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Affiliate Marketing - What to look for... Competition or No competition?

by Langeani
12 replies
Hey guys,

When it comes to affiliate marketing, I see a tendency of people trying to look for hidden gems, hidden keywords, or hidden niches that no one has found about yet.

Even though they do exist, they are rare - at least if you take into account the number of niches that actually are out there.

Also, they'll usually take a LOT more money to market to. You'll have to educate them, you'll have to find the way to market...

Internet marketing is JUST like offline marketing - more savage and dynamic, that is.

In real life, stores go where there is - drum roll - LOTS of competition.

Think about shopping malls, commercial streets... In Sao Paulo, Brazil, there is a street, known as the "Bride's Street" where, maybe, 40 or 50 stores sell the same thing - dresses for brides.

Are all of them MAD or they are aware that this is where their TRAFFIC is going to be at?

Think about this for a while.

Competition is a way to gauge the SEARCH for a given product (or service).

If there's competition, there are BUYERS.

Instead of trying to find the next hidden sub-niche that no one has found about yet, how about you tackle a known niche in an more targeted way?

Now, just to be clear: Classical marketing says that "niches" are specific portions of a market.

What we usually refer to niches in IM are actually markets. Weight loss is a market.

Weight loss for people who need to lose weight before a surgery... ah-ha. Niche.

These are the real gems.

Find your niche (targeted niche). Profile the customer. Understand needs, difficulties, frustrations.

Done all that? Great. Now you can talk to them on a level that no one marketing to the mass market can.

What would they rather buy? Some product about losing weight in general, with hot chicks and dudes.. or some product that, even if it's not directed to them, has someone pre-selling it as positive to their needs? Explaining how it will work for their case?

Thanks, guys! This is it for now!

Cheers,

Lee
#affiliate #competition #keyword #marketing #niche
  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Langeani View Post

    When it comes to affiliate marketing, I see a tendency of people trying to look for hidden gems, hidden keywords, or hidden niches that no one has found about yet.
    Yes, so do I - especially some of the affiliate marketers I believe to be the most successful ones.

    Originally Posted by Langeani View Post

    Even though they do exist, they are rare
    That hasn't been my experience at all.

    Originally Posted by Langeani View Post

    Also, they'll usually take a LOT more money to market to.
    That's been far from my experience. I think they typically take less money to market to. (For a start, the keywords are far cheaper for those using PPC advertising). Many affiliate marketers are "spending" time/effort/energy, rather than money, on their marketing, and non-competitive niches can often successfully be marketed with considerable savings in those departments, too.

    Originally Posted by Langeani View Post

    You'll have to educate them
    That hasn't been my experience at all. I do all my marketing to people who are "already looking". I don't try to "persuade" anyone.

    Originally Posted by Langeani View Post

    In real life, stores go where there is - drum roll - LOTS of competition.
    Some do - drum roll - many don't. Many specialist/niche stores can be wherever they like (within reason) because their customers will make the effort of finding out and going to them.

    Originally Posted by Langeani View Post

    Are all of them MAD or they are aware that this is where their TRAFFIC is going to be at?
    I would put the emphasis differently, and mention "THEIR traffic" rather than "their TRAFFIC". It depends, in part, on whether you want your traffic to be everyone else's traffic as well, or just your traffic.

    It's not about how big the pie is. It's about how big your slice is.

    Ultimately, it's about whether you want to sell sell metaphorical jeans or metaphorical skating videos. For many people, the big mistake is to try to sell something that everyone else is already selling. That stacks the deck well against you. It's really important to understand this, and it typically saves a lot of wasted time and energy, if you understand it before you start! The people who aren't as successful as they'd like, in this context, aren't people who "don't take action": they're people who set off in the wrong direction.

    It's explained in more detail here: Niche Selection Roadblock

    And here: Weight Loss Market: Still Profitable ?

    And here: Most Lucrative niche in Internet Marketing?

    And here: Guess who is going to have the most profitable business?

    So - if you prefer numbers to words: which is a better prospect: a niche with an online turnover of $1,000,000 and 50,000 marketers competing for the money, or a niche with a turnover of only $50,000 and 250 marketers competing for the money? For me, my chances are ten times as good in the smaller, less competitive niche. And my slice of the pie, the total amount I get to eat (or pay into the bank, if you like) is ten times as big.
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    • Profile picture of the author JennySweets
      Alexa, you said Everything I was thinking. Good because I may not have been able to put it as succinctly.
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  • Profile picture of the author clever7
    I understand your point of view, and also Alexa’s point of view. If you have no experience you may have difficulties on finding a profitable niche that only a few people know.

