Affiliate marketing is an excellent way to start an online business. Although anyone can achieve success with affiliate marketing, not everyone gets it. Why? Actually, there are several reasons. Affiliate marketing mistakes are among the prominent reasons.
All of us human beings are at all times subject to error, so much so that the phrase “to err is human” has come to reinforce this fact. Moreover, Affiliate Marketing is no different.
One of the essential things in life is to make mistakes and realizing the mistakes you are making. That is very true, making mistakes is great. This is because it indicates that you are trying, risking and especially, learning from your mistakes.
Also, this has been the reality of many affiliate beginners. So while making mistakes is important, you do not have to do everything wrong, do you?
You might have heard about Maicon Jordan right? Maicon Jordan merely is considered by many to be the greatest player the world basketball history has ever known.
However, he did not achieve this title overnight, or simply put easily. See what he said:
“I missed more than 9000 pitches in my career. I lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I was chosen to make the final pitch, and I failed. I have failed times and more times in my career. It was because of this that I became a WINNER “- Maicon Jordan.
With this, you can realize that making mistakes can be one of the best experiences in the lives of those who crave for success.
Today, let’s talk about how you can avoid some of the common affiliate marketing mistakes beginners make without realizing that they are destroying their businesses.
Affiliate marketing is an effective advertising technique for companies who want to increase yield. For entrepreneurs, is one of the fastest ways to earn income online.
Thanks to purely performance-based compensation, it is a measurable and risk-free distribution channel. Especially when choosing a model in which a commission is paid only in the event of a transaction (CPO or Cost per Order).
A study by Iabuk shows the following affiliate marketing statistics and trends:
- Affiliate marketing expenditure grew by 15.1% from £482 million to £554 million in 2017
- In 2017, Affiliate Marketing generated £8.9 billion sales, up 9.2% year-on-year
- Affiliate spend on smartphone increased by 49% year-on-year
- Retail holds the largest share of affiliate revenue, at 43%
Another study by Foster Research also shows the affiliate market statistics below:
For advertisers, the numerous models allow them to increase their online presence effectively.
For Affiliates, Affiliate Marketing is an alternative to ad networks like Google AdSense. Thus a form of monetization of their website. They are the equivalent of traditional offline distributors.
That’s the way I started my business many years ago, and it went well for me. It can be the same for you, especially if you avoid common mistakes that can affect your chances of success.
When you’re new to affiliate marketing, you can get lost in every step of the way. You want to try everything without a real sense of the mistakes you make and that can affect your chances of long-term success.
However, as unbelievable as it may seem, it is the mistakes that make us successful in the various areas of our lives.
So that’s precisely what happened to us when we first started in Affiliate Marketing. We made many mistakes, beginning with the fact that we started with the wrong mindset.
Recommended reading: Poultry Farming Opportunities In Kenya.
Most Common Affiliate Marketing Mistakes
The following are the mistakes that experts in the industry say are common:
Selling Instead Of Helping
Yes, the word “marketing” is part of affiliate marketing, but most of the time, your job as an affiliate is not to sell. It is to get visitors to the sales page. When you start, you may be tempted to fill your pages with keywords and links that scream “Buy this now!” This is to push users to the landing page. That is not how affiliate marketing is done.
Answer a question: Would you dare buy a product on the internet in the hand of a person you saw only once and said ‘buy now’ without even explaining why to buy such a product?
You certainly would not, would you?
You must first think of informing them to help them understand why they should buy such a product. Customers want to be notified before they decide to buy a product – that’s why the reviews on Amazon’s products are so powerful. You must express yourself more as an impartial critic rather than a salesman. This way, you generate more sales.
Read this guide too: How To Buy ECG Prepaid With Mobile Money.
Thinking People Will Click On Their Affiliate Links.
Although in affiliate marketing we limit ourselves to pre-sale, this goes beyond just placing links on our affiliate websites.
It is also about encouraging people to click on our affiliate links by listing the benefits that can be derived from the affiliate merchant’s products, giving favorable recommendations on the use of the same, and providing an attractive offer that will enable readers to review the product.
Find out the: Richest Man In Africa According To Forbes.
Affiliates Don’t Consider Organic Traffic.
The organic traffic is generated naturally as a result of a request in the search engines. So we have to work it through the techniques of Search Engine Optimization and marketing so that people can find us from the search engines.
There are tools out there that can help you save time and energy while doing affiliate marketing.
You need these tools to fast-track your affiliate marketing success.
- keyword research tools
- Niche finding tools,
- SEO and backlink tools,
- Idea generation and content editors,
- landing page creation tools
- Social media scheduling tools, etc.
Check out this also: Access Bank Transfer Code In Nigeria.
They Are Not Dedicate To A single Affiliate Marketing Strategy.
Some people think that just posting an article in the article directories will take the amount of traffic they need. This is a fatal error.
Limiting yourself to a single, or even a couple of affiliate marketing tactics limits the number of visitors you could generate for your website.
Besides, you will not be able to expand your offers to other segments of your target audience if your tactics are not flexible enough to develop.
Read also: Visa-Free Countries For Ghana.
