To say that there’s a lot of money to be made on the Internet is a massive understatement. eCommerce is predicted to reach $4.2 trillion by 2020. That’s a 19% increase from 2019.
It’s over 300% of retail eCommerce in 2014. Internet spending has more than tripled in less than 10 years!
It makes sense that internet spending is growing so quickly. There are over 4.2 billion internet users, currently. That’s well over half of the Earth’s population.
With so much money to be raised via the internet, lots of people are wondering what their options are, as far as making money on the internet.
Luckily, there are nearly as many ways to earn an income digitally as there are people using the internet. Like making a product landing page, for instance.
Affiliate marketing is one of them if it’s handled correctly. We’re going to show you how to make an affiliate product landing page, to take the guesswork out of it for you.
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How To Make A Product Landing Page That Works
Before we begin, let’s take a look at affiliate marketing in general. We’ll give you a glimpse of why you should consider affiliate marketing if you’re just getting started. Or if you’ve been at it for a while, we’ll show you why you should focus some energy and attention on affiliate marketing as part of your digital income.
Why You Should Focus On Affiliate Marketing in 2020
According to the Internet Advertising Bureau, in conjunction with PricewaterhouseCoopers, affiliate marketing spending reached $12 billion in 2017. That’s in the United States and Europe alone.
Affiliate marketing now drives internet revenue as much as email marketing. Both account for around 16% of online business’ revenue.
Digital marketers and business owners have started taking affiliate marketing seriously. This is helping to legitimize affiliate marketing as a business model. Consumers are becoming more receptive So are mainstream media publishers, who are becoming more open to publishing product links in organic content.
Affiliate marketing has one of the lowest overheads of any digital marketing model. If you’ve been wanting to get into internet business without spending a ton of money, affiliate marketing is a good place to start.
Affiliate marketing also lasts forever. It doesn’t go away when you stop pumping money into it, like a PPC campaign. You can work affiliate marketing into your inbound or content marketing campaigns, as well, and let it help increase your search engine ranking at the same time.
Affiliate marketing isn’t appropriate for every situation, however. You need to truly care about the product or service you’re affiliating with, for instance. People can smell inauthentic sales and marketing from a mile away.
Your audience has to care about the products or services you’re promoting, as well. If you’re running a home improvement blog, for instance. It might be a stretch to promote a line of cosmetics.
When you do have a connection to the products or services you’re affiliating with, affiliate marketing is an essential addition to your digital marketing strategy. Especially when you go about it intelligently, like when you make product landing pages.
How To Create The Best Product Landing Pages For Affiliate Marketing
Now that we’ve taken a look at affiliate marketing in general, let’s get into how to set up your product landing pages in earnest.
Let’s start by looking at landing pages themselves. This will help give an idea of how to increase actual conversions, by having a greater understanding of landing pages function.
What Is A Landing Page?
A landing page is a custom webpage geared towards the needs of a particular visitor. When you know what a particular visitor is looking for, you’re uniquely able to tailor content to their specific needs.
This makes things like creating specific calls-to-action (CTA). It also lets customize those CTAs for different parts of the buyer’s cycle.
That’s one mistake that new affiliate marketers often make. When a visitor’s coming to your website for the first time, it might be too soon to ask them to make a purchase.
Asking them to sign up for your mailing list might be a better bet. You’re less likely to alienate users that way. You’re also more likely to increase their overall user experience, making them more likely to return.
Setting up product landing pages appropriately can even save you money in the long run. You stop wasting money, trying to convert your audience for things they don’t want or need.
Now let’s take a look at some different kinds of landing pages. This will help give you an idea of how to focus your energy on getting actual conversions.
How To Make A Lead Generation Landing Page
The first level of landing pages is a lead generation landing page. It’s the easiest to convert for, as well, as it only involves getting a name and an email address.
Lead generation pages are the first step in generating an actual relationship with your customers or audience. They’re a part of the first step in the buyer’s cycle. They’re ideal for when your audience is first getting to know your brand.
One idea for generating a lead generation landing page that converts is to create some content that would appeal to general viewers. These could be as simple as listicles, humor articles, how-tos and tutorials, and thinkpieces pertaining to your industry.
Then you might have a pop-up window that appears at a certain point of your audience’s browsing. After spending a certain amount of time on your site, your audience is likely to have positive feelings towards your brand. Ask them to sign up for your email list!
The Squeeze Page
Squeeze pages are also quite common. They’re another form of lead generation page. They’re geared towards one simple goal – getting your audience’s email address.
One thing that separates a squeeze page from a general lead generation page is that they usually offer some form of incentive. A free whitepaper or ebook is a classic example of a squeeze page.
Squeeze pages, and the incentives they offer, fulfill multiple functions for your brand. They get you that coveted email address, first and foremost, letting you build your customer base and generate some new leads. They also help to establish your brand as thought leaders in your niche at the same time, thanks to the promotional content you’re sharing.
