Everyone loves a good contest & affiliate marketers are no different.
In fact, they may be even MORE competitive than most.
Affiliate Marketers like to be challenged.
Especially the good ones.
And so, inspiring some friendly competition among your affiliates can be an excellent way to generate interest to your product launch, boost sales, build strong relationships and have a lot of fun in the process.
There are a lot of reasons that live affiliate contests work.
They’re great for inspiring your affiliates to work harder to promote your product, get creative with their marketing, come up with excellent bonuses and dig deep into their affiliate marketing arsenal.
But, why?
Why do live affiliate contests work so well?
- They are inspiring. Regardless of where one finds themselves on an affiliate contest leaderboard, the fact that you’re there at all is pretty awesome.
If you’re the leader of the pack, it’s something to be proud of! But, you know you’ve got to keep plugging away in order to stay in the lead.
If you’re not in the top 10, you’re still celebrating, but you know that you’ve gotta kick it up a notch and work even harder if you want to overtake those affiliates holding the top positions.
OR, maybe you’re just stoked to be on the leaderboard at all!
The simple fact that you’re THERE can be enough to light a fire to double up your effort and see just how far you can go!
Heck, even if you don’t make it to the leaderboard, just watching the competition can inspire someone to work harder, seeing the success of others. - People love recognition. Being recognized for all the hard work you put in to achieve your goals is a great feeling.
Even Dale Carnegie, in his renowned book, How To Win Friends And Influence People, stated that “A person’s name is, to that person, the sweetest and most important sight in the world.”.
Seeing your name on a live affiliate contest leaderboard and receiving that recognition can provide a huge boost of confidence, inspiring you to keep going, do more, and accomplish more. - They foster competition. Seriously. No one likes to lose. Why do you think that they came up with the idea of ‘participation trophies’?
Live affiliate contests don’t work that way, though.
And no matter how inspiring it can be to see others making their way up the ranks on a leaderboard, the fact is – we want to be there ourselves!
If we’re already on it, we want to place higher. We want the top prize. We want it all!
It’s just human nature.
People are competitive.
And you can use this to your advantage during your next product launch!
Now you know why live affiliate contests work, it’s important to know the best practices of holding one.
You want to be sure that your affiliate contest is one that will attract the most marketers possible.
When setting up your live affiliate contest, keep these best practices in mind:
- Have Real Prizes – Nobody wants to put a ton of effort selling a product for an affiliate contest only to find out that the prizes listed were not actually real prizes.
If you promise a particular prize, make sure you are going to deliver.
Small print disclaiming that your prizes are ‘fake’ will not cut it. In fact, if you participate in this type of deception, even jokingly, you will most likely find that your reputation is ruined.
Once that happens, you will have a very hard time getting affiliates to promote your products again. - Think outside the box – While everyone loves cash prizes, sometimes getting something a little different can be refreshing.
Consider offering prizes centered around a theme, or ones that pertain to your particular niche.
For example, JVZoo sent our 2017 Top Sellers and Affiliate Honorees personalized trophies to show our appreciation for all their hard work and dedication.
- Remember the little guy. Reaching the top of the leaderboards can be easier for affiliate marketers who have been around for a while, have large email lists and a lot of popularity.
But, it is important to remember the fresh, new, budding affiliates who may not have the ability to hit those high sales numbers yet.
Think about ways you can get them involved, as well. - Remember to include any terms and conditions you have in regards to participating in the contest.
For example, if you have a limit on the number of people who can participate in a team, make sure you make that information available.
When all your rules are clear to the participants, you will spend less time answering questions and your affiliates will have more time to promote.
So, how do you implement a live affiliate contest in order to crush your next product launch?
JVZoo Sellers have the ability to create affiliate contests and affiliate teams within the JVZoo platform itself!
The video below will walk you through setting up Affiliate Contests and Affiliate Teams for your contests.
Additionally, you can take advantage of our Leaderboard Widget so you don’t have to continuously update your leaderboard manually.
To view the Leaderboard Widget, click on “Actions” for the product you have set up an Affiliate Contest and click View Affiliate Contest.
You will see the leaderboard at the bottom of the page. To get the widget, click on “Get Widget”, copy the code and paste it into your desired location. You can share this information on unlimited locations.
And, don’t be afraid to share your leaderboard updates everywhere!
Take a screenshot and share on social media, on your blog, in your emails.
You never know who you might inspire to join in on the fun!
Using live affiliate contests during a product launch can greatly increase sales from your affiliates.
Not only that but with a well-executed affiliate contest that uses the tips provided above, you could generate a ton of interest in future launches as well.
Want to learn more about launching a product on JVZoo? Join the JVZoo Academy HERE, and check out these premium sellers on JVZoo:
