Showing posts with label affiliates. Show all posts
Showing posts with label affiliates. Show all posts

Monday, 13 July 2015

4 Tips To Jump Start An Affiliate Marketing Program!

Marketers who are just starting out may find it difficult to find affiliates, set commissions, combat fraud, and refine a program over time. These four tips can help start up your affiliate marketing program.

Finding Affiliates (In-house vs Outsource)
When it comes to getting started with affiliate marketing, marketers can choose a third-party service to work with, or create and manage their own program in-house.

There are pros and cons to both, but a combination may be the best option.

For beginners, finding or managing affiliates can at first be a daunting task. An outsourced affiliate service is attractive because it requires minimal effort to get up and running -- simply sign up and the service finds affiliates (or "publishers" as they are commonly referred to in the affiliate industry) and matches them to offers with participating advertisers. 

The drawback of outsourcing is that commissions are paid to the third-party service, in addition to the affiliate, for every conversion. Marketers also have limited control over the selection of affiliates or where offers ultimately appear.

In-house programs offer greater transparency, provide real-time insight into campaign performance, and allow marketers to develop tighter relationships with affiliates, though marketers must find those affiliates themselves. 

This approach also opens the door to custom campaigns and commission structures that wouldn't be available when working with a middleman.

The bottom line is that outsourcing is easier, but an in-house program gives more flexibility, control, and a potentially higher payoff. It also enables the marketer to build long-term relationships directly with their publishing sources that are built on a foundation of trust and historical performance. 

The saviest of marketers often leverage the best of both, using a third-party service for reach and managing lower-performing affiliates, while leveraging an in-house program to cultivate top-performing affiliates.    

Setting Commissions
Determining the best commission structure for campaigns is key to affiliate marketing success, but getting this right takes time. It also requires a great understanding of the market rate for commissions to balance cost against competitive pricing.

The most popular method is to pay a flat rate per action. If a prospective customer fills out a form, downloads an app, purchases a product, or registers for a service, the affiliate who referred that customer gets a fee. 

Use caution with affiliates that ask for commissions based on CPMs (cost per 1,000 impressions) or CPCs (cost per click) because if affiliates aren't providing high-quality traffic, marketers end up paying for clicks or ad views that never convert. 

Another method shares revenue with affiliates based on a percentage of the total shopping cart purchased by a customer. Last, cost per lead (CPL) enables publishers to be paid on a per-lead basis, regardless of the quality of that lead. 

What's the best approach? This is where measurement and ongoing monitoring is critical. By carefully tracking results and routinely testing different pay structures, marketers can analyze which types of campaigns are yielding good results and which are under performing. 

Over time, marketers can determine the most successful commission structure for their business.

Combating Fraud
When it comes to fraud, the importance of tracking is paramount. Marketers can use very granular data about the clicks and conversions themselves to identify potential fraud. When each step along the customer journey is captured and analyzed, it is easier to identify potential red flags. 

For example, are conversion rates for a handful of affiliates surprisingly high? It may be worth investigating their traffic further to make sure it's legitimate. High click counts paired with low conversions could indicate poor traffic. 

It is also important to monitor referring URLs. Are they all coming from the same address? If so, a marketer has either landed a fabulous affiliate partner, or could be dealing with a bot.

Being diligent about program management and putting safeguards in place (such as only paying for verified leads) will help marketers avoid poor quality and shady players.

Refining Over Time
Setting and forgetting is the most common rookie mistake in affiliate marketing.

Whether outsourcing or managing an in-house program, it's important to continually test, measure, and refine. This means learning as much as possible about how the affiliate industry works and dedicating resources to campaign execution and tracking. 

For example, there are a number of web resources available that provide marketing advice and even review affiliates. Trade shows such as PMI, LeadsCon, and ad:tech evenets are also good places to get an education on the affiliate community while meeting potential partners and technology providers.

Most importantly, after uncovering something significant, marketers must take action -- whether that means blocking a bad affiliate or incentivizing a good one with bonuses or higher payouts.   

In the world of affiliate marketing, a little homework goes a long way. Marketers that take the time to research and learn will be the ones best positioned to build a strong affiliate program that ultimately leads to a greater return on their digital spend.

http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/38897.asp

Monday, 22 June 2015

Affiliate Marketing Tactics That Can Get You Money!