Failure To Analyze The Results Of The Campaigns.
Studying every facet of your affiliate marketing strategies is important. How many visitors are we generating on our website? How many of them are unique? How many are returning? How much time do they spend on our pages? Where are they coming from? These are the fundamental questions you must answer.
It will help you know the return on your investment (ROI).
To answer these questions, we need a software program to track visitors to help us improve the performance of our affiliate marketing efforts.
Why is this a mistake? It’s very simple: when you make a sale, you want to know where it took place. It let you know which pages are converting best and how to expand the campaign. It’s one thing to earn commissions, and another to understand how and where you made more of those commissions.
Recommended reading: Ultimate Guide To GoGPayslip E-Payslip.
Finding an affiliate program with marketable products.
Within affiliate marketing circles, some programs can offer as much as a 95% commission per sale. However, if the products are not marketable, they will not have any benefit to our affiliate marketing campaign.
Failing to find an affiliate program with a proven track record of consumer satisfaction always requires extra effort than just recommendation.
The credibility of a company depends on how people see them. If the affiliate program has established good relationships with the members of its target market, then a brand has been created that is known for its excellent service.
You would have an easier time pre-selling these products in an affiliate program.
Don’t miss this: List Of Top Real Estate Companies In Nigeria.
Choosing the wrong affiliate programs.
Now let’s see why it’s so crucial for your business not to pick the wrong programs to promote.
You see, a lot of people want to earn with affiliate marketing as quickly as possible, and I can not blame them. Who does not like fast money?
However, in their rush, they tend to choose what I want to call a band product. They select this product because they think it is in demand without really considering whether the product pleases them or their prospects.
This is not a wise decision and could end up hurting your business in the long run. Especially if you end up losing the trust of your readers and customers by offering them products that do not benefit them.
Instead of jumping on the train, try choosing a product that you and your prospects are interested in, and you can trust. Take the extra time to plan your actions and research this product to see if it is in demand.
A quick way to find out if a product is of high demand is to do a quick Google search on the product and see if someone else is promoting it.
If you see several Google ads on the side of the search results page, you can be pretty sure to have a good market for the product. On the other hand, if there are few or no ads for the product, you may want to drop this product and continue.
On a side note, if there are too many ads for the product, your competition will be very tough, and you may want to reconsider the promotion. But market research is an entirely different topic, and I will dedicate another time for that.
Another guide: How To Register And Use PesaLink In Kenya.
No testing is done
Testing is something that everyone knows how to do, but few people actually do. Assuming you want to promote an online banking company and you don’t know what the company does in terms of its operation. You are definitely going to fail.
Whenever you choose to promote a product, put yourself in the shoes of the potential consumer. Nothing breaks the confidence of a user more than subscribe to an offer and get disappointed in the end.
Not Buying or using the product or service you are promoting.
As an affiliate, your primary goal is to effectively and convincingly promote a product or service and find people willing to buy it through your affiliate link.
For you to achieve this goal, you must be able to convey to your potential customers what the main benefit of this product or service is. It’s challenging to do when you have not tried or tested the product yourself.
While you may still be able to promote products that you have not personally used or at least revised, you will never reach the maximum revenue potential. Unless you recommend it honestly and convincingly, you cannot promote it.
So, try the product or service personally before registering as an affiliate to see if it is what it promises. If you do, you will know its advantages and disadvantages.
Your potential customers will then feel the sincerity in your review of the product, which will help them try it for themselves.
Unable to keep up with the latest developments in the industry.
We must continually update ourselves with the latest trends, techniques, and news in affiliate marketing and internet marketing to always maintain a competitive advantage.
Some affiliates throw out products on their consumers only to realize that specifications changed almost a year ago.
Read also: GTBank Transfer Code For Nigeria.
Giving up quickly
Giving up is the most frequent mistake in the entire affiliate ecosystem, premature withdrawal.
Throughout my journey, I have seen dozens of affiliates who even had potential but gave up prematurely.
So what are the reasons for these dropouts?
- They do not make money quickly;
- Do not get traffic quickly;
- Not accepted in some affiliate networks;
- They do a lot of work but see a little result;
- Lack of focus and motivation.
These are just a few reasons listed by most people who give up on this affiliate market. If you have noticed well, the only thing in common among these motives is precisely the speed with which things happen.
I want you to understand the following: Affiliate marketing is not a scam, it works.
I’ve been working on it for six years. However, what you need to understand is that the results will not appear in the first week, month or even year.
If you give up too quickly, you will never know what you might have achieved in the future. You never know, you can be the next millionaire on the internet or maybe even the next top affiliate of some famous product, but for that to happen, you can not give up so easily.
Recommended reading: WhatsApp Update To Block Chat Screenshot.
Lack of Comparison
One of the best tactics that you can use to sell affiliate products online is to compare the two main products with similar products.
When users try to buy a product online, they tend to have reduced their options or need help to make the choice that suits them best.
By comparing three products, not only do you help your readers make a decision, but you will be able to show which product is the most interesting for readers and thus put the best product at the top of the page to increase your click-through-rate.
Therefore, comparing products is not only useful for your customers, but also very profitable for you.
