How to Build a Successful Affiliate Business in 2019
By Job Tips

Not so long ago, the affiliate marketing business model was something that raised a lot of eyebrows in the Internet communities around the globe. Many were suspicious about it and predicted it a quick and shameful death. A few years later, in 2018, affiliate marketing was worth $5.94 billion in the US alone or roughly 7.5% of all digital spending. Ignoring affiliate networks in 2014 was unwise. In 2019 it is suicide.

Stay in Your Lane

In this case, stay in your lane is a positive thing. You can’t be everything to everybody, it simply doesn’t work. Stick to your niche and deal with things you know a lot about. Trying to spread around can be justified in some cases (more about that below), but charting unknown territory isn’t always the best option, especially for people just creating their affiliate network. Remember those signs on old maps “Monsters be here”? They are there for a reason.  

Personalization

According to several influential experts, personalized content is going to be huge in the upcoming years. Might as well get a start on it in 2019. The time of mass email campaigns is long gone and in order to reach your customers, you need to know them. That is why Mark Zuckerberg is making a killing by selling all our personal data to the big players. Of course, if you could afford to buy it from him you wouldn’t be reading this text, but that doesn’t mean you can’t invest some effort in knowing your key demographics and how to reach them. Sometimes a simple personalized email is all that it takes.

Content Is King

Having your site optimized for SEO is all good and well, but the content is still the king. SEO will bring you visitors, but converting them into customers will depend on your content. Whether you are creating audio-visual content, you are an online casino affiliate or writing reviews, it is the quality of your content that will make the sale. At the end of the day, it is all about making sales.

Expand Your Network

Never be satisfied with what you have in terms of affiliate partners. This is a fast-paced game and thing can go sideways in a blink of an eye. The bigger your network, the bigger your safety margin is in case excrement hits the spinning blades. More resources at your disposal increase your chances of survival. That is as true in the zombie apocalypse as it is in affiliate marketing. Also, people often overlook the fact that it isn’t forbidden to be a part of several affiliate networks simultaneously.

Take Care of Your Network

Networks aren’t built by a hit and run tactics. By definition, affiliate partnership is a long-term commitment. Not exactly “until death do us apart”, but close enough. Maintaining a profitable network takes a lot of investment in both time and money and ditching it overnight makes no sense. Treat your partners right and they will stay with you for the long haul. The best way to do that is by always trying to create a win-win situation for all parties involved, even if it means not making as much money as you can. Sometimes less is truly more.

Voice Search

If we have learned anything from the popularity of Alexa and Google Home, voice search will soon be a must-have for everybody online, not just affiliate marketers. In just the first quarter of 2018, Amazon and Google combined sales of smart speakers were nine million units. For comparison sake, they sold 2.9 million in entire 2017. Such growth can’t be ignored and you should optimize your sites for voice search or at least making sure that they can support it is mandatory. All major players are already researching which keywords are best used as voice commands and you don’t want to be left behind on this.

There are also some other trends in affiliate business for 2019 that you should take a look if you are serious about it, but this about covers the basics. As the affiliate market continues to grow, there will be more than enough cake to be shared, but only for those who don’t make mistakes.