Take advantage of the Affiliate Marketing Long Tail
Because consumers buy from Web sites they like, know and trust, affiliate marketing allows you to benefit from the existing trust built by your affiliates. Until your brand is well-recognized by your market, you will achieve faster growth by effectively utilizing affiliate marketing.
As your affiliate marketing matures you will likely find you have several affiliates that account for the bulk of your sales. You will also find that the majority of your affiliates won't be doing much to promote your Web site.
It's my belief that many companies offering multiple products for sale online are missing out on what I call the Affiliate Marketing Long Tail. This notion is based on "The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More" by Chris Anderson, which suggests that because of Internet technology, many consumers are buying products online that a few years ago were too expensive to stock in traditional retail stores.
The reason for this is because retail stores stock a limited supply of major products. They can't afford to stock all of the hundreds of thousands of products that don't appeal to a mass market. But with the advent of online retailers like Overstock.com, which carries more than 300,000 products on its Web site, consumers now can buy niche products that aren't available from brick-and-mortar stores. Thus the sum of niche product sales equals or surpasses the sum of the major product sales.
This shift in the marketplace is creating huge opportunities for companies to take advantage of the Affiliate Marketing Long Tail. Up until now, most online retailers have focused on catering to their top and mid-tier affiliates. They haven't had the necessary strategic and financial resources to help their smaller affiliates become more successful. But by using a combination of technology and strategic thinking, they can increase the success of their smaller affiliates by helping them get off the ground.
The important thing is not to ignore them just because they are not your top affiliates. They represent a huge opportunity for your company to generate hundreds or even thousands of dollars in sales per month. Multiply that number by 1,000 (or even 10,000 affiliates in the case of one large online retailer) and ... well, you do the math. It's definitely worth looking at.
Following is a three-step process that will help you help your smaller online affiliates become more successful.
As Stephen Covey would say, first seek to understand. Ask your smaller affiliates what they are having trouble with. This will give you insight on what solutions you should create.
Comments
- Millard County teacher faces new sex... 11:19 a.m.
- Lawmaker: CIA dir. ended program 11:09 a.m.
- Ships ending search for black boxes 11:07 a.m.
- Charger RB wounded in shooting 11:06 a.m.
- Paris Hilton set to take stand 10:52 a.m.
- Papers plan boycott of Britney show 10:50 a.m.
- A look at the world in pictures 10:41 a.m.
- Arrests in near dragging of officer 10:35 a.m.
- Myths harmless, unnecessary 10:17 a.m.
- Reactions on Boozer speculation 10:15 a.m.
- Jazz talking Boozer trade?
- Stadium of Fire flag burning was fake
- Jazz in back of line for free agents
- Okur signs two-year extension
- A primer for the 6th Potter film
- Jazz won't meet Lopez on Europe trip
- Restaurant destroyed by fire
- Reactions on Boozer speculation
- Mall owner seeks to retain zoning
- Jazz rally for OT win at Orlando
- Bronco collecting a galaxy of recruits
140 - Letters: Palin mistreated
137 - Teachers struggle with district cuts
135 - Blazers may offer Millsap a contract
123 - Jazz talking Boozer trade?
116 - Fairness of BCS debated
81 - Moon landing: Let's hear from you
79 - Chaffetz eyes challenging Bennett
73 - Letters: Single-payer system best
70 - Services bids farewell to Jackson
70
By now you've probably read about the investigation that showed just how...
The photographs are mysterious, brooding, dark. They show dimples and...
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously found that penalty-enhancement hate crime...
Give him Boozer, A.K., & Miles for Biedrins, Maggette, Turiaf, & Wright, the...
Utes.....Only undefeated team in the country. You can say "oh they didnt have...
My sister was born with only one leg and the Shriners paid for prostetics and...
most utah state employees can retire after 20.
This team sounds like a mirror of its parent -- let the opponent rain threes...
Yeah Todd is a kitty and the worst hommer commentator. Listening to him call...
Great. Living in a beat up van w/ my "collection" is getting tiresome as are...
lets start thinking, where the mexicans cartels obtain the guns? from where?...
"Why can['t] we have friendly games with European teams?" A few answers: ...



You can be the first to comment on this story.