Choosing an Affiliate Marketing Program
For people who are new to affiliate marketing it can be a little daunting finding the right program to promote. You don’t want to promote something that just seems too good to be true but you don’t want to promote something that’s just going to make you filthy rich overnight either.
Here are four important factors you should look for when choosing your affiliate marketing program:
#1 Is the program set up to reward your efforts?
Does the company provide you with everything you need to promote their products? For instance, do they provide ads, promotional tools, and training in spades? Will you be required to pay for something if you do fail to generate a sale or result?
#2 Are there any hidden fees, such as extra ads, training, or shipping?
You don’t want to be paying fees just to promote something. Some affiliate programs actually promise you 0% or close to it when in fact they’re going to charge you anything they can get their hands on.
Another thing to look for is how you get paid. Do they have a 3 way affiliate program where you promote several products and they handle all the administrative issues? Do they have a 2 way affiliate program where you promote several products and receive a small commission when a sale is made? Lastly, do they provide you with an affiliate link?
When you combine all these factors together, you can come up with a checklist of factors to look at when choosing your affiliate marketing program. For instance, if the affiliate program charges you an arm and a leg to promote them and you’re not getting everything you need, or they offer you 0% for 1 or 2 products and you end up not making any money, it’s time to move on. These programs are no good.
#3 Do they provide the tools necessary to promote their products?
Are there any tools they provide for free? For instance, do they provide articles, email scripts, banner ads, free blogs etc. and do they give them away free as part of sign up? Are their tools any good?
If the programs don’t provide the tools then you’re left to do whatever it takes to generate traffic yourself. Do what it takes to generate traffic and you’ll generate sales.
#4 Does the affiliate program have a proven marketing system?
Does the marketing system generate consistent traffic? Do they have a proven marketing model where you can copycat them and they reward you for your efforts? For instance, if they have a marketing system that you can copycat and get good results, then you get good rewards for your efforts. Read more about Affiliate Marketing Guide
Is the marketing system profitable? What are the key sales measurements they use? These are key elements that you need to check when you’re choosing your affiliate marketing program. For instance, if you’re selling a skincare product and they reveal their key sales measurements then you can use those measurements in your promotions. Check all the key sales measurements they reveal and use them in your promotions to get you higher earnings.
Also, are the sales you get just from sending traffic to their sales page enough? How does the reward for sending traffic to their sales page compare to other sales programs? If you don’t get enough rewards from sending traffic to their sales page, then you won’t get much from joining this program.
If you’re not happy with your affiliate marketing program after doing the above checks, then it’s time to move on to the next affiliate program.
Good affiliate programs have all the factors needed to get you up and running so that you can start making money. The program should have, at a minimum, a signed NDA (non-disclosure agreement) and a privacy policy which outlines how they handle your personal information, such as name, address, etc. This information is extremely valuable to other affiliates who are in your market and it makes it more likely that they will choose the product which you promote over other products.
There are a lot of scams out there so you want to make sure that the affiliate program you’re choosing is legit. A lot of programs out there are set up to fool you into sending them money.
Another key element is if the program has a support team or email address where you can ask questions about the product.
If you can’t find these elements listed, then you need to rethink your choice.
You can check out reviews on established Websites such as TWOOM