Unfortunately, affiliate marketing has become associated with scamming, because some unscrupulous elements have decided to cheat people out of their money by promoting low quality, fake products and services to them, claiming that they work as well as, and even better than, any other. These businesses are promising them that they won’t regret their purchase. Some affiliate marketers may well be promoting legitimate products, but they don’t know how well they work, neither do they know who they are selling them too, as long as they make a sale.
In the bid to increase affiliate earnings, affiliate marketers turn to these underhanded ways of making conversions and getting their commissions, not caring how their acts affect the customer or the merchant that has entrusted them with the sale of their product. It is important that affiliate marketers give honest and truthful product reviews to their customers, so as to provide them, not just with the quality they need, but with exactly what they need. a
A customer could be looking for a set of red pencils to purchase. You have orange to promote. The goal here is not to convince the customer to forget about the red pencils and buy your orange ones. The goal is to understand why the customer wants red pencils, and, taking this into consideration, explain to them how your orange pencils are a good substitute, not to force it down their throats. You can even direct them to another affiliate that has those red pencils. If they decide to get your orange pencils, that is fine; if they do not, be sure that there are coming back to do business with you.
Why? Because you keep it real.
Keeping it real in your product reviews and sales pitches is important to customers because they do not like even the slightest feeling getting ripped off. How can you be honest, and still increase your affiliate earnings?
- Test The Product Yourself Before Promoting It To Customers.
You can only fake honesty to an extent. Ask for a free demo of the product or service from the merchant, or request for a free sample of the product. You can ask for the product or service for free in exchange for an honest review. By testing the product or service yourself, you can honestly tell your customers that it does this or it doesn’t do that. - Make Sure The Products You Are Promoting Are A Good Quality.
Seek out affiliate programs with good reputations and join them, because then you would be assured that you are promoting good quality products and services on your website or blog. Also, you wouldn’t have to lie about their non-existent awesomeness that way. - Anticipate All The Questions
Customers might have questions after seeing your product review. Present them as FAQs on your blog or website. These will answer any questions that the customers may have, and you can even add ones that they ask that you didn’t think of, and do some research on the product (yourself, or from other user’s feedback) and present them in the FAQs. - Visit That Actual Product Page And Read The Reviews Customers Have Given There.
Look at the competition's reviews of the same product and take note of the good and the bad. There will be many perspectives on that same product’s functionality or usability; reading them will show you what reviews are similar to your personal views on the product, what reviews are potentially dangerous to the product’s marketability, and which reviews are just plain silly. - Tell Your Audience What They Need To Know, Not Just What They Want To Know.
What they want to know is what they get in a sales pitch; what they need to know is the unbiased opinion of someone about that product. You are promoting the product to make a living, so you may not want to give bad reviews about a certain product. If a product has only negative reviews from when you tested it, you shouldn’t be promoting it. Tell the customers the good qualities of the product and its limitations, explaining that what it does, it does very well, and they will get their money’s worth when purchasing it. - Clearly State The Costs Of The Products Or Services You Are Promoting.
So that your customers know how much they are paying for what they are getting; and present them with helpful alternatives that are either cheaper or costlier. Presenting them with alternatives allows them to choose what they want, and make sure you have tested all of them or are familiar with an influencer who has used them recommends them. You can even link them to other affiliate sites with similar products so that they can have more alternatives. - Compare Products And Prices With Those Promoted By The Competition
Do your homework and then tell them why they should buy from you. Do not bad-mouth the competition in any way, just diplomatically make them understand why buying from you is not a bad idea. - Get Customers To Give You Feedback On The Products They Have Purchased And Used.
Provide a section for them to leave comments that you can use as testimonials or reviews (with their permission). This is another way to let customers know that you are being truthful about your product or service: by showing them comments from people they can relate with.
Doing all this will increase your customer list, increase your conversion and click-through rates, and greatly increase your affiliate earnings. Most importantly, they keep your first customers coming back for more updates from you.