    Sometimes you are more successful when you do what everyone else is doing. Other times, you have so many competitors that you never manage to reach your audience.








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    • Profile picture of the author SunilTanna
      The fact that all the wedding dress shops are in one street, many book shops are in Charing Cross road, or Hatton Garden is full of jewellers is irrelevant and non-comparable to Internet and affiliate marketing.

      The reason that similar shops are in one area is because of foot fall of targeted buyers. If you want to buy an engagement ring in London you will go to Hatton Garden. If you want to buy a good suit, you will go to Saville Row. All the shops in those places benefit because anybody wanting to buy these things knows exactly which area to go to, and the foot fall of jewelry buyers is high in Hatton, etc.

      Concentration of brick and mortar businesses of a particular type in a particular district has pretty much nothing to do with the overall size of a particular market, or how much competition there is in that market.

      In theory, in a perfectly efficient market with low barriers to entry, the amount of competition in any niche would be directly proportional to the size of the opportunity in the niche.

      In reality the Internet is an inefficient market (because for example some players have more information), and barriers to entry are not always equally low for all players (some types of content, product, or services are much more easily generated by some people).

      If you want to maximise your profit potential, you want to take advantage of when Market inefficiencies and barriers to entry are in your favour. In other words, do stuff that you know more about than the competition does, and which you can do much more easily and/or better than your competition. In other words, profits from your unique (or rare) knowledge and skill, rather than try to do things you know nothing about, or which anyone can do.
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  • Profile picture of the author WillR
    A lot of people get scared away by competition. But competition is a good thing as it is proof of concept and shows you that others are already successfully doing what you want to do. Coming across a market no one has thought about before would be very rare. I would say more often than not, if you come across a market with no competition it is not because no one has thought about it before. It's more likely others have come before, tried to monetize it, and couldn't.

    That's not to say there are not still some hidden gems out there, but for those starting out and trying to get their feet wet, working in proven markets is not necessarily a bad thing. Find a proven market, drill down, and be more specific.
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    • Profile picture of the author JennySweets
      I think there is a huge difference between "hidden gems" and viable low competition niches. Unless you count hidden as being something that's in plain sight but most people won't touch because they think there's not enough "foot traffic" for their style of marketing.

      To me, hidden gems would be something no one has ever thought of, or something that has a TON of searches but no competition (which indeed is very rare.)

      I'm willing to bet there are tons of things that have been analysed and rejected due to not being above a "threshold" for searches. Those are the low competition things I prefer - things with steady buying traffic that may not be coming through in droves but are coming with their wallet open regardless.

      My mindset is that it's easier to market to 10 small niches than 1 massively competitive one, and the ROI is on par.
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      • Profile picture of the author myob
        It's rare, but I disagree slightly with Alexa on point:
        Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

        For many people, the big mistake is to try to sell something that everyone else is already selling.
        The really big mistake is to try to sell something that everyone else is already selling - using the same method that everyone else is already using.

        As I coach my own marketers and writers, there is no such thing as a "saturated" market; there are only saturated marketing methods. Looking for "hidden gems" as in low competition niches is unnecessary, limiting, and ludicrous as a marketing strategy, IMNSHO of course. Apparently marketers these days have become so "Googlized" they are unaware of the myriads of classic and alternative marketing choices available.

        My personal preference has always been to look for the hottest products within the most competitive niches because that's generally where the big money rolls. In my view, the top dogs are doing nearly all of the heavy lifting in mass marketing and public awareness (ie mass media, "as seen on TV", infomercials, celebrity ads, Google , etc.). But through multiple online/offline marketing techniques which target profiled demographics, competition itself becomes insignificant.

        An excellent book which I have often recommended is "Brand Against the Machine: How to Build Your Brand, Cut Through the Marketing Noise, and Stand Out from the Competition", by John Morgan (available through Amazon or at a fine bookstore near your 'hood).

        From the Inside Flap:

        "The machine blasts messages at the world and it does not care who you are or what you have to say or whether its message is relevant to you at all. The machine is a moron. You, however, are not. Which is why your brand needs to rage against the traditional forces of advertising. You must engage your audience and win their business by giving more and selling less. Yours must be a Brand Against the Machine.

