Affiliate Marketing Funnel for Free: Online Business The Right Way

Ever dreamt of building a fully automated affiliate marketing funnel for free that just runs on autopilot, generating passive income for you while you sleep? What if I told you that this dream could not only be a reality but it could be done without even opening your wallet?

Believe it or not, it’s possible!

You don’t need to burn a hole in your pocket to build a profitable affiliate marketing funnel. Instead, all you need is a little creativity, some clever strategy, and a willingness to learn.

In this blog post, we’re diving headfirst into the world of free tools, resources, and strategies that can help you design an efficient and automated affiliate marketing funnel.

Not only that, but we’ll also explore how to set it up to run on its own, leaving you free to focus on the more important tasks at hand.

Are you ready to turn your affiliate marketing dreams into reality without spending a dime?

Let’s dive in! 💪🚀

What Is Affiliate Marketing?

First things first. If you don’t know what affiliate marketing is, let me break it down for you.

Affiliate marketing is a simple yet powerful online business model.

Here’s how it works:

• You pick a product you like. This could be anything – a weight loss supplement, a course on digital marketing, a new novel… the possibilities are endless!
• You promote this product online. You could write blog posts about it, share links on social media, create YouTube videos, or send emails to your subscribers.
• When people buy the product through your unique affiliate link, you earn a commission.

In other words, you’re acting as the middleman. You connect the product creator with the consumer and get paid for your efforts. And the best part? You don’t have to create a product, handle customer service, or deal with shipping logistics.

All you need to do is promote the products you love and believe in, and earn money when people make purchases through your links.

Ok, now let’s move forward and see how to set up a simple yet powerful automated affiliate system that can earn money 24×7.

What Is an Affiliate Marketing Funnel?

Before building an affiliate marketing funnel for free let’s first understand what an affiliate marketing funnel is.

So, what is an affiliate marketing funnel?

Well, imagine a typical funnel. At the top, it’s wide, accommodating a lot, and as it narrows down, it filters and concentrates what goes through it into a focused stream. An affiliate marketing funnel works in much the same way.

An affiliate marketing funnel is a strategic process designed to attract, engage, and convert potential customers to the products or services you’re promoting.

It’s a pathway that guides online visitors from the awareness stage, where they first interact with your marketing efforts, to the decision stage, where they choose to purchase the product you’re promoting.

The funnel consists of various stages, each with its specific role:

1. Awareness: This is the top of the funnel, where you attract potential customers through various marketing strategies like content marketing, SEO, social media, paid advertising, and more. The goal is to draw in as many interested people as possible.
2. Interest: Once you’ve piqued their interest, the next step is to engage them and build a relationship. This might involve offering valuable content, solving a problem they have, or demonstrating the value of the product you’re promoting.
3. Desire: Now, your potential customers start to see the value in what you’re promoting, and they begin to want it. You achieve this by showing how the product can benefit them and improve their lives.
4. Action: The final stage is where potential customers make the decision to purchase the product. This stage often involves a strong call to action and an easy purchasing process.

Each stage of the funnel filters and refines your audience, ensuring that only the most interested and engaged visitors make it to the end of the process. This is why it’s a vital part of your affiliate marketing strategy!

Now that you’ve got a good understanding of what an affiliate marketing funnel is, let’s get down to the business of creating one.

Getting Started with ClickBank

First, we are going to need a product to promote.

For that, I am going to choose a product from CLICKBANK.

ClickBank is a global online retail marketplace that serves as an intermediary between product vendors and affiliate marketers, which is you.

It is a one-stop shop for digital products such as ebooks, software, and online courses.
Now ClickBank isn’t the only affiliate platform out there but it is one of the easiest to use.

Also, it has numerous products listed under different niches and categories which are available for you to promote right away.

Now, I am going to log inside my ClickBank account and head over to the ‘MarketPlace’. This is where we’ll be choosing the product we want to promote.

You can find products in pretty much any niche you can think of. But not all products are created equal, so we need to be discerning when picking the right one.

Let’s sort these products by ‘Gravity’.

Gravity is a unique score in ClickBank that shows the number of affiliates who’ve earned a commission by promoting the product in the past 12 weeks or so.

A high gravity score typically indicates that the product is popular and has a track record of being sold by multiple affiliates.

But don’t just rely on the gravity score alone.

Also, consider the product’s average earnings per sale and its relevance to your audience.

For this demonstration, I have a specific product in mind. It’s called ‘Liv Pur’, a weight loss supplement.

As you can see, ‘Liv Pure’ has a solid gravity score.

The average earnings per sale are also looking good. This means for each sale made through your referral, you can expect around $140 which includes initial sales and all the upsells.

Now, with ‘Liv Pur’ as our chosen product, our next step is to get our affiliate link. This is how ClickBank tracks the sales that come via your referrals and ensures you get your commission.

To get your affiliate link, click on this ‘Promote’ button right next to the product.

Once you click ‘Promote’, a pop-up window will appear.

Here, you’ll need to enter your ClickBank ‘Account Nickname’, then click ‘Generate HopLinks’.

