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Strategies of top affiliate marketers

by Vikram Anand
25 replies
I have been doing a research on the strategies adopted by top affiliate marketers.

I came across very important statistics. I discovered that:

1. 50% of the affiliates earn less than $ 10000 per year but 3.3% of the affiliates earn more than $ 500,000 per year

2. 60% of the affiliates work from home

3. 78% of the affiliates use SEO as their marketing strategy

4. 69% of the affiliates promote consumer based products

5. 47% of the affiliates promote less than 10 products

As per the statistics, SEO needs to be adopted as the number one marketing strategy for traffic generation.
Those who are the beginners in the field of Internet marketing, I think it is better to follow the majority. Once you understand the process and get some success then you can think of developing your own strategies.
#affiliate #marketers #seo #strategies #top
  • Profile picture of the author Alex Sol
    Originally Posted by Vikram Anand View Post

    I have been doing a research on the strategies adopted by top affiliate marketers.

    I came across very important statistics. I discovered that:

    ....
    I am curious where these numbers come from?
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  • Profile picture of the author Tom Addams
    Originally Posted by Vikram Anand View Post

    I have been doing a research on the strategies adopted by top affiliate marketers.

    I came across very important statistics. I discovered that:

    1. 50% of the affiliates earn less than $ 10000 per year but 3.3% of the affiliates earn more than $ 500,000 per year

    2. 60% of the affiliates work from home

    3. 78% of the affiliates use SEO as their marketing strategy

    4. 69% of the affiliates promote consumer based products

    5. 47% of the affiliates promote less than 10 products

    As per the statistics, SEO needs to be adopted as the number one marketing strategy for traffic generation.
    Those who are the beginners in the field of Internet marketing, I think it is better to follow the majority. Once you understand the process and get some success then you can think of developing your own strategies.
    Those are interesting stats, Vikram!

    I've turned 3 into bold. Being a super affiliate myself, and knowing many others, it's my experience that the majority of heavy-hitters don't use SEO these days. It used to be the case (if anyone remembers the good old days of SEO mini sites), but not any more in my experience.

    I could call others into question, too, but 3 - like I say - is most assuredly not the case in my experience.

    Still, an interesting read. Do you have a source that explains how you came to those conclusions?
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    • Profile picture of the author Vikram Anand
      Originally Posted by Get Rich Methods View Post

      Those are interesting stats, Vikram!

      I've turned 3 into bold. Being a super affiliate myself, and knowing many others, it's my experience that the majority of heavy-hitters don't use SEO these days. It used to be the case (if anyone remembers the good old days of SEO mini sites), but not any more in my experience.

      I could call others into question, too, but 3 - like I say - is most assuredly not the case in my experience.

      Still, an interesting read. Do you have a source that explains how you came to those conclusions?

      Your feedback is welcome. Currently I am concentrating on SEO strategy for traffic generation. I am hoping to get good success with that.
      It is definitely an interesting read. I have already shared the source, but let me do that for you as well. Please click here to access the source of the statistics.
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  • Profile picture of the author DWaters
    I was also surprised to see that SEO ranked so high as a traffice generation method. Maybe that explains why such a large majority of affiliate marketers make just a small amount of money.

    I was also surprised that only 60% said they work from home. Where are the other 40% working from ...????? Perhaps they are on the tropical beaches you see on a lot of squeeze pages!
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    • Profile picture of the author jasondinner
      Originally Posted by DWaters View Post

      Where are the other 40% working from ...?????
      Their grandma's basement... lol
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  • Profile picture of the author jasondinner
    Originally Posted by Vikram Anand View Post

    As per the statistics, SEO needs to be adopted as the number one marketing strategy for traffic generation.
    Those who are the beginners in the field of Internet marketing, I think it is better to follow the majority. Once you understand the process and get some success then you can think of developing your own strategies.
    I generated over $500K in affiliate commissions in the last year and did not do a lick of SEO.

    And like GRM said, most heavy hitters do not wait around for SEO to work - if it ever does.

    Of course, like anything, there are exceptions to the rule, but the majority of the super affiliates spend a boat load of money on paid traffic.
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    • Profile picture of the author celente
      Originally Posted by jasondinner View Post

      I generated over $500K in affiliate commissions in the last year and did not do a lick of SEO.

      And like GRM said, most heavy hitters do not wait around for SEO to work - if it ever does.

      Of course, like anything, there are exceptions to the rule, but the majority of the super affiliates spend a boat load of money on paid traffic.
      Great comment!

      Also, for warriors that think there is huge money is article marketing, and all that and all those SEO things, I doubt that.

      The three friends I have that are doing $100K per month online, are not FART ARSING their TIME AROUND doing silly articles, or press releases, or some new shiney object, trickster way to get traffic, they are.....

      BUYING HIGH QUALITY TRAFFIC, from HIGH QUALITY sites or doing media BUYS!

      So I agree with you.

      PAID TRAFFIC is where its at online. And if you want to do well, that is where one needs to go as well.
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      • Profile picture of the author Vikram Anand
        Originally Posted by celente View Post

        Great comment!

        Also, for warriors that think there is huge money is article marketing, and all that and all those SEO things, I doubt that.

        The three friends I have that are doing $100K per month online, are not FART ARSING their TIME AROUND doing silly articles, or press releases, or some new shiney object, trickster way to get traffic, they are.....

        BUYING HIGH QUALITY TRAFFIC, from HIGH QUALITY sites or doing media BUYS!

        So I agree with you.