        "Brand Against the Machine" offers proven and actionable steps for companies and entrepreneurs to increase their visibility and credibility, and create an indispensable brand that consumers can relate to, creating lifelong customers. Discover the aspirational currency that makes your brand one that people want to be or want to be friends with. Learn how to be real with your audience and make strategic associations to establish credibility. Brand Against the Machine will help you stand out, get noticed, and be remembered.

        "Brand Against the Machine" offers a blueprint for your brand framework, with step-by-step guidance, including:

        *Know who your target audience is and what they want

        *Define your position as the go-to authority in your industry

        *Determine your audience's problem and create a solution for them

        *Produce valuable content that attracts your audience and engages them

        *Promote yourself without pestering people

        *Over-deliver on your promise

        "The machine is a rusted piece of junk in the marketplace. Ditch traditional corporate branding and marketing, and exchange it for something memorable. Your customers will thank you for it."
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  • Profile picture of the author Langeani
    Awesome insights from everyone.

    Alexa, thanks for such a rich reply.

    I do agree on some of the stuff you said, but I guess there has been a bit of misunderstanding between what we were both saying. Maybe it was a little bit of the language barrier from my end.

    Jennysweets kinda summed up what I was going for, better than I put. I agree going for lower competition than crazy competition.

    "To me, hidden gems would be something no one has ever thought of, or something that has a TON of searches but no competition (which indeed is very rare.)"
    This was exactly my point.

    I've seen people saying " I won't try to sell lose weight products, it's too saturated". And that's where it the concept of running away from competition was taken from a wrong angle.

    So, maybe this is where I expressed myself poorly. I believe that you should look for an angle, a long-tail, a niche, or something. Maybe this is what you're considering to be a hidden gem, Alexa?

    Sunniltama, great analysis. You're right, my analogy might not have been the best one, but it was just a way to try and show that it's not about running away from competition, but it's about positioning yourself differently, or better, or deeper.

    If you want to maximise your profit potential, you want to take advantage of when Market inefficiencies and barriers to entry are in your favour. In other words, do stuff that you know more about than the competition does, and which you can do much more easily and/or better than your competition. In other words, profits from your unique (or rare) knowledge and skill, rather than try to do things you know nothing about, or which anyone can do.
    Awesome insight. I would only add, once again, positioning and targeting. Knowing EXACTLY who your target is and talking in their "language".

    I would say more often than not, if you come across a market with no competition it is not because no one has thought about it before. It's more likely others have come before, tried to monetize it, and couldn't.

    That's not to say there are not still some hidden gems out there, but for those starting out and trying to get their feet wet, working in proven markets is not necessarily a bad thing. Find a proven market, drill down, and be more specific.
    Bingo. This is what I was going for, WillR. I'm not saying it's impossible, or no one should do it. But this is exactly my point.


    As I coach my own marketers and writers, there is no such thing as a "saturated" market; there are only saturated marketing methods.
    Yeah, MYOB. So true. Also, maybe the method itself is saturated, but, once again, the real problem is poor targeting/positioning. Not building rapport with anyone.

    My personal preference has always been to look for the hottest products within the most competitive niches because that's generally where the big money rolls. In my view, the top dogs are doing nearly all of the heavy lifting in mass marketing and public awareness (ie mass media, "as seen on TV", infomercials, celebrity ads, Google , etc.). But through multiple online/offline marketing techniques which target profiled demographics, competition itself becomes insignificant.
    This is my "brides street" analogy explained 100 times better. You leverage all the buzz that is araound and target profiled demographics. Food for thought.

    Clever7, yeah, maybe it could even be doing what others are doing... but just for a different public! =]

    Guys, all of you, thanks a LOT for all the awesome insights. This is where the value of this forum is.

    Alexa, I will go through your links, but not today, as it's late for me. But thanks for all of your opinions and the reading material.

    This shows me how much can be done, and how much we can develop and develop new takes and angles for what we do.

    Amazing stuff. Thank you all!
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  • Profile picture of the author Langeani
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  • Profile picture of the author Fazal Mayar
    In affiliate marketing, there is always competition and you don't know to stand from this competition then you can't make money
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    • Profile picture of the author eddie1385
      Thanks everybody for the input, Through this discussion I have got solid emphasizing material of which I can digest on.
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      • Profile picture of the author Bill Jenkins
        Banned
        I prefer markets with medium level competition. This way I know sales are being made and the market is alive, but the competition isn't too brutal.

        Of course you do have to look pretty closely to find such markets.

        Bill
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