When beginning the journey as an affiliate, it can be hard to know just where to start, and what you need to do to be successful. Just as important, there are a number of things you shouldn’t do as well!
Only promote high-quality products that you personally find interesting and would consider purchasing yourself. This is for several reasons:
- If you believe in the value of the product, it will help you do a better job of promoting it.
- By having an interest in the product will give you a better understanding of what might draw others to it as well.
- You will be more believable when promoting it.
- It’s easier to promote products you feel passionate about.
Do’s
- Be flexible with your selected techniques, and be willing to make changes if something isn’t working.Each technique works differently depending on the type of product being promoted and your select market. What worked for you in the past may not work in the future. Also the business of online marketing changes very quickly, so you always need to be ready to adjust to market trends, new products, and other unforeseen circumstances.
- Keep a copy of all your affiliate links in a file on your computer or other safe place.It’s also a good idea to include a note about each product the affiliate link corresponds to, and any additional details you want to remember about the product. Not all affiliate sites, like Clickbank, keep copies of your affiliate links – so to remember and have easy access to them, you’ll need to keep a list yourself.
- Choose an unoffending name for your account.When selecting your name, it possible that it will be visible to customers in your link (depending on the affiliate program) – so it’ would be advisable to make it something that won’t offend anyone or make them decide not to purchase through your link.
Don’t
- Don’t use “negative” advertising campaigns. While some affiliates have been lead to believe that it’s a good idea to use ads like “Is Product XYZ a Scam?” to draw attention and then directly link to the product – I strongly recommend that you avoid using this method of advertising altogether. It’s always better to highlight benefits of a product right off the bat, instead of creating fear about a product and then trying to sell a customer on the product anyway.
- You don’t need to purchase the product to promote it. It’s not mandatory for you to purchase a product to sell it. Although, it is helpful when you do have the product and use it, which can lead to new ideas on how to promote the product and help you better relate it to your potential buyers.
- When offering bonuses, don’t offer cash or cash equivalents (such as gift cards) for customers who purchase a product through your affiliate link. Instead it’s better if you offer customers other types of bonuses, like additional eBooks, training video or help guide, if they purchase through your affiliate link.
- Don’t expect to generate a lot of traffic at first when using free promotional techniques.While free promotional methods such as search engine optimization (SEO) and social media networks can eventually lead to tons of traffic, when beginning you’ll most likely not drive much traffic to you site or offer using these methods. Realize that these methods take time to build up your efforts, reputation, and search engine rankings.
- Don’t use Black-hat SEO techniques. This is the kind of marketing strategy that will get your site banned from search engine listings as well as running the risk of being permanently removed from affiliate programs and killing revenue for your site.
Last Thoughts
This is by no means the full list of do’s and don’ts for affiliate marketing! However, by keeping these tips in mind as you move forward with your affiliate marketing efforts will give you a better chance at success.
