are other platforms with millions or even billions of users.

For instance, TikTok has just over one billion monthly active users, as of May 2024. Reddit is another good marketing channel with more than 73 million daily active users. LinkedIn has grown massively in recent years too, with more than 1 billion members globally.

In general, these four steps will help you get more success on social media platforms besides Facebook and Instagram. 

1. Understand the platform culture: Each platform has a unique culture and unwritten rules. For TikTok, short fun videos work best, while Reddit and LinkedIn value genuinely useful contributions.
2. Create platform-specific content: What works on Facebook or Instagram won’t necessarily work on TikTok or Reddit. Tailor your content to fit the platform’s style and audience preferences.
3. Engage authentically: Hard selling is frowned upon, especially on Reddit and LinkedIn. Provide value and become a part of the community before promoting anything.
4. Use influencers and thought leaders: Collaborate with platform influencers who can authentically introduce your affiliate products to their followers.

Social media campaign examples for affiliate marketing

• TikTok: Launch a challenge or a hashtag campaign that encourages users to create content around your product. For example, a beauty brand might start a #MakeupChallenge that showcases their products and offers affiliate links to buy them.
• Reddit: Participate in relevant subreddits and offer exclusive promotions or links to informative content that includes affiliate links. For instance, if you’re promoting tech gadgets, join some tech subreddits and point people toward well-researched blog posts, reviews, or product pages that contain your affiliate links.
• LinkedIn: LinkedIn is a busy professional network. If you want people to engage with your content there, you’d better offer something valuable. For instance, if you’re in the business coaching niche, you could promote and host a series of webinars that provide valuable insights. Include soft pitches of your affiliate products in the webinar slides and promotional copy.

4. SEO

If you want to avoid constantly dipping into your wallet for ad spend – SEO is your friend. After all, more than 53% of all web traffic comes from organic search.

Another startling fact is that there are more than 2.4 million searches every minute and as many as 20% of those results are new. In other words, almost half a million search terms each minute are unique and have never been searched before! 

If you’re a clever affiliate marketer, you can capitalize on this by identifying new search terms related to your niche and make sure your content ranks for them.

For example, let’s say you do affiliate marketing for eco-friendly products. It’s an industry that is developing fast and things are constantly changing. New words, products, and themes pop up all the time. Here are a few ways you can take advantage of that.

• Stay updated with industry trends: Regularly follow sustainability blogs, forums, and news sites to catch wind of emerging trends and products. Tools like Google Trends help you spot what’s gaining traction.
• Identify new search terms: Perhaps there is a sudden spike in searches for “biodegradable glitter” around festival seasons. If it’s a relatively new term, it might not be very competitive yet. 
• Create targeted content: Quickly put together a guide on what biodegradable glitter is, how it compares to normal glitter, and why it matters. Include reviews of different brands and use affiliate links for each.
• Optimize for SEO: Make sure your article includes the term “biodegradable glitter” in the title, meta description, and throughout the content in a natural way. Also, optimize for related keywords that potential buyers might be searching for.
• Monitor and adapt: Use SEO tools to track how well your content ranks for these new terms and make adjustments as needed. If the term gains popularity, stay ahead by updating the content regularly to keep it relevant.

5. Native Ads

Let’s face it, display advertising isn’t as effective as it used to be. More and more people demonstrate banner blindness. They’ve trained their brain to ignore online ads that disrupt and annoy them.

Native advertising gets around the problem of ad fatigue. Native ads are designed to fit the look and feel of the web page they appear on, so they don’t stand out like a sore thumb, or intrude on the natural browsing experience of the customer. People tend to relate to native ads in the same way as editorial content and trust native ads more than social media ads.

On the open web, native ads have been shown to be 53% more effective than display ads.

For example, if you’re an affiliate promoting headphones, you could create a native ad targeting visitors to a music-focused blog. The ad could link to an article titled “The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Best Headphones for Your Lifestyle” featuring in-depth reviews and personal stories from users, along with affiliate links to headphone products.

The key to getting native ads right is understanding your audience and creating content that draws them in, but also matches the tone and style of the platform your ad appears on to make it feel native.

With native ads, you need to focus on offering something useful or interesting rather than simply pushing a sale. Educational content, useful tips, or stories work well. 

6. Podcasts

Podcasts are a goldmine for affiliates if you play it right. The podcast format creates a sense of intimacy with the host, and leads to high levels of trust. When a podcaster endorses a product, it often feels like a friendly recommendation for the audience and fans. 

The only downside is that you can’t provide direct affiliate links, making it more difficult to track performance. You can get around this by providing a special coupon code for different podcasts that people enter on your website to get their exclusive product link. 

7. Video Advertising

Ninety percent of brands say video marketing offers good ROI. If you do it well, affiliate marketing for YouTube channel can ramp up thousands, or even millions, of views. This translates to lots of clicks on affiliate links that feature in the video descriptions.

Video is powerful when it directly connects with the audience. Show affiliate products in action, such as unboxings, tutorials, or reviews. This builds trust, which means people are more likely to buy through your links.

But make sure you’re genuinely enthusiastic about the products. Most people can spot a fake a mile off. Hook your viewers in the first few seconds, then keep the content dynamic to keep them watching. Use visuals, on-screen text, and humor to make it more interesting.

8. Coupon/Deal Websites

Finally, coupon and special deal sites like Rakuten are fantastic for affiliate marketers. People who visit these places are ready to buy and looking for the best possible deals. 

Choose promotional deals from these sites and earn a commission from any resulting sales. Here are a few best practices for using deal sites in affiliate marketing.

• Choose relevant offers: Align your deals with the interests of your target audience. For instance, if you’re promoting tech gadgets, look for tech-specific deal sites.
• Highlight exclusivity and urgency: Deals that offer something exclusive or are time-limited tend to perform better because they create a sense of urgency. Make sure your offers stand out by adding exclusive bonuses or time constraints.
• Optimize your listings: Use clear, compelling language in your deal descriptions. High-quality images and well-written titles can make a big difference in how attractive your deals appear.
• Track and analyze performance: Use tracking links to monitor which deals are performing best. 

Boost Affiliate Marketing Success with Diverse Channels

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Successful affiliate marketers look for as many options as they can beyond GAFA to generate revenue from their links.

Try out the alternative affiliate marketing channels listed above and see which ones work best for you. You might just find some that suit your style and get you the clicks and conversions you’re dreaming of.