subject: Key Questions For Affiliate Marketing Success [print this page] Affiliate marketing has become better known over the years. Most schemes provide a business with the chance to use sales people who are paid only for successful outcomes. Starters in affiliate marketing have the chance to start an online business with limited capital.
The rewards for affiliates can be high, even more so for the trained affiliate marketing practitioner. Hence the increasing number of affiliate schemes that are offered to prospective affiliates. You now have to consider how you will choose the right schemes and get the income you need.
The questions below will help you to assess businesses and their affiliate schemes. They will also help you find success without wasting too much time, effort and money.
What income would you get?
You need to know how much you should expect from each sale. There is little point spending time and money to endorse a product when you will not be well-compensated in return. You could end up wasting more time on promotions than you spend generating sales. Thus it may be better to just endorse products with high payments. Alternatively you may be able to set up a situation where you will trade products in large numbers to get high income.
How much traffic goes to the ecommerce site?
Try and assess the volume of traffic that a business site is receiving. If the site is in the top 100,000, the business gets good traffic and probably has many affiliates already. If it is below the top 500,000, either it is not very good or there may be a chance to earn some money.
Do continual product research if the site has a low traffic rating. If you can afford it, it would be a good idea to buy the product yourself. If not, conduct research to see if there have been any bad remarks about it online.
If everything seems fine and the product is great, you could have found yourself a winner.
How often are you paid?
Different businesses make payments at different intervals, e.g. weekly, monthly or even quarterly. You need to know when to expect your commissions.
You should also find out the minimum sales that you need to make before you get anything. Some businesses will not pay you until you are entitled to a certain amount. Others will pay you as soon as the sale is completed.
Are you paid for subsequent sales?
Some businesses will only pay you if the customer views their sites via a direct link from your site. You will get nothing if the customer starts of buying via your site but makes later purchases by directly accessing the businesss site. If you are to stay profitable, you need to ensure that you will get paid regardless of how the customer revisits the site.
What marketing resources do affiliates get?
Find out the type and quality of marketing materials that a business offers its affiliates. Will they provide articles or other content that you can include on your website? How about free guides, special offers and samples (which are great for promotion)?
If the marketing resources are good, then this may show that the business will provide good support for its affiliates.
However you may sometimes get a better response from your own marketing initiatives. If the affiliate scheme has been around a long time, then the promotions and marketing material may have become outdated or over-exposed. Hence a new promotion could give the impression of a fresh product.
In conclusion
Affiliate marketing can be profitable and a good place to start if you are new to online marketing. Finding the right affiliate scheme can be a complicated matter. So do your research thoroughly. The above questions will help you find the scheme that meets your needs.
