How to Use Social Media in Your Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a great way to make a living. There are hundreds of thousands of people who are able to support themselves while working from home on the internet. Many have developed successful strategies for setting up websites that offer products that not only sell well but offer generous commissions. Many successful marketers have discovered that using social media has added new profits to their businesses. How do they use social media in their affiliate marketing including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest?

To understand better, you must appreciate that social media has taken the world of affiliate marketing by storm because of the viral way that it spreads messages, videos and photos out over the web. It is amazing to watch a video on YouTube only to discover that you are just one of over a million people who have viewed it! How can this viral effect be leveraged into an affiliate marketing business?

The viral effect of social media can best be understood if you know the kind of information that is frequently passed on over the internet. For instance if you watch a video of a professor explaining why gasoline is more efficient, you wouldn’t pass it on to your friends or attach a note to it because the subject and presentation are boring. An example of affiliate marketing with video that can go viral is Global Domains International. Try it out and see for yourself how you can profit promoting it.

On the other hand, if you were sent a video of a cute little puppy that was trying to climb over the side of his playpen. Let's say for example it's a little basset hound and he keeps tripping on his long ears and falling back down only to persistently get up and try again. Maybe in the background the theme from “Rocky” is playing and as it builds to a crescendo the music fits perfectly with each new effort of the determined little pup. You will definitely send the video to your friends and so will your friends send out the video to their friends. This is viral nature of the video.

Now if you could develop a video that is as entertaining and as emotional as a little puppy trying to climb out of his playpen, then your video could become a viral sensation, too. And if you could attach your link at the end of the video, then it will send traffic to your site. YouTube is just one of the social media sites that successful affiliate marketers have tapped into. There are also gigantic sites like Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest that offer similar opportunities to send out messages that will go viral. It just takes some careful thought and planning.

However, you cannot spam these sites or sell on them. You need to use social media sites as they were intended. If you can create fun and entertaining messages to post, then these social sites will serve your business well. Spamming them will only turn people off and may even get you banned. If you are an affiliate marketer not yet using these wonderful social sites, then it is time you get started. They will help you tremendously in getting traffic to your websites.