TIP! This fact is something that you and your associates should not take advantage of. At the very least, cookie stuffing will lose you a few customers.


Beginners in web marketing can be overwhelmed with the vast amount of information. A list of ideas and strategies for starting with affiliate promotion would be extremely beneficial. This article will give you many tips to get started.

TIP! When you are raking in profits, you should ask for a bigger commission. Most affiliate networks are happy to recognize good work.

Once you have generated a good amount of sales as an affiliate promoter, consider asking for a higher commission percentage from the affiliate program you belong to. If you are a good seller with upstanding marketing plans, smart affiliate programs will appreciate your efforts and gladly give you an increase.

TIP! Try out secret link systems. You can include a lot of links in your text to affiliates, and it does not have to be noticeable.

You may be surprised to find your followers and visitors very receptive when you inform them about your online marketing activities. Remember that honesty is always the best policy. If your readers understand the reasons you utilize affiliate marketing, they may be more positive and responsive to the links provided on your site.

TIP! You’ll need to find new customers as most people will unsubscribe eventually. Send new customers only high-performing email blasts to keep them interested in your products.

Take the time to find the right prospective affiliates. Look at the different products and what kind of audience they are designed for. By doing this, your audience will feel more appreciated and you will get more traffic to your site.

TIP! If potential customers to your site are coming there for specific themes such as sports, remember that their focus is on that particular subject. Design your website and content to correspond with your affiliate links.
You should consider paying a little bit for advertising, it could work for you. When you buy ads and use keywords that are popular you will bring new customers to your website and also increase sales.

TIP! You need to understand affiliate marketing before you can be successful with it. You want to create a good rank with search engines with your website or blog.
Do everything you can to make your readers trust you. If they believe that you have their interests at heart, they will be loyal to you. This will translate into increased and returning sales for your business.

TIP! To earn more money via affiliate marketing, enhance your product review by including enticements such as screenshots and videos. Once interested, the consumer may become a purchaser.
One thing to remember when entering the world of affiliate promotion is to use deadlines for purchasing products religiously. When potential customers realize that the clock is ticking on a particular purchase, they are more likely to jump on the deal. The sales boost this provides can be an impressive one.

Be honest with your customers about affiliates. They will appreciate you being honest and will feel better about using your affiliate ads to help you earn money.

TIP! Successful affiliate marketing consists of using the most pertinent and relevant information. Keep up to date with all the products and services that the affiliate programs you belong to offer.

When you have finished selecting the items that your affiliates can sell, be sure that your marketing efforts are focused on targeting the right audience for these products. If it’s a cheaper product, then just simply having a high traffic flow will ensure that it sells. 

If it’s cheap enough, people will be more likely to buy it after a quick click and view. Becoming more in-depth with high-end merchandise can entice visitors to become customers.

TIP! One of the best things an affiliate marketer can do is to create the feeling that you are related to the business you’re associated with. Subtlety is the key for affiliate links on your website.


A personal handwritten ad may help advertise. Get an advantage on the competition by coming across as a company with a human element. If you have bad handwriting, you may consider hiring a freelance writer to pen your ad.

TIP! Resist the temptation to saturate your website with excessive banner ads. The focus of your site should be your own products.
As you can see from the above list of tips, affiliate marketing can be very useful in getting your products and services the exposure that they need and deserve. After following these tips, you will no longer be new to online marketing, you will be an affiliate marketing expert!
 

Monday, 15 June 2015

Why Should You Choose Affiliate Marketing!

Here are some more reasons why Affiliate Marketing is a ideal business:

Affiliate marketing allows you to start your internet business right away. All you need is a little time, motivation and proper training. You don't even need a website or advertising money since there are free methods to promote products and earn commissions.


Affiliate marketing is also an excellent business for every type of person whether you are an average person with a regular job or a student who wants to make a part time income. Even if you are a stay at home parent who wants to help with the household expenses, this internet business is for you.
 
You need no actual product or service to sell. You promote other websites products/services.  You don't have to deal with any customers. The Merchant handles returns/refunds.  You are your own boss. You choose who you will promote and what products/services.  

