I’ve been in this business for over 10 years and since I’m not the type to pull punches, I’m going to just put it out there.
Despite articles published by those that are either cynical or uninformed, affiliate marketing is not dead nor dying. Over the past 10 years I have seen a huge growth not only in publishers but also in merchant participation. This only stands to reason since so many brick and mortar stores have closed or are closing and opting for e-commerce programs instead. Others have added e-commerce to their marketing programs.
In addition, more and more people are shopping online. Not just because they can get better deals, but because people are becoming more and more impatient and have less time to stand in line at the stores, or dig through piles of clothing or items when they know exactly what they want but with online shopping they can go to a site and buy it in minutes without all the digging. Then there are those that don’t know exactly what they want so they use the internet to compare, read the reviews and then look for the best price.
There is also the allure of the coupons on the internet and any merchant that does not offer some type of discount to their shoppers is losing out, big time. The largest retailers in the world offer coupons to their loyal customers and also to attract new customers. There is a reason they have grown so prosperous over the years, and coupons whether its free shipping (the most preferred) or a deep discount helped them get there.
Now, to those that say affiliate marketing is dying, I think it would more fair to say that poor affiliate management or lack of affiliate management is killing off some affiliate marketing sites. Not every merchant is right for affiliate marketing and to be misled to believe your program is by someone wanting to make a few bucks is wrong. Not every program is being managed to its fullest extent, sometimes getting left behind because the company representing you is either paying the most attention to the programs that pay them the most, they have a manger that is not familiar with the product, or quite frequently as I have witnessed, the merchant is not responding to the requests of the affiliate manager whether in house or OPM. Affiliate Marketing when performed properly is and always will be an integral, prosperous part of online marketing.
Affiliate marketing is a great way to get your products branded and get sales with minimal monthly costs when done properly. That’s where I can help you. While I no longer focus on managing affiliate programs, I can educate you on best practices and legalities for affiliate management, to help you understand how to take your site to the next level or whether it can be.
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