Posted by Daniel Shlifer on Wed, Jul 07, 2010
How much focus have you applied to your conversion strategy?
As a certified inbound marketing consultant I am consistently evaluating online or Internet marketing strategies. I'm sure it comes as no shock to any reader that in the past 12 months, almost every (if not all) KPI (key performance indicators) have shown significant increases in:
- Overall search traffic
- Blog readership
- Blog creation & posts
- Social media accounts
- Social media communications
- Paid advertising
- Products & services offered
- Websites launched
- Etc, etc...
My point is that all players in all ends have increased dramatically. In my own mind, and from my own perspective, this simply means more competition for attention as well as more opportunity for the savvy marketing professionals.
All of this overview leads me to the focus of this particular blog post and that is a perceived weakness or oversight in many inbound or Internet marketing strategies.
If getting found, converting & analyzing are the staples of a good Internet marketing process, this blog post is about the middle element or conversion strategy as I see that in many cases, this area needs the most attention. It's considered a great success to improve your search engine positions, increase your inbound links, double your traffic and reach but in the end, if your conversion process is sub-standard, it's not as big a success as it could have been.
With all of this in mind, it is important to understand the traditional sales funnel and sales cycle.
- Top of the funnel = Tier one traffic from all sources including:
- Organic traffic
- Referral or link traffic
- PPC traffic
- Direct traffic
- Email traffic
- Blog traffic
- Social media traffic
- Middle of the funnel = Lead generation or conversion. This is the process of qualifying or filtering all traffic into interested or lead traffic. Once tier one traffic is converted to a lead, they have moved from the top of the funnel to the middle of the funnel.
- Bottom of the funnel = Customers
In my next blog post I will discuss the process and methodology available to manage the middle of the funnel and convert tier one traffic into leads.
Other resources available to help you expand your reach:
Posted by Daniel Shlifer on Mon, Jun 07, 2010
Inbound Marketing Methodology: First, you need to "Get Found".
The phrase, "getting found" translates to the art, science and process of having your best possible prospects find your website or blog messages (attraction marketing). This process starts the sales cycle and is designed to feed the top of the sales funnel with qualified traffic using focused SEO as well as other components that are appropriate and are in line with the overall inbound marketing strategy.
Another way to explain the process of "getting found", is that when your potential clients or prospects perform any search or research on Google, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Technorati, Digg, Stumbleupon or anywhere else (including the blogosphere), they find you (pull marketing). Research is one of many reasons individuals and businesses look for information, advice, entertainment, thought leadership, analysis, projections, resources, data or conversation. The trick (and priority) is that they find your content, your people, your brand, your products, your services and your company.
As a certified HubSpot partner, we recommend these Inbound Marketing fundamentals to improve your ability to "get found".- First, create remarkable content. That's the core of inbound, attraction, search or pull marketing.
- Optimize the content for the major search engines (SEO) and other audiences.
- Promote this remarkable content in the blogosphere, social mediasphere, email marketing, and other appropriate channels.
A. Content Creation
The first and most important part of “Getting Found” is creating remarkable content. This means creating blog articles, web pages (updating existing pages & creating new landing pages), videos, photos, webinars, whitepapers, and other resources that are useful, interesting, thought provoking, controversial, and entertaining. This may be the most critical step in the development of a powerful inbound marketing & SEO plan and generating more traffic and qualified leads.
Create a content creation strategy and schedule, and then try to stick to it as closely as possible.
Every web page has the potential to rank well in search engines and draw traffic from other sources, like social media sites and the blogosphere. Of course, whether a page draws traffic (and links) depends on whether it's optimized and how remarkable (useful, interesting, etc.) it is. But in general, most pages do "well" and contribute to the cause, so it's both a quality and a quantity game.
Consider a 10 page website. This site has 10 unique pages that could rank on the major search engines as well as other places. 10 unique opportunities to draw traffic. Now compare that to a 100 page website. The 100-page site has 10x more opportunities to draw targeted traffic, and on average will be drawing 10x the amount of actual traffic. Thus, content really is king, and creating great content is the first challenge in any inbound marketing strategy.
