Why are your authorized shares not converting? It appeared first on ProBlogger.
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This morning I received an email from a blogger who has built a large following of loyal readers for his blog and recently tried to monetize those readers by running an affiliate campaign on that blog.
The problem is, no one is buying what you're promoting.
To solve the problem, I spent a few minutes on Skype with the blogger and asked him a series of questions to get deeper into the matter.
The three questions I asked and why I asked…
1. Why are your readers coming to your site?
When considering any form of monetization, connecting with readers is key Are they for community, information, advice, shopping, research, entertainment or something else?
Understanding why your readers are coming can give you clues about how they might respond to your campaign.
For example, if you're going to learn something, the best way to promote it is with an ebook on how to type. If you're looking for something, it might be good to promote the products you're looking for
Unfortunately, not all reader ideas convert, especially in affiliate marketing. For example, it would be better to consider a different monetization model unless you can attract a congregation or community to you if they exist to survive.
2. Are the products you promote useful to your readers?
It may seem obvious, but I am surprised when I see bloggers promoting products on completely different topics than their blogs.
The products you promote as an affiliate must:
- High quality (anything low quality will burn your readers' trust, but if you're promoting a great product, they'll appreciate it)
- Matches the theme of your blog
- Adapt to your readers' interests and needs (see point 1)
- Reasonably priced - This means unless your readers are on a big budget, don't advertise expensive articles!
3. Do you promote yourself?
Another common mistake bloggers make when promoting affiliate products is placing an affiliate banner or link in the sidebar, thinking it will generate lots of sales.
The problem is, it's just an "ad" and your readers probably won't see it
The most effective way to promote affiliate products is to write about them yourself based on your experience This means that you'll probably want to pick something to promote that you have personal experience with and can wholeheartedly support or admire.
Your readers read your blog because they want to hear from you, so tell them what you're promoting and why you're doing it.
Do this mostly in a blog post, but you'll want to email your mailing list for important promotions and, of course, follow social media status updates.
Sure, try some affiliate promotions with banner ads, but if you add a little more to your product promotion, you'll see your conversions increase a lot.
Affiliate marketing is much more than what I wrote above, but the 3 questions above can help you find strategies that will help you move forward if you're not seeing change.
If you want to learn more affiliate marketing tips, try listening to my podcast: My Tips for Making Money as a Blogger with Affiliate Marketing.
This article was first published on August 22, 2013 and was updated on September 15, 2022.
Why are your authorized shares not converting? It appeared first on ProBlogger.