This is your unique HopLink, or in simpler terms, your affiliate link. You’ll use this link in your promotions. Make sure to save it somewhere safe.

Plan of Action: How to Promote Products with an Affiliate Funnel

Now let’s move forward to the next step.

But before that, I will tell you how exactly we are going to promote this product. 

At first, you are going to bring visitors to your landing page.

On the landing page, your visitors will see your offer. To receive more information, they need to enter their email address in the opt-in form.

After they submit their email address, your automated system will kick in and they’ll start receiving your carefully crafted email sequence, in which you are going to promote your product.

Every time someone clicks on your affiliate link in the email and makes a purchase, you earn a commission. That’s the beauty of affiliate marketing.

Offer a Freebie or Not

Now there are 2 ways to go about it. One way is to offer some kind of freebie on our landing page to our visitors.

To get this freebie the visitor has to enter the email address on the landing page which will then be added to our email list. Offering a freebie, like a guide or an e-book, is a great way to entice people to sign up for your email list.

For example, let’s say our freebie is an e-book titled ‘7 Secrets of Sustainable Weight Loss’. This e-book contains valuable tips and strategies for losing weight healthily, which aligns perfectly with the affiliate product we have chosen, ‘Liv Pure’.

We’ll offer this e-book for free to anyone who signs up on our landing page. Once they’ve signed up, they’ll receive a series of emails from us.

The first email will deliver the e-book, and subsequent emails will introduce ‘Liv Pure’ and encourage them to make a purchase using our affiliate link.

The 2nd method

Now, while the freebie method is a popular and effective strategy for promoting affiliate products, there is another simple funnel that you can use.

This method is more direct and doesn’t involve offering a freebie. Instead, you’ll simply ask visitors to enter their email address to receive more information about the product you’re promoting.

I have always found the first method to be the superior one. However, depending on your niche the second one can be as effective if not more.

Create an Engaging Email Sequence for Your Affiliate Marketing Funnel

So we are going to need an email sequence consisting of at least 3 emails, and a landing page where your visitors will enter their email address to get the information. 

The email sequence will help nurture our relationship with subscribers and guide them toward making a purchase.

Now it’s time to create an engaging email sequence. For this, we are going to use a tool called ‘Systeme.io’, which is free to get started. You don’t even need a credit card to sign up.

The platform offers a free plan that covers everything you need to implement the strategy outlined.

Sign Up for Systeme Funnel Builder Free Account

Once you have signed up and logged in, head over to the campaigns section first.

In the campaigns section, click on ‘Create a New Campaign’. Name it something relevant like ‘Liv Pure Weight Loss Journey’.

Set up your email sequence with engaging subject lines and content. I suggest starting with at least three emails.

The first email will be delivered instantly to the inbox when a person signs up. Keep it short and engaging. Also, don’t forget to include your affiliate links in your emails.

The next one may go after 2 days and the 3rd one after a week and so on..

BTW When arranging your email sequence make sure that you don’t overwhelm your subscribers.

The goal is to keep them engaged and interested in what you have to say, so sending too many emails in a short period of time can actually have the opposite effect.

Here’s a quick rundown of our emails.

The first email will deliver the freebie, our ‘7 Secrets of Sustainable Weight Loss’ e-book. The next emails will introduce ‘Liv Pure’, highlight its benefits, and encourage the reader to click on our affiliate link.

Here’s a Sample Email Sequence

Remember, each email has a specific purpose and they all work together to lead your subscriber toward purchasing the ‘Liv Pur’ supplement.

Email 1: The Introduction and Teaser

“Subject: Welcome and Your Secret to Healthy Weight Loss Unveiled!

Hi [Name],

Thank you for signing up! We’re excited to have you on board as we explore the latest breakthrough in healthy weight loss.

Without further ado, let’s get right to it. The secret to rapid and healthy weight loss is a revolutionary supplement called ‘Liv Pure’. It’s a natural, scientifically-proven solution that’s transforming lives around the globe.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. In the next email, we’ll delve deeper into what makes ‘Liv Pur’ so effective.

Stay tuned!
[Your Name]

Email 2: Product Education and Soft Sell

Subject: The Magic Behind ‘Liv Pure’ Revealed!

Hi [Name],

We promised to reveal more about ‘Liv Pur’, and we’re here to deliver. ‘Liv Pur’ is packed with natural ingredients that work together to boost your metabolism, curb cravings, and accelerate weight loss.

[Include a couple of lines about the unique features of Liv Pur]

The best part? ‘Liv Pur’ is offering a limited-time discount for our email subscribers.

Check it out here: [Insert Affiliate Link]

Tomorrow, we’ll share some inspiring success stories from ‘Liv Pure’ users.

Stay healthy,
[Your Name]

Email 3: Testimonials and Hard Sell

Subject: Transform Your Life Like They Did with ‘Liv Pure’!

Hi [Name],

Today, we’re sharing a couple of inspiring stories from people who’ve transformed their lives with ‘Liv Pure’.

