Saturday, August 25, 2012

Affiliate Marketing - How to Be Successful in This Game

Are you looking for a viable way to make money in today's suffering economy? Do you enjoy promoting other people's service or product oriented business? Would you be open to being paid a hefty commission for your efforts? Are you knowledgeable about marketing trends? If you answered yes to these questions, you may want to delve into the very lucrative field of affiliate marketing.

But what is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is when a business owner hires a marketing professional to spread the word about their business in exchange for a commission of any sales that the affiliate marketer generates from his/her marketing efforts. For instance, let's say that you're an affiliate marketer for Amazon. Well, you set up a few sites and promote their products. Well, every time someone purchases an Amazon product from your site, you get a referral commission. Amazon makes money, you make money for the referral and the customer gets the product.

Still not persuaded that affiliate marketing works? Consider these stats - according to Forrester Research, a firm located in Massachusetts, an online seller will increase his chances of earning more by 16% annually by using affiliate marketing on top of his existing marketing strategies.

One key factor that is burning the affiliate marketing candle so bright is the shift in consumer buying behavior. Nowadays consumers enjoy shopping via mobile devices like phones and tablets. This growth in e-commerce was almost non-existent a few years ago but now, it makes shopping easy-peasy. Affiliate marketers who employ SMS text advertising, display advertising and other mobile-friendly marketing methods will increase their bottom line figures tremendously.

In a just released report, "Online Holiday Shopping Forecast and Trends," eMarketer has announced the expectation for online shopping to reach $54.47 billion just in this upcoming holiday season! This would be equivalent to a 16.8% increase in sales from 2011 for the period of November and December only and it does not include travel.

Key Factors To Remember

So, if you're a marketer that is interested in playing the affiliate marketing game, you must put in a lot of work and effort to make your commissions. Here are a few strategies you can employ:

Choose partners carefully. Only choose companies that have proven track records for paying their affiliates on time. Make sure they have a solid reputation and have a great product. After all, you won't make any money selling crappy products that don't work.

Review your links regularly. Since you are basically paid an affiliates commission based on the amount of revenue you generate, you must be able to track your sales. As such, it is extremely paramount that you only deal with companies that have a solid affiliate tracking feature in place. In addition, you must regularly review your links and tracking codes so you have a better idea of what marketing method is working and which ones are a bust.

Keep good records. Know which products you're promoting and how you're promoting them. You may also want to use accounting software to help you monitor your income. Then, you can easily spot whether you are being paid properly paid or not.

Keep your content fresh and interesting. As a matter of fact 40% of online buyers are more likely to consummate a sale if they like what they read. Content is a vital key in affiliate marketing. Avoid misleading readers in any way because this will backfire with bad feedback. Keep in mind that Internet users are always on security mode alert for scammers. Your honesty and integrity is going to establish you as a credible and reputable affiliate. And that promotes loyalty, effective Word of Mouth recommendations, repeat sales and more profits.

In conclusion, affiliate marketing is a great way to make money. Since you don't have to create a specific product or service, you aren't limited in your income potential. Just remember that not every product is worthy of your marketing efforts. If you want to find and choose established partners, review your links regularly, keep good records and have fresh and interesting content you should find online affiliate program network for that.

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