3 Reasons to Avoid Affiliate Marketing

Surprisingly this is a pretty good article about the problems merchants could have when they start an affiliate marketing campaign.

The first point they mention relates to coupons (discount codes). Before I buy anything I always check to see if there's a discoumt code (ok so I'm tight) and I'm sure others do too. There's a cost associated to all forms of marketing. But I'm still sure it's more profitable and certainly more transparent that tv or radio advertising!

The second point relates to ppc brand bidders. Personally I don't agree with it as I try and see it from a merchant's point of view. But I still do it. If there's money to be made and it's not illegal - I'll do it! If a merchant says not to bid then I don't (ok sometimes I do but shhh). If you're asked to remove bids then do it - I always do as quick as I can - even when I was sitting on the beach in Antigua this summer. As Rufus full-well knows, I was just about to finish that rum & Coke and get my backside in the sea!

The third reason is SPAM. I used to knock up 40,000 pages in a day around set categories and make a pretty penny out of it too. But there's no real benefit to the user. When Google kicked me out I got myself some morals and now try and build content sites which offer value to users.

As a merchant, if you've got a good agency or network they'll be able to help you manage these problems and mitigate any issues that may arise.

If you do have any questions, feel free to drop me a line.