It has come to my attention (through my cousin David..thanks for your feedback David!….much appreciated!) that some of my blogs have been a little too specific in the area of marketing and entertainment..so I thought I would write at least one (if not more) that was a little more general (thought still in the realm of media and marketing) and perhaps would be able to evoke some lively comments from some readers.
I started thinking about the idea of affiliate marketing and what it all means. So, I thought I would explain things in layman’s terms and provide an example of a successful affiliate marketing program as well as my thoughts on future programs and how to effectively use affiliate marketing initiatives.
According to Online Advertising (www.onlineadvertising.net) Affiliate Marketing can be defined as “A type of advertising system based on the CPA payment method whereby web sites run advertiser’s banners for free but get paid on any sales or registrations that result from visitors that click on the banner.” whereby a CPA payment method is defined as Cost-Per-Action (CPA). CPA refers to the fact that advertisers on the website don’t pay anything unless the user actually performs an action. (i.e. registration, purchases an item etc.) This method is particularly effective if you own a website in which your marketing efforts are directly based on your sales activities. (that is, the web owner doesn’t get paid by the advertiser unless a sale is made and can be traced back to THAT particular website). An affiliate program is essentially the same thing as a CPA agreement.
One of the best examples around of an affiliate program is Amazon. It seems you can’t go on any websites these days without bumping headfirst into one of Amazon’s affiliates. Amazon seems to be doing a great job, as I highly doubt that any sites out there participating in the Amazon affiliate program would continue to do so if they weren’t making any commission monies.
One of the things I would like to see (perhaps it already exists?) is an advertiser’s advertising embedded into the visual content of the site’s itself. Let’s take for example, women’s clothing. The idea would be to create a virtual model (an avatar based on your body type would be wicked!) who wears the partner’s clothes, along with an opportunity for the user to click on the article of clothing they find appealing, and then takes them directly to the advertiser’s website where the user can purchase the item online. First of all I think it would be so much fun to go shopping that way, and secondly it allows you the opportunity to see what the article of clothing may look like on you before purchasing.
One of the most important aspects that I would look for in a website that subscribes to an affiliate marketing program is how relevant the advertising is to the content of the site. If its a website devoted to donating money for lung cancer and there is a cigarette ad placed on the site (I don’t suspect anyone would be so blatant about it, but I am trying to make a point), as a user that would definitely turn me off. I think its important when choosing an affiliate program that as the web owner affiliate partners are picked with some degree of relevance to the site’s content rather than just for the sake of having a profitable affiliate partner. Personally, I think it damages the credibility of the website and what its trying to stand for.
Other than that, I say go out there and have some affiliate marketing fun!
Or not ) Certainly there are ways of affiliate linking that search engines … Affiliate Program
You have identified the affiliate whose marketing case study you would like to put together, carefully look for every opportunity to observe what they do. Study the keyword phrases they use and sites that link to them.