Things To Avoid When Affiliate Marketing With B2b Sites
Tuesday, Jan 20, 2009
Elsewhere on this site you'll find info regarding B2b affiliate marketing programs, which are aimed at a totally different demographic than B2c websites. One of the mistakes new affiliate marketers make, whether they're B2b or B2c, is trying to do too much with a website.
“A major mistake you'll want to avoid is to look at the amount of a payout before checking the rate of conversion.”
Normally, this comes in the form of overloading an affiliate page with affiliate links. The thinking is that if there are more affiliate links on a page, it is more likely that a web surfer will click on a link. What is actually true is the opposite.
Since the site comes across as a "link dump" and not a legitimate website, web surfers are much less willing to click on a link, let alone sign up for a service or make a purchase. In short, sites like this are the website equivalent of spam.
Avoid Overloading Your Brand
Website owners who try to mix B2b and B2c within the same site may face the same type of problem -- trying to bite off more than they can chew. Elsewhere on this site, you'll find a lot of information about site branding. When designing a site logo, you want find something that effectively represents the overall mood and purpose of the website. Avoid going for too many demographics at once, which can lead to problems with site branding and name recognition.
Instead of housing a series of B2b and B2c affiliate links all under one roof, or even every B2b affiliate program under the sun, it's a better idea to create several different sites, all with a separate and unique brand. Certainly, this takes more work to optimize each website, but that is why true affiliate marketing is a job and should not be treated as an extracurricular hobby.
Don't Just Focus On The Payout
A major mistake you'll want to avoid is to look at the amount of a payout before checking the rate of conversion. Of course, you cannot get a rounded sense for how a B2b affiliate marketing program is going to convert on your website until the site goes live. However, you need to gauge the rate of conversion about the price of a payout. An affiliate marketing link with a $25 payout that converts often is more valuable than a $150 program that has limited takers.
Since B2b affiliate marketing sites don't get the same kind of traffic as business-to-consumer sites, an affiliate marketer may try to do more with less. Going for high-payout programs without taking into account how often the programs will actually find buyers can turn into a mistake.
It may take some time to determine which B2b links are converting and which aren't. Any affiliate marketing program is an unfolding process. If something is not working, you need to post new content, redesign the site, replace your current affiliate programs or all of the above.
