For a sale

30 Nov 12 7:23 am

padswe1970, I am fairly new to Affiliate Marketing about 2 years, though I have been online since 1996. I fully understand how Internet traffic operates. In experiments I have been conducting I have found that Traffic Exchange traffic for example is very low quality traffic yielding only 2 - 5% CTR whereas Organic traffic yields around 25% CTR. Coercing a prospect to click on your Affiliate Link is somewhat esoteric and the number of variables that come into play are almost infinite.

There is no solid number for the amount of visitors required to generate a sale. Ballpark figures that I have read from successful Affiliate Marketers range from 1 in 500 to 1 in 1000. Some claim 1 in 50.
The time honored adage that one must spend money to make money still applies to Affiliate Marketing.

For example a lead is more inclined to make a purchase if the sales page has an EV SSL Certificate (green address bar) than a sales page that does not. Aesthetics is a core factor to consider. Does your sales page appear to be a generic template? or does your sales page have a certain uniqueness that reeks of professionalism?.

Are there spelling mistakes or poorly written copy on your sales page?, does the sales page display correctly across the four major browsers?. I am new to Affiliate Marketing but I fully appreciate the never ending subtleties that can make or break a conversion.

04 Dec 12 4:19 pm

The short answer is every visitor to your site is a potential for a sale. However, in general, once you understand conversions, you can average 1-2% of your visitors to sales.

However, most newbies don't see these kind of conversions early on.

It all depends on how you present your offer, and how well you connect with your readers.

Just before reading this, I was actually writing a chapter in a content writing ebook that I am working on about engagement, and driving people to action.

One of the keys to increasing your chances at conversions is to engage your readers on an emotional level.

I started studying human needs psychology several years ago as part of my own personal development, and one thing I have come to realize in marketing is that our job is to help people identify with their emotional needs, and show them through our articles how they can meet those needs.

If you can touch people emotionally, and help them meet their emotional needs, you stand a much better chance at getting sales.

This is usually easy to say, and much more difficult to do. However, by really understanding the needs of your customers, and identifying with them by sharing stories, and talking about how you feel in the situation, then sharing how you overcame the problem yourself, you can lead people into making a purchase much easier.

10 Dec 12 5:27 am

jmpruitt, thanks for that very interesting point about connecting on an emotional level with your visitors. As a consumer I find that an emotive solution that is pertinent to my problem or needs really does work with me on a personal level when considering a purchase.