Social shopping, which refers to the process of purchasing items online through social media while interacting with others on the web, took off during the pandemic and the sector is expected to reach $3 trillion by 2029.
Keesh Deesh has harnessed the phenomenon and profited greatly, bringing in $220,000 since January through affiliate marketing, according to Business Insider.
How She Did It: In 2016, Deesh created a Facebook group for friends as a hobby, where she shared coupons and deals. The group became a success after her friends began sharing the community with their friends, and her “Dollar Diva Group” now boasts more than 364,000 members.
“I started a Facebook group to show people what they needed to do, how to go to the store, how to save money, and everyone was really interested in it,” she told the outlet.
Also See: 29-Year-Old Freelance Writer’s 5 Thrifty Habits To A $400K Income And $1.2M Property Portfolio
When the pandemic began in 2020, Deesh started using affiliate marketing programs such as Amazon’s Affiliate Program, which allowed her to earn a commission when her group members clicked on the links she posted. Since then, Deesh started using the company Mavely, which she told Insider is easier to use and offers more product variety and incentives.
In 2022, Deesh was able to quit her day job, and she now spends her time managing her group and posting every day to maintain engagement and grow its members.
“I still every day wake up and have to pinch myself because I can’t believe that this community has turned into that for me,” she told the publication.
And, the group isn’t just a place to find deals and coupons, Deesh told Insider she provides an experience for her members, where they shop online together.
“You might be a single parent that can’t go out and buy all these luxurious things,” she said. “But if you shop with me, I can find those luxurious things for you at a price that is more comfortable for you to still live your life on a day-to-day basis,” she told the outlet.
Now Read: How This Single Mom Lived By The 25x Rule And Retired Early With $1.3M In The Bank
This story is part of a new series of features on the subject of success, Benzinga Inspire.
Photo: Shutterstock
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- Remember Facebook Groups? Keesh Deesh is building a business using one.
- Dollar Divas Group is a Facebook community with over 364,000 members.
- Deesh, who started the group in 2016, makes money using affiliate marketing.
Couponing began as a hobby and money-saving passion for Keesh Deesh, who started a Facebook group in 2016 to share coupons and deals with friends.
“I started a Facebook group to show people what they needed to do, how to go to the store, how to save money, and everyone was really interested in it,” Deesh, who goes by a pseudonym online for privacy, told Insider. Once her friends began inviting their friends, and so on, Deesh’s group “started to take off.”
Today, Deesh’s “Dollar Diva Group” has more than 364,000 members and Deesh’s Facebook profile has 11,000 followers. She also launched a Telegram group, which has 31,000 members.
Deesh said that as the pandemic began in 2020 she started “dabbling” in affiliate marketing, which let her earn a commission from the deals and products she was sharing in her Facebook group. Influencers across platforms and industries have utilized this method to promote everything from financial apps to fashion brands.
When Deesh first started sharing affiliate links in her group, she was using Amazon’s Affiliate Program. Currently, Deesh mostly uses links generated by the affiliate marketing company Mavely because she said it was a smoother process and offered more brand options and perks than Amazon.
From Mavely links alone, Deesh has earned more than $220,000 in commission since January. Insider verified her earnings with documentation provided by Mavely.
In 2022, Deesh quit her previous job to go full time managing her Facebook group. Deesh posts every day to her group and told Insider that she’s on an upwards curve of earnings.
“I still every day wake up and have to pinch myself because I can’t believe that this community has turned into that for me,” she said.
Big shopping days, like Black Friday or Prime Day, are big days for commissions, she added.
But don’t go calling Deesh an influencer just yet.
“I haven’t dove into content creation,” Deesh said. “What I’ve done is just built a community.”
Facebook Groups as an unexpected social-shopping experience
While influencers often share content showcasing the highlights, Deesh said she tries to keep her Facebook Group relatable.
“There are people out there that don’t make those types of finances and can’t go out and just buy all these brands,” Deesh said. “I wanted to make sure that anyone that wanted something, they were able to get it.”
By sharing products, sales, and deals in her group, Deesh views the experience as bringing those members along with her and shopping together. The group’s description even reads: “Come shop with us and save a bunch of your coins.”