You give yourself raises by learning techniques, implementing the methods and earning more commissions.

Starting out may seem a little overwhelming, but with the proper training, Affiliate Marketing can be a profitable business.

This is where you come in. You can offer to advertise for them or sign up as an affiliate.

An affiliate program works by giving you a commission for every product they sold from the referral/customer you directed to their website. 

Some affiliate programs will even offer pay per click. This means that if a visitor from your website clicks on the link or banner of the company you promote, they will pay you per click.

Since there are so many online businesses wanting to sign up affiliates, you will never run out of clients. There will always be new online businesses launching. If you learn affiliate marketing correctly, you will never lose.

Affiliate marketing is a fantastic business, especially for people who are considering starting an online business at home. With proper training and targeted buyers, your earnings in affiliate programs can give you the lifestyle you deserve.

Monday, 11 May 2015

Affiliate Promotion Made Easy – Top Tips From The Pros!

When you start your affiliate marketing venture, it is useful to find and register with affiliates that are able to give you the services and products you want to sell. You can diversify your income streams by signing up with a wide range of networks. Research affiliates so you are comfortable with.


TIP! Figure out how a company tracks the orders that weren’t done on their website when choosing a program in affiliate marketing. If you do not have a reliable way of tracking transactions that occur through phone and mail, you may be losing a hefty chunk of your commission.

You should review your affiliate partnerships to a regular and thorough performance review. Getting rid of affiliates that do not perform well will leave more money with a new affiliate.

A lot of affiliates end up losing valuable time by having to re-read emails that contain instructions for tasks in their email and then check them.This is a great way to save some time and be organized.

Popular Products:
TIP! Funnel your advertising through like minded affiliate sites that are targeting your preferred customer niche. By using multiple links, you give customers more opportunities to find links that relate to their interests.

Marketing extremely popular products may not be the best idea. You want to have a good quality product but it does not necessarily equate to quality. Choosing very popular products means you will be in fierce competition ahead. You may find it difficult to make any money.

Many affiliate marketers diligently work towards success using the common mistake of trying too hard to be a super affiliate. They try to take and promote too many items and promotions rather than concentrating on Keep in mind that maximum results you can achieve. Find the best thing for you.

You’ll need to find new customers because they’ll keep unsubscribing.

TIP! Only maintain the affiliate programs that are the most profitable. Always review the progress and performance of each of your affiliates on a regular basis.

When you have a sports themed website, they want to see sports content. Only a sports-related link to affiliate sites that are related to the products you market. Your audience will be primarily interested in clicking links that closely relates to the rest of your website.

Don’t select an affiliate program without thinking it through; choose affiliates that make sense given your audience. This will help you get more visitors and understand them.

Consider the use of paid advertising services to maximize profits from online marketing program. Ads that target keywords related to your site.

TIP! Shop around for affiliates that offer fair or generous commissions, and do business with them only. Avoid doing business with companies that do not offer at least twenty percent commission for each product sold.

You should be truthful about what you are doing in your site. Be transparent about your affiliates and describe them on your site. If visitors think you are trying to hide your affiliate ties, they may choose to purchase from the sites directly, rather than going through yours.

Affiliate Programs:
Affiliate programs are a great way to promote your business better. Affiliate programs tend to be more site traffic than most traditional advertising strategies such as contextual network advertising and ad banners. 

When you select your internet marketing program, look at the payment that you will get for giving a referral, how popular the directory is, and ease of directory use.

TIP! Affiliate programs do not all offer the same thing. Programs vary by product and degree of flexibility.

Get to know your audience when you want any affiliate marketer. You want your readers’ needs. Try to find out what makes them visit your site. What specific things are they interested in?

Try creating a handwritten note or ad on your website.

Potential Customers
TIP! Some affiliate sites are better than others. Some can be difficult or frustrating to navigate.

You should make sure there are lots of links leading potential customers to your affiliate content, but do not use them deceptively. A visitor who clicks on links to content they are not interested in; don’t bring them to your webpage selling Apple iPads. You may think this is a unique and clever marketing technique but your potential customers will be turned off by your dishonesty.

Online marketing is extremely rewarding, as your sites become a huge asset and make you serious profits now, and into the future. 

