Selling Solutions – Pain Point Paydays for Affiliates

For years, affiliate marketing has been taught through the same lens – sign up to popular platforms, find products that pay well in commissions, and create reviews touting their features and benefits.

Not once has the emphasis been put on the customer. Instead, it’s all about how much you can earn – and there’s definitely a place for that to be considered (as it should be). But the reality is, this focus is likely holding you back from maximizing your earnings in this business model.

With a profit-centered affiliate business, you’re missing out on the very thing that helps your conversions soar – the needs of the customer. Once you tap into that organically, it explodes your income because you’re now able to provide much-needed solutions rather than try to push consumers into making a purchase.

Pain points come in many different forms. Some are physical, as the name implies. But others are emotional and some are practical needs that have to be met in some way. You, as an informed and caring affiliate, can guide your audience to the solutions that will make their lives better.

11 Ways to Identify the Struggles of Your Prospective Customers

In order for this strategy to work well for you, you have to become adept at uncovering the pain points of your target audience. There are different ways to do this, and if you limit yourself to just one, like keywords, you’ll be lacking in a well-rounded approach that expands your profit potential.

Let’s go over the first, and most obvious one mentioned already –  keywords. You can use tools to look for keywords that indicate a problem, such as a lack of knowledge about what product will work for their problem, with a keyword phrase starting with: how to.

For example, if someone is looking for how to lose weight fast, you have stumbled upon a pain point and specific type of solution they’re seeking. If they want to know how to get rid of wrinkles, you’ll know to present a solution for that type of anti-aging problem.

Forums are the second method for uncovering pain points. You can go to any niche forum and look only at thread titles and find a whole host of ideas for a problem-solution product review.

These might be direct questions, such as: “Which water purifying system is best for my house?” Or it could be someone asking “How can I grow a garden in a small space?” You’ll either be able to easily find the right solution (as is the case of the first question), or you can formulate some options and create a review that covers all of the possible solutions available to them.

Third on our list of ways to spot the needs of your audience is simple social listening skills. When you’re on social media platforms, pay attention to the engagement being doled out on other peoples’ content about your niche topic and see what struggles they’re having so you can offer up the right solutions.

Look for patterns that evolve and the volume of demand so that you address more of what’s needed.

The fourth option for finding pain points is to create a survey or poll for your niche audience.

This can be done through your list, on social media, or elsewhere and you can ask your audience directly what they find more pressing. What they feel as a non-expert may not be what you assumed as someone who has ample knowledge and experience.

Fifth in our list for pain point identification is to conduct a competitor analysis. Go over to the blogs and social media of your direct competitors and see what topics are not only resonating with their audience, but what they’re not covering, too.

The sixth way to find the needs of your niche audience is to look at customer reviews. If you’re an Amazon associate, for example, and you want to make money promoting an anti-aging cream, you might find people complaining that the creams are too greasy or heavy, so you’ll know to find one that’s light and fresh.

Seventh in our list is to listen to feedback from your readers. When you promote something, or teach something, they may send in emails or comment on your content in a way that shows they’re struggling and not getting the help that they need.

The eight way to unearth pain points is to use question and answer platforms like Quora or Reddit. Reddit tends to be more diverse in its content, but it’s still a place people go to ask questions and seek answers from others.

If you’re in the pet niche and you want to promote grooming supplies, you can look on Reddit and find things such as threads about the best nail clippers or calming agents for nail trimming sessions, and so on.

Ninth on our list is a method that’s relatively new to marketing – using artificial intelligence (AI) to ask for its analysis of pressing pain points in your niche. It can spot trends and consumer behavior that point to both current and future struggles, and you can even have it role play as your target audience.

The tenth method is to host livestream events. This might be on a social media platform or a webinar event, but you can open up the floor to questions by your attendees and make not of the problems they discuss with you.

And lastly, you might try immersing yourself in consumer and industry publications. These often have articles published where the publication has done the research about emerging trends based on problems people are facing, and it gives you a cutting edge approach to your affiliate product selections.

Build a List Where You Segment Subscribers’ Pain Points

Segmenting your list by their pain points is a smart move to allow you to tailor your recommendations so that the response is even better than when you cast a wide net and send out a broad email to those who may not be interested in what you are promoting.

