So keep the words of this covenant to do them, that you may prosper in all that you do-Deuteronomy 20:9
When you think of an affiliate marketing strategy, you’re basically talking about the overall game plan for touching base with your targeted audience and translating them into consumers of products or services your affiliate marketing business is promoting.
I’m going to talk about 2 affiliate marketing strategies you can use that should help boost your productivity. But before I do that, I want you to differentiate the difference between a marketing plan and a marketing strategy.
A marketing plan is an operational document that outlines the strategy that a company will implement to generate leads and sales. This plan is normally short-term because it basically gives the details of the specific types of marketing activities your company is going to take. These activities can change according to how successful your strategy is.
Marketing strategy, on the other hand is longer-term because it has things like company value propositions along with other key elements of a company’s brand, which normally goes on for the long haul. To put it in laymen’s terms, the marketing plan tells the marketing strategy the details of what the specific strategy is.
You should by all means create a marketing plan before you formulate your marketing strategy. But when you formulate your marketing strategy, you should make sure it is firmly rooted in your value proposition…which is what summarizes why why someone should buy from your company as opposed to your competition.
This article is going to dive into 2 creative marketing strategies that you may have heard of or maybe not. If you have just go over this post in order to reacquaint yourself with it. I you haven’t, I hope this article will be beneficial to you.
The first strategy I want to talk about is called…
Guerrilla Marketing
The term Guerrilla Marketing was first coined by a marketer by the name of Jay Conrad Livingston in a book he authored in 1984…called Guerrilla Marketing. If you get a chance purchase a copy of it…it’s very informative and detailed as to how this strategy works. A suggested read especially for beginners.
One of the great things about using this strategy is you don’t have to have a large sum of money in oder to implement this strategy. This is especially beneficial to anyone who is just starting out.
But what you do need when using this strategy is time, imagination and energy.
The term Guerrilla Marketing comes war-time term Guerrilla warfare. It was called that because it used unconventional strategies by armed civilians to achieve it’s wartime objectives. Strategies that your typical armed forces wouldn’t use. These strategies enabled them to catch their enemies off guard…which lead them to victory.
This is kind of how Guerrilla Marketing is used in your marketing strategy. Now I don’t want you to think of your targeted audience as the enemy…but you are competing with thousands of companies for the attention of that audience, so you sometimes have to use unconventional methods in order to gain that attention. When I say unconventional, I’m not talking about unethical. I’m talking about methods that traditional marketing don’t use.
This is the advantage of using Guerilla Marketing. It catches your audience off guard. You have to understand that people love to buy, but they hate to be sold too. When you come to them with a hard sales pitch, they automatically put up their defenses against that pitch.
When using the Guerrilla Marketing Strategy, you should be focusing on taking your consumer by surprise while at the same time creating a great impression that will lead to BUZZ about your product or service.
If you use this strategy the right way, your audience should encounter tis marketing tactic without even knowing it.
With that being said, here are a few examples of Guerilla Marketing you could use in your affiliate marketing business.
Use of social media: Most social media platforms are free to join. You can create an account for your product or service and leverage the social media’s built-in user database. With a little imagination and creativity you can talk a service or product that will have your audience salivating to come to the website your product is being sold.
Create an online contest: Who doesn’t like to win free stuff? You can drive a multitude amount of traffic by launching an online contests. You can offer one of your affiliate products as a prize while at the same time use it as a way to drive traffic and sales to other affiliate product and services.
Just make sure your contest is legit…NEVER SCAM anyone…make sure the winner gets exactly what’s promised and always announce the winner to show your participants know there was one.
Free webinars: A free webinar is a great way to connect with your audience, build a substantial list, and generate sales.
You don’t have to spend a fortune to create a webinar. Go online and do some research, you can find an inexpensive way to create one. Make sure that your webinar is going to give value to your listeners…and while giving it, you can subtley mention your product, service or website. Incorporate it in your message. Don’t think of this as being unethical…think of it as marketing… remember people don’t like to be sold but they love to buy.
Offline promotion: If you go to conventions and trade shows in your industry, you can take advantage of your attendance by passing out flyers or business cards. I’m sure you’ve seen many ads promoting inexpensive flyers and business cards that companies will make for you. Just Google inexpensive flyers or cards and you’ll find a host of companies you can use.
These are just 4 examples of a Guerrilla Marketing Strategy. You can find many more examples by doing a little research. But here’s the secret to using this marketing strategy…use as many of the methods you find as possible in order to open the eyes of your targeted audience.
The next strategy I want to talk about is really a sub-set of Guerrilla Marketing. This marketing is called…
Evangelism Marketing
Evangelism Marketing is basically an advanced form of word-of-mouth marketing. Sometimes this form of marketing is confused with affiliate marketing…but there are differences between the two.
With Affiliate Marketing the marketer is rewarded with incentives in the form of commissions. Where as in Evangelism Marketing, satisfied customers promote your product or service on the on the pure belief that you have the best product or service.
As you may have figured out, the term Evangelism Marketing comes from a religious sense. Just like belief in in the biblical sense…consumers are driven by the belief they have the product or service they preach to others.
The term is believe to come from the belief that Guy Kawasaki, the former chief evangelist of Apple Computer, is the father of Evangelism Marketing.
Every Brand wants an Evangelist (satisfied customer who tells others about your product or service) to market their products because it tells your audience that what you’re selling is good. It almost even serves as a testimonial
The big question is…how can I incorporate the Evangelism Marketing Strategy?
The best way to create an Evangelism Marketing Strategy is to first of all GIVE GEAT SERVICE. You can do that in a number of ways…but the first thing you should do is…
Create a mission statement: Define what your company’s purpose and mission is. For example, it could be to help small companies grow. Follow that by doing a SWOT(strength, weakness, opportunities, and threats) analysis. This will tell you where your company excels, what you need to work on to get better, what opportunities are out there that your company can take advantage of and who are your biggest competitors.
Make employees evangelist: If you have any employees, they can expand your company’s ideas naturally from the inside out.
Always under promise and over deliver: You always want satisfied customers. You can’t get that by over rating a product or service…you only disappoint them.
Reach out to your customers: Let your customers know you care by periodically leaving them messages. Get them to share their positive and negative experiences they’ve had with your product or service you’re promoting. Use social media and other channels to connect with them.
Here is a list of
Here are a few more strategies related to evangelism marketing. Look them up and learn more about them.
Viral Marketing: Which relies heavily on social media
Buzz Marketing: Is basically the same as viral marketing only it uses more people talking about the product or service as opposed to social media.
In the end Guerrilla Marketing and Evangelism Marketing is a great way to market and grow your affiliate marketing business.
Do your research and find as many Guerilla Marketing and Evangelism Marketing Strategies that fit your business objectives and USE THEM ALL.
Until next time…keep working hard, stay safe,and remember GOD loves you and is always with you.
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