GENIX

This is the title of a post I read today - GAME OVER: Affiliate Marketing Is Dead « Direct Response Marketing – Crush Your Competition.

I think they have good points and the guys over at Direct Response sure know the industry inside out.

I don't think affiliate marketing is dead by any means, but don't see it as being a viable long term business either. What do you guys think? I haven't been in the game for that long so I was hoping for some of the veterans to give your insight on how you see the future of this industry.

mtmjohn

Very interesting. I'd like very much to know what Kenster think of this.

jeffrey73

Very good article. It makes a lot of sense too, there are way too many "middlemen".

Aviator Joe

directresponse is an awesome blog, i myself started gearing my internet business towards the long-term. DR blog definitely made some solid points

Kenster

I have only skimmed over the article but here are a few of my thoughts...perhaps I will put something more thorough together when I have some more time...

As far as traditional affiliate marketing is concerned, the model will never ever go away. It's been a major part of commerce since the beginning of commerce. Saying affiliate marketing is dead is like saying the whole sales industry will die, because in many respects, salespeople are more often than not, just affiliates. Many of the people you buy your phone plans through or television through, are just glorified affiliates. Making a commission on sales and earning money for leads will never ever go away...at least not in my lifetime and not for a few lifetimes after mine.

Now moving more to the CPL or CPA model. Things are shifting. I have been saying for a long time now that the big traffic platforms will slowly push affiliates away. Google Adwords was the first but it will continue. The trend will be towards smaller niche platforms.

As for CPA Offers in general, I also believe (and have been saying for a long time) that the better, more legit CPA offers will win out and all the scammy and no-value offers will slowly die out, just because they will be less lucrative because there will be less traffic channels to promote them through. This is a good thing. This is exactly where I want to see the industry headed, to more legit CPL programs.

Promoting leads will not go away and I think many of the biggest companies will jump on the CPL train as soon as the industry gets cleaned up a bit, which we are seeing happening.

So I believe the industry is headed in the right direction because the CPL model will be based on providing true value, not just a deceptive value that many of these offers out there yield.

As with any industry, things will change and change means opportunity. If you are resilient and always looking to exploit pockets of opportunity, there will always be a way to make a lot of money through affiliate marketing.

The article brings up good points, but the industry is not going away. It will change, as it has, but it's certainly still a great model...in my opinion

I look forward to the days when there are just a dozen or so large CPL networks providing lots of value-added offers. I won't miss the days of having 1 thousand CPA networks out there hosting all kinds of crappy offers.

This is a good change for us all!

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Alpha Matt

Very supportive (from affiliate side) reply Kenster. I was too upset with that article and you gave me hope again.

Looking to read more optimistic replies from Pro IMers and AMs themselves

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ChadH

I wrote a post about this on my blog a couple weeks back:

The Great CPA/Affiliate Marketing Hoax | ChadHamzeh.com

There is also a video on the post which followed that showed a model I've helped a couple people do that's helped them a lot.

No, nothing for sale in the post and vid, so no ulterior motive here.

You need to understand one thing about Rich's blog (directresponse.net). Yes, he provides good content, but at the same time the blog is a funnel to get people that want to become advertisers.

Now, that being said. Is he wrong in what he's saying? I wouldn't say affiliate marketing is dead, however, it's a fools game to try and run offers day in, day out the way we all used to back in the day.

Even back then, it wasn't the smartest play but it made you some quick cash which is great. But at the end of the day, you're just arbitraging traffic when you do it the way most do.

You know the metrics that real businesses work on? Things like DPL (dollar per lead). This is the type of stuff you need to know.

How long ago did you hear that "the money is in the list"? Some true words right there. Look at the CPA industry for what it is... it's a giant system for advertisers to get front end lead flow for their business.

Most affiliates don't even look at it past the conversion, which is many send poor traffic which doesn't back out.

I agree with Kenster, things change, they always do, and it's for the better.

