Affiliate marketing has been a growing business model almost since the inception of the modern internet. Of course, the idea of affiliate marketing as such originated much before the internet, but the web opened up a world of new possibilities, enabling businesses to reach out to potential clients across the globe.
There are many aspects of the affiliate business that can be and have been discussed at length, and there is no doubt this discussion will continue in the years to come. With more and more people looking to get involved in the affiliate marketing business, especially in online poker and online gambling industry, the interest for these topics has never been bigger.
In this particular blog, we will write about the importance of producing and serving high-quality content to your current and potential partners. While many affiliate sites tend to focus on appearances and the first impressions, they often neglect the importance of content. While a flashy design will score you some points, it is just the first layer, and if there is nothing substantial under the surface, you might be on your way to missing out on a lot of business.
Affiliate Marketing Content 101: Everyone Wants Value
In every industry, people expect some real value from their partners.
The affiliate business model may be somewhat specific as the relationship between the site facilitating affiliate deals, affiliate partners and players isn’t as clear-cut as in some other industries. However, this doesn't mean that your existing clients and random visitors will not know how to recognize and appreciate quality content.
Once again, the idea here isn’t to produce flashy content filled with big phrases and insider terms. While this may look like a masterpiece to someone who’s been a part of the affiliate business for a decade and more, those less experienced will often be confused and intimidated by such an approach.
Instead, aim to produce content that offers actual value presented in simple and understandable terms.
An affiliate site able to do this will quickly come out on top, especially in such a rapidly changing industry such as online gambling. People will appreciate someone taking care of their needs and offering them what they really want.
So, what are some of the things your existing and potential clients and players expect from you?
Regular News and Useful Updates
One of the first areas where you, as an affiliate, need to keep up the pace are the various industry developments and important happenings. Once again, this is true for almost any industry out there, but with online gambling, there are so many things to keep track of that it can be very hard, especially for small-time affiliates and players.
If you can set things up so that you bring regular relevant updates from the industry for everyone visiting the site, this is bound to boost your ratings. Having all the important information regularly posted in one place makes things so much simpler for everyone that they will keep coming to your site on a regular basis, knowing they can easily get fresh information every day.
Furthermore, this takes the burden off the players’ and sub-affiliates’ shoulders as they can rest assured you’re keeping an eye on the ball for them so they don’t have to.
If there is an important regulatory update coming, for example, they know you will let them know well in advance and they can prepare things. Whether it is a smaller affiliate site needing to rearrange their business or a simple player having to look for a new poker room or a casino, they will appreciate your heads-up and this will almost guarantee they will continue to work with you in the future.
Some affiliates stick to the approach that this isn’t their responsibility and they only need to warn partners once something happens. That’s exactly why this proactive approach will help you stand out from a majority and you’ll quickly see the fruits of your efforts.
Tips, Tricks & Strategies
Beyond keeping your visitors up to date, there are many other ways to create value with great content. One of them is producing materials relevant to your niche and sharing insider tips, tricks, and strategies for your visitors to improve their experience and ultimately make more money.
Partner up
From the affiliate side of things, this means helping out your partners, sub-affiliates and players by teaching them how to build their network, bring in new clients (players), and retain them. It may seem like sharing this information might hurt you as a business, since you don’t want the world to know and apply the strategies you spent years devising and testing before finding a model that works.
However, you don’t have to share all of your secrets for this approach to work. The truth is, giving good tips will probably work out for you as well, since many of the affiliates reading what you publish are part of your network already. Those who aren’t might consider joining up after seeing a website that truly wants its partners to succeed.
So, while you might have to divulge some of your successful marketing strategies, in the end this will work out for you, as it will help establish you as an affiliate that helps its partners out and leads them along the path of success. Having such a reputation in the affiliate industry is worth far more than few insider tips.
Taking care of your Clients (Players)
If your affiliate site works directly with the clients, then you have even more room to create value for them. As an affiliate marketer, you should be an industry insider, whatever your industry might be. This means that you know all the ins and outs and you can give your clients strategies they can use to get the maximum value.
In the online poker and gambling industries, opportunities are truly endless, because there is so much you can offer in terms of strategy. Why not give your players extensive strategy guides for different games every week and help them out win more. Even if you operate on a revenue share model, where players’ winnings are deducted from your income, this strategy will work out in the long run.
If you’re serious about your affiliate business, you shouldn’t be thinking about what happens in the next few weeks but rather what happens in the next few years. An affiliate that constantly offers value for its players through strategy guides and other gambling tips is the one that players will keep coming back to. It is also the one they will share with and recommend to their friends and families.