Keep in mind that for affiliate promotion to be successful, you must invest your time in order to create provocative and stimulating material that will make you more popular than others in your field. Doing so will help you achieve online marketing success.


Tuesday, 5 May 2015

Getting More Out Of Your Affiliate Marketing Plan!

Affiliate marketing may at first appear complicated, but it isn’t brain surgery. Once you master the basics, you are on your way to achieving steady profits. Fear not because the following tips will help you become profitable with affiliate marketing. 


Be very careful not to abuse this process. Don’t allow your partners to do so, either. Even if it doesn’t cause problems, it can be annoying to your customers. Not only will cookie stuffing alienate your readers, but it could also give them a virus.

Learn how a company tracks orders made off-site before you choose a marketing program. You could lose a lot of commissions if those outside sales are not connected to your ID number.

Registering with affiliates who are closely aligned with the products you sell is useful. Getting agreements executed with several affiliate companies gives you a wide variety of products and services to sell, bringing you many income streams. Take the time to research any affiliates that you may have gained your interest.

Consider any products sold by an affiliate program very carefully before you put any links on your site. Properly arranging your links may take some practice, but well-arranged links result in more money for you.

Affiliate programs can be very different from one another. You’ll find different products to promote, different payouts and different payout schedules.

Some affiliate sites are better than others. Many can be vary hard to navigate through. A website owner that cares will not have a bad affiliate associated with their site. Besides helping visitors get around, this service engenders trust which makes more purchases likely.

Marketing with affiliate programs is not always burdensome, in spite of the detailed approaches out there. If you do your research, get out there and network, and put in the work required, it will help you grow your site. 
 
By studying these suggestions, you will gain a better understanding of what affiliate marketing is all about.


http://affiliatelove.info/?p=99

Friday, 1 May 2015

Affiliate Marketing Strategy - Important Aspects Of Affiliate Marketing!

You probably won't be surprised to learn that the winning affiliate marketing strategy involves getting as much traffic (and as much targeted traffic) to your affiliate products as possible. 
 
And getting enough traffic starts with choosing a product or service that is guaranteed to generate interest and then to convert into sales. 
 

One part of an effective affiliate marketing strategy is making sure that you leverage off of the merchant's time and effort that have been put into his or her product or service. An experienced and skilled merchant will know that the more his or her affiliates are selling, the more he or she will earn.
 
And therefore, he or she will continue to test and tweak the product's or service's sales page to make it into a the most compelling offer possible that makes it hard for people to refuse once they land on the page.

Look for sales pages that are simple and clean, that offer a compelling headline, testimonials and, if possible, even a timer that shows people how long they can claim the product or possibly the bonus that comes with it. 

Once you've chosen a product with a proven sales page and conversion rate, you need to get as much high-quality traffic to the offer as possible. You can do this directly by advertising your affiliate link with PPC (pay-per-click), classified ads, banner ads, etc. 
 
Or you can set up a content blog or website that provides useful information on the niche of the product or service you are selling.

If you are just starting out, a blog might be the easiest way to get started and a WordPress blog is often the most highly recommended because it comes with many free plug-ins that will allow you to be more visible to the search engines.

Keyword research is an important part of any kind of affiliate marketing plan of action. After you've chosen the product or service that you want to promote, then choose the keywords that you are going to use to get traffic to your link or to your website or blog. 
 
Again, if you are new, you want to choose less competitive keywords.

Go to the Google Adwords Keyword Research Tool (which is free of charge) and type in the general term that describes your product's niche. This tool will then provide you with all the related search terms that people are actually using when they go to their browser and do a search. 
 
The tool also provides you general statistics on how often each term is searched, how competitive each term is, what people are bidding on this term in PPC ads, etc.

Start with lower-searched terms and use these in your blog/website content, or in your direct link advertising methods. As you start to get more visitors, you can start using more competitive terms in your affiliate marketing strategy.

Monday, 20 April 2015

Don’t Make These 10 Common Affiliate Marketing Mistakes!


