Ball Hopper or Ride On Toy?

It made me think about marketing and how people approach websites, blogs and marketing in general. You CAN do a lot of things…but it doesn’t mean you SHOULD do them! Then there are cases when something may seem a bit far fetched, but it COULD work in the right situations. Be sure that you have a good reason, that falls in line with your desired outcome before you do something.

A couple of examples of things that may or may not work for you:

1.) We have a client that uses twitter and it works great to drive people to the site and blog, but facebook just hasn’t been a good use of resources (at least at this time), so our client has chosen to forego a facebook page. There are many social media options, but you don’t have to utilize every single one-you may find one or two that work best for you.

2.) Are you reviewing books on your site? Perhaps being an Amazon Affiliate might be a good fit for you! You may have chosen not to do any kind of affiliate marketing on your site or blog, but there are some instances where it might make sense.

Anytime you are presented with marketing options, take a moment to consider if they are a good fit, or if they will suck up time that could be better used on other outlets.

Make 2009 a year that you make STRATEGIC decisions about your business!

“I built an affiliate program, but nobody came” 
You don’t have to be an affiliate marketing victim.

Great ideas are only great if they are executed brilliantly.  Affiliate marketing takes hard work and the key to success is building long term relationships.  All website owners are thinking is “what’s in it for me?” If the object of the game is to win as much as you can with online advertising, then affiliate managers need to know best practices so they can make their programs matter.

Here are our Top Five Best Practices for Affiliate Marketers:
1. Never, ever, ever discount the power of relationships.  Yes, affiliate marketing is about ROI and both the merchant and affiliate need to win big to have a great partnership, however, if there is not a strong connection between the two parties, then the desire to collaborate/strategize when ROI fades (and yield will decrease with the same approach) will kill deals. Relationships RULE affiliate marketing, that will never change.  Be a partner to the people in your affiliate program, engage them!
 
2. You have to give to gain.  Merchants enter the world of affiliate marketing thinking they can simply launch a program and magically get a lineup of affiliates dying to assume all the marketing risk by only getting paid per action….how well does this work?  Well, it doesn’t.  The object of the affiliate marketing game is to win as much as you can.  Savvy affiliates want more than a high payout, they want the merchant to link to their site off their website, endorse them on their blog, take them to lunch at affiliate conferences, send holiday gifts for promoting the heck out of their offer or all of the above.  Assuming that website owners or web marketers will ante up to promote a merchant’s offer when the merchant offers up nothing to help the affiliate, then there is no dice.  Build up your web marketing collateral to support your top affiliates – give them tools to help them gain so your program can gain.
 
3. Ask your affiliates what they need.  Sounds simple, but merchants forget to tap the power of their low hanging fruit (their existing partners!).  Send a simple (non generic) email or better yet, pick up the phone and engage partners.  Ask, “is there anything that you need from me to help you be more successful?” or  “What is the one thing that our program could add that you would really want?”  Usually when I reach out to affiliates my patients work with the affiliates are first shocked (nobody emailed them direct for years) and then giddy (and grateful)…reach out, connect, take care of the people who take care of your marketing.
 
4. Have fun.  Everybody wants to play with the cool kids.  Be a pleasure to work with, the person the affiliate partners look forward to talking to and the partner who enjoys their job.  Enthusiasm is contagious, enthusiasm breeds affiliate marketing success.  If you are excited, the excitement and support will follow.
 
5. Be proactive, not reactive.  Check out your affiliates websites, see how they promote your offer(s) and offer advice on ways that they can better promote you to make more money.  Send them screen shots of new placement ideas or content they can pop into their blog, make it easy for them to promote you!Creativity is a team effort.  Remember, your affiliates can get stuck in patterns, help them think big by doing some legwork with stellar suggestions.

Thinking is the key to web marketing success.  Build relationships, leverage the power of affiliate technology and work it….keep the love alive!  Happy affiliate marketing!