Agility is the best term to describe the nature of affiliate marketing. It is a field for curious learners who are fearless about experimenting. But if there is a way to avoid pitfalls and learn from others’ affiliate marketing mistakes, why not do that? Let’s find out together what issues can be solved today so as not to trip over them tomorrow.
Lack of proper guidance
Surprisingly, those with some knowledge of the topic often make this mistake in affiliate marketing. When newbies start from scratch, they mostly don’t hesitate to read information, ask for help, and let others guide them. But if someone comes, for example, from another niche or adjacent area, there may appear to be a fake feeling of being acquainted with the field.
To Contents ↑How to avoid: keep in mind that guidance and help are sources for you to start gaining asap. It doesn’t mean you’re not smart or educated enough to find things out on your own, but it definitely does mean that you’re wise enough to use the handiest and most effective means.
Promoting low-quality products
When it comes to low-quality products, it is vital to weigh risk and reward. The result must always justify the means. We carefully chose offers for our CPA network so you won’t find low-quality products in our range. But the choice of creatives and ways to promote is still up to you, so we highly recommend not using blackhat methods, even if it seems easy.
To Contents ↑How to avoid: always care who you cooperate with. A proven and legit partnership is your way to create a reputation. Whitehat methods are the best for those who are aimed at profitable long-term work.
Not tracking performance
Surprisingly many affiliate marketers neglect tracking tools or delay them for the “big start”, counting the first attempts as a trial. Doing this, you lose the information you can use later to make your campaigns more profitable.
To Contents ↑How to avoid: awaiting great results from the first day is too much, but it is possible to use every day of your work for collecting statistics. So use affiliate tracking software from day one and change your campaigns due to the data you get. You gain experience as soon as you start, and that is your future money.
Not making quality creatives when launching ad campaigns or making misleading creatives
Sometimes it seems like the Internet has already seen it all: every visual of a creative banner, every text of a catchy message, every clickbait heading. But there always appears something new proving that our fears were pointless. Despite plenty of available helping sources, shortsighted affiliate marketers still chose the easiest way of making misleading and low-quality creatives.
To Contents ↑How to avoid: work on your creatives and make them as proven and honest as possible. It is not only whitehat tactics but also your direct reputation, which is essential for everybody who is into long-term work.
Targeting keywords with a lot of competition
Working on SEO is a great thing to do, even for newbies. But the strategy means a lot here. The desire to use the most popular keywords is understandable: if people make such requests often, they are popular. Concentrating on top queries is one of the main affiliate marketing mistakes to avoid, and not only for beginners.
To Contents ↑How to avoid: use the most frequent keywords, but do not limit yourself to them. Add less competitive keywords to make your campaign more noticeable via exact requests. This way, you won’t lose among many similar offers as the search would range already popular but never fresh ones first. Using average- or low-competitive keywords helps your campaign be more noticeable.
Neglecting readibility of content
Visual fires first. People’s physiology explains this rule: we see the picture and then read what’s written on or around it. So no matter how cool the visual side of your creative banner is, the text may be the second pilot but not the extra one.
To Contents ↑How to avoid: picture and text have different roles but a joint aim: is to make the user click on the banner (or any other target action). Make sure that the style is the same, i.e. if the picture is funny and jokey, the text definitely can’t be official and long. Play with options to find the best trigger: teasers, discounts, bonuses, seasonal offers, price comparison etc.
Not having a deep understanding of what you’re selling
You don’t have to be a shoemaker to sell boots, but you also can’t be a hair stylist if your aim is to persuade someone to buy a pair of shoes. Alas, many publishers forget that there are more levels of understanding of a product than just ‘absolute’ and ‘zero’.
To Contents ↑How to avoid: you may start from scratch, but diving into the sense of a product you sell should be a part of the work. It is both about attitude and investments into profit: the more you know about the product, the better you understand its USP (Unique Selling Proposition) and the more effectively you can sell it to the user.