As the affiliate space continually expands, the number of available networks has grown exponentially. Rookies might get the bright idea to join as many as possible to keep their options open. Instead, a seasoned publisher will know to select a few reputable networks and start small, giving each campaign abundant attention until it starts converting (or cancel it and replace with a higher quality offer). Whether affiliates join a public network like CJ or a private one like Madrivo, the success of a campaign relies more heavily on the affiliate’s deployment strategies than the source.


Not investing in the right resources
One of the tale tell signs of a newbie affiliate is their enthusiasm about making millions of dollars through their free email and hosting accounts. As with many things in life, affiliates must spend money to make money. Investing in servers, IPs, data, and a complex tracking interface allow serious publishers to capitalize on the potential ROI of campaigns they run. Many profitable affiliate companies consist of small teams that have a healthy knowledge of manipulating back end systems for mass exposure. Skimping on the necessary tools will not a wealthy mailer make.

Not tracking
An affiliate who doesn’t track may as well throw their money down a well and wait to see how much comes back up. It doesn’t make sense to put substantial effort into optimizing and deploying a campaign only to depend on the advertiser or network to report the earnings. Tracking platforms top the list of the required resources affiliates need to get started. Many times technical issues (and, sometimes, fraud!) significantly skew the earnings report. Without a tracking mechanism in place, affiliates can’t prove their case for leads they rightfully earned.

Not A/B Testing
Part of optimization includes a/b testing. The merchant and/or network are responsible for providing quality assets that appeal to their target consumer; affiliates, however, are responsible for deploying these assets in a way that maximize conversions. Whether they tweak subject lines, test two different email creatives in the same pool of data, or post banners on sites across different verticals, publishers have a lot of power when it comes to proper ad delivery and placement. A/B testing also benefits the advertiser, strengthening the working partnership with their affiliate and making them more likely to give them better payouts.

Scoping out Competitors
One of the best ways to understand consumer behavior is to understand what’s already out there. If an affiliate considers what people have already seen or experienced against what they’re offering, they can gauge which approaches are most effective for certain demographics as well as what brands are pushing as their selling points. While affiliates don’t want to copy their competitors, they should still know what their up against and take some advice from reputable companies within an industry. The key to a successful campaign is a unique value proposition without the sacrifice of what everyone else is already offering.

Running too many campaigns
Another flub new affiliates often make is running too many campaigns in the hopes that one will just happen to work out. When just starting out, its important to concentrate more on strategy and develop a broad knowledge of effective tactics before taking a shot in dark with several campaigns. If an affiliate focuses on just a few proven offers and spends their time dissecting what did and didn’t work, they’re more likely to be successful down the road. Affiliate marketing is a constantly growing and changing industry because it’s largely driven by consumer trends and evolving technology, both of which can transform overnight. Even more, the time they take to know what campaign performs well in a given vertical and what payout is competitive enough to be worthwhile will save them time and resources on running other offers that aren’t likely to convert. Good publishers will pursue a strong working knowledge of industry tools prior to launching every campaign they’re offered.

Not using SEO
SEO is not dead despite its archaic reputation. In fact, many of the online technological advances made in recent years are based primarily on the use of SEO but in a non-traditional way. While SEO is too complex to sufficiently summarize in a few sentences, new affiliates should take the time to learn about its versatility and different ways it can be incorporated into affiliate marketing. One foolproof way a startup publisher can earn some dough is by placing their links on a page that’s already keyword dense for optimal traffic. SEO works because it simply connects consumers with the information they’re seeking through the words or terms they use to find it. Why not place ads and links exactly where a customer would go to find it?

Not diversifying your affiliate products/verticalsAnother common misstep affiliates make is limiting themselves to running offers within one category. There are plenty of verticals to choose from, whether it be auto, education, dating or finance. All industries have spikes and lulls in sales and growth meaning that one campaign will do well during some seasons and others just won’t. While it’s still important to refrain from running too many offers at once, there’s a need for diversification, regardless of the number. If anything, it will help steady traffic flow and conversion rates when one campaign isn’t performing as well as others in a different industry.

Selling direct to the customer
Affiliates must remember that while they’re selling for a brand or advertiser, they’re not salesmen/women. Instead, they’re a floodgate between the product or service and its ideal consumer. New publishers need to let the merchant dictate the sales strategy and value proposition and then decide the best methods for pushing the advertisements. If too much time is spent building an online storefront for potential customers, it takes away from the energy that could be invested in the best ways to reach the users. Instead, affiliates should consider themselves traffic drivers that bring all of the consumers they reach back to the advertiser, who then becomes responsible for the actual sales transaction. Affiliates don’t sell product or service; they link consumers to it.

