liate managers, it’s time to focus on more than media.

You know how good it feels to be featured in Good Housekeeping’s, CNN Underscored’s, Wirecutter’s, and Rolling Stone Magazine’s lists.

• They are optimized for phrases with high intent.
• The trust that they bring to the referral will result in a significant increase in conversion rates.
• Credibility is a major factor in promoting your brand.
• The addition of the logos of media companies to your PR bar can increase conversions and trust among shoppers.

Benefits don’t stop there. You can also show your bosses or clients the top and middle funnel traffic.

Keep an affiliate program going and you can make the PR team’s life easier.

Your company has a great reputation and you have visibility.

Google’s AI-powered search may mean that media lists are no longer as popular. What affiliate managers can and should do.

Media is not the only thing to focus on

Media listicles may lose traffic if Google’s SGE (search generative experience) becomes popular

According to screenshots and information shared by industry advocates, Google’s AI powered search results show stores at the top of the results list with affiliate articles below.

The affiliate list is no longer able to receive the same traffic that it once did. This does not mean that mass media affiliate lists do not have value.

Advertisements on their sites drive traffic to listicles for the companies listed above as well as Forbes Advisor, USA Today Healthline, US News BuzzFeed, and other publications.

Their own websites are “destination” sites, meaning that they have a regular audience as people use them to start their search for advice.

Three featured boxes are likely to be awarded to niche mass media websites. The most important thing is to have a large audience with a steady stream of traffic.

Don’t stop them if your SEO traffic drops. Change your strategy.

There will still be some revenue, but it won’t be as much as when you dominated queries like “Best XYZ Products” and “Top ABC products”. What can you do instead?

I would say to go back and focus on what made affiliate channels so valuable in the first instance, which was partnering with genuine voices and high-funnel touches.

These partners will drive traffic to your site without using your brand or SEO, PPC or any other method.

Your high-value partners could be ranked in the top 10 for a number of reasons, including:

• Shorts producers
• Video creators of non-review videos
• Publishers of non-review content
• Destination sites

Shorts producers

The new SGE includes a feature named Perspectives.

The person who is searching can choose to flip the page and find real opinions if they do not trust the AI answers. You can use it to find out about a specific product, your company or to come up with a solution.

Micro-influencers who have a niche authority (e.g., plumbers, teachers, mothers that discuss local resources for children, etc.). The big winners may be micro-influencers with niche authority (plumbers, school teachers, moms that talk about local resources for kids, etc.).

Google’s helpful content update is searching for and displaying hidden gems. It appears that perspectives could give niche content producers a competitive advantage.

They may be the hidden jewels if they share their real life experiences, are experts on the subject, and stay with their niche. This is because they will likely get featured in the major queries, which were previously dominated by the mass media, who relied on editorial trust and authority.

Video and content creators who do not review videos or non-review videos

The content creator does not review your brand, and they do not use your brand as a keyword in the title (specifically for YouTube). They focus instead on the solution.

We encourage reviews as affiliate managers but it can work against us.

The content is changed by adding your brand throughout the solution and the title tag. Here’s an illustration:

• Subscribe to the best flowers
• Amazon’s best subscription for flowers

These two options will both help a user locate a subscription for flowers. One tells a search engine, or YouTube to only display the content if the brand name is in the query. In this case it’s Amazon.

The content will now have a greater chance of showing up when searching for “best flower subscription” by using affiliate links to Amazon instead of the brand.

Amazon gets the traffic and sales, but it’s a pure added value since the affiliate is sending the traffic. The consumer may not even have considered Amazon.

You should encourage affiliates but not, to promote your brand with deals and coupons. Instead, solve problems:

• Find the best products.
• Fix something that’s broken.
• Improve a recipe.
• Etc.

If you do not include your brand name in the title or description, the search engine will assume that the content is for everyone.

Your brand should only appear when someone searches for your brand and the solution on the same query.

The affiliate is limited in the traffic they can generate and the revenue they can earn.

Video conversion may be aided by a video that shows how the product solves the problem.

It is still valuable, but it’s not as valuable because your customer is already familiar with your brand and in the sales funnel. It does add value so don’t remove them.

This can be applied to:

• How to change oil in (insert your car model)
• How to bake almond cake without sugar
• Flat head screws: 7 alternative types
• 9 home decor ideas for studio apartments

Do not add the brand name to the title. Affiliates will increase their traffic and revenues, while your client or company can get new customers.

Destination sites

Recruit destination websites to your program. As we are referring to “destination websites,” I will use travel affiliate sites as an example.

Expedia, TripAdvisor and The Points Guy are all destinations where consumers can research their options with editors or a community they trust.

You can fill your sales funnels with customers who are highly motivated when you want them to.

These sites are well-respected and will be easier to get into the SGE interface’s three recommended boxes for further reading.

These are the E.E.A.T experts on specific questions. You can search for something big (like how to save money at Disney) or something small (like the best hiking trails in Virginia wine county).

The community has self-regulated and contributed to the content of these websites for years. The same people also comment on the answers and fact check them.

The moderators and up-and down voting, as well as the new comments and reviews from users, should help to build trust, which will make it easier for the site to rank.

You will be the one to benefit if your affiliate program is featured on the pages linked with the resource.

You can also gain access to community members who are looking for solutions and ideas on these pages. There are groups for nearly every niche. Parents, beauty, marketers, photographers, artists, and developers are just a few of the many niches.

Partnership with authentic voices

We should also expect other types of partnerships to emerge based on this new SGE. It could be:

• Active moderation is available in all forums.
• Wikipedias that have been fact-checked.
• Niche guides by experts who are licensed and certified in their field.

You can increase your total sales by investing in these, and working with mass media to compensate for the lower ranking of the shopping lists.

Don’t be alarmed if the listicles from mass media are lower down in the search results.

The mass media is a great tool. It is important to maintain those relationships and see who is getting traffic.

You’ll have to do a little more work but you will also be able to protect your channel, as your traffic and revenue sources are diversified.

The post Affiliate Managers: It’s Time to Shift Your Focus Beyond Media appeared initially on Search Engineland.