Affiliate Program: Good Way to Market a Business or Product?

One of the most commonly-asked questions – which may come in various iterations – may be summarized up like this:

Is affiliate marketing right for my product?

Indeed, how can one tell if an affiliate marketing program is a good way to promote this or that product or service? Clearly, it is best to answer this question before sinking hundreds (or thousands) of dollars into something that isn’t meant to perform.

In the course of the years, I’ve had the pleasure of starting affiliate programs for hundreds of businesses. But the number of times that I declined setting up an affiliate program, actually, greatly exceeded the number of affiliate programs launched. Today, I’d like to give you some pointers that you can use in determining if an affiliate program is even right for you and your business.

If you’re pressed for time, feel free to listen to my response in the below video (part of “The Affiliate Marketing Experience” series).

If, however, you’re more of a reader (than a watcher), here are my thoughts on the subject:

When it comes to figuring out whether an affiliate program is the right way to sell your product (or service), there are two things that you need to consider:

1. Demand
2. Medium

I. Question of Demand

Let’s start with the demand. Here you will want to answer the question of whether there is market for your product or not. Analyze the following:

• Your consumer-facing value proposition
• Your competitive advantages (and how you stack up to the competition)
• Gauge the opportunity based on what you see happening (or not happening) on the market.

II. Question of Medium

Then move to the second question: that of the medium.

• Do people shop for (and buy) this product or service online? Yes, there are ways to run “offline” affiliate programs (through pay-per-call, through unique promo codes, and so on), but primarily affiliate marketing happens online.
• Also, are any of your competitors (or closely related merchants) successful in selling online? Whether they have affiliate programs or not is also good to analyze. But the key question is: does your product actually sell online or not?!

So, while figuring out if affiliate marketing is right for your product, the two big questions you want to tackle are the Question of Demand and the Question of Medium.  If the answers to both are affirmative (there is a demand and the medium is right), then affiliate marketing is (more than likely) the right way to go.

The reason for this is that affiliate marketing is universal, and works across all online marketing channels.

Here’s a bit of further reading for those of you who are interested in exploring the topic (of marketing through affiliates) further:

• Affiliate Marketing Explained: Definition, Key Players, and Concepts
• The Ultimate Checklist for a Successful Affiliate Program Launch
• How to Leverage Affiliate’s Cross-Channel Nature
• Affiliate Program Management: Definition, Approaches, Risks
• Complete Guide to Affiliate Marketing Program Management

I wish you the best of luck in building a successful affiliate marketing program! Do not hesitate to hit us up should you need any help.