The concept of affiliate marketing is a simple one; You promote another company’s products, you make a sale, you earn a commission of that sale. For affiliates, the inherent beauty of this strategy lies within the fact that there is little need to spend time sourcing for products to sell. The tools of your trade are an accessible platform and ideally, someone capable of navigating an SEO heavy terrain.
While the landscape of affiliate marketing has become increasingly competitive, game players continue to thrive and find success in the form of five figure monthly profits and brand visibility by using a strategic combination of tried and tested tactics and experimental risk-taking, because after all, what is business without a little risk?
Saleduck – an online deal community with markets in five ASEAN countries including Malaysia and Singapore – weighs in on the key elements of what makes for a rewarding affiliate marketing strategy.
Work with an account manager
Always ask for an account manager that you can communicate with directly. From updates on your site performance to having to fix a broken link at the last minute, having a go-to person who is familiar with your portfolio is a means of expediting your business processes. This allows you to fully focus your energy on optimising your business instead wasting time trying to figure out who to approach when you’re in need of solutions. In addition, they can also be the best third-party visitor to your website and can provide you with a refreshing perspective on your website, performance and content. Being able to fully utilize their industry knowledge can give you a wider perspective of the business and the industry.
Find a niche
Variety isn’t always a good thing. While the idea of selling everything under the sun sounds like a foolproof way of profiting from every angle, there is such a thing as information overload. Over-whelming potential customers can actually work against you which is why focusing on a niche market allows you to target your efforts more strategically. Pick a niche market and serve it well. Which brings us to our next point :
Understand the local market
Especially for international publishers. If you’re planning to serve a market that you’re not yet familiar with, take the time to understand it and learn the shopping behaviors and cultures of the customers that inhibit it. Buyer behavior can differ from city to city, even more so across countries and continents. The more in tune you are to the needs and desires of the market you intend to serve, the higher the likelihood of you finding success.
Keep tabs on new and old advertisers
With each new advertiser, comes the potential for opportunity. Always take the time to find out about new sign-ups of whom you can strike up a partnership with. Along with new advertisers, don’t rule out revisiting the prospects of working with remaining advertisers with high-performance records. One of the major benefits of working with an affiliate network is that it opens up the opportunity to explore different partnerships whilst still navigating within familiar waters.
High value, high commission
As a publisher, your end goal should always revolve around promoting products that add-value to your customers as this is the driving force behind site traffic and ultimately, conversions. On the flipside, you also want to push products that help you earn high commissions. A holy grail product is essentially one that gets you both so take the time to select your merchants wisely.
Value = Credibility
Don’t just exist for the sole purpose of getting clicks and commissions. Instead find ways to add value to a visitor’s shopping experience. Whether it’s through original content or value-added savings, always find ways to elevate a shopper’s experience. When customers feel as though they’re being taken care of, you immediately transition from being just another website into a valuable resource and this is all part of building credibility, establishing trust and securing return customers.
Keep up with your affiliate networks’ yearly calendars
Most, if not all affiliate networks will have an internal timeline that they use to keep track of key dates, promotional activities, sales events and etc that they will use to plan the year around. Find out if your networks are able to share this with you as it will allow you to better anticipate upcoming events and target your promotional efforts more effectively.
Don’t overlook mobile optimisation
Just like the rest of the digital world, mobile traffic is at its nude peak and reports have shown that in 2014, 46% of affiliate clicks and 26% of affiliate retail transactions came from mobile devices. These figures show that a mobile optimised platform is no longer up for debate and not doing so can have dire consequences on your website’s traffic and conversions.
This article was shared by Saleduck, a deal community active in 15 markets globally serving millions of bargain hunters and online shoppers.
