Calling all affiliate marketers

[Zach Draper]

Hi all-some advice needed.

Myself and a friend are looking to start a business selling high end marble products. He is a stone mason and has picked up some of this type of work through his everyday business so in terms of design, logistics & installation we think we've got that process covered (touch wood).

We plan to invest in a decent website and social media management but one idea we both like is affiliates. Would/could it work in this marketplace?

Any opinions would be much appreciated.

 

[ethical PR]

Is this B2B or B2C.

Is it a sector where sales are normally made in this way?

A decent website and social media, is rarely, if ever enough to generate sales. You need ways of driving sales. How will you do this? (please don't say affiliates) you need an advertising and marketing strategy with associated content and budget.

 

[UKSBD]

Hi all-some advice needed.

Myself and a friend are looking to start a business selling high end marble products. He is a stone mason and has picked up some of this type of work through his everyday business so in terms of design, logistics & installation we think we've got that process covered (touch wood).

We plan to invest in a decent website and social media management but one idea we both like is affiliates. Would/could it work in this marketplace?

Any opinions would be much appreciated.

Have you got anything for affiliates to work with?
Ie. quality products, quality images, product descriptions, margins, that make it worth an affiliates time, ways for affiliates to track, etc.

 

[Zach Draper]

Thanks guys-
ethical PR-B2C primarily. I don't think it is at present but I think it could work, was just keen to get other opinions. As well as your standard internet affiliates we were considering doing a call out to interior designers/architects etc. and seeing if they would suggest our products in return for a commission.
As for marketing- aside from the standard PPC we were looking at doing publications in high end magazines and papers in more affluent areas. We've also spoken to a few recruitment businesses who work with self employed sales reps and think that could be a good avenue to go down.

UK SBD- we are still in the very early stages of setting anything up so not yet, will make sure we will have that all in place before we considered this route.

 

[billmccallum1957]

Are you manufacturing or re-selling?

If you're manufacturing then distributors rather than affiliates.

 

[Zach Draper]

Re-selling Bill- thanks though

 

[ChrisRM]

Personally, this feels more of a local marketing type product/service then one that requires internet affiliates.

Maybe local bloggers and 'influencers' may be more appropriate then general internet affiliates. Someone seeing the general affiliates work on the other side of the country won't instruct you. But someone seeing a local interior design blogger/youtuber with the product is probably going to be more inclined to buy.

Referrals (with a commission) through local interior design companies seems a good tactic.

How would a customer discover the product?

 

[Zach Draper]

Thanks Chris- yes I think social influencers/bloggers is probably a better idea than internet affiliates. Just need to go out and find them! In answer to your question-I think that's still what we are trying to work out to be honest. The market is obviously quite bespoke, it's not something you'd see in IKEA and impulse buy. I suppose we just need to make sure we are targeting the right demographic and working out where they may look for this type of product as well as working with those that are being proactive in buying this type of furniture i.e. interior designers.

 

[Josette]

Hi Zach, actually I could see it working. At the end of the day, whether selling through your own site or someone else's, it's going to need good content. Yes, bloggers, but there's no reason why those bloggers can't also be affiliates.

If I were your affiliate I would focus on writing content, from an interior design perspective, with the relevant links to your site. And, if I had an interest in interior design, finding an affiliate programme like yours might be just the thing I was looking for to enable me to write about something I love, and potentially earn additional income.

Also, was watching something on YouTube the other week about the history of content marketing. Sorry, can't remember the name of it.. but will look it up again. There is a pool supplier in the US that was struggling. They decided to make their site a destination for anyone looking for any information about pools. They focused on providing great content about all things 'pools'. The result was that their sales increased as a result of people coming to the site for the quality information they were providing. It's important to recognise the distinction... people came to the site for the information, and went away with a pool. The site was there to help, not sell. And ended up doing both. --- That was just a nod to the quality of information you should consider providing on your own site, and look out for potential affiliates who will also provide quality content. No dross.

Yes, there's all the relevant supporting documentation you need to get together for your affiliates, but that shouldn't be that difficult. There are affiliate programmes for all types of products, why not bespoke marble?

As long as you can ship and install the product wherever the customers are, why would this not work? And if it hasn't been done in this sector before well.... be the first!

Last point, there's also no reason why this should cost a fortune. Get your site professionally built on a CMS like Joomla! Use the professional version of the ecommerce component, Hikashop (about 200 euro I think), which has a built in affiliate programme feature. Make sure your supporting material for your affiliates is good. And try it.

 

[OldWelshGuy]

Agree with the above, I work with a few companies on an introdction basis where I get a % of the eventual sale value.

The only trick is knowing how to get the right people involved and setting a process in place, e.g. I blew out a company because they didn't follow up on 2 of my leads, (as they weren't paying for them they didn't value them well enough). I then moved on to work with their main competitor, who I have to say have been great.

I guess what I am trying to say is, if you bring people in make sure you value them, otherwise you will lose them, or worse still, your competitors may get them.

 

[webgeek]

Punt your social media plan and spend your money on organic SEO and email marketing. Your wallet will thank me later

A good website with tons of big juicy photos is essential for this kind of thing. No one buys high end marble work sight unseen.

 

[Cynic]

Just get in touch with high end desgners ...... and real estate brokers

This isn't really a business that warrants social media unless you create
a viral campaign

 

[jackdorsey]

Yes, you can use google keyword research tool to investigate your market. That is google keyword planner. I think any product has its own market. good luck