Driving sales and increasing online revenue via affiliate marketing continues to be one of the most important aspects of any business strategy worth its salt. A staggering 81% of all brands are using it in order to increase their profits and the vast majority of those who don’t simply have a product that is incompatible with the online business model. Here are some tips that will help you create a successful affiliate business, updated for 2019.
1. Understand SEO
SEO has become a catch-all phrase for a variety of tricks and tips that have one common goal: increasing your position in Google searches. It is a very important process and it can make or break your business, but it is not all powerful, as some experts would have you believe. It is just a tool, like any other and understating your tools is vitally important. There is no shame in seeking outside help with SEO, at least until you are confident enough to do it yourself. In fact, during the early stages of your development, it may even be recommendable to outsource it, so you can focus on other aspects of your business.
2. Content is the King
In order to attract an audience to your site, you need to have quality content. The form of it isn’t that important, it can be video, audio or text, but it has to be relevant and it has to appeal to your users. This is the first thing they will see when they come to your site and if your content isn’t on par, they will probably never return. In order to have a successful affiliate network, you need an audience who trusts you and the only way you can create that trust is via content. All the SEO black magic tricks in the world won’t help you if your audience doesn’t actually find what they are looking for when they land on your site.
3. Pick Your Niche
While not having all your eggs in one basket is a wise saying, it doesn’t really apply to the affiliate marketing business model. Here, we prefer all our eggs in one place, at least until we have reached the maximum possible size of the basket. After that, it is OK to get another one. Having a niche you are familiar with is almost a must, since it will allow you to have extensive knowledge of the subject and how to avoid the usual pitfalls that would cripple someone who can’t recognize them. Some of the most profitable niches are fitness, online casino affiliate programs, and Forex, to name just a few. The more you know about your niche, the better you will be able to communicate and create a rapport with your target audience, which will, in turn, lead to greater conversion rates and ultimately, to greater profit.
4. Find Your Audience
Every niche has its target audience, a demographic group that is most interested in it. The general rule of thumb is that the bigger the demographics, the more competitive is the niche. This is rather a no-brainer since bigger demographics have bigger spending potential. Identifying your target audience early on can save you a lot of aggravation down the road. This will affect many of the decisions you are making, from such banal ones like the design of your site (if you are trying to attract senior citizens, you will need to keep it simple, for instance) to the things like the form of your content.
5. Stay Updated
One of the most recent examples of how people fail to incorporate the latest technology into their business is voice search or lack of it. While it is still in its infancy, the voice search technology will be a standard feature in not so distant future and many people are ignoring it, much to their own peril. Why not stay ahead of the curve and incorporate it on your sites? Granted, not many people will use it today, but the number of those who do will rise steadily and once it becomes commonplace, you will have already created a link with your audience, opposed to those who have neglected it and will be in rush to catch up.
By 2020, the U.S. retailers will spend $6.8 billion on affiliate marketing and if you want a piece of that, you should start working right now. While you can’t be late, it is also true that the sooner you start working on your network, the sooner you will get to see a return on your investment. The competition for a slice of that pie will be a fierce one, as more and more people are discovering just how lucrative affiliate marketing is and if you want to succeed, you will need a lot of perseverance and patience, just like in any other business.
Emma is a business strategist-turned blogger. She lives in Auckland, New Zealand. Emma is a passionate traveler and yoga aficionado. She is in love with coffee, interior design, books, and good vibes. 🙂 You can find Emma on twitter here.