An incredibly vital part of online marketing that many people ignore is tracking and testing statistics. A simple analysis of some basic information can tell you whether you are wasting your time or onto a winner, but so few marketers ever check. If you can analyse the numbers presented to you the possibility of success becomes clear and you can clearly define a path to follow.As an affiliate marketer you will earn a commission of the sale price of the item you have promoted. For a digital product the percentage is often very high as the overheads are low on an internet-only product. For a physical item it will be much lower but the commission itself could still be worthwhile. When looking to sell an item many marketers will look at the commission alone and choose then and there. But to really get a clear idea you should be checking the statistics before you even start any promotion work. For example, if you see a product has a $20 commission but you intend to market using paid advertising it is important to know how much you are likely to spend in order to make a sale. The dollar amount may seem like a decent sum initially but if it is very costly to advertise then it is probably not worth the hassle. Similarly, if you intend to do SEO to rank in the organic search results but you are entering a heavily competitive market then you should check the statistics. How long will it take to rank for your desired keyword? If it will take a long while to get anywhere with your SEO efforts then you could be losing valuable time that could be spent on other promotions.There are also other factors to look into. Often you may find a number of competing products in your niche. One may offer a higher commission to draw attention from affiliates but on closer inspection the sales page may be terrible and the refund rate could be high. If this is the case then you are clearly better off going with the higher converting product and making more sales. This should be checked against your figures and you can of course split test each product before selecting the best one.Monthly memberships are gaining in popularity and these will give a commission to you while the person retains their membership. This can be great if the product is good quality as you can promote once and make long term income. If you can find a product which includes a recurring income then you know the vendor is trying to make as much money as possible from the product and is probably optimizing the site on a continual basis to do this.This article should have highlighted a number of reasons why checking your statistics is very important and can make all the difference. It may seem like a tiresome and tedious aspect of marketing but the end results will show. The reality is that throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks will probably leave you with worse results than a few highly tested and targeted campaigns.
By: Darren Self
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