        PAID TRAFFIC is where its at online. And if you want to do well, that is where one needs to go as well.
        Your point is well taken.....People who are making real money in affiliate marketing should not be wasting their time in SEO stuffs....
        Your input makes good sense. So I would request you to share some good sources on high quality paid traffic.
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        • Profile picture of the author jasondinner
          Originally Posted by Vikram Anand View Post

          Your point is well taken.....People who are making real money in affiliate marketing should not be wasting their time in SEO stuffs....
          Your input makes good sense. So I would request you to share some good sources on high quality paid traffic.
          I didnt say they shouldn't be wasting their time. All I said was most top earners, whether they are an affiliate or they make the bulk of their money selling their own stuff, use paid traffic.

          SEO has it's place, just not in my business.

          If that's what you feel comfortable with, and you're good at it, then by all means do it.

          If you want to make money fast and scale up to large numbers, get comfortable and good at paid traffic.

          I couldn't have said what I said in my first reply commissions wise if all I did was SEO.
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    • Profile picture of the author Vikram Anand
      Originally Posted by jasondinner View Post

      I generated over $500K in affiliate commissions in the last year and did not do a lick of SEO.

      And like GRM said, most heavy hitters do not wait around for SEO to work - if it ever does.

      Of course, like anything, there are exceptions to the rule, but the majority of the super affiliates spend a boat load of money on paid traffic.
      Thanks for your feedback. If a super successful affiliate like you has doubts on SEO technique, then I must take a note of it.
      You are giving thumbs up for paid traffic, so can you please suggest good sources from where i cn get reliable paid traffic?
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  • Profile picture of the author RealCasher
    Good stats! And yes lots of affiliates promote SEO services, but 78% is a little high.

    Maybe because your sample are friends/relatives.. or you gathered them from a SEO forum.

    30-50% would be much more accurate.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tom Addams
    Just to add...

    I'll give you some insight from my own perspective. It's all about the traffic. Honestly, SEO, article syndication, media buys, it all boils down to the same thing: traffic. I would say every super affiliate I know is addicted to traffic. It depends on the abilities (and even the mindset) of the individual on how that traffic's generated. Take me. (I can hear my wife saying, "Someone, please do!") I use lots of traffic channels. I like diversity. But then you might have a chap who sticks to PPC. Going back a long time ago, the biggest heavy-hitters I knew made hundreds, often thousands, of SEO mini sites. After that, most of them (those who survived) switched to directories. They had a great run. Then they moved on (some of them). Point is, affiliate marketers who generate a high income are not necessarily doing PPC or anything else that can yield instant traffic. A lot are, of course. In my experience, people play to their strengths. I know of at least one SA who sticks solely to articles. Upshot: if anyone cares (and hasn't fallen asleep in this ramble), play to your strengths.

    Tom
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  • Profile picture of the author Brent Stangel
    1. 90% of the affiliates earn less than $ 100 per year but 1.3% of the affiliates earn more than $ 500,000 per year

    2. 99% of the affiliates work from home

    3. 8% of the affiliates use SEO as their marketing strategy

    4. 100% of the affiliates promote consumer based products

    5. 33% of the affiliates promote less than 10 products

    I like these numbers better...and since we're just making up stuff.

    BTW the "source" is my over-active imagination.
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    • Profile picture of the author HelpingYouBeAnExpert
      Originally Posted by Brent Stangel View Post

      1. 90% of the affiliates earn less than $ 100 per year but 1.3% of the affiliates earn more than $ 500,000 per year

      2. 99% of the affiliates work from home

      3. 8% of the affiliates use SEO as their marketing strategy

      4. 100% of the affiliates promote consumer based products

      5. 33% of the affiliates promote less than 10 products

      I like these numbers better...and since we're just making up stuff.

      BTW the "source" is my over-active imagination.
      ha ha that's funny. But what's funny is that it I think your list is more accurate than the original poster's list. I have noticed that the vast majority of entrepreneurs fail and I have met a few people who started affiliate marketing and I know the vast majority have given up. What the percentages RI have no idea.
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  • Profile picture of the author discrat
    Originally Posted by Vikram Anand View Post



    5. 47% of the affiliates promote less than 10 products
    I always thought this was important. I think too many novice Aff. Marketers try to Market every Product under the Sun.

    Stick with a few Core Products and really focus on them in your business.


    - Robert Andrew
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  • Profile picture of the author selfdisciplineacademy
    Thank you for the share,

    SEO is still a great source of traffic, however it's challenging for most marketers,
    And it's not free (It costs many, many hours of time.

    Agreed, TRAFFIC is the key to success with online marketing
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  • Profile picture of the author skyro
    I would not have Seo has my main traffic strategy. You basically depending mostly on Google to rank you to earn if you do this. I would use other free and paid methods such social media banner, ppc while building my list and have Seo as a plus but not as main source.
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  • Profile picture of the author SunnyDelight
    Very cool analysis.

    Email marketing is playing a huge role in the affiliate market space. I like to think of it as traffic on demand!
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  • Profile picture of the author newideamarketing
    Banned
    the people making 500k use lots of paid traffic to make real money online
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  • Profile picture of the author FreedomBlogger
    Awesome and interesting statistics!!

    I agree. SEO is one of the best traffic generation strategies for affiliate marketing.

    Thanks for sharing this data with us!

    CHeers!
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  • Profile picture of the author Matthew Trujillo
    If you really want to make it online you should build your business so it doesn't rely on Google.

    If you happen to get SEO traffic that's great, but do not rely on that as your sole traffic source.

    Learn to build multiple sources of traffic and build a list of prospects and you will have your own traffic!
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