So, if you want to build a business that’s established on right foundations and have long-term plans for success, you need to apply yourself and think of the ways to offer value to your players. If you’re into online poker, hiring someone with a good strategy background could be a good idea, as they can offer some great tips for your players. While this may cost you a bit of money, happy and successful players are also more likely to play more and produce more rake, which works out for all the parties involved.
Keeping Up with the Times
When it comes to producing content, it isn’t just about what you have to offer – it is also about the way you serve it to the people. You need to keep up with the times and create the type of content that’s popular and easy to digest. You need to stay on the ball and keep up with the times if you want your content to stay relevant.
It is no use to have great content on your site if people will not be bothered to actually go through it and take in what you have to offer. Of course, this may mean you’ll have to learn some new skills yourself or find someone already experienced with writing great content but, once again, it will all be well worth it in the long run.
Simply put, the value of content in affiliate marketing can’t be overstated and if you’re someone capable of delivering valuable content in an appealing way, you stand to gain the respect of your partners, clients, and even random visitors. This will result in new and repeat business for you and establishing your site as one of the top names in your particular niche. While it may take some effort and time to keep up with the times and stay in the loop, the value of such dedication will always be recognized.
How Much Content Is Enough?
Producing quality content takes time and resources, no doubt about it. So, the question is, how much content do you need to produce on a weekly or monthly basis to stay relevant and keep your clients happy. This isn’t a question with a simple answer, but we’ll try to break it down somewhat so to come up with a good formula you can use.
Quality over quantity
If you don’t have resources to put out a quality article or a video every day, then don’t try to force it. You’ll be better off publishing just one or two pieces of content a week that offer real value than a bunch of things that don’t really have anything substantial to add or have been cut short because you’ve run out of time or ideas.
Your visitors will be able to easily recognize content that’s been produced in a rush and they will often get pissed about it because they will feel like you’ve wasted their time. This is the exact opposite of what you’re trying to achieve so be very careful about it. Before you go and publish something for everyone to see, make sure you’re really happy with it.
If you feel like something isn’t worth publishing then it probably isn’t. Putting it up just the same simply because you feel sorry about spending some time to create it isn’t the right strategy. Whether it is an article, video, or some other form of content, such as graphs and charts, leave it be and get back to it when you have some more time and ideas to make it great. Only then it is ready to go out into the world.\
Try to keep a schedule
Although this doesn’t have to be an official thing, try to have a sort of schedule in terms of how much new content you publish every week/month. For example, if you’re capped at two strategy guides a week, that’s fine, but try to publish them every week.
After a while, people will get used to seeing these posts and if they aren’t there, this can produce a feeling of disappointment. This isn’t to say that you absolutely must do it week after week if you have no good ideas, but try to keep it up as much as possible.
If you set things up in this way, then every new piece of content you put will feel like a bonus and likely produce a great response from the visitors. Once again, all of this translates into your clients appreciating you more for your efforts, adding to your bottom line in every possible way.
Make things versatile
Ideally, you’d want to make your content as versatile as possible, not sticking to just one or two types of posts. Try to cover as much ground with strategy, news, entertaining blogs, funny stories, and whatever else fits the general idea.
While not all of these things add straight-up business value, you need to understand that “value” is a very broad term and making someone’s day with a good, funny story certainly counts. While you’re there to push products and help your clients make money – why not also help them feel great in the process as well?
Final Affiliate Marketing Content Tip: Add a Dash of Personal Touch
Building personal relationships with your clients is usually a good thing in most industries and as an affiliate, you probably have many clients that you know personally to some extent. However, you can actually create or deepen this bond using content published on your site.
For example, a weekly or bi-weekly video blog talking about your site and clients can be a great idea. It adds transparency and shows that you care enough to take time out of your day and address all of your partners. This may seem like a bit too much and, in all honesty, it may be – but why should you care?
Your number one concern is building a business where your clients and potential clients see you as someone who can add true value to their business and personal efforts and if such a blog helps this agenda (and it most certainly does), why not do it?
All said and done, valuable content can be a key to your success in the affiliate business. If you manage to stand out from the rest as someone who adds constant value for their partners, you’ll quickly move up the ranks and earn brownie points, which eventually translate into real profits.
Oh, by the way, Google absolutely loves sites that are constantly updated with quality content as well, so you’re likely to see some significant movements in your search engine rankings as well. Moving up a few pages can make all the difference in the world!
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