With the right balance of time, resources, and tenacity, many new affiliates grow their start up entities into highly lucrative affiliate marketing channels. Diversification, moderation, and experimentation will make a rookie into a pro overtime.

Monday, 23 February 2015

What is Affiliate Marketing & How You can Make Money!

You've probably heard of money making opportunities with Affiliate Marketing but you are not quite for sure what it is, how it works or how to get started. 


In this article I would like to share with you what affiliate marketing is, how it works and point you in the right direction in getting started with generating passive income through Affiliate Marketing.

What is Affiliate Marketing?
It is a type of marketing in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought to them by the affiliate's own marketing efforts. There are primarily 4 core players in affiliate marketing and they are as follows:

1.The Merchant(also known as "retailer or brand")
2.The Network(that contains offers for the affiliate to choose from and also takes care of the payments)
3.The Affiliate
4.The Customer

The Merchant: 
The Merchant is relatively easy to understand. The merchant can be Amazon, Best buy, Target, etc. Not every company has an affiliate program though. 

One way to see if a company has an affiliate program is to type in the Merchant's name into a search engine like Google, followed by the phrase affiliate program, for instance you would type in amazon affiliate program. 

The search engine should list a link to Amazon's affiliate program. Follow this same procedure for any merchant in which you would like to see if they have an affiliate program.
 
The Network: 
An affiliate network acts as an intermediary between affiliates and merchant affiliate programs.
 
The Affiliate: 
You would be the affiliate, the person who would promote and advertise for the Merchant, thereby, you will receive some type of commission for recommending their products and services. 

In order to know what you can expect, for as compensation, you must read through the affiliate program for the merchant you would like to be an affiliate with. Some affiliate programs pay more than others. 

One very important key in deciding which affiliate program you would like to join, is to let it be relative to the content on your website. For example if your website is dedicated to electronic products then try to find affiliate programs that deal in electronic products and services. 

The Customer: 
The customer is the one who will click on the affiliate link you posted on your website and hopefully make a purchase from a particular merchant.

The Benefits of Generating Passive Income as an Affiliate!
•You can potentially generate many passive income streams through joining several affiliate programs, just ensure the affiliate programs are relative to your content.
•Affiliate programs are legitimate and not scams.
•Joining an affiliate program is absolutely free.
•It is a very low maintenance way of generating passive income.
•You don't have to be present to make money.


wealthyaffiliate.com/ccj/blog/what-is-affiliate-marketing-and-how-you-can-make-money

Monday, 16 February 2015

Pinterest Kills Affiliate Links As It Readies A Buy Button!

Social networking site Pinterest is banning the use of affiliate links and redirects according to VentureBeat, which broke the story on Thursday. 


The news came as rumors surfaced that Pinterest was planning to launch a buy button later this year, possibly in partnership with payment service Stripe. But the company denied it was blocking affiliates due to monetization purposes.

"This is 100% about the Pinner experience and ensuring relevant content on Pinterest," a spokesperson told Mediapost, which pointed out that Pinterest was, nevertheless, "aggressively pursuing various monetization opportunities."

In 2013, for example, Pinterest launched an ad format called Promoted pins.

Pinterest issued a statement to reporters saying it had observed affiliate links and redirects causing irrelevant posts (Pins) to show in feeds as well as broken links "and other spammy behavior." 

The company said, "We believe this change will enable us to keep the high bar of relevancy and quality Pinners expect from Pinterest."

The Wall Street Journal said Pinterest claimed it had been automatically removing affiliate links for years but had allowed some exceptions that were "maintaining good quality."

"RewardStyle, an affiliate network that caters to the fashion industry and works with 9,000 bloggers, websites and other publishers, was among those that had been allowed to link, until yesterday," the Wall Street Journal wrote on Friday. 

It quoted a Pinterest spokesperson who said, "We have noticed their Pinner behavior going downhill. This has caused slower delivery of Pins and less relevant Pins in people's home feeds."

