It is too good to be true. But for those operating a Web site, signing up with the right affiliate programs can be the next best thing. The popularity of online affiliate programs, which direct customers to online merchants and content providers through banners, buttons and links, is growing rapidly. But the best programs and affiliates are better than the rest.
Many successful affiliates follow best practices for online marketing.
Repeat customers are key to long-term success and Benelli has found that giving users compelling reasons to return to a site, such as supporting a charity or offering rebate programs, has worked well. Affiliate programs have worked well for Proflowers, which has focused on a strong affiliate network, supported by three of its own managers, as the preferred way to win new customers. Rick Eggers, marketing vice president of Internet Service Provider CaliforniaCom Inc., finds effective layout can improve the results of affiliate links. We give better placement to the ones that are making more money and getting repeat traffic. Affiliate programs can reduce these costs by more than eighty-percent, at the same time the referral fees and commissions paid to affiliates go directly to their bottom line.