When your audience revisits that material, they’ll be further reminded of your brand. Think of branded stationery or refrigerator magnets, for example. Think of how often you look at those objects, especially if they’re around your house.
This helps generate brand loyalty and trust, as well. This will help steer your customers through the buyer’s journey and get them closer to making an actual sale.
Click-Through Landing Page
It’s notoriously difficult to get customers to watch ads, in any medium. It seems to be getting more difficult with each passing year, as well. Customers are getting more wary of unsolicited advertising and marketing after a lifetime of being bombarded every which way they turn.
Click-through landing pages are one way to get customers to actually watch your advertising, while they’re waiting for something else. A click-through landing page shows your audience an ad while they’re waiting for the page to load. You’re not trying to sell them anything or get them to perform a particular function.
All you’re hoping to achieve is for your audience to know the merits of your brand by the time they actually reach your website.
The Traits Of Successful Product Landing Pages
We’ve shown you some of the most common types of landing pages. We’ve also talked a bit about why you should investigate them if you haven’t, already. Now we’re going to show you how to make the ultimate product landing page.
Tools For Generating Landing Pages
It’s not rocket science, but creating landing pages does take a bit of technical know-how. There’s the coding, for one thing. Generally, landing pages will pop up when a visitor’s on your website for a certain amount of time.
There’s also the graphic design, to make your visual content as appealing as possible. We’re not all graphic designers or professional photographers, so sometimes having a bit of help to make our content look its best really works wonders.
There are scores of free landing page generators out there. Many are even free. They’ll often do the coding for you, as well, so you can simply insert the landing page into your web page with very little technical work on your end.
And while they’re not quite as flashy as landing page generators, don’t overlook time-honored business tools like a notebook, pen, and pencil. You should do a bit of brainstorming, and a bit of soul-searching, before you even begin generating your marketing materials.
Take a moment to get clear on your business goals. Yes, making money is always our goal, the bottom line as it were. But are you really ready to act on those leads?
It might come to light that increasing brand authority would better suit your current situation. Or increasing brand awareness could be another goal you’re wanting to convert for. Knowing this ahead of time will influence how you set up your landing pages.
Have Consistent Messaging
Another important factor in creating product landing pages that convert is a consistent message and brand image. That means having universal photos, logos, and copy across your landing pages, social media, and website.
Your brand needs to be trustworthy for people to want to do business with you. Your landing pages need to offer something of actual value to your customers, as well, if you want actual conversions.
Little things like recognizable visual branding help your customers realize your trustworthiness. It goes a long way towards helping people realize you are that you say you are. And that you have something they need or want.
Have Great Copy
Copywriting is the oil that makes the affiliate marketing machine turn. It’s the ingredient that lets people know what your product or brand is all about. It’s the persuasive pull that gets them towards making a purchase.
Copywriting is truly a secret science. It’s one of the most important aspects of today’s business world, especially on the internet. Too often, it’s overlooked, in today’s gimmick and image-obsessed world.
For the best possible copywriting, you need to think both as your audience as well as a marketer. You need to understand your customers’ unique drives and desires. Once you do, you can write clear, concise, actionable copy to speak to those concerns.
Segment Your Audience
Audience segmentation is one of the most powerful tools available to an affiliate marketer. It also means you’re going to need more than one landing page if you’re looking for actual conversions.
Before embarking upon your affiliate marketing strategy, you’d be advised to break out your pen and notebook again. You should create an actual content strategy if you want your affiliate marketing efforts to be successful.
Think about all of the stages of the buyer’s journey. Consider how they factor into what you’re trying to convert for. That way, you can create your landing pages and content, simultaneously.
You can then use those assets as part of your social media marketing strategies, as well.
For example, imagine you’re trying to grow your email list. So you make a bright, shiny new landing page asking people for their email address. Simultaneously, you could be writing a bunch of new blog posts to host on your blog or website.
Then you can promote those posts via social media, with your lead generation pages embedded.
Hopefully, this has gotten you thinking about not only how to make the best possible product landing pages, but also how to integrate them into an actual actionable strategy.
Affiliate marketing isn’t a get rich quick scheme. It does take time, effort, and careful planning, same as any other business endeavor. There are all kinds of tools and resources at your disposal to make that journey as efficient, and as profitable, as possible.
Want More Affiliate Marketing Advice?
The internet has truly leveled the playing field when it comes to business. Even small businesses and entrepreneurs have access to the same tools and resources as Fortune 500 companies. You’ve just got to know how to use them.
It’s my great passion to help business owners make the most of the digital tools at our disposal. Now that you know how product landing pages can help realize your business goals, download my affiliate marketing ebook to learn even more about how to get started with affiliate marketing!
