It seems rather common practice to see the term ‘Affiliate marketing’ being described as ‘innovative’ and ‘modern’. To those unfamiliar with the practices of affiliate marketing then it may feel like a rather complex branch of advertising in what it is still a relatively new medium. However, those who have seen the significant financial rewards that affiliate marketing can bring will no doubt tell you that the best way to be successful is to embrace mainstream online marketing practices.

Today’s affiliates seem to fall into one of two camps (although many have a foot in both): either broad and shallow or narrow and deep. In other words, some will operate multiple sites (for multiple read potentially very large numbers); whilst others focus solely on one or at most a handful of web properties. Both approaches are valid and have been proven. Both approaches place significant demands on time and resource, with endless data, content, links, on-page optimisation, PPC campaigns, social media optimisation and so forth – all clamouring for attention. Successful affiliates in 2009 are those that manage this juggling act, focusing their attentions on those areas with the highest return.

Where high volumes of traffic may suggest good marketing, smaller volumes of traffic to the right customers suggests more effective marketing. Whether you have one site or 10,000, knowledge of the consumer is paramount. This doesn’t necessarily mean the detailed behavioural analysis seen in some of the large merchant sites. Rather it means a clear view as to what terms are driving traffic and how well that traffic is monetising. Understanding the correlation between visitors, click-throughs via your affiliate links and sales / commission is vital. Sounds obvious? Perhaps but the realities of tracking this data effectively and using it to refine your keyword and targeting strategies result, for most, in a bitter contest between “guilt list” action items.

Getting updates from your partners and colleagues in the industry should be a priority. Much of the ground will already have been covered: after all, you are not operating in a vacuum, with many other affiliates competing for similar traffic. Time spent researching top performing products and related search terms is absolutely vital: far more so than that pretty graphic you keep feeling tempted to implement on your 74th credit card comparison site. Moreover, good communication works both ways. The networks need input from the affiliates as much as the inverse is true. Whilst to some, sharing is an act of altruism to be avoided at all costs, many of the more established affiliates will happily trade relevant information with others, some of whom they would regard as – at least in part – closely connected with the competition.

We’re not suggesting you give away the crown jewels here. Merely that the exchange of information is becoming as much a currency as the financial exchange central to all affiliate marketing. Many of the better known blogs and forums bear witness to daily trades of valuable and up-to-date information – along with the usual selection of rants!

Maintaining a large number of affiliate sites may mean having to chop and change writing styles if they all have different core markets, and unless you have (or have access to) good copywriting skills to write with this flexibility, it is probably better to stick to sites around a manageable number of themes. If nothing else, you need sufficient knowledge of the space to ensure that any copy you may commission is suitable and accurate.

Copywriting in itself can be a demanding job, particularly for the production of SEO friendly copy. Not only must it be engaging for the consumer but syntax and grammar must be to the highest standard in ensuring search engine friendliness. Keyword density is a discipline in its own right as anyone who has ever tried to read “optimised” content from some sources will confirm.

Whilst the best text and imaging content in the world may attract relevant traffic, monetising it presents a set of challenges in its own right. Do you wrestle with the daily vagaries of multiple networks, retrieving text links by hand, battling with inconsistent data feeds? Or do you outsource much or indeed all of this area, using a solution such as Easy Content Units (ECU)? ECU, for example, allows you to search for those products that you think you will be able to ’sell’ best (remember the information sharing from above?). With the right products selected you have considerable control as to the manner in which they are displayed. Images, logos, price comparison, special offers and so forth – all good engaging material for the consumer with monetising affiliate links. OK – end of pitch!

Ultimately, your best focus will be determined by those tasks that are most closely suited to your skills – and to your own preferences. After all, no-one gets into affiliate marketing to simply replicate a day job in which 9/10ths of their daily tasks are a much hated bind. It may feel like this in the earlier days but as you build a business you need to decide what to handle and what to hand-off. A seemingly easy decision that so many of us wrestle with on a daily basis.

We are told that to succeed we need to automate and outsource. In practice some tasks can even employ a degree of outsourced automation, combining the advantages of both. In broad terms, there are thus just two questions to ask of yourself: what are you actually good at and what do you enjoy? Map the (honest!) answers onto the tasks involved in running your affiliate business and then plan to hand-off the rest as time, knowledge, contacts and of course budget allows.

Goodbye juggler. Hello successful affiliate.

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