Here's an example, related more to the MLM industry.

Some of the top MLMer type guys, they get there not by promoting the MLM company, but by promoting themselves, or their brand. They plug the MLM company offer into their funnel.

If you want to stay purely as an affiliate, I highly recommend establishing a brand in the vertical that you're strong with. And, if for some reason the magical day comes where all affiliate marketing really does die, and no companies are paying for leads/sales, then you'll have a brand and good enough pulse on your audience to develop your own kick ass offer.

ChrisBa

Affiliate marketing has been 'dead' for years..

It's a constant/always changing industry.. affiliate marketing isn't going anywhere, it might change and shift, but in some way, shape or form, it will be here

jeffrey73

Yep. Like Ken said salespeople could more or less be considered "affiliates".

Also, advertisers would be shooting themselves in the foot if they got rid of affiliates, and they know it.

jeffrey73

Yep. Or they do what Mike Dillard did and make themselves bigger than the MLM itself. He could promote any "business model" these days and make a killing!

ChadH

Yup... Dillard, Daegan, Budd. All 3 made themselves bigger than MLM. Build a brand, not a business.. as they say.

For the more private types, the brand doesn't need to be yourself, it can be a portal, course, destination site of sorts. etc.

Cash37

I don't think you are taking this serious enough. We have to keep an eye on this. Networks aren't paying people. Platforms are banning anything that looks like a lead-gen... and the advertisers (follow the money) are pulling completely out of affiliate networks and doing it in-house thanks to guys like directresponse.net consulting them....

...Im just saying. There is still some meat on the bone, but be prepared for anything.

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steve solo

affiliate marketing has been dead and it all has been a hype,..in my opinion,..selling a strategy on "how to make money as an affiliate" will make you money! lol..

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speedylikesKJ

Internet Marketing is constantly changing. And I don't think Affiliate marketing will ever die out. Affiliate marketing is linked with many things. There are many stakes in it.

Josh Ploose

Very interesting article and good points by all...
I won't go into all the issues that were talked about but here are my 2 cents:

For the bigger affiliates that become their own advertiser taking things into their own hands, more power to them. But the VAST majority of affiliates don't have the means, resources, knowledge, funds, or motivation to do it. The reality is most affiliates aren't super affiliates and most affiliates rely on networks to do the work for them. Sure, you could call CPA Networks "middlemen" but you could say the same for the maid that you pay to clean your house; it's a convenient service.

The problem comes in when CPA networks don't do it right. They don't take the proper precautions to make sure they're not letting fraudulent affiliates into their network. They're not making sure their affiliates are only using clean traffic sources. They're not working with legitimate advertisers. The networks that take the extra time and effort to keep their affiliates and advertisers happy will continue on, while other networks who are more careless will crash and burn, it's just a matter of time.

jeffrey73

Not quite the same thing when Network#1 brokers to Network#2, ( and possibly ) Network#3 gets the offer from Network#2, and now the affiliate and advertiser are between THREE different middlemen.

Take an $8 pay-out and shave it down to $3.50.

djayturner85

Interesting article. I agree with what has been written and thats why I am no longer an affiliate marketer or work with cpa offers because alot of the offers are just plain crap.
if you really want to make it online you have to set up your own product and drive quality traffic to it like google.

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Josh Ploose

That's a good point. That's why the network I work for only works direct with advertisers, and is the only network (that I know of) where that's 100% true. Most networks when they are starting out don't have good enough relationships with advertisers to do that, which I understand, but at the same time it usually means lower payouts and causes problems in the long run. When an offer goes down for whatever reason, it affects all the brokered networks in the chain and all their affiliates. It's nice to know that if there's ever a problem with an offer, we can work it out immediately with the advertisers and affiliates involved. That all falls into what I said earlier about networks doing it right from the start.

jonhkh17

I would blame on google adword they make us starve to dead.

