Thoughts from the Shelf

In our introduction to affiliate marketing we are taking a case study to view how an affiliate management system can boost a sites reach to customers as well as earn webmasters an extra dollar a day.

The first thing in partaking in affiliate marketing is registering with an affiliate network. There are many to choose from and commission rates of merchants registered to each network vary hugely.
To name a few of the leading affiliate networks – Affiliate Future, Affiliate Window, Commission Junction and Trade Doubler – all have a huge selection of merchants signed up and offer an array of affiliate options.

There are several ways to partake in an affiliate campaign, decide on a merchant first or to make monetise an existing site. If you choose to monetise and existing site you may find yourself in a particular niche receiving highly targeted traffic. You only problem therefore is to select appropriate merchants whose product would best suit your established audience.

To target an audience from scratch you will first have to research the sector in order to select an area that either interests you the most as the webmaster, or most likely would has the potential to make you the most money.

When identifying a sector to target you should identify and evaluate several areas. The commission rate offered by leading merchants in that sector is important to you as an affiliate, as you will want to link to sites with the most appealing product ranges in order to boost conversion. The competitiveness of the sector is also important if you are entering a market and trying to establish yourself.

Lastly you should research as much site centric data as possible including the average basket size of merchants as well as conversion rates. Most leading merchants will advertise this data in order to encourage affiliate sign ups, but it’s essential to get the biggest slice of the pie by sending visitors to sites that you can trust will convert users with good average basket values.

As one case study Oak Furniture Land are a leading merchant on both Affiliate Future and Affiliate Window. With an average shopping basket size is over £700 and 2% ecommerce conversion rate, an established audience convert high value orders due to amazing prices on coffee tables, sideboards and other hardwood furniture.

We will view next time third party affiliate management and affiliate marketing in the social sphere and how that can affect you potential earnings. This particular merchant’s affiliate program is run by Existem and direct affiliation is also an option.