Not utilizing evergreen content
If you are an affiliate marketer who makes money from your website or blog, then evergreen content is a top source of passive income of clicks and, respectively, money. Its topics are always relevant, and it’s wonderful. But don’t let it fool you: evergreen content is not obligatorily eternal. When you don’t update it, it becomes outdated both semantically and technically or, to put it simply, useless.
To Contents ↑How to avoid: track all your content to ensure the right time to update each piece of it. Updating isn’t only about the text’s sense but also about correcting SEO writing. Even if the article highlights helpful information, your work is to make it easy to find in the search results.
Unrealistic income goals at the start
You will be surprised how many people still do believe in a magic button, pressing which will bring them billions of dollars with no effort. Do not fall for the huge payouts promised by the affiliate program if there are no clear conditions for receiving it. This is a frequent reason for checking in igaming. If you see an offer to receive a $300 payout for a $100 deposit, go to the advertiser’s website and check. What if the minimum deposit there is $50? Then the profit will make you wait a long time.
To Contents ↑How to avoid: get ready for profit for efforts, and don’t believe miracle success stories about becoming a billionaire in a week. Don’t know where to start to set the realistic goal model? Find out about SMART goals: they will allow you not to blindly copy others’ strategies but make your personal path more realistic.
Ignoring the SEO basics
Work in affiliate marketing starts with technical issues. It may seem a lot when you have to find out the whole mechanics. The opportunity to launch campaigns with no attention to SEO itself may embarrass and make it look unnecessary, and many newbies face this pitfall.
To Contents ↑How to avoid: every successful affiliate marketer knows SEO basics. That doesn’t mean you have to become an SEO specialist as this is a separate profession. But knowing and using the basics saves time which is literally money in the case of affiliate marketing. So we highly recommend exploring what SEO is before launching the new campaign, be it your first or just another one.
Conclusion
Mistakes are okay. Moreover, the absence of mistakes can signal that something goes wrong: we need a basis to learn and grow. But the presence of common affiliate marketing mistakes doesn’t mean you have to make each and every of them to become better. So sometimes the mistake is not to learn on other’s pitfalls.
Let’s sum up briefly:
- Affiliate marketing is about constant work, so don’t neglect related areas such as SEO and tracking tools
- Let your goals be ambitious yet realistic for profitable long-term work
- Use any help you can find and receive to fasten the improvement process
- Keep an eye on updates and keep up the pace of the industry
- Aim for the highest quality offers, products, and partnerships!
Affiliate marketing mistakes FAQs
Among everyone who has ever tried their hand at affiliate marketing, only half stay for the long term. But that is not about success or failure. That is about attitude.
Most beginners leave because they see little profit in the first few days and don’t want to figure things out. However, those who remain are people who understand that affiliate marketing is not an easy passive income but a demanding job. By the way, current statistics say that more than 81% of all affiliates earn more than $20,000 annually. So, despite the availability, this market is ready for new players.
That’s a firm ‘yes’. As more and more aspects of our everyday life go to digital, marketing and advertising, respectively, grow with no intention to stop. Join today so as not to miss any opportunity tomorrow.
Major risks are connected with a lack of trustable creatives and low-quality products. Affiliates risk when they buy traffic and make creatives (ad networks, social networks, etc.) and choose offers (CPA and affiliate networks).
All possible risks can never be reduced to zero, but working with Adsterra is your best way to minimize them. Constant updating of our tools, offers, databases, etc., allows for working with a decent background, even for newcomers. By choosing us as the proven partner, you can be sure you have no chance of not getting paid or being offered outdated offers/technologies.
Affiliate marketing is a job no less challenging than any other. We at Adsterra do everything possible to ease your working process, but your efforts matter most. So for many advertisers, newcomers especially, keeping an eye on market changes is the hardest thing to do.
The lists can be endless, but here are some of the main points.
Do:
• Follow trends
• Use available tools and services
• Choose ad formats according to features, i.e. GEO, niche, etc.
• Try using creatives.
Don’t:
• Ignore SEO
• Expect unrealistic results from day 1
• Choose low-quality product
• Neglect content updates.