[Include 2-3 short testimonials]

Seeing these results, it’s clear why ‘Liv Pur’ is making waves in the weight loss industry. It’s your turn now to start your weight loss journey and transform your life.

Claim your limited-time discount here: [Insert Affiliate Link]

Take the first step towards a healthier you,
[Your Name]

And there you have it! A simple, effective three-part email sequence to promote your affiliate product.

Creating the Affiliate Marketing Funnel for Free Inside Systeme

With our email sequence set up, it’s time to create a landing page to collect email addresses.

For that, let’s go to the funnel section and click ‘Create a New Funnel’.

Next, name your ‘funnel’ and choose the ‘build an audience’ option.

Currency is irrelevant here.

Click on ‘save’.

Please remember that the method we are using here is more direct and doesn’t involve offering a freebie or any sort of download. Instead, you’ll simply ask visitors to enter their email addresses to receive more information about the product you’re promoting.

Here you can see that there are 2 active pages in our funnel. (Watch the video above for the complete demo).

One is the ‘squeeze page’ or the ‘opt in’ page and the other one is the ‘Thank You’ page.

Now, we always use a ‘Thank You’ page, to redirect our visitors to our blog or to further training.

But to keep things simpler here, let’s get rid of the ‘Thank You’ page.

Now, let’s edit our landing page.

Clicking on this opens up a library of premade templates that can easily be edited.

We are going to use a simple landing page for this promo, which has worked great for us in the past.

Click on ‘select’ to choose the template.

Now, let’s name the page and click on the ‘edit page’ option.

This is the editor.

As you can see, to edit any element on the page, we simply need to click on the element. All the relevant options will open up on the left side panel.

For example, if I need to change the title I will just select that and start typing. BTW try to make the headline catchy without revealing information about the product.

Remember, the goal of the headline is to pique the visitor’s curiosity and get them to provide their email address to learn more.

We can also easily change the background by clicking here.

The most important elements on this page are the ‘form’ and the ‘submit’ buttons.

We are only going to keep the ‘email’ section here. We don’t need the name.

Next, let’s select the button element.

Now this is where you need to be extra careful.

On the left side, you need to choose the type of action that is going to happen when a person clicks on the button.

You need to choose the ‘send form’ option here. Without this, your subscribers will not be added to the email list.

Next, choose the option to redirect to a ‘custom URL’ once the person has signed up.

Now this is where you can choose to redirect visitors to the thank you page. As we don’t have one, we will redirect the visitors directly to the ‘affiliate offer’.

So paste your ‘affiliate link’ in the URL section.

Once everything is set up the only thing left to do is connect our landing page to the email sequence.

To do that let’s choose the funnel and click on ‘automation rules’.

Here we need to add a ‘Trigger’ which is nothing but the point where the automation kicks in.

We are going to choose ‘funnel step form subscribed’.

Next, we are going to add an action.

Which is ‘subscribe to campaign’ and then choose the campaign we just created.

And hit save.

And that’s it.

Our automated affiliate system is ready.

As people enter their information through your sales funnel’s opt-in form, they will be added to your email campaign automatically, receiving follow-up emails and increasing your chances of generating commissions, while also growing your email list.

How to Bring Traffic to Your Affiliate Marketing Funnel for Free

Now, we need to bring traffic to your landing page.

Remember, the more visitors you have, the higher the chances of gaining potential customers. Here are a few effective strategies to increase traffic to your landing page.

Social Media:

Leverage your presence on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Regularly post engaging content and sneak peeks of what’s in your emails to entice your followers to sign up. You could also use paid advertising on these platforms to reach a wider audience.

SEO and Content Marketing:

Create valuable content around the topic of your affiliate product on your blog or website. Use SEO techniques to rank high on search engine result pages and drive organic traffic to your landing page.

Collaborations and Guest Posting:

Collaborate with other content creators or influencers in your niche. Guest posting on popular blogs or getting featured on a podcast can give you a significant traffic boost.

Keep in mind, attracting quality traffic requires time and effort, so be patient and persistent. Test out different strategies, analyze your results, and adjust your plans as needed. This is how you turn your passion into a profitable online venture.

Concluding Words

You’ve taken the big leap, immersing yourself into the vast sea of affiliate marketing, and I’m confident you’re more ready than ever to turn your passions into a rewarding online income stream.

Remember, the journey is just as important as the destination. So, don’t be disheartened by any hurdles along the way – they’re just stepping stones leading you closer to your success.

The beauty of affiliate marketing lies in its potential for passive income and the flexibility it offers. You have the freedom to work from anywhere, anytime, and you’re no longer trading hours for dollars.

Instead, you’re building a system, an automated affiliate marketing funnel in this case, that can generate revenue while you sleep, spend time with family, or even while you’re vacationing on a tropical island!

And remember, your success in affiliate marketing is not an overnight event, it’s a journey. Stay consistent, continue to learn, adapt, and never stop experimenting with new strategies. Your determination and resilience will be the keys that unlock the doors to your online success.

So, what are you waiting for? It’s time to get started on your affiliate marketing adventure.

Let’s turn that passion into profit, shall we?