B. Optimize Content
After content creation (which you need to continue through the entire inbound marketing process), you need to optimize that content for search engines (SEO) as well as for other channels, like YouTube & Twitter.
The foundation of any successful inbound marketing program is compelling content creation. Optimizing that content is a key step to ensure you give your valuable content the best chance possible of drawing traffic from the web.
Focus on two major components of your Search Engine Optimization (SEO):
- On-Page SEO is the process of placing selected keywords in the right places on the web pages so that Google and other search engines know what each page of our client’s website is about, and what keywords to rank the different pages for. On-Page SEO makes up about 25% of how well you rank in the major search engines.
- Off-Page SEO is the process of building links and authority, getting other sites on the Internet to link to you. The more links you have from other popular sites, the more important your site appears to be to Google and other search engines. Links are your online reputation from the perspective of the search engine. Off-page SEO makes up about 75% of how you rank in search engines.
The "conversion" element of inbound marketing will be covered in our next blog post.
Posted by Daniel Shlifer on Sat, Jun 05, 2010
Is your Inbound Marketing methodology complete, flexible, effective & measurable?
A well conceived Internet marketing methodology will dictate all of your activities, measurements and evaluations. I true methodology gives you the road map and solid reasons for doing what you do each day, week and month. If you don't believe in your own marketing methodology, I suggest you start over and develop one that you buy into. I see too many organizations throwing darts or following limited advice and experience of others and end up taking shots in the dark at SEO, PPC, blog posts, atricle submissions, email campaigns, social media reach and a myriad of other tasks they feel are part of the big Internet marketing picture.
A well thought out inbound marketing methodology may be simple or complex. One not being better than the other.
This is the Inbound marketing methodology we suggest:
(Note: Inbound Marketing = Internet Marketing = Pull Marketing = Attraction Marketing)
Get Found
Convert
Analyze.
This may sound over simplified but sometimes, focusing on the basics will help you strip away any elements of your current plan that do not fit or support these main objectives.
To be clearer we begin by explaining that based on our experience and expertise, SEO is one (1) of three (3) major segments of a complete and successful Inbound Marketing campaign. To be even more specific, we believe that SEO or major search engine (on-page) optimization is approximately 39% of the Internet marketing pie. We don’t point this out to minimize the importance of a strong search engine optimization plan, in fact, we believe all else is fueled by, and relies on strong page optimization and good search results.
To expand on this point we point out that SERP (search engine result pages) now include blogs, images, local listings, videos and soon social media results. This simply translates to less real estate for straight keyword search results through on-page optimization. Couple this fact with some of the new search technologies about to be used (Google Caffeine) and you will see actual search results will differ from place to place and computer to computer. These are some of our reasoning for applying the blog and social media development components to a comprehensive Internet marketing strategy.
We believe that understanding your own approach, methodology and philosophy is critical to understanding how bring success to your business or client's business.
First, we feel it is absolutely critical for you or your clients to learn how marketing has changed and the older efforts connected to outbound or interruption marketing have become more expensive and much less effective. To illustrate this point further, we explain to our prospects and newer clients to think about outbound (traditional) marketing as a hammer and inbound marketing as a magnet. Would you rather try to hammer your message into and at your target markets or would you rather attract or pull qualified prospects into your messages?
One reason we stress this point is because marketing directors, business owners and others that are responsible for an organization's marketing success now depends on their direct involvement. One of the first conversations we have with our prospects and new clients was designed to gauge how ready they are to change some of the older ways they approach and support their own marketing efforts. Nobody understands their services and products better than the client and we encourage them to contribute to the process. Their expertise coupled with our high level of marketing skills will bring real and measurable success.
Although Inbound marketing has become much more effective and efficient than the more traditional outbound marketing, some elements remain constant and our methodology was designed to focus on these 4 main objectives:
- Generate Leads
- Track Leads
- Nurture Lead
- Convert Leads
This covers the concept of Internet marketing methodology. We will discuss in detail the three main anchors of this suggested methodology... Get Found, Convert & Analyze.
Posted by Daniel Shlifer on Fri, May 07, 2010
Lead Generation Software: What is it? How do I use it?
