In this article, you will find information that will help you start an affiliate sales campaign on the right foot and, by the same token, earn an interesting passive income thanks to the internet. So if you don’t want to create your own product or pick up crumbs with Adsense, I advise you to follow the advice of this article…
Two preliminary steps
In the next few paragraphs, I’ll show you the two mandatory (and often overlooked) preliminary steps you’ll need to take if you want to set up a successful affiliate sales campaign.
These are:
- The choice of a niche (niche) ;
- Analysis of market needs .
These two steps are VERY important. If done well, they will help you significantly increase the chances of success of your promotional campaign. If, on the other hand, these steps are neglected or ignored, your campaign will be doomed to failure .
After reading this article, you will be able to choose a niche in which you will offer products through affiliate platforms. You’ll also be able to understand much better what needs your potential customers are trying to fill, which is super important (and often not what people think).
What I will present to you today is the result of my exhaustive research on affiliate sales techniques with a niche blog. Several people have used the same process to earn thousands of dollars online long before me. But nobody talks about it!
It is for this reason that I decided to write this article.
My beginnings
The first website I created allowed me (and still does) to make money from AdSense ads and other forms of contextual ads sold at CPM (cost per thousand impressions).
To this day, I still get passive income from this website and many others. On the other hand, my real passive income comes from selling informational products online, either my products or someone else’s products through an affiliate sales platform.
I have created dozens of websites to promote products that I sell through affiliation. I sell multiple products within multiple niches using simple, yet effective websites.
I use the classic affiliate sales model:
- It directs traffic to a web page;
- It captures the “lead” (customer information like name and email address);
- It sends the potential customer to the merchant’s sales page;
- It collects your commission if the potential customer buys the product;
- It promotes by email campaign different products in the same niche.
Although this method allows me to earn several thousand euros per month , the sales process is quite simple (not easy to read). On the other hand, before pointing internet traffic to a website in order to sell information products there, you have to know what you want to sell and to whom.
Many people choose a product to sell before finding a market segment to target. This is a serious mistake!
The ideal process is to:
- Choose the right niche or the right market segment;
- Find the real needs of the people who make up this market;
- Find (good) products that meet these needs.
If you neglect one of the first two steps, then there is no way to correct it… You will not have success! You will fight in a war that is already lost. It is for this reason that I put a lot of effort into this part of the process.
If, on the contrary, you manage to find a good niche and identify the real needs of your potential customers, then half the battle will be won in advance.
Choose the right niche
The first thing you need to do when setting up your own affiliate marketing campaign is to choose the niche you want to target. This niche will be part of a larger market.
For my part, I greatly prefer to tackle a niche or niche that comes from one of the following three major markets :
- Health ;
- Money ;
- Human relations .
The reason why I always choose a niche that comes from one of these three major markets is very simple.
These markets have proven themselves ! In addition to having enough potential customers , they respond well to promotions on the internet.
I also make sure that the blog niche I choose is related to my personal interests. This last tip is optional, but I find it much easier (and interesting) to promote a product or service in a market that interests me, than in a market that neither warms nor colds me.
This is especially true if after doing affiliate marketing, you decide to produce your own product in that niche. So, you better love the niche you operate in, the goal being to build your own business around a lifestyle and not a business that becomes a “work”.
Believe me, if you choose to promote products in niches that don’t interest you, you will feel that setting up your business becomes a job like any other.
For example, here is the list of things that I am passionate about:
- Le marketing internet ;
- The food ;
- Psychology ;
- personal development;
- training;
- The movie theater ;
- The trips.
In light of what I have just stated, I could not promote products on movies, travel and food, because these are not markets that do not respond very well to online promotion .
On the other hand, internet marketing, psychology, personal development and training are “niches” that are part of the 3 major markets that I explained to you earlier.
Find a hyper-specific market segment
Once the market is found, it’s time to find a smaller market segment . The reason to target a smaller market is quite simple. The more specific a market is, the easier it is to understand it , to find out what the needs really are and to better understand what the people who make up this market are looking for.
If, on the other hand, you choose a niche that is too general , it will be very difficult to clearly identify potential customers and the reasons why they should buy the product you are trying to sell.
Most internet marketers (especially less successful ones) overlook this step. However, it is one of the most important steps. By targeting a more specific niche, it will be much easier to create a closer connection with potential buyers.
How to find a hyper specific niche?
The big three markets are made up of hundreds (and even thousands) of different niches.
The niche you choose probably already exists, but don’t worry, competition is a very good thing . This is a sign that there is money to be made .
This is how I find niches that are emotional and profitable .
The first thing I do is do a reverse niche search . It’s a tactic you’ve probably never heard of and goes against everything taught in internet sales courses today.
But it works…
Most digital marketing courses will suggest that their students find a product that sells like hot cakes and then find prospects who will want to buy the product in question.
The problem with this system is that the product chosen does not give you specific information on the needs to be met by the target clientele.
The real reason why people buy the product remains a mystery . The responsibility of finding the target audience remains your responsibility and it can turn out to be a very expensive (in time and money) problem to solve.
It is for this reason that choosing a product before a market is a doomed approach .