Defunct

Recommending and reviewing products will never die, the medium may change, but affiliate marketing itself will always be needed.

I guess the only thing that can happen are companies not participating in affiliate networks, however that doesn't generally make sense for most companies as it's difficult to get that kind of personal reach without affiliates.

Obviously if your product is amazing, people will recommend it regardless, if your product is similar to your competitors then you better have more impressive marketing.

dailyblogtools

yes its really very interesting.thanks for your share

Kenster

I think we need to certainly differentiate between traditional affiliate marketing and CPA or lead based affiliate marketing. Traditional affiliate marketing is NOT going anywhere. It's a much larger beast and doesn't change veyr fast. It's been around forever and has only grown. It will only continue to grow as the internet grows.

I think affiliate marketing in general will grow tremendously in the next decade as teh internet penetrates more and more countries...right now internet penetration is around 25% (I believe). So, not only are there more people going online, but there are more companies learning about internet marketing.

More companies will be putting products and services on the internet and will have attached affiliate programs. There will be many more Amazons to come.

As for CPA, that's where there will be much more changes, but like I said, it's for the better. In my opinion, CPL and lead based models will always be around as well and will also continue to grow.

Too many people think of Acai Berry RFTs and Email submits as being all that CPA marketing is. CPA is much more than that! It will grow on, it will get stronger, and I am happy for the changes that will continue to take place.

Also, these changes have been happening for years...this isn't some news flash. The industry has been changing for years and it will take years for it to get to where I hope it will.

Just my two cents of course

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jeffrey73

Very true Ken. I also believe that as more businesses "wake up" and realize they need better forms of advertising, there will be an increasing number of Local Lead Gen advertisers.

It can be much more lucrative to get paid $15-$100 ( or more ) per lead vs. $1.50 - $6. And you can also feel good that no one is being scammed, and you are helping out the US economy in the process.

Ian Jackson

I agree with Kenster.

It's not Aff marketing that's dead, anymore than creating one's own products is. However the "fad" marketing methods (i.e. some social media perhaps?) through which people choose to market it to tend to come and go.

A sustainable business model should be able support any kind of product for the long term.

PPC-Coach

Can you say "link bait". He just did what all good bloggers do, put out some ridiculous headline so we all jump to his blog and read it. I seriously doubt the guy even thinks affiliate marketing is dead. It's never going to die.

From a companys point of view it's an attractive addition to their marketing efforts. After all the company is only paying when an action is completed, (in the CPA world). That's too good to ignore. Sure there's a-hole affiliates who make a bad name for the good ones, but that's in any line of business.

I do agree that becoming an advertiser IS a good idea. But it's not as easy as it sounds and if people do become advertisers, why does that mean that affiliate marketing has to "die"? It's not that one way is replacing the other. Both exist now side by side and there's no reason why any of us cannot be an advertiser AND an affiliate. (I know I've been that way for years personally).



Don't limit yourself to one way. Look at all the options and do the ones you enjoy the most.

jeffrey73

Good observation Coach. It's always a good indication when the person posts once and never comes back to their own thread. We've been duped! LOL

GENIX

Hey guys,

I'm glad you guys shared your insight about this article. I was hoping for some veterans like Kenster, ChadH, PPC-Coach and other to stop by and post their opinion, so I'm glad they did.

Like I said I haven't been in the industry for that long but I can see some changes happening now and in the future as well. I think that the smaller CPA networks will dissapear sooner or later and only a few strong names will remain in this industry. And that is because many affiliates are just chasing the fast buck and don't think about building more of a long term business. The junk traffic turns off many advertisers which end up hiring their own traffic specialists and control it themselfes. The CPA networks will probably have more strict signing up regulations as well.

Of course affiliate marketing will never die, I never belived that. It's been with us since the days money didn't even exist. But the CPA industry in particular will change, I only hope it will be for the better.