In today's new world of Inbound Marketing, lead generation is the process of getting your business message in front of your target market at the time they are looking for your specific information, data or offer.
To be clear, other terms that can be used in conjunction with the term inbound marketing are:
- Internet Marketing
- Pull Marketing
- Attraction Marketing
- Online Marketing
- SEO - Search Engine Optimization
- SEM - Search Engine Marketing
When I use the term lead generation throughout this blog, I am referring to an application or software component that helps manage the Inbound marketing or Internet marketing process in full. The 4 main Inbound marketing or Internet marketing elements that can be namged through the application of lead generation software are as follow:
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization): The process of making all your website pages search engine friendly through on-page optimization techniques. This includes keyword development and the development of landing pages focused on additional and related keywords.
- Blog Development: The creation, development and management of regular blog posts that add new pages, new keywords and new inbound link's a result of each new blog post.
- Social Media Development: The process of making your messages more accessible for a group or groups of people (or businesses) through social media networks, like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
- Complete Analytics: This element should allow you to analyze and evaluate every element inside your Inbound marketing or Internet marketing system.
Finding and using the most appropriate lead generation software should give you the ability to manage all of these elements more efficiently and effectively.
The truth is that marketing online, not unlike traditional marketing, demands strategy, time, effort and budget. No matter what some ill informed, so called professionals may tell you, there is no quick, catch all solution. Inbound marketing is like anything else worth while, it takes a commitment and patience. The other truth is that Inbound marketing or Internet marketing must be done correctly, consistently and measured with regularity.
Virtual Support Systems has partnered with HubSpot and is implementing HubSpot lead generation software. Through our own usage and testing over time, we have determined that this specific lead generation software is the most complete with a built in philosophy that matches our own. Simply put, we believe and have experienced that this is the best lead generation software and Inbound marketing software available. One important idea to understand is that this Internet marketing or lead generation software was mostly developed for Inbound marketing agencies and Internet marketing professionals like Virtual Support Systems. This means that although this lead generation software solution is available to any end user or small business, it is absolutely recommended to partner with highly skilled and certified professionals to implement this lead generation system for your Inbound marketing campaign.
Virtual Support Systems is a certified HubSpot Inbound Marketing Partner. The objective of this new partnership is to provide inbound marketing clients (small & medium businesses) the powerful and comprehensive Internet marketing & search engine optimization software (HubSpot) coupled with the experienced services to expertly implement all marketing and lead generation software modules.
This is a very exciting partnership for all small businesses that are ready to get involved with the new age of Inbound marketing and move away from the expensive, 40 year old methods of "interruption" marketing.
Good lead generation software should address the following:
• Complete marketing software solutions under one umbrella
• A cutting edge CMS (content management system)
• On page optimization tools
• Keyword research tools
• Keyword management tools
• Blog creation tools
• Blog management tools
• Social media strategy support
• Synchronized blog, Facebook, Linked IN and Twitter posting
• Lead management systems
• Lead generation software
• Lead tracking software
• Lead nurturing software
• Prospect communication systems
• Advanced analytics
• 100% support in launching and managing your Inbound marketing projects.
This lead generation software is a major advancement in the development, and management of inbound marketing. Inbound marketing has come a long way from the simple days of search engine submission. Everywhere you look, you can see the older marketing methods and lead generation methods loosing steam and effectiveness. As consumers and businesses, we have learned how to filter all of the "interruption" marketing techniques that have been used by the big companies over the last 40 years. Spam filters, DVRs, remotes, satellite radio subscriptions have all given us the power to filter and even stop the old school marketing and advertising and rendering old lead generation methods less useful.
Don't be left behind because you don't understand all these marketing developments or because you think, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Marketing is such an important component of any business and lead generation has always been a main element, but lead generation software is somewhat new. The marketing methods have changed and become more powerful as well as more efficient. Use it to your advantage.
Posted by Daniel Shlifer on Thu, May 06, 2010
Internet Marketing/Inbound Marketing Is Growing At Record Pace
Are you finding it difficult to keep pace and keep current with Inbound marketing? It used to be a simple as executing a solid search engine optimization plan (SEO). Internet marketing has changed tremendously since those days. I know because I am in the business.
