Shopping Cart Software’s Affiliate Marketing Strategy
Previously I wrote about how eCommerce design differs from any other design style, and by incorporating the right look a merchant’s conversion rates will sky rocket. In this post I will discuss other high impact areas like affiliate marketing, promotional and marketing campaigns and many other areas that effect your shopping cart software conversion.
Good Old Affiliate Marketing
A successful affiliate marketing strategy can be an eCommerce store owner’s best friend. It’s a perfect situation for a merchant because it offers free exposure; commission based advertising and free one way links. Having an affiliate program allows websites to advertise without spending any money.
Setting up an affiliate program is easy; first you would need shopping cart software which supports affiliates. If you are using osCommerce then you have to install an additional module. WebCart on the other hand come with a pre-built affiliate program which is ready to go out of the box. Second, you need to find people who will put up your store banners on their website. This in its true form is pure marketing, and I am not going to get in to the specifics, but a simple search in Google for “affiliate marketing tutorials” will bring up a wealth of information.
Once an affiliate program is in full swing many eCommerce merchants relax, and subsequently don’t take the time to keep in touch with their affiliates. This creates lost business and poor business relationships with the people who are helping your eCommerce business succeed. Here is what you should do to keep your affiliates happy.
- Send out a newsletter twice a month
- Visit your affiliate’s sites and call them once every few months to talk about how their business is going.
- Offer special commission and coupons to your affiliates so they market your products more aggressively.
- Private Label your site for each affiliate so that you can offer a level of personalization. (this option is available in WebCart)
