Although it is considered one of the easiest and fastest ways to make money online, there are a couple of things to chalk up. While the industry newcomers crave overnight success, experienced marketers are absolutely aware that there’s no cookie cutter way to conquering the digital channels. Affiliate marketing wants all your commitment. You cannot just go in “blind” and hope the results won’t be long in coming, no – it’s not going to work. On the flip side, the number of affiliate systems and affiliate software you could probably work with is beyond overwhelming. Given this fact, you are supposed to approach the aspects of cooperation wisely, especially if you want to squeeze the maximum out of it. Sadly, the newly-hatched affiliates face a bunch of pitfalls without even realizing it. Driven by a desire to give the newbies a walkthrough, we have compiled our own list of top 5 pitfalls to avoid in the affiliate marketing. If you are truly into becoming a super affiliate, then roll up your sleeves and get ready to devour tons of useful content. #1 – Bad choice of affiliate network Do you want your promotional attempts to fail? Well, nobody wants that. Beyond any doubt, this is the most common lesson for all the industry newbies. If you pick carelessly, you’ll learn it the hard way. When selecting the right affiliate system, try to evaluate all the pros and cons of the prospective cooperation. Do the research and always double-check the networks that you find interesting – it will help you get around the sugarcoated web image and see their insides. If you happen to stumble upon something you are not satisfied with, then you better go seek somewhere else. #2 – Ill-suited traffic sources Given the ever-evolving digital landscape of the world, no wonder some traffic sources prove to perform better (or worse) than they used to. When looking at the findings by Statista, nearly 70% of affiliate marketers worldwide preferred SEO traffic over such high-performing sources as social, blogging, and email marketing. Up to the present day, email marketing dislodges the social media traffic, and here’s how. 91% users from all over the globe check their emails above the social accounts every single day, as reported by OptinMonster. In 2018, the list of most popular traffic sources includes the following:
Adult Mobile Social Media Search Native Advertising Mainstream Pay-Per-View Pop Traffic
The trick here is to make sure the traffic you try to bring is interested in what you advertise. Due to the lack of expertise, many affiliate marketing beginners have troubles selecting a traffic source that will work for them. One of the solutions is to take advantage of the affiliate software, as it helps you focus on a single traffic source rather than trying to sell everything to everyone. #3 – Poor knowledge of the Internet marketing
Motivation and self-assurance is the key to rock the digital, and you’ll definitely need them. However, there’s no chance you can build a successful marketing campaign without the proper background. Start with the basics – study the terms and their definitions, watch webinars, follow affiliate marketing bloggers. In a nutshell, always be in the line. Internet marketing is changing daily, and so are the affiliate systems, networks, and marketplaces. More to it, they have their own advertising rules to follow. For instance, promoting products through social media and banner ads, for instance, is not the same. In fact, banner ads tend to lose their popularity nowadays, so take the mental note of this fact. Marketing Insider Group highlights the tremendously low CTR for banners, which is 0.06%. Top it with the fact that 60% of clicks are accidental and you will see the picture clearer. If the lack of expertise on your side is massive, you may possibly find an ‘e-helper,’ or an affiliate software program. The main perk of such endeavors is that they let you explore the world digital landscape by giving the insights of the well-performing niches, ad formats, and markets. Basically, you will be able to promote and monetize products like there’s no tomorrow. #4 – Imprecise targeting As written above, trying to target everyone is unproductive and results in nothing but a waste of time and money. Not sure where’s your lucky start? Well, it’s somewhere near the identification of your ideal customers’ characteristics. Except for geography and demography, your aim is to find out as much as possible about your prospects. Try to dig deeper and discover their values, opinions, interests, and personality traits. Knowing all of this will help you:
Compile a list of keywords or topics with high targeting ability. Increase the conversion rates. Kick the user experience up a notch. Get your message across in a better way. Discover the key influencers in your niche.
#5 – No performance tracking tools The latter pitfall on your sailing above the rough waters of the Internet marketing is tracking or – more specifically – the lack of it. What’s the purpose of using the performance tracking tools? First of all, the right affiliate software program can offset the shortage of business acumen and point out the weaknesses of your ad campaigns. For instance, AdsBridge is a SaaS tracking platform with its own TDS (short for ‘traffic distribution system’) that enables the affiliates to monitor their performance in the real time. When you disregard the benefits of affiliate software and prefer not to make any investments, then you are likely to lose those funds even faster. It’s vital to keep tabs on the users’ behavior, so you can get a complete understanding of what hooks them and what doesn’t. Wrapping up… Affiliate marketing is hard, indeed. On the bright side, the road to success is made of victories and failures, so just don’t give up too soon. Be consistent, patient, and motivated if you want to succeed. Update your market knowledge daily, focus on a single niche, target properly, and team up with the reputed affiliate networks only.
