There is no shortage of affiliate programs out there. These programs have a wide range of offers. It seems like each offer is as good as the one that preceded it and the one that succeeds it. You can keep looking at these offers, their sales pages, and other sales elements until you’re blue in the face.
Unless you know what to look for, chances are all these affiliate programs would look equally valid and equally good to promote. That’s a serious problem because you’ll find out in often the most painful way possible that affiliate programs are not created equal. Some make you money, the vast majority won’t. Learn how to tell them apart. Here are five hallmarks of programs you should be promoting.
Direct niche focus
The affiliate program you should promote must directly address your niche. It must be all about your niche. Its offers must address the problems of your niche audience members. Do not compromise on this.
Large existing promotional material base
When you join an affiliate program, it should already have enough marketing materials for you to get out of the gate a winner. You should get out of the gate strong and this means that you have a ready library of premade promotional materials at your disposal. You can’t just make this stuff up on the fly. That’s just not going to work. These must already exist. Also, there has to be tremendous diversity of them because you don’t know which of these promotional materials will work for your campaign.
Wide selection of promotional methods
An affiliate program that is worth its salt and that is truly dedicated to the success of its affiliates give their publishers a lot of rope. You should be given a wide latitude in how you should promote their offers. If you notice that they keep you on a tight leash, and they’re very strict regarding how you should and should not promote them, you might want to find another affiliate program. The restrictions might get in the way of your success. You might not get enough freedom for you to do a good job converting your traffic with the premade ads that the sponsors make available to you.
Wide amount of promotional materials
The more varied the affiliate program’s promotional materials are, the better. This means that they’re giving you the tools you need to promote in many different contexts. This increases your likelihood of success.
They give you the right to come up with your own promotional materials
Truly serious and professional affiliate programs will give you a wide management to come up with your own promotional materials. They’re not just going to give you a wide selection of promo methods, instead they would give you freedom, within limits mind you, to come up with your own material.
They understand that you have a specific audience. They understand that you have a relationship with your audience. They then give you the freedom to come up with specially made promotional materials for that specific audience. Of course you’re going to have to pay for your own materials, but this little bit of freedom can translate to a big payoff.
Keep the five hallmarks of solid affiliate programs in mind. These hallmarks go a long way in helping you separate the vast majority of programs targeting your niche from the ones that will actually make you money. Learn to spot the difference.