Here is the method I use to choose a hyper-specific niche within the 3 major markets :
- Choose one of the major markets;
- Choose a general niche within the chosen market;
- Choose a specific niche within the general niche;
- Choose a hyper specific niche contained within the latter.
You’re probably saying to yourself that by targeting only a very specific segment, I’m shrinking the market considerably…
Well you are right!
On the other hand, it will be much easier for me to understand this market, their fears , their needs , their goals and their challenges , in order to be able to effectively sell them a fitness or weight loss product.
The more specific the chosen niche, the easier it will be for you to convince the people who make up this market that they should buy what you offer them. Your marketing tools will be more targeted and effective.
The biggest mistake I see when browsing merchant sites is that they target a market that is too broad . They try to target everyone.
The result is often a weak message that doesn’t catch on and lower sales.
Investing your money and time in a site without a specific target will probably not yield the desired results.
Golden Rule Number 1: If you have to remember one thing from this article, then remember this: it’s much better to target a more specific segment and then forget all the others!
Understand why people use
Before attempting internet marketing campaigns, it is important that you understand consumer psychology . It is essential that you know WHY people buy and consume products and services.
If you want to be successful online, it is essential that you understand that people who search on Google , or who click on banner ads, are doing it to fulfill a need.
Your role as an internet marketer is to find and fill that need. Before filling it out, you have to identify it properly, because the need is sometimes not the one that seems obvious.
People looking for an online game may be more interested in avoiding work they might (should) be doing…
People who click on an ad for a new weight loss program may be doing so to be more able to attract people of the opposite sex rather than for health reasons…
Do you see where I’m coming from?
The ultimate and often unconscious need , it is at the second, third or even fourth level. The key to becoming a successful internet marketer is being able to understand and identify the real needs of potential customers.
I see a lot of marketers who focus more on the technical aspects of their product or service than on how it can contribute to helping the potential customer meet their need.
This is a serious mistake! The customer doesn’t give a damn about your product, what he wants is to fulfill his need .
In order to become a very good marketer, you must not only be able to identify the consumer’s primary need, but you must also think about their final need.
Example
Here is an example that will allow you to better understand where I am coming from.
Let’s take a look at the reasons why people choose foods to buy at the grocery store.
You probably tell yourself that the primary need is to eat (a vital need). It is true that people who buy food at the grocery store do so because they want to satisfy a vital need, which is to eat.
On the other hand, if the multinational Pepsi promoted Diet Pepsi by emphasizing people’s need to drink, they would experience (very) mixed success.
Sure, people buy food because they need to eat and drink to stay alive, but what really drives their food choices at the grocery store? What are the real needs they are trying to fill?
Let’s go back to the Diet Pepsi example . Why do people choose Diet Pepsi over another type of soft drink?
Is it better for health? Not really…
According to a recent study, 87% of consumers choose Diet Pepsi over Original Pepsi because it’s lower in calories .
It is therefore necessary to dig deeper in order to better understand the final need that these consumers are trying to fill. Why do they want to consume fewer kilojoules?
To lose weight ? To keep in shape?
Let’s assume they want to lose weight. Why do they want to lose weight? To have a beautiful body? To be able to put on a sexier swimsuit this summer at the beach? To find a soul mate?
Again, let’s choose a hypothesis and dig a little deeper. Let’s say they do it so they can be more attractive to people of the opposite sex.
Why do they want to be more attractive? To be able to catch the eye, to be able to feel attractive, to be happier, etc.
In the light of what has just been exposed, it is possible to say that a certain part of the population who buys food in a supermarket does so to meet a secondary (often unconscious) need to become more attractive and/ or happier.
Do you now understand why it is essential to understand the target customer and know exactly what is the (real) need he is trying to fill.
A successful marketer will have validated each of the steps using online surveys or interviews with people who are already consuming the product.
Selling watches that don’t tell the time
In an interview with the CEO of Hublot watches , he tells the journalist that he succeeds in selling watches worth thousands of euros , not by bragging about their ability to tell the time…but by insisting on the image they project .
The journalist asks, what is the logic behind the marketing of watches by totally obscuring their ability to keep the right time.
To this question, he answers: “Are you still reading the time on your watch? Not me. For that, I have an iPhone . Hublot watches are used to show that you are rich , elegant or sporty . You have as many choices to express your personality as we have models. »
He adds a little further: “Do you believe that everyone who buys Nike products plays sports? »
Wow, here is someone who understands consumer psychology!
How to find customer needs
You are probably wondering how it is possible to find the real (often unconscious) needs of the potential customers who make up your market?
For my part, I use interviews a lot , which I pass on to forum readers who are frequented by the same people who make up my target audience.
If, for example, I target men who are trying to get their ex back, I would look in seduction forums for men who ask this kind of question.
There is also the possibility to ask questions in Facebook groups, you will quickly get answers.
Once again, this step is crucial and I suggest that you collect as much information as possible about your target clientele, in order to be able to clearly identify the needs of the people who make it up.
In conclusion
There you have it, which goes around the two steps you need to take before finding a product to promote through an affiliate sales campaign .
I hope this article has helped you. If so, feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of the page.
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