As an affiliate, you should always chase the next thing and never stay complacent for too long, as things in the industry tend to change fast, and only the ones who adapt end up making the big paycheck at the end of the day.
This means that affiliates need to try new things from time to time. New traffic sources, networks, ad types, and even niches are something that you should be testing now and then.
Niches are probably the hardest thing to change often as once you are familiar with one and master it, your audience will know you for it, and you will know exactly what your customers want and need and how to get it to them. But, if you want to keep on growing and expanding, this is something you have to do sooner or later.
Entering a new niche is not easy at all, so we decided to help you out a bit and share some of the best tactics when entering a new niche!
1. Conduct Thorough Market Research
Researching is something you should always be doing, and it's especially important when you want to enter a new niche. You need to know if there is demand for that niche, what the competition is doing if you even have a chance to compete with them, and how to best approach your new niche.
- Trends and Demand
Look for seasonal trends, rising topics, and evergreen content. You can use free tools like Google Keyword Planner or Trends, to find what is currently popular and research it deeper. Some niches are very seasonal, so keep that in mind before committing to it!
- Competitor Analysis
Look at the top players in the niche. Analyze their strategies, content types, traffic sources, and engagement levels. Identify gaps you can fill or areas where you can outperform them. If you have good spy tools available, check what they use as ads, and analyze how you could improve upon those ads.
This can help you beat them right away without wasting thousands of dollars on testing and researching audiences.
- Audience Insights
Understand the demographics, interests, and pain points of your target audience. Use tools like Facebook Audience Insights, surveys, and forums to gather detailed information.
Also, check if your current audience has any overlap with this one. If yes, that might be a great way to know what your audience might like and respond well to.
Example: If you're entering the health and wellness niche, identify trending topics like "intermittent fasting," "mental health awareness," or "plant-based diets." Study popular blogs and influencers to see what content resonates most.
2. Identify High-Quality Affiliate Programs
Not all affiliate programs are created equal. Some programs are catered to a specific type of affiliate that you might not be, so joining them could be a waste of both your time and money. When deciding on programs look for ones that offer:
- Competitive Commissions
Ensure the commission rates are worth your effort. Compare different programs to find the most lucrative options. Check also for thresholds and how often they give payouts as some programs push it to an extreme.
- Reliable Payouts
Check the payment frequency and methods. Read reviews or join affiliate marketing forums to learn about other marketers' experiences. Make sure you don't sign up for something that seems too good to be true, and then be right about it.
- Good Support and Resources
Programs that provide marketing materials, tracking tools, and dedicated support can make your job easier. Look for programs that offer promotional assets like banners, email templates, and product images.
Example: For the tech niche, consider affiliate programs like Amazon Associates, which offers a wide range of tech products, or another program that offers excellent support and competitive commissions. Do your research before committing as this will have a big influence on your results.
3. Create Niche-Specific Content
Content is the thing that makes or breaks your marketing efforts. If you want to make sure that you get the most out of your niches, make sure to have content that is specific to the niche you want to advertise to and ensure you have content that fits in with the needs of the audience.
Check out your competition and see how they approach their content and ads and copy and improve their style to get the most out of your content.
- Video Content
Nowadays video is the undisputed king of content. Platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube are THE places to advertise through organic content and paid ads. Make sure you have a quality stream of videos always ready for your audience so they have something to engage with!
- Blog Posts
Even though blogs are not as important as they used to be, they still play a big part in the affiliate game. Write informative and engaging articles that address common questions and problems within the niche. Use SEO best practices to ensure your content ranks well on search engines.
- Product Reviews
Provide honest and detailed reviews of products related to your niche. Include pros and cons, user experiences, and comparisons with similar products. Try making your reviews honest and don't try too hard to promote your products as the audience will notice and they won't be happy about it.
- How-To Guides and Tutorials
Create valuable guides that help your audience use the products effectively. Incorporate step-by-step instructions, visuals, and video content where possible.
4. Build a Strong Online Presence
Your online presence is the most important thing if you want to grow in a new niche. Make sure you interact with your audience, grow through quality posts and interesting ads, and nurture the new audience you have to get the most out of it.
- Social Media
YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok are the best social media platforms for reaching a broad audience in 2024. Currently, these platforms are the places to be if you want to grow your online presence and reach new people. Keep in mind that these platforms are focused on short forearm videos, and if you aren't good at making these, then you are likely to not see a lot of success.
- Website and Blog
Develop a professional-looking website with a blog to share your content. Use a clean design, easy navigation, and mobile responsiveness. Populate the page with quality content that is both interesting and engaging. You can use the help of ChatGPT with some special prompts to make the most out of it. You can even learn a bit more about this in one of our previous blog posts!
- Email Marketing
Build an email list to keep your audience engaged and informed about new content and promotions. Offer incentives like free eBooks, exclusive tips, or discounts to encourage sign-ups. You can also use mailing tools to automate at least part of your work.
Example: If you're entering the beauty niche, maintain an active Instagram account with beauty tips, tutorials, and product reviews. Create YouTube videos showing makeup tutorials or skincare routines. Use Pinterest to share beauty infographics and drive traffic to your blog. You can do this and much more to ensure you get the most out of your online efforts.
5. Network with Industry Influencers
Finding people within your niche or in niches closely related to yours is a great way to team up and grow your audiences together. Usually, people are scared of going into partnerships in the affiliate industry, but this is one of the best ways to grow and improve your conversions at a low cost. Just find the right people, and things will sort out themselves!
- Collaborations
Partner with influencers for guest posts, interviews, or joint promotions. Choose influencers whose audience aligns with your target market. You can find some of these people and meet them in real life at affiliate conferences, forums, or events. Don’t be afraid to connect with people and work together with them.
Example: In the travel niche, collaborate with travel bloggers and influencers for co-authored blog posts, Instagram takeovers, or joint giveaways.
Conclusion
Entering a new niche is one of the most difficult things to do in the industry. If you want to do it properly, you need to do a lot of prep work, research, and spend time and money to get the right audience with the right creatives.
With the right approach, you can ensure that you have at least some success in a new niche, and with enough time, and optimization, you can be sure that you will have success with your marketing efforts.
How did you approach entering new niches? What were the results of it? Share your experience with us in the comments below!
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