Screengrab/Facebook/D
“You might be a single parent that can’t go out and buy all these luxurious things,” Deesh said. “But if you shop with me, I can find those luxurious things for you at a price that is more comfortable for you to still live your life on a day-to-day basis.”
In other words, Deesh is partaking in and running a social-shopping experience. Social shopping broadly refers to the phenomenon of shopping on social media and interacting with other users, such as live shopping or influencer posts.
But in order to run a successful social-shopping experience, Deesh said trust is crucial.
“I could most definitely post a bunch of junk just for commissions,” she said. “But I truly care about my audience, so I would rather get a product, test it out, and then share it with the world.”
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Travel season is upon us. Hotel prices hike, school times wind down, and everyone is looking for their favourite cities on hashtags on Instagram. This is a time for a travel creator to shine. You can really get some eyes on your travel blogging in the months over the summer and boost your personal brand. But you need to stand out, and to do that you can tap into the best travel trends in the industry right now. Even better, you can put your own spin on them. Take a look at our suggestions for the best travel trends of 2023.
The anti-hotel trends
Hotels are one of the three main options when it comes to booking your holiday. Those, hostels and perhaps villas are the typical go-to. But, with the rise of Airbnb (for better or worse), people are discovering all the different options they really have for accommodation. And, sure, some of them are Airbnb’s so don’t tend to come with the luxury of a hotel, but a lot are really just massive resorts with a gimmick. We’re talking igloos that let you watch the northern lights, treehouses with a treetop hot tub, rooms built under aquariums, and lots of other ideas.
If you’re looking for places to feature in your content that is bound to get eyes on you, try and look outside the box when it comes to accommodation.
Take inspiration from pop culture
Have you heard of the Wes Anderson travel trends? Of course, you have, because everyone, even places that have no business saying they look like a Wes Anderson film, like a dingy club or a back alley, are making themselves part of this trend. The videos featuring bright colours and symmetry is a real testament to the power of editing.
But it’s not just The Darjeeling Effect that’s going viral. The second season of The White Lotus made us all desperate to visit this make-believe hotel, and failing that, Italy would do. Videos living out a lifestyle only Jennifer Coolidge could portray effectively, complete with scooters and cocktails hit social media.
But that is a very distinct aesthetic, one that a lot of travel bloggers follow. There is a whole nerdom fanbase out there that want to see their favourite spots too? Remember the Joker steps that went viral? Go to Glasgow and see the Necropolis featured in 2022’s The Batman. Now that Game of Thrones is over, move on to the latest viral HBO release, Succession and see what it has to offer. These are nepo billionaires that take helicopters to work, so you’ve got plenty to choose from, from Matsson’s Swedish retreat (which is actually Norwegian) to Connor’s New Mexican ranch.
People are curious to see these places for themselves, so show them what they’ve seen before and how they can get the real experience in your content. Even better, this allows you to play around with your content editing. Travel blogging is typically very one note: sunny skies and clear beaches. But if you’re trying to sell a city as the next Gotham, that’s not going to fit.
“Places that…” trends
One trend that seems to have endless possibilities is the “Places that…” trend. For example, “Places that are affordable versions of…” “Places that look like…” “Places that accept LGBT people”, etc.
Travel blogging advice might tell you to find a niche and stick to it, but where’s the fun in that? Instead, put together content equivalents of listicles. Reels featuring snippets of places or series of photos of places that are linked and that way you will offer your audience a few ideas on where they can go rather than trying to sell one place. And the best part about this trend is that it can appeal to a lot of different demographics.
If you are interested in more affiliate and social media marketing insights, take a look at our blog for all the latest news and advice. Or for a more personalised approach, book a free call with a member of our team.
Or, for the very best advice from industry peers, register to join us for our ELEVATE Summit in July. Elevate aims to bring you the latest affiliate, performance, and partner marketing insights from across the globe and it’s all available to stream from our website.
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- Sal Farzin, or SimplySalFinds, is a full-time tech creator with almost 3 million TikTok followers.
- About 80% of his six-figure influencer income comes from promoting products on Amazon.
- He shared his top tips to build a successful business as an Amazon Influencer.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sal Farzin, a tech creator from Austin, Texas. Insider has verified his revenue with documentation. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
During the height of the pandemic in 2020, I was working from home, and I wanted a new hobby. One night while we were having dinner, my kids were watching funny videos on TikTok.
