Becoming an influencer is an achievement that affiliate marketing publishers look to command, but becoming one can be a long, challenging journey. Network Development Manager Ashley Hajjar is an expert in helping publishers become influencers. In this new monthly series Ashley shares secrets to help new publishers in the Rakuten Affiliate Network optimize their marketing strategies with best practices and how-to’s in order to make them as influential as possible. Read on to learn this month’s tip on becoming an influencer!

Becoming an Influencer: Link Generating for Publishers

You’re brand new to affiliate marketing and you’ve signed up for a publisher account with the Rakuten Affiliate Network. Now you don’t know where or how to start. Sound familiar!?

Let me help you out with some quick tips and best practices for new influencers working with the Rakuten Affiliate Network.

The first thing to do is apply to advertiser programs. Make sure you read through the terms and conditions before you apply. Each merchant’s T&Cs are different.

You can browse all merchant categories in your dashboard under programs and choose which programs would be best partners for your audience.

Next, you will be approved into programs – woohoo! Now what?

Once you are approved into a program, you can start using affiliate links on your website or blog right away. If a reader makes a purchase after clicking from your site, you will make a commission or what we call a CPA (cost per action) based on their total checkout amount. Your commission rate will always be listed in the offer when you apply to advertiser programs.

But how do you create affiliate links? I’ve outlined very simple steps below on the two easiest ways to create affiliate links. Download the complete guide to getting started here. Good luck!

How to Create Deep Links

A deep link is an affiliate link that directs the user to a specific product.

1. 1. Log into your dashboard and hover over the “Links” tab, choose “Deep Linking”
   2. Select your Advertiser from the Drop down menu
   3. Copy and paste the product link URL from the advertisers site into the URL box (keep the single link button selected)
   4. Choose your output format (URL – you can use this link to hyperlink to anything you choose), text link (generate what you want this link to say. Example: Nordstrom skirt), or image link if you want the affiliate link to show the product image.
   5. Click “create link” & you’re all set to copy and paste the link to the HTML version of your site.

How to Use the Bookmarklet

The bookmarklet allows you to create deep links while browsing an advertiser’s site (grab product links without logging into the dashboard!).

1. 1. Hover over the “Links” tab and choose “Bento Box”
   2. Click on “Get Links” and then click on “Bookmarklet”
   3. Follow the directions on pasting your tracking token to create your bookmarklet.
   4. Drag your bookmarklet to your browser toolbar
      • when you are browsing an advertisers site on a particular product, click the bookmarklet and the link will generate automatically in a separate pop-up window for you to copy, paste and use right away! See below screenshots that show an example.
   5. You can watch a short video that walks you through this process below:

Bookmarklet Demo

Ashley Hajjar is a Network Development Manager for the Rakuten Affiliate Network. She works to help publishers grow their partnerships with the merchants in our network. She is an expert on Rakuten Affiliate Network tools and best practices for influencers looking to get started in the affiliate space.