Thursday, August 27, 2009

Affiliate Marketing 101: Tips For Merchants

By Luis Galarza - Free Internet Marketing.

As An Online Merchant or Marketer You Should Know That A Well Manage Affiliate Program Is One Of The Best Free Internet Marketing Strategies You Can Use!





Understanding affiliate marketing strategies when you are the marketer is all about make it easy to for web publishers and entrepreneurs to know about it, easy to sign up, to promote, and easy to get support. Specially when your affiliate program is open to all type of online marketers. I said this because there are times when a merchant will hand pick the publishers to partners with, and this can be done in-house or by becoming part of an exclusive associate network, for more information about this read my post title: Affiliate Marketing For Merchants: Affiliate Network Success Elements.

So, you can said that when a Internet merchant wants to integrate affiliate marketing as another medium of web exposure, it comes down to the understanding of three imperative elements:

  1. How to start a program successfully.
  2. How to set it up so it works automatically and follow your marketing goals.
  3. How to manage it to increase program productivity and effectiveness, and..
  4. How to promote it to the right audience of active web publishers.


Now, this type of online referral or associate systems can cost little to no money to implement, but if you compare the same type of system in the real world or offline, which will be a franchise or vendor opportunity like Avon can cost you way more money, time, and resources to build a similar program. Thank God with have the Internet, which makes this process very easy for small businesses and even home based businesses.



The Tips!

OK, let me go directly to some of the most important factors I learn about running a successful performance based system:


1. - Expose Originality.

What I mean with this is that you need to have a brand, product or service that is easy to market. And for something to have a good marketing response from your audience needs to be unique, so focus on creating an USP (Unique Selling Proposition) that have that special benefit that is different from what your competitors are offering. Sometimes a word or even a letter is good enough to make you original, think Google Nemesis which is a PPC training course, and iPhone which is the mobile phone by Apple that turn very popular starting from the name!


2. - Offer Good Commissions.

This is a big one, because most publishers "beginners and advanced" will pick a partnership with the merchant that offers the highest revenues, specially if the associate is going to invest in pay-per-click advertising to market your goods. Many top online retailers like Amazon or Dell offer commissions of 2 to 10% depending on the product sold. But, when it comes to digital goods like ebooks or software marketers expect to get paid more, usually 40 to 80% of the sales.

So, when it comes to commissions you need to also think about what is the right amount that will keep your online sales force strong and active.


3. - Gain Trust.

One of the best ways to build credibility is by using some good PR, article marketing, and social media strategies. Simply, keep your company on the news by submitting at least one press release per month, write one article per day and submit it to some top directories, contribute to high traffic forums, and keep a constant activity in some the top social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc., this can help you build trust and become an authority in your niche.


4. - Set Up A System That Works.

Make sure you create a program that works automatically, and provide supporting tips right at from, this will reduce your customer service giving you more time to work on other important areas. You need to have a good set of pre-selling and advertising material your partners can use to promote your products. Also, remember to offer as much information about your company and services, because a good salesperson is the one that is the most knowledgeable.


This type of Internet marketing strategy can be put to work on any type of market or niche, of course there a few hot trends right now, but any online business should have a referral system in place.

To get unlimited advice about "Effective Affiliate Management Techniques" visit the IE Club. Yes, is all about having a good management process!


Recommended Resources.



Like I said before in this post, implementing an affiliate program to have other marketers promote your products or services can cost little or a lot of money. But, if your programs is profitable, is almost like having a complete free Internet marketing system in place. So, focus on managing it effectively.

To your success,

Luis Galarza, Internet Marketing Consultant In Massachusetts.


Blerp Me

or

Share this article with this button...

No comments:

Post a Comment