When it comes to launches, one of the biggest hurdles is reaching a wide enough audience to ultimately hit your sales goals. If you don’t generate enough initial interest, you’ll have few people ready to convert by the time you open your cart.
That’s where affiliate partnerships can be a great asset for your business. When you take the time to nourish relationships with affiliates, you can greatly expand your reach by promoting your launch to their audiences.
That said, leaving others in charge of promoting your business (even those you trust and respect!) can be nerve wracking—you want to make sure they’re accurately representing your offer and encouraging people to take action. Fortunately, there’s an easy way for you to keep your messaging consistent and coordinate your efforts: creating a swipe file for your launch.
How to Build a Swipe File
A swipe file is a collection of persuasive and engaging copy, content, images, and other resources that can be used by affiliates to promote your launch. While the exact contents of your file are entirely up to you, the more direction you can provide your affiliates, the better they’ll be able to promote your launch.
Some materials you might include are:
- Overview of your offer
- Audience and customer data
- Branding guidelines
- Sample email copy and subject lines
- Sample blog post copy or outline
- Links to the sales page and/or sales vehicle page (webinar/challenge/etc.)*
- Sample social media captions and ad copy
- Approved images in a variety of sizes
- Testimonials
Note: If affiliates have their own special link for tracking their sales, make sure you provide them with the correct links or instructions for accessing them.
Rather than be used as-is, the copy in your swipe file is intended to serve as a guide or inspiration that can help affiliates craft content tailored toward their own audiences. If they were to use your copy word for word, not only would they sound ingenuine and overly salesy, but the duplicate content would negatively impact your SEO.
Instead, the idea is to give affiliates a starting point for creating their own marketing materials, which will ultimately be more engaging and effective. When they’re more successful, you’re more successful!
The Benefits of Creating an Affiliate Marketing Swipe File
There are a variety of reasons why creating a swipe file is beneficial and can make your launch more successful:
It can save you time.
Even if your copy isn’t meant to be used word for word, it can still be quickly and easily customized to fit the needs of your affiliates. They’ll appreciate having your materials on-hand to save them time and creative energy.
It helps affiliates create more effective promotions.
You know your offer best, so it only makes sense for you to have a hand in creating promotional materials for your launch. By providing affiliates with key information and branding guidelines, they’re guaranteed to make more effective content.
It gives you more control.
While your affiliates may be promoting your launch to their unique audiences, at the end of the day, it’s still your launch. A strong swipe file gives you the chance to guide affiliates in the direction you want instead of leaving them to their own creative devices.
It's mutually beneficial.
The best part about affiliate partnerships is that both parties benefit. Building a swipe file to help your affiliates create more effective materials will not only expand your reach and make your launch more successful, but it will also help them earn more commissions. Who doesn’t like a win-win scenario?
Tips for Using Your Swipe File
Having any kind of swipe file on hand is sure to make your launch more smooth and successful. That said, there are some considerations to keep in mind when building and using your file that will maximize its benefits.
Tip #1: Include Brand Guidelines
Although we already mentioned adding brand guidelines to your swipe file earlier, it’s worth mentioning again. The point of a swipe file is to make sure your launch is being promoted accurately and consistently. Including guidelines about how you want your brand to be represented, as well as how affiliates should talk about your offer, will ensure that their copy is as effective as possible.
Tip #2: Provide Variations
A good swipe file doesn’t just contain one sample of each type of copy. Instead, it’s a good idea to provide your affiliates with options so they’re prepared to promote your launch in any situation.
By options, we mean copy with different tones and lengths, as well as for different phases of the launch. That way, you make it as easy as possible for your affiliates to create whatever materials they need to promote your launch effectively.
Tip #3: Keep Your File Updated
A good rule of thumb is to update your swipe file as often as you update your launch. Providing your affiliates with outdated or ineffective copy is counterproductive to why you have a swipe file in the first place! So, whenever you make updates to your own copy that prove to be more effective or in line with your messaging, make sure those changes are reflected in your swipe file as well.
Build Your Swipe File With Our Launch Copy Templates
Make building out your launch swipe file smooth and easy with our Launch Copy templates. The plug-and-play format of the templates will save you valuable time when creating email and social media samples for your affiliates.