The secret is out - affiliate marketing is an excellent
source of promoting your business, building a great
reputation and client base without having to spend
extensive budgets on advertising. Not only have sole
proprietorships grown their businesses exponentially with
affiliate marketing, but the big boys of business are
jumping on the bandwagon as well. Companies ranging from
LifeLock to Virgin Mobile and EuroStar have initiated very
successful affiliate marketing campaigns - cementing the
tremendous efficiency of this promotional strategy.
Research shows tremendous increase in affiliate marketing
According to the British research firm, E-consultancy,
affiliate marketing has grown more than 45% in the UK
alone, generating an increase of £3.13 billion ($4.65
billion USD) in the last year - and these are only
conservative estimates for one country. Imagine how much
affiliate marketing is growing in the United States and
worldwide.
What can the tremendous popularity of affiliate marketing
be attributed to? Further studies show that 95% of
companies that engage in affiliate marketing appreciate how
"cost-effective" this strategy is, especially in growing
customer bases and increased revenues.
Indeed, there are no significant start-up costs when it
comes to starting an affiliate marketing program. You do
not need to pay for ad spots, radio slots, pay-per-click,
or banner advertisements. Instead, you simply need to
derive a lucrative incentive or commission structure - and
you experience no risk. As a performance based compensation
program, you only pay commission when you make a sale.
2008 trends in affiliate marketing
Although the murmur surrounding Web 2.0 has diminished,
social networking is still a powerful platform for
affiliate marketing. Indeed, many websites utilize social
networking sites, such as YouTube, Digg, and Del.icio.us,
to generate powerful back links (which are critical for
increasing search engine rankings), as well as a strong
source of natural traffic.
There are also new opportunities for social network
marketing. One great example is Facebook's opening for
social advertisements on its immensely popular website. In
addition, with the new media outlets slated to open in
2008, it will become easier to match your affiliate
marketing program with niche topics - such as retirement
planning, travel, and home décor. Other developments
in widget advertising have truly flourished, and these
outlets will provide niche methods of finding your exact
customer base. Widgets are much more dynamic and visually
interesting than banner ads, and thus, people are more
likely to download them, use them, and keep them on their
desktop - making your affiliate marketing even more visible.
Changes in technology will also assist affiliate marketing
efforts, as companies can now increase the efficiency in
tracking sales, traffic, and conversions - meaning there is
an ease of management for both the company and affiliates'
parts.
To manage a successful affiliate marketing campaign in
2008, you will need more than attractive commission
structures. Offering competitive and lucrative commission
structures - while simultaneously providing the support
needed, will create a successful affiliate marketing
relationship for both parties involved. These innovative
strategies and support systems will help you maximize the
revenues from affiliate marketing.
----------------------------------------------------
Christian Fea is a Collaboration Marketing Strategist. He
empowers business owners to discover how to implement
Integration, Alliance, and Joint Ventures marketing tactics
to solve their specific business challenges. He
demonstrates how you can create your own Collaboration
Marketing Strategy to increase your new sales, conversation
rates, and repeat business. He can be reached at:
http://www.christianfea.com
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