Affiliate marketing is a specific industry that requires a serious approach and analysis. Beginners in this field often make mistakes that can lead to a loss of time and money. If you just started working in affiliate marketing, this guide will help you avoid some of the most common mistakes new affiliates make.
We are not going to talk about some extremely basic things like whether affiliate marketing legit or scam because if you’re reading this article, then it means that you already have some understanding of what it is all about.
Absence of tests
Testing is an essential part of affiliate marketing. It allows you to assess the effectiveness of various factors:
- Traffic sources;
- Landing pages;
- Creatives;
- Advertising settings.
Through testing, you can determine which changes can lead to increased conversions and profits. One of the most common methods of testing in affiliate marketing is A/B testing, which allows you to compare two or more variants and determine the most effective one. By testing different elements like headlines, visuals, and calls to action, you can identify what resonates best with your audience and significantly boost your bottom line. You can read more about the importance of A/B testing and how it affects your conversion rate here.
By the way, we have a good article about how A/B testing works and what it is used for. Check it now!
Working with questionable affiliate networks
Choosing a reliable affiliate program plays a key role for affiliates and webmasters. Reputation and reviews of the company, the quality of support, and the terms of cooperation – all of these should be taken into account when selecting an affiliate program.
It’s not advisable to take risks and work with companies that are unknown in the community or have a bad reputation. Thoroughly research the market and make your choice based on verified information.
…or just stay with us at AffDays! Man, we’re doing our best to provide people with all the necessary information about affiliate networks out there. We have top-lists of affiliate programs, reviews of particular networks, etc. See for yourself!
Choosing an offer with low competition
Newcomers often think that choosing an offer with low competition guarantees success. However, such offers often have their own characteristics:
- Low payout;
- Narrow target audience;
- Poor call center support;
- An offer that is old and already saturated;
- Low approval rates, and so on.
While these offers can be profitable, their growth is limited. When selecting an offer, it’s important to consider its popularity among the audience and competitors. Offers that multiple teams are currently promoting, on the other hand, can be profitable. After all, if there’s competition, it means the product is in demand.
Choosing incorrect Geo
It’s important to understand that each geo has its own characteristics, user behavior patterns, differences in purchasing power, and market competition. Incorrectly defining the geography of your audience can lead to low conversion rates and significant financial losses.
The first step in making the right geo choice is conducting a detailed analysis of the target market. You need to study the characteristics of potential users, their behavior, purchasing power, and the average level of competition. This will help determine which countries may be more profitable for your product.
Another mistake related to geo-targeting is ignoring local culture and language aspects. For example, using poor translation or unadapted content on landing pages or creatives can create a negative impression among users and reduce the likelihood of conversion. Each culture has its own values, traditions, and preferences, and it’s important to consider these factors when creating advertising materials and interacting with the audience.
We can advise you to use Google Trends while searching for geo. This free tool acts like a digital compass, revealing search volumes for your chosen keywords across the globe. You can zoom in on specific countries, regions, and even cities, to see how often your target audience searches for relevant terms.
Copying cases
One common mistake made by beginners in affiliate marketing is blindly replicating cases. Often, novice affiliates, in their quest to find profitable traffic sources, follow previously used and successful approaches without realizing that each case is unique and requires an individualized approach. A strategy that worked wonders for one campaign might flop for another due to factors like timing, competition, or even platform changes.
Copying cases can lead to unsuccessful outcomes and a waste of time and resources. This is because each product, geo, and time of campaign launch have their own peculiarities, and successful strategies may not work in different situations. Additionally, cases are often paid for. Companies may pay affiliates to promote their success stories, which may not reflect reality.
Instead of simply copying cases, affiliate marketing beginners should develop their analytical skills and critical thinking. It’s essential to study traffic sources, analyze the target audience and their needs. You can use a case as a foundation, but you need to adapt it to your specific circumstances.
Bonus Tip: Wrong Ways and Places of Promotion
A lot of webmasters often just don’t have a strategic, systematic approach to promoting their offers – they neglect right ways and right places of promotion and simply stick to one or two places. For example, a lot of affiliates know that Facebook is a good place for affiliate marketing. Indeed, it is a good place, but there are other platforms that can work just this well: Twitter (X), Medium, Reddit, etc.
Not only platforms, but ways, in general, are also can be different; you can promote your offers via emails and podcasts, on forums and in video content. Read our article on best ways to promote affiliate links and places to post links for free to learn more.
Conclusion
Learning from other people’s mistakes is a great way to succeed in affiliate marketing. Don’t skip testing different things, avoid programs with bad reputations, and don’t just copy what others do without thinking. Take your time to learn about your chosen area, and who you’re trying to reach, and keep trying new things to see what works best. Remember, in the CPA field, those who try to see things from a different perspective and stand out with their approach among the crowd of people looking to make quick money are the ones who succeed.
