While there are endless amounts of affiliate marketing success stories, there are many examples of affiliate marketing gone wrong. Often this comes in the form of common affiliate marketing mistakes that affiliates need to drastically avoid. Let’s go through these affiliate mistakes and how you can avoid them, and the solutions for them as well.
Keep in mind that these mistakes are often made by beginners and experts alike. Go through each of these affiliate mistakes and see if you’re making them. If you are, use the solutions to these mistakes that we provide as well in each section.
6 Affiliate Marketing Mistakes
1. Promoting Only 1 Offer As An Affiliate
Most affiliate marketers often decide to only promote 1 or 2 different products. This is a huge mistake that you can’t afford to make! Because as you generate leads and interest over time, not all of your customers will want that small selection of offers. Your audience has different wants and needs, which requires you to have more offers available in order to maximize all profit and earnings.
Instead you’ll want to promote instead at minimum anywhere between 3-5 different related products and services. This could be from a variety of different companies and affiliate programs. As long as each related product and service is offered to your audience at some point, you will increase your earnings as an affiliate marketer.
2. Never Creating Your Own Products Or Services
While affiliate marketing runs off of promoting other businesses product and services, not eventually selling your own is a huge mistake. If you take a look at the most successful affiliate marketers in the world, they all eventually start selling their own program, course, services, etc…
Only selling affiliate offers is a scalable and profitable business, but also selling your own offers to your audience is even more profitable.
3. Relying On Only 1 Lead Generation Source
You do not want your business dependent on a single traffic lead source. More often then not, an affiliate marketer will get comfortable using a single paid traffic or single organic traffic source. This is not a good idea, as your “eggs are all in one basket”. If that lead generation source goes away, then you’re left with nothing.
Instead, you’ll want to have a minimum of 2-3 methods you can use to consistently generate leads for your affiliate marketing business. This way you’ll always have another lead source to go to and use, in case one ever becomes less reliable. If you buying lead packages or services as an affiliate marketer, make sure to buy from more then 1 source.
4. Not Networking With Other Affiliates
Sometimes affiliate who are introverts or who just don’t have that much interest in making friends online, don’t network as much as other affiliate marketers. This can be a common and huge mistake. Sometimes affiliates even see other affiliates as competition. This is the wrong way to look at affiliate networking.
You’ll instead want to partner and work with as many affiliate marketers in your niche as possible. Affiliates in your niche may help you buy…
- Promoting an offers you create
- Giving you their own private affiliate secrets and insights
- Helping you solve problems in your affiliate business
- Pay for you to teach them how to be a successful affiliate marketer like yourself
Always be looking for ways to collaborate with other marketing affiliates.
5. Not Partnering With Affiliate Programs More
Most affiliate marketers simply join an affiliate program and then start promoting. They don’t contact their affiliate manager, plan a joint webinar, or do anything extra to partner with the affiliate programs they are a part of. This is a huge mistake that is costing you big money.
If you’re an affiliate who wants real success, you’ll want to immediately start working more closely with affiliate programs and the owners of companies you promote. You can work out exclusive deals, commission bumps, and so much more!
6. Joining The Wrong Affiliate Programs
The majority of affiliate marketers make the mistake of joining the wrong affiliate programs. You want to make a quick few dollars and join a trend, so you promote a sketchy but profitable affiliate offer. Wrong! Following profitable trends is smart, but not always the best for the long term.
It is much better to decide to only promote long term affiliate programs. This means only promoting for companies and businesses that will be online or offline for a minimum of 10 years or more. This way your affiliate commissions will remain consistent, and your brand will improve drastically over time as well.
How To Stop Making Beginner Mistakes As An Affiliate
Overall, there is a great strategy to follow in order to make less mistakes as an affiliate marketer. Here’s what you’ll want to do in order to see more success and make less mistakes…
- Find an affiliate marketing coach, mentor, or expert.
- Create an affiliate marketing business plan or guide.
- Study and learn important facts about affiliate marketing.
Doing these 3 things consistently will ensure you see success in your affiliate journey.
Why Do Most Affiliates Fail?
The majority of affiliate marketers who fail often do so because of the following reasons…
- They lack a deep enough knowledge of how affiliate marketing works.
- They don’t know how to optimize their affiliate marketing business.
- They promote the wrong affiliate programs and offers.
- They don’t focus on the long run.
- They don’t follow up with their leads enough.
Final Thoughts
It’s okay to make mistakes as an affiliate, as long as you learn from them! If you read through this guide and followed it closely, then you’ll have all of the tools you need to avoid these mistakes and see more solutions in your business.
Thank you so much for reading through and learning about affiliate marketing from us! You are very much appreciated.
With our kindest regards,
Jon Weberg
Richard Weberg