VentureBeat said Hello Society, a company billing itself as a "Pinterest marketing agency," was also affected by the new policy.

Online sellers are using Pinterest, but as a marketing tool rather than an ecommerce platform, according to Ecommerce Bytes readers participating in the annual Sellers Choice Awards in January.


http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abn/y15/m02/i16/s03

Monday, 22 September 2014

The Secrets Of The Affiliate Marketing Experts!

Web marketing can be a profitable marketing strategy. The track record of affiliate program use has proven its potential for profits over a number of years. 

Given the length of affiliate marketing history and the furious rate of new developments, a substantial body of knowledge exists about it. You might find these tips helpful, no matter if you are a novice or expert affiliate marketer.


Learn how a company tracks orders made off-site before you choose a marketing program. You should ensure that your affiliates have a tracking a method of tracking orders that are not placed online to ensure your commission payments.

TIP! It’s vital that you and your various affiliate marketing partners do not try to take advantage of the visitors with this particular procedure. If nothing else, this will annoy your visitors.

Look for affiliates that can further your business plan not only as partners but also as providers. While you want some diversity in your affiliate network, you also want to connect with companies you truly like and trust. Do some research before choosing which affiliates you will do business with.

Try not to market only extremely popular products. Don’t confuse quality with popularity. Going up against giant competitors, as a small business owner, can be bad for your business. Generating profit can be difficult.

TIP! When venturing into affiliate marketing, it is useful to find and register with affiliates that are able to give you the services and products you want to sell. Joining different programs will provide you with multiple streams of income.

One way to improve you chances of success with affiliate marketing is by looking for a company with a steady stream of products. Work with reputable companies to retain customers and increase profits. Avoid doing business with companies marketing flash-in-the-pan products.

Wednesday, 17 September 2014

The Role Of Content In Performance Marketing!

February 2011 is perhaps the starting point for any discussion of the current role of content in performance marketing. 


Google’s then roll out of the Panda update was the search giant’s first systemic step towards emphasising the value of pure, quality content in terms of its rankings and which penalised what it deemed ‘thin sites’, low on quality and sometimes guilty of ‘black hat’ tactics that attempted to manipulate their way to the top of valuable search queries. 

For both advertisers and publishers alike, this was a new dawn and the upshot was that many brands were forced to rethink their approach online, moving content plans to the very core of their online and indeed affiliate strategy. 

Whilst the initial rollout saw varying degrees of collateral damage with some unwarranted casualties seeing huge drop-offs in their natural traffic, the update seems to have had the desired effect and forced all digital natives to place a new value on providing content for their audiences that is both relevant and valuable. 

This is equally true within the performance marketing channel, and if anything, has arguably added a new legitimacy to an environment which may previously have been seen by some as slightly murky; littered with banner farms, keyword-stuffed review sites and dodgy discount code providers. 

Now, to ensure consistent traffic levels, affiliate sites of all persuasions are compelled to think of their audiences rather than their rankings first, and to consider what value they can add to the customer journey. 

Though some may always see the repositioning of the search goalposts as a negative, the focus on content by Google has to some extent been a boon to affiliates who are in the perfect position to take advantage of it. 

As independent mediators between consumers and brands their notional objectivity and insight is precisely what online users demand during the pre-purchase phase of the customer journey. Content marketing provides the perfect tool for affiliates to exploit this. 

It is by no means an easy task, but by producing a consistent stream of relevant, valuable and insightful content on a subject area, affiliates can benefit in various ways. They can develop trust with their audience, engage new traffic niches, foster relationships and generate links and referrals from other authoritative sources.  

Content affiliates can also develop their own brand identity and personality, and by doing so encourage the ‘virality’ of the content they share. There is much to be gained, and in a back-to-front kind of way all this can culminate in ever greater performance for both affiliates and the brands they work with. 

Invariably the traffic coming their way is more numerous, more qualified and more disposed to converting. The subsequent updates that Google has rolled out since 2011 have sought to refine and extend much of what the original Panda update started. 

With an ever more nuanced understanding of what users are searching for online the role of content has changed dramatically and for affiliates and their brand partners it is an essential component of any effective performance marketing relationship.