As recently as one year ago, my clients would generate leads and substantial other activity as a result of a carefully constructed search engine optimization program combined with some supportive content development.
Inbound or Internet marketing has expanded and in order to be successful, must include other components. Blog development and social media development are now critical elements of a complete Internet marketing plan.
Many organizations are having a difficult time understanding the need to refocus some (or most) of their marketing efforts in this newer direction. The transition and evolution from traditional or outbound marketing to inbound marketing can be confusing to many. Businesses understand the old marketing methods even if they admit they have become less effective.
We are at an important crossroads for many businesses even if they don't notice. They must get involved in their marketing more than was demanded in the past.
An Overview:
- Outbound marketing is also considered "interruption" marketing.
- Outbound marketing is 40 year old technology.
- Outbound marketing is using a hammer to deliver your message.
- Inbound marketing is using a magnet to attract those sincerely interested in your message.
- Inbound marketing produces more quality leads at a lower cost per lead.
What should be included in your inbound marketing strategy?
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Blog development - regular blog posts
- Social Media Strategies
- Strong & accurate analytics or measurement
Developing and administering a strong Internet marketing plan takes the same effort and patience as developing a comprehensive traditional marketing plan. In most cases the budget won't have to be as extensive but the time commitment and ability to partner with highly skilled professionals is similar. Remember that in spite of what you read or what may appear in your inbox (or spam filter), a good inbound marketing strategy takes time, effort and a budget. There is no quick fix. Show me a keyword on page one of google and I will show you an organization that applied effort and had patience.
Internet marketing, at it's most basic level is about:
- Lead Generation
- Lead Tracking
- Lead Nurturing
- Lead Conversion
For a free inbound marketing white paper, click on this image:
Posted by Daniel Shlifer on Tue, May 04, 2010
Inbound marketing can consist of a simple SEO project or a more complete picture using SEO, blog & social media development with the appropriate analytics.
When analyzing and evaluating the Internet marketing needs of any business, it's important to understand that one size does not fit all. Each business will have different objectives, different budgets and therefore demand different and flexible solutions.
It is also important for businesses to realize that as Internet marketing or inbound marketing become more of a primary marketing mechanism, its important to apply the appropriate attention, budget and changes required to generate the return on investment that is, in most cases, the main objective. Understand that inbound marketing is now more efficient, more effective and more measurable than the way marketing has been implemented over the past 40 years (outbound marketing).
With this in mind, one of the decisions you will need to consider is the choice between PPC (sponsored ads) or a natural or organic search engine strategy. Although both can be beneficial, they do serve different objectives and need careful consideration before launch. Below are some basics that need to be understood in order to make an educated decision.
Any business and Internet marketing plan can benefit from both PPC or SEO so...
- Where do you start?
- Is it a sponsored ad campaign or organic search engine optimization?
- Both are important so what where should I start or would be the right mix?
- How do I determine what my budget should be?
- How much should I spend on PPC and how much on SEO?
- Which one has the higher rate of success?
- Which one is easy to manage?
Many of these questions are asked by business owners while developing their online marketing strategies or working with an Internet marketing expert on consulting firm.
One of the first steps should be a basic understand of the differences between the two. Here is a simple explanation:
The standard industry term is PPC, which means "par per click". You pay search engines or any other publisher for the clicks you get on your advertisement links. Another way to explain this; the traffic you are getting is Paid Traffic through the creation and placement of your advertisement. The alternative is SEO or search engine optimization. SEO is where you work on your web pages to improve its natural rankings in the major Search engines for the selected (important) keywords. If done correctly the result is free traffic for your website. This doesn't mean the process of organic optimization is free. If you have the skills and time, it will be free but you may need to pay a specialists to perform these activities.
These are some Pros and Cons of both PPC and Organic SEO as part of an overall inbound marketing plan.
