I have had some experience in AM in the past. I was a hobby level marketer and later consulted bring Affiliate Managers and Merchants together. I stopped consulting because I couldn't scale without cloning myself and I found the area to be too inefficient in a business sense.
Because @MJ DeMarco mentioned in his book that it "might" be a good idea to start your own AM program, some members look to the point where they could do that. I submit that it probably is a bad idea.
Most affiliate marketing is parasitic in nature. There, I said it.
The Affiliate is trying to out market the merchant. And, most often the merchant would be better off working smarter.
My experience is not current. In my day there were a few major affiliate models. SEO: content creation. PPC: paid advertising. Coupon sites. Deals with influencers. And of course Blackhat.
Let's break them down...
SEO/Content Creation. The marketer is competing with you for the top spot in the search engines. I mean the top spot or 2. Not just the first or second page. As a personal example, I'm in the middle of what I call an internal house flip. We're bringing one of the houses in our inventory into this century so that we can sell it. I need to buy things and I'm searching for them. Rarely do I get past the 3rd result. It's not necessary to own the whole first page between yourself and your affiliates, just spend your time and money getting yourself to the top.
PPC/Paid Advertising. Should you be doing PPC? I suppose so, insert @Andy Black here. But, should you be paying an affiliate too compete with you, and drive your costs up? I don't think so.
Coupon Sites. A messy area in itself. It used to be that some coupon sites (insert retail me not) would list merchants that offered no coupons, just to set the sales cookie. The got their cookie and the merchant was left to explain that they don't do coupons.
Deals with influencers. So, you have a killer offer that would be just great for MJ's audience. Do a joint venture or invite him to a very private boutique program that only high quality people can join.
Blackhat. Just say no. Playing in the fringes of society will almost always hurt you.
Let there be conversation.
Because @MJ DeMarco mentioned in his book that it "might" be a good idea to start your own AM program, some members look to the point where they could do that. I submit that it probably is a bad idea.
Most affiliate marketing is parasitic in nature. There, I said it.
The Affiliate is trying to out market the merchant. And, most often the merchant would be better off working smarter.
My experience is not current. In my day there were a few major affiliate models. SEO: content creation. PPC: paid advertising. Coupon sites. Deals with influencers. And of course Blackhat.
Let's break them down...
SEO/Content Creation. The marketer is competing with you for the top spot in the search engines. I mean the top spot or 2. Not just the first or second page. As a personal example, I'm in the middle of what I call an internal house flip. We're bringing one of the houses in our inventory into this century so that we can sell it. I need to buy things and I'm searching for them. Rarely do I get past the 3rd result. It's not necessary to own the whole first page between yourself and your affiliates, just spend your time and money getting yourself to the top.
PPC/Paid Advertising. Should you be doing PPC? I suppose so, insert @Andy Black here. But, should you be paying an affiliate too compete with you, and drive your costs up? I don't think so.
Coupon Sites. A messy area in itself. It used to be that some coupon sites (insert retail me not) would list merchants that offered no coupons, just to set the sales cookie. The got their cookie and the merchant was left to explain that they don't do coupons.
Deals with influencers. So, you have a killer offer that would be just great for MJ's audience. Do a joint venture or invite him to a very private boutique program that only high quality people can join.
Blackhat. Just say no. Playing in the fringes of society will almost always hurt you.
Let there be conversation.
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