Jeff, with all due respect that really was uncalled for. I was just away for a while but was really interested to hear what you guys think about this. I have no connection whatsoever with the guys from that blog, just found it on affbuzz, but they probably got some nice linkbait from it, I admit.

jeffrey73

My bad, you just proved both of us wrong. You're right, I apologize.

GENIX

No problem Jeff, just wanted to clear things out a bit.

Leslyaviel

I don't think you could have said it any better as I agree with the idea that affiliate marketing will indefinitely grow as the internet continues to grow.

I also believe we all are affiliate marketers to a certain extent. Some get paid to refer people to services and products and others do not.

As long as this continues to help individuals generate income, it will continue to be sought out. Its not about working hard, but working smart. Affiliate marketers become more successful as they begin to learn the skill of leveraging. This is how I became successful. Although I could technically be considered an affiliate marketer, I have leveraged my earnings by spending more time in activities that are scalable while teaching others how to do the same.

I help others become successful and in return, I become successful. It's the basis of every successful business in existence.

As you always say. That's just my two cents. lol

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Leslyaviel

Good point! If I didn't know any better, I would say he is probably an affiliate marketer whether he wants to agree with me or not. I mean, we all are to a certain extent.

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jonoman1

There is one glaring flaw in the article that I see. The writer says affiliate marketing is dead and then goes on to say being an advertiser is the only way to go. But if affiliate marketing is dead and there will be no more affiliates then being an advertiser is a dead end as well, since there will be no one to do all the free promotion for the advertisers.

GENIX

Well I think this is actually a soft pitch for their services. Kind of like "Be an advertiser but come to us, don't go to CPA networks with crappy traffic and affiliates". But I still see some good points in that article.

If you were referring to me, I repeat, I have no affiliation whatsoever with them. It seemed like a nice one to debate on, c'mon guys. Can't believe it's turning against me now

jeffrey73

Right. EXACTLY!

AlexTheKid

The guy higher up who said that teaching people how to make money is profitable is 100% correct. I dabbled in a few CPA offers but then I got a mentor and he was just like "this is what you got to do, teach other people to make money, that way you make money, and you make friends".

Making friends = money in this world.

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Josh Ploose

This is exactly right, or rather what needs to be happening, and I hope it does.

amithak50

CPA marketing is dead,Adsense niche sites are dead,Affiliate marketing is dead ,clickbank is dead ,Amazon pay less so it is dead...freelancing is dead ...and much more you can find so many things online .but still guys doing that ..I think there must be profit in that ..that's why they doing ..Be clear what you doing ..focus is important ..you will get success..and keep avoiding these articles..they are created to get hype ...Sorry to miss ..I think blogging is also dead ..you can get so many links on first page of google ...

Jacko

It will change. As it has been changing since
Amazon (or not) started this model years ago.

But it's not dead.

what a hell ?

KimboJim

People are getting smarter and are less and less likely to click on ads and buy products. HOWEVER, less people doesn't mean there zero people are doing this. There are still a lot of affiliate marketers making good cash.

In my experience, affiliate marketing has never made much. I made some, but nothing substantial. But, if we want to look at just about any type of online marketing, it all boils down to a manifestation of affiliate marketing.

CPA, you are affiliated with the business that wants the information. CPC, you are affiliate with AdSense (or AdBrite, or any of the others). CPM, you are affiliated with a business or network to show ads. CPS is going down, but it can easily come back up.

There have been constant scares like this. People say ClickBank, AdSense, arbitrage, marketing, etc are all dead. The markets may get harder, there may be slumps, but these money-making methods aren't going anywhere for years.

jonhkh17

Why are you guy still discuss about this shiit man, it's all google fault.

badboy_Nick

Total baloney. There will always be a need for lead and traffic generators, whether you are an individual affiliate or a marketing company, business ALL rely on new streams of customers.

Whether they buy it from you, from a network or generate it themselves is all a matter of quality and cost. However, the ONLY thing that counts is how this affects you right now, everything else is irrelevant.