I inquired what was funny about these videos, and my kids responded by saying, “Dad, you’re too old to be on social media.” I was inspired, and responded by accepting that as a challenge.
I got acclimated on TikTok for a few weeks
At first, I struggled with figuring out the type of content to produce. But on July 1, I decided to start making product-review videos about a bunch of packages I had ordered.
To my surprise, my TikTok account, “SimplySalFinds,” grew to have 50,000 followers in three days. It now has almost 3 million followers.
Shortly after I began posting, I joined Amazon Associates, Amazon’s affiliate-marketing program that pays a commission for each sale an associate drives through recommendations.
I also came across the Amazon Influencer program and applied for it.
That unlocked additional opportunities — I now have my own customized virtual storefront on Amazon. It’s my responsibility to drive people to my store so they can look at the products I review and purchase them. I make a commission of between about 1% and 20% on each sale, depending on the product.
Sal Farzin
Thanks to my TikTok community and an additional 675,000 followers on Instagram, I’m able to drive a lot of people to the storefront.
Two years ago, I also started livestreaming on Amazon. I quickly found my groove on the platform within a few weeks. Now, 80% of my six-figure yearly income as a creator comes from Amazon commissions, and the rest comes from partnerships with brands.
With this income, I was able to quit my job as a senior director of ad operations for a digital-media company in early 2023. My wife also works on “SimplySalFinds” with me full time, and my kids sometimes help with creative strategy, editing, and scriptwriting.
Here are my top tips for finding success as an Amazon Influencer.
1. Focus on a niche
I initially thought I was a jack-of-all-trades and should promote everything and anything. I quickly realized that it’s important to select a niche or categories — for me it’s home, kitchen, and tech — that you’re passionate and knowledgeable about, but that’s also relevant.
This will make it easier for you to promote the products and for your audience to trust your recommendations.
2. Be honest and create community
Use products before recommending them and avoid over-promoting or making false claims about their features or benefits because this can damage trust and credibility with your audience.
Another very important piece for success in the long term is building a community.
Engage with your followers regularly through comments and direct messages, because this will show them that you care about their opinions and value their feedback.
I’ve been able to do that more effectively on Instagram over any other platform because it offers the best tools for direct messaging.
3. Remix your content
It’s easy to get overwhelmed and bogged down thinking you need to produce new content every day.
You can instead edit previously recorded footage to make it shorter or more optimized, shoot new footage of the same product, or consider using trending sounds that translate into “new” content you can upload to your social-media platforms.
4. Go live with Amazon Live shoppable videos — here’s how I do it
Share your favorite finds live on Amazon, where viewers can watch your streams, chat with you, and shop the products you recommend. I like streaming because it puts a face to my name.
I set up scheduled livestreams early in the week, usually once or twice a week, and I notify my audience on Instagram Stories an hour or two before I go live. I select products based on my main categories of home, kitchen, and tech — especially those that have an active discount or deal. These deal streams can draw more viewers since the site may promote them across the platform.
I include videos showing how the products work in real-life settings. It helps viewers, and it helps me explain the features of each product. Including closed captions helped increase average watch time and retention. Many viewers watch while at work or while multitasking and can’t unmute to listen. I use sound effects when I get new followers as a way to welcome them to my channel.
I also contact brands to arrange opportunities to collaborate in sponsored livestreams.
5. Use reporting tools to measure how you perform, and adjust accordingly
I use the Amazon reporting tools to track sales, orders, and performance. I can identify top-selling products and I re-share them on Instagram Stories with affiliate links to boost earnings.
My go-to report is “Today’s Orders.” It gives me a near-real-time view of what products are resonating with my audience. I sometimes do round-ups or repost the most successful products.
I set up tracking IDs to track the performance of my links across different channels and to understand where my conversions come from. I also use a feature called “Link Type Performance” to see how many clicks, conversions, and orders each link drives.
I download detailed performance reports for the previous week and the previous 30 days to measure the conversion rate for each period. That way, I can create content based on the high-converting products to boost my earnings.
Through this analysis, I may identify seasonal products that might be in high demand during certain times of the year, and I test them and promote them accordingly.
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