Even with the same niche, you’ll have people who have unique needs and frustrations. Within the anti-aging niche, for example, you have people who are going to want skincare products, those who want brain health, and others mobility products.

Even within skin-care anti-aging, there will be 20-somethings wanting preventative products and those who are older and seeing age spots or fine lines and want to get rid of or reduce them.

You want to figure out how you can segment your list, using lead magnets that address a variety of problematic issues within your niche. Have multiple landing pages that you can send traffic to for each, individual segment to get them on your list.

Then, whenever you start seeing numbers grow on certain lists, you’ll be able to send surveys to those subscribers and test product recommendations out on them to see where their preferences lie.

The valuable, educational content you send out can be geared just to their problems. A 20-something isn’t going to be interested in reading your product review for getting rid of age spots because she doesn’t have any (yet).

But that group will be highly vested in sun protection and ways to ramp up nutrition to provide antioxidants that shield them on a cellular level from the aging process. Monitor the engagement you get with your emails and you’ll be able to fine-tune your approach so that everything you send is something they need or want to provide a solution to their obstacles.

Know How to Uncover Products That Serve as Targeted Solutions

For this strategy, you need to put your focus on commissions on the backburner until you first find solutions that make a great fit for your audience’s problems. That doesn’t mean you don’t consider your profits at all, but that they don’t come before the needs of the customer.

Your goal in product selection as an affiliate is to match the solutions with the pain points and potential to solve problems. You may need to dig into a little bit of research to make sure the product does what it claims.

You might have to research the brand or vendor to see what their reputation is for providing products that have value to the buyer. You’re going to put an effort into finding top quality products.

One way you can find the best product is by watching what competitors are promoting with great feedback. If people complain, you want to avoid those products – but if they’re grateful for the recommendation, add those to your list.

You can also look at product reviews but be careful when doing so. There are sellers on platforms like Amazon who use the same listing to sell different items, or who flood their reviews with fake feedback.

Instead of just promoting the first product you find that seems as if it will fit the mold for what your audience needs, work on discovering many options so that you can select the best one for your readers.

That means looking at tangible and digital solutions, looking across multiple affiliate platforms and seeing what each vendor or brand has to offer as a solution for their pain points.

So for instance, let’s say you’re in the dog grooming niche and many of your customers’ pain point is trying to keep their dog’s nails trimmed amid extreme anxiety the pet exhibits.

You might look on Amazon, Share-a-Sale and commission Junction for tangible product offers. These might include things like nail trimmers, dremels, nail trimming hammocks, nail trimming boards, and more.

But you also might look on other platforms for digital info products that teach proper dog grooming methods. These might be on platforms like ClickBank, Udemy, or even a direct affiliate program from a vendor.

Also think about different types of solutions your audience may want. For example, someone suffering from poverty who wants to make money online may not want to do affiliate marketing – they may want to do printables or PLR (private label rights) sales instead.

Someone who want to get their blood pressure under control may want an info product teaching organic solutions rather than buy a monitor to simply track the problem so they can get a prescription.

Tailor Your Content to Tap Into a Buyer’s Emotional and Practical Needs

When you have found the pain points of your audience and identify solutions that will help them, you’ll want to create content that not only presents the facts about a product to your readers, but also taps into their emotions.

Sometimes, the products they need is based on some sort of feeling they have, such as shame, desperation, etc. But other times, they are simply feeling frustrated because they don’t have a solution they need, which could be something as simple as a gadget for the kitchen that can save them time.

Either way, you want to highlight the struggles that they are facing so that they know you understand their current situation. Consumers are plagued with marketers trying to push products on them for a quick commission, so they are looking for people who are more genuine in their approach.

Not only do you want to express empathy for what they are going through, whether it’s something deep or simple, but you also want to use persuasive language that will hint at the improvements that are going to come from their purchase.

This means you’ll be using words like improve or transform. However you can describe the future they will be enjoying that differentiates between a before and after scenario in using the product, it’s going to help make them want the product even more.

For example, if you are promoting a weight loss supplement, you want to highlight the struggles they are feeling and not being able to eat a normal amount, and suffering shame and guilt, and talk about the physical discomfort they feel in their body before you talk about the contrast they are going to experience once they begin using the product and seeing results.

Whenever possible, you want to also use visual media formats to engage them on another level. Not only do they need to read and think about the benefits you are offering to them when they buy this product, but you want them to see it, which means seeing the emotionally distraught persona as well as the happy go lucky person they will be after they own the product.

