The Secrets of the Best Affiliate Marketers

affiliate marketersThe best affiliate marketers are sometimes referred to as “super affiliates.”

This small group of affiliates is the group that generates the most commission for their chosen merchants.

They recruit new affiliates, make lots of sales, and make lots of money too. But what is it that sets these affiliate marketers apart from those of us who are less successful?

Believe it or not, the differences are small – they use the same tools and the same basic SEO strategies to promote the same products. The differences in their approach are minor, but even minor changes can have a huge impact.

Successful Affiliate Marketers Are Creative

The most successful affiliate marketers are creative. Instead of following trends (and therefore inevitably being “late to the party”), they make trends. They’re always on the lookout for the next big thing and they take chances on capitalizing on those things.

They know they’re selling the same stuff as everyone else, so instead of trying to shout about how their product is “better,” they make it different. They advertise the differences knowing that for many people those differences will be big enough that they will tip the balance for the value judgement.

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Super Affiliates Do The Things You Won’t

There is a popular saying in the world of sports, which points out that if you are willing to do the things that other people won’t do, then eventually you will be able to do the things that other people cannot do. This saying applies just as well to affiliate marketers as it does to athletes.

Making plans, setting goals, doing the boring jobs, and learning the complicated and intimidating looking skills will pay off. Success isn’t just about putting more time into affiliate marketing, it’s about making sure that you’re spending that time on doing things that will pay off.

Follow Up On Leads

Attracting prospects is pretty easy for most half-decent affiliates, but the difference between people who make some money doing affiliate marketing and people who can turn it into a full-time job is that the most successful people consistently turn prospects into customers.

They do this by following up on their prospects and using a combination of cross-sales, up-selling, and customer retention tactics to bring in new customers and increase the lifetime value of existing customers. It is much easier to get someone who has bought from you once to buy from you again than it is to go through the process of bringing in a new customer.

Even big websites such as Amazon understand this, and work to nurture their relationships with existing customers as well as to increase the average shopping cart value of each customer.

Best Affiliate Marketers Test & Test Again

Testing is another thing that the most successful affiliate marketers rely on heavily. Instead of simply finding a formula that works and then mindlessly deploying it, the most successful affiliate marketers are constantly testing and tweaking their landing pages, email templates, and sales copy. This may seem like a lot of work, but it is work that pays off.

Consumer interests and preferences are constantly changing, and what converts well today may look dated and drive customers away tomorrow. The more tests you perform, the more data you have to work from and the more quickly you will identify potential problems.

Have a Plan

This may seem obvious, but it is all too common for newcomers in affiliate marketing to either fail to plan, or to have a plan that is far too broad and simplistic. A good affiliate marketing plan is clear and detailed and includes measurable short and long-term goals. If your goal is to “launch a site and make some money,” then you are setting yourself up for failure.

Aim to achieve a certain amount of income per day and work out how many impressions you will need to achieve that. Test your site to make sure your eCPM is as it should be, and keep on tweaking and working to improve the performance of your sales pages.

If you want to build a mailing list, set a target for subscriber numbers, open rates, and conversions. Metrics matter a lot in the world of affiliate marketing.

2 Comments

  1. Jacob Bradford
    • Rob Fore

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