If you have a newer site and need some faster exposure, PPC Campaigns can give you these quick results. You can launch your projects within hours and start getting search engine (or Facebook & LinkedIn) placement and traffic on your website over night. Pay per click programs are easy to monitor and lets you do specific testing and experimenting. This method will provide you with a detailed analysis of important metrics like:
- How many times your ad had been displayed
- How many people clicked on them
- Which ad got maximum clicks
- What is the conversion rate
Sponsored ad campaigns are also easy to control. You can control the placement of your listings and location where you want your ad to show, and stop your project anytime you want.
PPC campaigns are also very effective to test the impact of changes in site architecture on conversion rate.
PPC campaigns are great if you are going to promote some seasonal items and when it is not feasible to wait for improvement in organic rankings.
Cons - PPC campaigns, in most cases don’t have long term value. Your listings will disappear from search engines and other networks if you stop spending money. Usually a larger budget is needed to run an effective PPC campaign. If your niche is highly competitive and you are competing against big brands, this is even more true. In my opinion, the biggest reason to be careful when utilizing a sponsored ad campaign is because PPC ads get only 10% of click throughs when compared to organic search rankings.
Search Engine Optimization
Pros - Natural Search results get 90% of the activity on a search engine results page. This means you can get much more traffic if you can get top positions in organic results.
You don’t have to pay for extra traffic you get due to improvement of your website rankings in organic search results.
You can stop your SEO (search engine optimization) and link building campaigns for few months once your rankings become stable in Search results and can enjoy free traffic.
Proper SEO and Link Building will help you to increase the overall authority of your website.
Cons - SEO and Link Building is a time consuming process. It usually takes 6-8 months or even more to achieve the top results in organic rankings depending on the quality of your website and competition in your niche.
No control on the Rankings of website and no guarantee of results because organic results are very unpredictable.
As you have now seen the pros and cons of both marketing strategies, the selection of the SEO or PPC depends on the purpose of your inbound marketing campaign. If you are looking for quick exposure for your new business then PPC campaign is your best option but if you are looking for long term solution then focus on your SEO and link building campaigns. Business owners need to maintain a proper balance between their SEO and PPC activities. While, money spent on SEO should be considered as long term investment for your business, PPC campaigns should be used only to fill out the gaps which cannot be achieved with SEO like running ads on content networks, for doing research of proper keywords or to test the new design of website.
Posted by Daniel Shlifer on Mon, May 03, 2010
I hope that as an Internet marketer, you consistently ask yourself these questions when considering your Internet marketing projects:
- What is the real condition of my web site?
- What do the search engine see when they evaluate rankings for a chosen keyword?
- What is the marketing effectiveness of my web site?
One way to get a quick accurate and snapshot of your condition and some of the answers to these questions is to use a tool called website grader. You can request a free website grade report from Virtual Support Systems or go directly to website grader.
To give you a better understanding of the relation between HubSpot & Virtual Support Systems, I offer this description:HubSpot has created a cutting edge software application for use by Inbound Marketing Agencies like Virtual Support Systems, that enable us to apply all of the new and revolutionary marketing systems to our clients Internet marketing projects. Therefore, our clients subscribe to the HubSpot software and retain Virtual Support Systems to apply and manage all aspects of this application. Virtual Support Systems is a Certified Inbound Marketing Partner with HubSpot.
Okay, now that I have explained how to generate a real time report showing the condition of any given website, You should read a recent post on the HubSpot blog with examples of other companies' reports.
Posted by Daniel Shlifer on Thu, Apr 29, 2010
Email marketing can provide wonderful support for your web site and Internet marketing efforts. But do it wisely....
Email Advertising and Marketing:
If you're smart you won't even think of developing an internet marketing plan & web site without marrying it to a strategically created e-mail publication plan. The web site is the shy partner who passively waits for people to come to him. But the e-mail marketing strategy is the bold, active partner who goes out to where people are and invites them to come meet her groom. Together they make a great couple.
