Is affiliate marketing worth it for tradespeople?

What is affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing involves using a third party to promote your products or services.

Depending on which industry you work in, you’ll want to look for affiliates that are well-known and respected in that specific industry.

For example, if you are a painter and decorator, it could be good to work with an online influencer to help promote your services. That could be through their blog, website, or social media channels. Especially if they have a large following.

How does affiliate marketing work for tradespeople?

As a trade business interested in affiliate marketing, you’ll want to know what sort of commissions and fees you’ll need to pay. It will help you budget accordingly.

Some of the most common models for affiliate marketing include:

• Pay per sale – affiliates are paid a fee whenever a product or service is sold because of their advertising
• Pay per action – affiliates are paid when a customer carries out a pre-agreed action eg. completing a contact form or signing up for a newsletter
• Pay per lead – affiliates are paid when they generate a potential lead
• Pay per click – affiliates are paid when a user clicks on a specific online link

Affiliate marketing comes in all shapes and sizes. There is often a degree of overlap with referral schemes, as both can help you get new business.

How to get started with affiliate marketing

When you’re starting up affiliate marketing for the first time, you’ll want to plan carefully to ensure that greatest likelihood of success.

Here are some steps you may want to consider implementing for your trade business affiliate marketing plan.

1. Set your goals

Before you contact any affiliate marketers, you need to know your expectations. As with all forms of advertising for your business, you’ll need to consider the following:

• What do you want to get out of affiliate marketing for your trade business?
• What type of customers do you want to attract?
• How many leads do you need?
• How much profit do you expect to make?

By setting targets with clear and measurable goals, you’ll be in a better position to track the success of your affiliate marketing campaign.

2. Choose a commission structure

As mentioned above, there are different ways that commission is charged in the world of affiliate marketing.

Whether you want to use pay per lead, pay per sale or a different method will depend on your goals that you will already have set out.

3. Find an affiliate network

When looking for an affiliate network to choose, you need to do some research. A good place to start is by looking at what other tradespeople in your area are already doing.

Many affiliate networks specialise in certain areas. Once you’ve found an affiliate network for decorating, plumbing, electrics, gardening etc. you can approach them to find out more.

Always find out their fees before you sign up to a package. It’s also a good idea to look for customer reviews to ensure that you’re working with a reputable marketer.

4. Ensure that advertising standards are met

Finally, you’ll need to ensure that your affiliate marketing strategy meets advertising standards.

If an affiliate marketer promotes your products or services online, they must make it clear that they are being paid to do this.

This is not only their responsibility but also yours as the brand they are promoting. The Advertising Standards Authority is the organisation in charge of this, and their website has more detailed information about the regulations.

Is affiliate marketing worth it?

The simple answer to this question is yes. Affiliate marketing can be a powerful tool to help grow your trade business.

Some benefits of carrying out affiliate marketing include:

Reduced costs

Affiliate marketing can be more cost-effective than other forms of traditional and digital marketing.

This is because you only pay a charge to an affiliate when they achieve a pre-agreed metric such as finding a lead or securing a sale.

Therefore, you don’t need to spend any money setting up a marketing campaign before you see any real results.

Reach more customers

As mentioned above, when you associate your trade business with a well-known blogger or social media influencer within your sector, you’ll instantly reach a larger audience.

This can equate directly to winning more trade jobs and wider exposure for your business.

Excellent return on investment

You can also enjoy a better profit margin with affiliate marketing compared to other marketing methods.

Using a performance-based model means that potentially you only pay when an affiliate generates a new customer.

This is particularly beneficial if you are just trying out some marketing on a relatively new trade business.

Increased visibility on social media

If you already have a social media profile on sites such as Facebook and Instagram, you’ll probably have seen how beneficial it can be for connecting with existing and potential customers.

When you align yourself with a respected online influencer within your specific trade, you’ll soon seen your social media engagement skyrocket.

Using affiliate marketing to grow your trade business

As you can see, affiliate marketing can be a useful and effective way to market your trade business. Like all marketing strategies, the more your campaigns are aligned the better your chance of success.

When you contact an affiliate marketer, make sure that you tell them you’re a Checkatrade approved trader.

This way, they can use this information to promote your products and services and build trust with your customers.

With all of our tradespeople being checked and vetted, being a Checkatrade member shows affiliates and potential customers that you work to a high standard.

If you’re not already Checkatrade approved, then start the checks today. Once you’re fully vetted and approved, it’s time to consider expanding your trade business marketing.