My best tip: Get in touch with companies in need of more customers or leads, and SELL it to them. Directly. No middlemen. That's how you make real money in this business ... not via 2-3 layers anyway.

Precisely the reason you are promoting the WRONG products. Even if it converts, you will be at a huge loss. Try this:

I get up to $90 bucks for a 1 page form submit WITHOUT a credit card, just name, address and phone number. Insurance quotes, loan quotes, etc is where the REAL money is at and what I recommend ANYONE to do in CPA.

Any questions just hit me up,
Nick

Read my incredible story: www.affiliatechamp.co.uk

steve solo

$90 for one page submit or .90 ? lol when it sounds to good to be true then______

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Kenster

I don't think we should read too much into the article, just take note of the risks and changing CPA environment. This ISN'T anything new and we have been seeing this shift for years!

Still plenty of money to be made!

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PPC-Coach

It is possible, but he's not mentioning his costs in acquiring that lead. Can't blame him, nobody ever mentions profit it's always revenue only.

The markets he is in are very competitive and expensive. Not impossible, but not for the faint of heart or anyone with a small budget to bother with.

alerio

Affiliate marketing is dead indeed to 80% of affiliates. Those unable to adapt die out, those who see it as an easy way to get rich get dried out of cash by those knowing the game.

To the rest it served and keeps serving as a profitable business since the beginning of e-commerce.

Cash37

That's 100% wrong because that company, and others like it are making TONS of money consulting with companies teaching them exactly how to buy media from the exchanges and networks internally.

Now whether they can hire competent media buyers is a whole thread on to itself. But don't get it twisted, when given the options of:

(A) Putting their brand in the hand of nameless faceless affiliates

or

(B) Spending the money to buy the media themselves, and hire the best media buyers they can afford to work in their office everyday

They are picking B every. Single. Time.

Now affiliate marketing is NOT dead... nor will it ever. Clickbank, CJ.com, and all the other "big boys" will exists. But easy affiliate marketing is on life support. The days of logging into some boutique network, grabbing a generic offer, and bidding on a random platform for obvious keywords and stealing landing pages is gone....

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GENIX

Good point. I think we don't get to see many good offers, better than what we have on CPA networks just because they choose these companies instead. Not that what we have to choose from is crap, but it seems like there are not that many good offers nowadays.

On the other hand, if you are a super affiliate and you can drive traffic like in the new york jams, why not create your own offer? There are a few extra hassles but in the end you could make a ton more money by controling it all yourself.

Matthew NY

Most do. And that's one way that people work their way up the ladder. I think CPA networks are a great way for people to start. It helps build the entrepreneurial attitude that internet marketers are ultimately strive for. People looking to legitimately become their own boss need to start somewhere, I and I think trying to make you own offer out of the gate without understanding even the front end of marketing will in turn kill you when you have to deal with the behind the scenes stuff.

jeffrey73

This is the best tip yet. Why play around with scammy $1-$2 submit offers or $3.50 dating offers when they are just lowering and lowering the pay-outs every year. Pretty soon email subs are going to squeeze you down to under a buck. I remember when a standard dating offer went for no lower than $5, now some of them are $2.50!

GENIX

That's right, it seems natural for a good affiliate to become an advertiser as well once he can do some magic with the traffic. This is how I see an affiliate growing and obtaining a 7 or even 8 figure income:
Start with CPA companies, learn the ropes, get good at driving traffic and most importantly learn the good ol' marketing skills ----> Contact companies and work directly like Nick said once you're confident ----> Create some of your own offers and be on top of the industry

Of course you're limited to what offers you can create, I don't think anyone will start their own insurance company now. But I can't see why you couldn't make your own weight loss pill for example which would cost around $3-$4 to produce and build a hell of a sales funnel.

Jeff is right about the payments, they keep getting smaller now.