Affiliate marketing platforms are useful in the way they make it easy for your company to promote your brand outside of any existing audience. By relying on affiliates, you can readily receive trustworthy individuals who promote your company to their own viewers, spreading the word of what you do, who you are, and what you have to offer. While helpful, is there more to using affiliate tracking software and an affiliate strategy than its basic marketing purposes?
The simple answer is yes, there is! If you’re wondering how, consider the promotion value of affiliate marketing strategies: You’re utilizing the validation of a trusted voice to get the name of your brand out there. So, why not just use that promotional avenue to advocate for social causes?
During the time of COVID-19, some affiliate marketing platforms have been utilized by brands to help the economically disenfranchised and affected. Brands have worked to either establish themselves as a resource for people in a time of need or they have simply become a facilitator of knowledge, spreading awareness for how people can work to stay healthy and safe.
Yet you don’t need a pandemic to turn your brand into a social icon; you can take initiative to provide support for social issues that align with your company’s brand ethos. Think of it as putting your money where your mouth is — if you want to present yourself to your audience in a specific light, work to transform your brand into that persona.
What are the ways your affiliate marketing platform can be used to promote social issues that, in your opinion, deserve attention? There are many different ways to do so, but here are a few noteworthy ones.
Creating Fundraisers Promoted by Affiliates
The social causes you choose to support, as a business, come down to your brand ethos, political ideology, and more. Some groups that other companies support may not be the right one for you. But there is a benefit to showing your social support: It shows your existing and intended audience what you care about. For instance, when you speak about promoting internal diversity and equity, you put in the work — outside the office — to support these goals, becoming involved with organizations that seek to lift up systematically disenfranchised people.
Due to ongoing issues within the United States and around the world, popular organizations that have received brand focus include LGBTQ+ organizations and collectives that seek to dismantle systemic racism. These involve organizations like the Black Lives Matter movement and the National Center for Transgender Equality.
So, how can you support these? Start a fundraising campaign. Promote it through your affiliates, having them share it with their audience. Let these people know why you’re supporting these organizations and how you’re working to help. In some cases, you can make offers, through affiliates, such as stating to match any donations submitted by that audience in support of these organizations.
Donating Proceeds from Purchases Made with Affiliate Links
An even simpler method of support can come through the form of purchases. It’s likely you’ve seen a marketing campaign about this on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook since protests concerning police brutality began back in late May and early June: A company states that some (or all) proceeds from a purchase made of a particular product or within a certain time frame will be donated to an organization of their choice — say, Black Lives Matter, in the case of the mentioned protests.
You can provide your affiliate with an affiliate link and copywriting that dictates how your donation will work, thus incentivizing their audience to support a good cause. And it doesn’t always have to rely on an ongoing demonstration or blatant societal issue.
For instance, if you’re an outdoor retailer and you want to promote environmental conservation, you can regularly develop donation periods when a percentage of proceeds are given to organizations like the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, or the National Parks Conservation Association.
The methods you choose for social promotion, as well as the organizations you support, are up to you to decide. But, whatever you choose to do, you can rest assured that you’re using your platform to assist organizations that are always in need, trying to make the world around them a better place.
