Some You Date, Some You Marry
Most of you have indubitably played the field, some have found the perfect match, some have chewed their arm off. Finding the perfect match in life is hard because you don’t know if your choice is going to continue to be the beauty queen that everyone hypes her to be or she’s going to be the one that leaves creepy messages for you saying Call me, Call me. Affiliate Marketing is like that, sometimes it’s exciting, other times it’s Mrs. Chucky time.
In the Day to day world of an Affiliate publisher it’s very similar to being at closing time on a Saturday night – who should I commit all of my charm and resources to? Sometimes that choice becomes more difficult because your friends are giving you the nudge, nudge and hyping the beauty across the room. Trust me on this one, look past that one a little further before making your decision. Be a playa’, enjoy life a bit more.
If you’re going to run an Acai offer – you have to at least once in your life – find out what else is available and then date them all. A little speed dating action if you will. Shortly you will see which one is your Mrs. Chucky and which one will make you brag to your friends. Just the other day I saw a clear example where a publisher followed the hype, jumped in with both feet with an offer – while throwing little at a comparable offer. They made LESS by running the hyped offer. Don’t let this happen to you. Ask for the full roster in each offer category and then do a little speed dating. The one that performs the best in a head to head competition is the one that you should marry your traffic to.
Don’t be blinded by the highest payout, do a little speed dating, try different channels, check your head the head EPC’s and laugh all the way to the alter – and bank.
10 Comments, Comment or Ping
Julie Stratford
Fantastic comparison, athought I am already married lol I did a lot of speed dating. Nowadays I do lots of testing before running a campaign, as they always say if it’s too good to be true it probably is…
If you only Obey that rule you will be making all the monies
Feb 27th, 2009
Scott Parent
Great post Mike.
Julie – I agree. Nothing wrong with a little speed dating to cut through the clutter.
Feb 27th, 2009
Mike Gerpe
Great analogy, I love “If you’re going to run an Acai offer – you have to at least once in your life – find out what else is available and then date them all.” so true.
Keep up the great posts.
Feb 27th, 2009
Mike Carney
Thanks Julie and Mike for the feedback. It’s always fun to occassionally open the window and yell out. Test, Track and Tweak has been the cardinal rule for ages in online Marketing but for some reason people have thrown patience ad logic out the window. If affiliates did quick epc testing across multiple comparable offers before “bringing the rain” then the difference in their month end revenue would be substantial.
Catch you on the next rant.
Feb 27th, 2009
Jenna Walsh
Hi Mike -
Great post! Loved the comparison. Just goes to show how important having an open mind is when it comes to affiliate marketing….and dating!
Feb 27th, 2009
Jerry
You use an interesting metaphor for the whole marketing game, but in the end, you really can’t commit to one approach or style as those of us with more than one marriage under our belts will attest to.
Mar 1st, 2009
Mike Carney
Hi Jerry, thanks for your input. I completely agree with you and I compliment you on having more than one marriage under your belt. Being that you’re a Utah fan – of sorts – you can appreciate that it’s best to be flexible with your tactics and revenue streams and not have all of your eggs in one basket. Stockton/Malone were great but some point that success will disappear….sometimes overnight..and there better be a Carlos Boozer in development.
Mar 2nd, 2009
Reply to “Some You Date, Some You Marry”