It’s not always a picture of a person before and after that does the trick. Sometimes, it can be something statistical or showcasing a space that went from clutter to organized. It can even be an infographic or video that you use to pull in their visual sense.

Show how the product can usher in positive emotions and outcomes. You don’t want to simply state that things are going to be better, but talk about specifics. With the weight loss example, you can paint a picture for them that shows how life is going to improve once they shed the pounds.

Create comparison content that illustrates the differences between products. They may initially embrace your recommendation, but have some hesitation in whether they should choose the product you mentioned over another one.

You can use comparisons to highlight the different outcomes or features that can make a difference in their journey to achieve their goals. You also want to use a clear call to action that’s encouraging and offers relief to your readers.

For example, you might say something like, “Download the book now to begin transforming your body today!” Or, you might say, “Act now to find relief from knee pain in an instant!”

Split test emotional appeals to see what resonates best with your audience. Even if you have a list of people who are on the same journey, such as to lose weight for health reasons, they are still going to have different emotions that you can play to.

Some of them might feel guilty that they have let their health go because they are focused on their family and want to make improvements so they can be there for them. Others may be scared of suffering a worse health issue, so their fear is the emotion that gets them to take action.

Share Real Life Examples and Stories of Others in the Same Boat

Many times, affiliates will go into a niche that they already have a personal connection to. You may have it as a hobby, have the same health issue, or have experience where you want to reach out and help others achieve the same results you have.

Therefore, it makes sense for you to be able to share real life examples in your content that will help people relate to you and know that you understand their needs. This is especially prevalent in niches like online marketing and weight loss.

If someone has gone from broke to 6 figure earner, that’s the type of person online entrepreneurs want to learn from because they know what it feels like to be desperate to pay your bills and want to work hard to make money fast.

Likewise, if someone wants to lose weight, it’s more inspiring to learn from someone who has been in your shoes and lost weight themselves than to listen to someone who has never suffered from a weight loss problem or food addiction.

But you don’t always have your own stories that will help humanize your product reviews. Sometimes, you have to come up with a story that will paint a picture for your audience, like using an anecdote to clarify the emotional journey they are on.

You may be able to use someone else’s story if you have permission from them, or you can talk about it without naming names or specific details. You may even have certain customers or subscribers on your list who share their story with you, who don’t mind you sharing it with others as long as you maintain their anonymity.

Whenever you are using storytelling to show them that you understand what they are going through with their pain points, you want to start off by giving them an introduction that highlights the problems they are facing, whether they are financial, physical, or emotional.

Talk about the journey they may have been on and the missteps that could have been taking place before they found you. And then deliver the solution with a positive message on how they can finally get the relief or outcome that they have been seeking.

Basically, you want them to be able to see themselves in the story that you lay out for them, which includes not only what they are going through currently, but what they have been through and what they could have happened to them if they take your advice and purchase the product you recommend.

We talked about visuals previously, and this is a great place to include things like before and after pictures or screenshots that offer a proof of your own journey and evidence that you are not misleading them.

Motivate Buyers to Be Action Takers with Bonus Implementation Advice

Lastly, you want to motivate your buyers to take action and not only purchase the product that you recommend, but implement it or use the gadget or advice so that they aren’t putting off a positive outcome.

In order to do this, you can provide bonuses as guides where you not only have complementary information that supplements what is being sold to them, but takes them by the hand and walks them through the process and a step by step manner.

Sometimes, there will be info product courses that teach a lot about a process without going into the fine details buyers need to actually implement something. Even something as simple as a weight loss supplement can be an effective if the buyer doesn’t know how to properly pair that with a good nutrition plan.

If you’re promoting a digital info product, try to get a review copy or buy it and go through it to figure out what’s missing that your bonus could teach – because you want your people to have a full solution to their problems, and not just a temporary Band-Aid.

Even if it’s something like a kitchen gadget that can save them time and effort when preparing means, you can create a bonus that delivers more solutions for their problems, like quick and easy recipes or meal prep hacks.

Being a high-converting affiliate means you do more than just paste links where you’ll earn commissions if someone is eager enough to buy without thinking about it carefully. It means you take time to protect your customers and serve their needs and you earn more because you go that extra mile.