E-mail marketing is primarily a way to conserve the people who have shown some interest in your business by coming to your web site or responding to one of your offers. One of the highest priorities of your web site MUST be to get your visitor to sign up for your free newsletter, white paper, discussion list or updates publication. Offer a variety of inducements or compelling offers -- entry into a contest, a free gift, a free coupon -- whatever you must do to insure a steady stream of subscribers to your newsletter. Once they are subscribers -- if you give them "great content" they enjoy and learn from -- they'll stay with you for years, and you can gently build their trust and your relationship month after month. When they're ready to make a purchase, your site is at the top of their mind, and they'll probably buy from you. Figure the lifetime value to you of a single subscriber. When you've completed this exercise, you'll know why beginning your own e-mail marketing stratgey is so vital to marketing your business.
Though some Internet marketers focus on sending stand-alone e-mail ads to their mailing lists, I do not recommend this method. With so much SPAM (unsolicited e-mail) abounding, it's too easy for recipients to mistake your promotion for just another ad, and unsubscribe forever. Though an occasional promotional e-mail may be okay, your email marketing messages in the context of news and helpful information is much more effective, and builds loyalty that you can never gain by just bombarding your customers with ads.
Of course, you probably know by now that sending out mass e-mails to huge lists of e-mail addresses is a no-no. It violates the principle of Permission Marketing that says people respond better to a marketing message they have agreed to receive. Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail (UCE) also runs contrary to a long-standing Internet tradition that responds to SPAM with angry flames and enough returned e-mail to cause your ISP to shut down your account very quickly. If you're interested in building a long-term business based on trust, don't send SPAM.
Posted by Daniel Shlifer on Mon, Apr 26, 2010
Consider this when developing your Twitter, social media strategy.
If you are still learning about Internet marketing, this inbound marketing white paper should help.
The article below was written to help Internet marketers that are using Twitter as part of their social media strategy. This inbound marketing blog post was created in an effort to educate on certain methods that may help or may hurt the social media cause.
Twitter can be a powerful tool for the social media element of your inbound marketing strategy (Internet marketing):
To create a successful inbound marketing campaign, including search engine optimization, regular blog posts and a well rounded social media component, ,you will undoubtedly begin using Twitter to spread your social media and business messages.
Twitter is a great way to use social media to advance your message, out reach, gain exposure, make new connections and distribute your select messages in a strategic method. All this being true, I wrote this blog article to advise you against stressing quantity over quality.
Think about who you really want reading your social media. These messages define who you are and describe the business you have spent so much time developing. If your audience is not really in your target market or even connected to your target market, then why spend so much effort (and money) communicating your solutions and messages? This isn't a true reflection of what social media really is. Quality is better than quantity.
There are many tools available online that were created to help you manage your social media accounts like Twitter communications. Some these tools let you automatically follow those that are following you, reply to follows and other twitter short cuts. As a disciple of the HubSpot school of inbound marketing and a student of the great book Inbound Marketing by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah, I am not a proponent of these social media tools or methods.
I think that the obvious reason here is that you really are better off knowing who you are following and who is following you in more detail. Where is the sense in having organizations or individuals follow you if your information stream will never provide them benefit. If they are only a number and you issue your hard earned tweets, blogs and status updates to deaf ears, you have really achieved no substance or traction in advancing your remarkable content. Yes there is always the chance you may have your message spread through these social media channels but those chances are much better if the people on the other end value the content you provide.
I have even begun to notice that there is a large element of tweeters that will initially follow you in hopes you will reciprocate, only to wait a certain period of time, then hit the "unfollow" link. Their social media objective is obvious. They are only attempting to amass numbers without the thought as to the quality of those numbers. You can see that there is no real social or business interaction taking place in this example. You are now reading their tweets (and maybe retweeting) but they no longer are reading yours or really cared to in the first place. Yes you can track them down and unfollow yourself but I'm sure you can see the huge waste of time and effort by adding this process to your operation systems and your social media plan. You can also see the entire purpose of Twitter has been diluted and then only moves in the direction of pure or traditional advertising. As a true believer in the inbound marketing philosophy, this is a distressing concept.
If relationships are the ultimate goal of inbound marketing and social media, then this method of establishing connections doesn't help as much, especially when compared to the fundamental concepts created by Twitter at its inception. As pointed out in the book, Inbound Marketing, this type of relationship building is really no better than going to a business networking function and evaluating the success by the number of business cards you handed out in that room. Even though you may get a lead or two, this is hardly the level of relationship building and social media development that was intended and is available by using Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter in the intended way.