Sit back once we achieve success
Success is not eternal. You have to maintain. If you leave your business alone once the promise of success is shown, you are merely preparing for failure.
Thinking Affiliate Program is The Fastest Way To Get Rich
This is not how it is. You have to invest a certain level of commitment, a lot of time, some financial resources at times, and much effort if you want to indulge yourself in the beautiful things that money can buy.
Check out: How To Buy Data Bundle On MTN Ghana.
Joining Too Many Affiliate Programs
Another big mistake you can make as a beginner is to take part in all the affiliate programs that come your way.
Since affiliate programs are easy to join, you might be tempted to join several affiliate programs thinking that they will help you maximize your earnings.
Although the idea of having multiple sources of income is excellent, joining numerous programs and trying to promote them all at once will only hurt your chances of success.
Of course, you can increase the channels and sources of income, but there is a limit. Do not go way overboard. Choose your affiliate programs carefully and do not overload yourself.
Why?
When you decide to commit yourself to more than one niche from the very beginning, you will not be able to adopt the right strategies for each of them. You will even lose focus. For each requires a different approach, depending on the chosen niche.
More importantly, when you are still a beginner, you should refrain from that practice. Since you do not have the experience to run more than one business at the same time.
So the pro tip here is simple: Dedicate yourself to just one niche, only one at the beginning. Try to adopt the right strategies a program you can thrive well. Then, when you’re better prepared, you expand to new projects.
Keep in mind that quantity is not synonymous with quality, these are two different things.
Read this also: KCB Mobile Banking Guide.
Reviewing Multiple products at the same time:
A classic mistake of beginners is to advertise several products at the same time. This error is only pardonable if you act in several distinct niches. That is, never divulge several products at once for a single niche.
Fear of competition
Many people give up or even do not risk entering a particular niche for fear of possible competition.
I tell you this is bullshit. Everywhere, whether on the internet or not, there will be competitors. Sometimes the competition is more prominent, sometimes not.
You can compete in any niche! However, my advice is always to evaluate those niches with little competition, especially if you are a beginner.
After some experience in the affiliate market, you can choose and compete in more crowded niches.
Taking the digital marketing niche as an example, I always see affiliates advertising multiple products of the same type to the same audience. It ultimately undermines your image and especially your credibility as an affiliate.
Lack of commitment
This is a classic mistake of beginner affiliates. So to tell you the truth, it’s hard not to fail at this point when you’re just getting started. After all, you do not yet have a proper mindset.
So, try to get the most out of anything that might compromise your performance the moment you’re working. Focus, okay?
These were the main mistakes and also the critical solutions that we decided to highlight for you and hope you do not commit them.
Another interesting guide: MTN Ghana Turbonet Guide.
So What Must You Do As Affiliate?
We come to the end of yet another article. We have learned that mistakes are key factors for you, a novice affiliate, or even a Pro, to achieve success. Don’t worry if you have committed one or more of these affiliate marketing mistakes. Go back and correct the errors.
To err is essential, but as they say “staying in error is foolish.” Also, the last tip we want to leave with you is: learn from mistakes. If you’ve fallen, no problem, just focus and analyze the previous errors, so you do not repeat them.
Moreover, if you understand that Affiliate Marketing is a serious business that requires effort, dedication, determination, then “roll up your sleeves” and go for success. Congratulations, you’re on the right track.
We hope we have helped you. If you got here, we think it’s because you liked the content. So leave your comment below telling us your opinion or giving new suggestions. We’re here for you.
Enjoy it too and share this content with your friends, we are certain they will love it.
This simple and easy article Was Last Updated on by Nana Abrokwa
Please you wish to visit this post “https://thebusinessalert.com/top-affiliate-marketing-mistakes-you-should-avoid/” ocassionally for changes and updates that we will make to this article.
Check this ultimate guide: https://thebusinessalert.com/sunlearn-student-portal-login/
In the year 2022, we bring you the best of banking and money transfer experience. Just stay tuned for more articles.
Check this ultimate guide: https://thebusinessalert.com/irs-code-290/
Here is the main list of our latest guides for May 2022, check them:
- Honeywell Home RTH6580WF Wi-Fi 7-Day Programmable Thermostat
- Bereal App Download, Install Bereal App On Your Phone
- How To Unfriend Someone On Bereal, Unfollow On Bereal
- Is Bereal Down, No, But, Here Is A Fix
- How To Post on Bereal Late, Post Later On Bereal
- Bereal Screenshot, Take A Screenshot On Bereal
- How To Take A Bereal, Follow These Steps
- What Is A Bereal App, Find Out How It Works
- How Does Bereal Work, Get Full Details Below
- How To Post A Bereal, Step-By-Step Guide
This write-up is mind blowing.
It has really help me in my quest as an entrepreneur in affiliate marketing.
Never again will such mistakes be repeated.
Thank you sir.
You are welcome Samuel. It is your comments that keep us going. You may have noticed that these affiliate marketing mistakes are widespread. Thanks you found it useful. Happy Marketing!
Does affiliate marketing still work in 2019?
It does Eugene. Just give it a try.