5 Tips to Improve Your Affiliate Marketing
Welcome to the new MyCommerce Corner. We’re going to start a new section of this blog with information designed more for our affiliates. Since I’ve started this blog, I have received several questions from people asking for tips on how to market their products using an affiliate network. So I spoke with several members within the different affiliate teams at Digital River and we put together some best practices to keep in mind when marketing within an affiliate network. While there is not one specific way to market online products, there are some best practices that vendors can use to make the most out of their affiliate programs:
- Choose the right program
There are hundreds of affiliate programs run through different networks. Make sure to do some research before joining one, as joining the wrong one or purchasing the wrong software could hurt you in the end. Take the time to go through all the different options and services that each program offers since affiliate programs can offer different payment scales, products, services and promotions. Choosing the right programs will ensure that your product is seen by the right people. It may take time before you find the right network.
Once the correct network is chosen, now you need to recruit good affiliates for your products. Use the keywords for the product in searches and find websites or publishers that could bring in the best audience. Reach out to them directly through email or a contact form on their websites asking about interest in a potential affiliate partnership. Many affiliate networks will provide you with a signup URL that can be promoted on a homepage. Be sure to post this to promote the affiliate section on a website.
Once the correct network is chosen, now you need to recruit good affiliates for your products. Use the keywords for the product in searches and find websites or publishers that could bring in the best audience. Reach out to them directly through email or a contact form on their websites asking about interest in a potential affiliate partnership. Many affiliate networks will provide you with a signup URL that can be promoted on a homepage. Be sure to post this to promote the affiliate section on a website.
- Communicate with your network
Putting together a communication plan is a good idea to make sure all your affiliates are updated with everything going on with your products. A good place to start would be with a monthly newsletter that announces any new products you may have, what sort of commissions are being offered, company news, what coupons or promotions are being run and even any best practices you may have.
Beyond outbound communications, it is also important to respond to any communications from the affiliates in a timely manner. Make a habit of reviewing and approving new affiliates within two days; nobody likes being strung along. Also make sure to respond to any email communications as soon as possible. This will ensure the network knows that they are important to you and will increase their effectiveness.
Beyond outbound communications, it is also important to respond to any communications from the affiliates in a timely manner. Make a habit of reviewing and approving new affiliates within two days; nobody likes being strung along. Also make sure to respond to any email communications as soon as possible. This will ensure the network knows that they are important to you and will increase their effectiveness.
- Create appropriate content
Quality content should be the foundation of a marketing plan; remember, content is king. Without quality content, affiliates will not want to market your products and people will not come. Nobody knows your product better than you, so it would be best to create marketing materials for affiliates to use yourself instead of relying on an outsider to do so. Provide the affiliates with proper product descriptions that contain keywords, links to images that can be used in promotional material or with specialized marketing materials for any promotions that you may be offering.
- Don’t be afraid of coupons
While it may not seem to be the most ideal way to gain a wide following, coupon sites are very popular with online shoppers today. Offering these is a great way to get other affiliates to place your products on their websites. Make sure to evaluate the success of coupon codes as time goes on. Give the coupon at least 30 days before checking on the progress. This gives affiliates a good amount of time to publish and capture sales on the product. If a certain coupon is not working, have the flexibility to change what is being offered. It also is acceptable to have multiple coupon codes available at a time.
- Be Patient
Just like SEO and social media, seeing significant results from an affiliate marketing program can take time. I recently read on some blogs and message boards that people were disappointed because they saw affiliate programs as a get-rich-quick plan. Nothing could be further from the truth. It takes time to build an effective network, find the appropriate promotions to offer and see sales start to come it. Keep this in mind if you do not see immediate returns from the affiliate efforts.
Affiliate programs are often overlooked by business owners. While search engines, email and social media drive much of the attention of online businesses, using affiliates to market a product is often forgotten. However, properly using an affiliate network is an easy and effective way to increase an e-commerce company’s sales. Follow these steps and it will be only a matter of time before this powerful network can be used by you too.
Article from http://www.mycommerce.com
How to Improve Your Affiliate Marketing
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