Another pitfall with using these social media automated systems is that it's very possible that the people or businesses on the other end of your messages see right away that you are using this kind of automation tool in your social media development and it diminishes your credibility each time.
Be social, act social (it is social media after all), try to help those that really want to understand what you have to say. Stay consistent with your strategy. Listen, and learn what your follows are really able to use. Provide value, assistance, support and education. What are your audience's issues and challenges and if you have info with substance or data that would help them see some of these challenges through, you become the hero and they pass on your offerings. They spread the word and this is one of the main ideas behind the creation of social media.
Posted by Daniel Shlifer on Sat, Apr 24, 2010
Inbound Marketing Has Many Components: Affiliate Marketing Can Be A Nice Fit For Some.
Affiliate Marketing Strategy:
For small businesses and low-traffic sites, a well designed affiliate marketing strategy can be one of the easiest ways to generate revenue online. As part of thier overall inbound marketing projects, many of the Internet's most popular retailers have an affiliate marketing strategy available as programs that pay Webmasters a commission for sales they refer. The programs are available for books, credit cards, loans, and for Internet superstores like Amazon.
If you're in the business of selling and understand the power of inbound marketing, a well planned affiliate marketing strategy can be a cost-effective way to get your products and brand out to the masses. If you're in the content business, affiliate marketing strategies are a great way to give your visitors value-added features such as books or software related to your site's topic.
When it comes to the web, Amazon.com really started the affiliate ball rolling. In July 1996, it launched its "associates" program and now counts over 450,000 sites in its network.
The basic model works something like this: A small web site owner starting his/her inbound marketing efforts, registers with Amazon (or any other affiliate program), he/she then puts various links, banners, and products on her web site. When her visitors click through on these links and purchase a book or other product, the small web site owner is paid a commission for generating the sale.
In all cases, the goal is for inbound marketers to only spend money when their particular performance objective is met. While Amazon only pays when a sale is made, merchants selling big ticket items like cars, or marketing services like credit cards, have modified the model -- paying instead for clicks or qualified leads.
In fact, compensation schemes are as varied as the merchants themselves.
As merchants have rushed to build affiliate marketing strategies, an entirely new category has been born: affiliate networks. Running a network of affiliates is not rocket science, but it does require quite a bit of time and commitment. For that reason, many merchants are finding that outsource providers offer a compelling solution.
To support your affiliate marketing strategy, some vendors like LinkShare provide tracking, reporting, and affiliate recruiting. Other programs like Dynamic Trade and Commission Junction offer additional services: cutting checks, sending out end-of-year tax forms, and responding to webmaster queries.
In a few short years, affiliate marketing strategy has become a significant force in how commerce on the Web occurs. Thousands of merchants now use affiliate marketing to get business done. The model is now being flexed to drive behavior beyond mere commerce transactions as part of more comprehensive inbound marketing strategies. And yet for all the jargon and hype, an affiliate marketing strategy is about connecting buyers and sellers -- and rewarding those that facilitate the connections. After all, the value isn't in the transaction, it's in the relationship. This is now the main principle of social media as part of a good inbound marketing strategy. The successful affiliate program does not happen by accident. Many factors contribute to an affiliate program's ability to rise above the mediocre masses. One such factor is the level of investment by a company in the longevity and growth of that affiliate marketing strategy; another is the relative experience of the affiliate manager/team. Search engine optimization will also be a factor in generating sales as part of your affiliate marketing strategy.
The Achilles' heel of many affiliate programs is their hasty, uninformed choice regarding an affiliate solutions provider. Although a number of decisions must be made when launching an affiliate marketing strategy, the choice of an affiliate solution is one that must be given much weight.
Do your research, and make the right decision the first time. In one recent poll, nearly 40 percent of affiliate managers said they would select a different affiliate solution provider if they could do it all over again. Also don't get too caught up in your affiliate marketing strategy at the expense of your parent inbound marketing efforts.
Story originally published on ClickZ Network
