Model #1: Vouchers & Coupons
Vouchercodes is a site that emails members with ways to save money at the grocery store and other retail outlets.
The value proposition of these sites is pretty clear; they provide visitors with access to coupons and tips for using them that can save money. If done correctly, they can be tremendously popular.
There’s also a very direct and logical tie-in for affiliates; these sites inherently cater to, and attract, visitors who are in the market for a product or set of products (ideally at a discounted rate). It’s the goal of the companies that make these products to get as many people as possible to clip their coupons and eventually make a purchase; so they make affiliate payments to coupon sites who are able to help them achieve this goal.
Model #2: Cashback
In some instances cashback sites account for 50% of affiliate sales and that number is growing. Instead of the site keeping the commission it passes it back on to the consumer, in return the site will normally charge a small annual fee to its users.
Model #3: Blogs / Product Review
Product review sites are another popular vehicle for affiliate marketing strategies. Because these sites are inherently focused on providing information about products in which visitors are likely interested, the affiliate tie-in is pretty straightforward. The author writes about a product, highlighting the features and addressing any concerns, and then includes a link where readers can go to purchase the product.
This model works with both physical products and “e-products” such as software programs or e-books. Here are several examples of this affiliate marketing model in action:
- com Reviews
- Mom’s Favorite Stuff
- Jenn’s Review Blog
Note that all of the sites highlighted above are very transparent about any affiliate relationships, stating up-front whenever a post contains an affiliate link or is sponsored.
There is, of course, a pretty obvious conflict of interest in many implementations of this model. The affiliate only makes money if visitors click on the affiliate links and ultimately buy the products reviewed. But while there is an obvious incentive to write falsely positive reviews, that strategy generally has a pretty limited life expectancy. In order to be successful using this model over the long term, you’ll need the trust of an audience that can only be earned through integrity and transparency.
Model #4: Banner Ads
Many publishers present affiliate links in the same way others would run display ads on their site. Below is a screenshot from SugarRae.com, a popular affiliate marketing blog. Notice that the right rail is labeled as “Advertisement” and includes two ads (one for Raven and the other for Genesis). These look like banner ads, but they’re actually affiliate links–in the form of an image, not text. To most viewers, there’s very little distinction between a banner ad and an affiliate link here, but the compensation structure of course matters to the affiliate and the publisher.
This strategy can be interchangeable with more traditional banner ads, or can be used alongside other moentization strategies.
Model #5: Product Feed / Aggregation
The best example here is Shopzilla, a site that aggregates pricing and other information on a number of products. For example, the collection of digital camera prices and specs features affiliate links to dozens of third party sites where the highlighted products can be purchased.
Shopzilla adds value by aggregating pricing information and presenting an easy way for shoppers to see everything that is available to them. The revenue model revolves around these interested shoppers actually completing a purchase based on the information provided, giving Shopzilla an affiliate cut in the process.
Model #6: Email
Email marketing is directly marketing a commercial message to a group of people using email. In its broadest sense, every email sent to a potential or current customer could be considered email marketing. It usually involves using email to send ads, request business, or solicit sales or donations, and is meant to build loyalty, trust, or brand awareness. Email marketing can be done to either sold lists or a current customer database. Broadly, the term is usually used to refer to sending email messages with the purpose of enhancing the relationship of a merchant with its current or previous customers, to encourage customer loyalty and repeat business, acquiring new customers or convincing current customers to purchase something immediately, and adding advertisements to email messages sent by other companies to their customers.
Model #7: Retargeting
Let’s start with the basics. Retargeting, or remarketing, as it is also known, is really quite simple. When a Web user visits your site and then leaves without taking the desired action (e.g., making a purchase), you can use retargeting to advertise your product to them around the Web.
For example, if I’m in the market for some new boots, I usually start by doing some window shopping on a couple of online stores. I’ll make a mental shortlist, leave the site and then decide it’s time to do some work.
While reading up on the latest Internet marketing news, I’ll see an ad from Nordstrom pop up on the right-hand side. It’s the exact pair of boots I was looking at before! Later on, I’ll log on to Facebook and see Nordstrom showing me those beautiful boots again. This time, I give in. I click on the ad and the boots are mine.
Retargeting win for Nordstrom!
It sounds a bit stalker-like, I know. But in all its creepy glory, remarketing really works! I checked out four online stores, but Nordstrom was the only one that chose to remarket the boots to me. It knew how much I wanted the shoes, took advantage of it and it worked. I made the purchase from them instead of going to a competitor.
How Does Retargeting Work?
For remarketing to work, you will need to insert certain pixels on the pages of your website that you want to use for retargeting. This pixel (a small snippet of code) will then help you create lists of users you want to target (based on their behavior). You can then create advertising campaigns designed to show only to this list of users.
There are variations to the process, depending on which platform you’re using for retargeting. So AdWords might be a little bit different from Facebook, but you get the basic idea.
Remarketing For Affiliates
Until now, remarketing has mostly been used by brands. Affiliate marketers are not taking advantage of this behavioral marketing practice as much as they should.
By embedding remarketing pixels on your website, you can start gathering valuable insights on your customers. For example, say you are an affiliate for a dating site. When users signs up for a dating site via you, you are able to capture some interesting information about them. With the help of your retargeting pixel, you are then able to create a list of English-speaking male signups to a Russian dating site.
You may make $25 from a dating site referral, but by capturing this data, you can also continue to upsell to this list. If the men on your list speak English, you could potentially upsell them to a Russian language product. You could also promote Russian travel affiliate products to them … or could they find a flower delivery service useful?
After capturing email addresses for your list, you could use your retargeting data to successfully promote relevant products and services via email marketing. No more big blasts without any real focus on who the audience is. Your email marketing efforts can also be super targeted now.
The beauty of capturing remarketing data is not the data itself, but the ways in which you can use this data. Capture important and relevant information and then think out of the box about ways in which you can remarket to them. The possibilities are endless!
Model #8: Charity / Fundraising
These are websites set up by schools or charities who make it very clear to the consumer that if they purchase via their site, the school or charity will receive the commission. This is now actively being promoted as a form of fundraising through schools.
Model #9: Cart Abandonment
Shopping cart abandonment — when shoppers put items in their online shopping carts, but then leave before completing the purchase — is the bane of the online retail industry.
But it’s also a huge opportunity: Approximately $4 trillion worth of merchandise will be abandoned in online shopping carts this year, and about 63% of that is potentially recoverable by savvy online retailers, according to BI Intelligence estimates.
And many more…