Take Advantage of the ClickBank Marketplace

Tip 1: Take Advantage of the ClickBank Marketplace

ClickBank provides all new publishers the option of being listed within our ClickBank Marketplace: http://www.clickbank.com/marketplace

The question is, with the ClickBank Marketplace containing over 15,000 products, what can you do to obtain the most exposure and make your product attractive to affiliates?

The first thing that most new publishers don’t realize is that the majority of the Marketplace audience is comprised of affiliates, not consumers. So rather than have your Marketplace title and description tailored to consumers, you should use it to describe what makes your product appealing to affiliates.

Do you have a high commission percentage, a high payout or a Web site containing useful affiliate tools to help them promote your product? Be sure to list features like these in your Marketplace description so that affiliates can quickly see why they should promote your product.

To edit your Marketplace title/description, you’ll need to log in to your ClickBank account, click the “Account Settings” tab, the “My Site” link, and the “Edit” link under the “Marketplace Information” section, then modify your Marketplace description as needed.

Be sure to click “Save Changes” when finished!

Check back tomorrow for the second tip on becoming an affiliate magnet – creating an affiliate tools page.

Tip 2: Create an Affiliate Tools Page

Something that ClickBank doesn’t require, but that can make a huge difference in attracting affiliates, is setting up a Web page specifically to help affiliates promote your product.

The feedback we have received from affiliates indicates that they are more inclined to promote products that provide affiliates with assistance in their marketing campaigns. Some ideas for tools you could provide to affiliates include:

• Banner images
• Other product images
• Textual ads
• Keyword recommendations
• Cloaking scripts
• Ad content recommendations (such as features or benefits of your product)
• Customized email signature ads
• Suggestions of places where affiliates can advertise your product effectively

ClickBank also provides a method for you to recruit affiliates directly from your own Web site. This tool gives affiliates the ability to create an affiliate link for your product directly from your Web site, without having to visit the ClickBank Marketplace first. For more information on using this tool, please go to “Leveraging The Affiliate Network.”

If you decide to create a Web page for your affiliates, you should consider listing the Web address as part of your Marketplace description, for added affiliate attraction.

Tip 3: Get Your Site Right the First Time

When you’re sending in your first Product Approval Request, your top priority is probably getting your site active as quickly as possible. It certainly seems like a reasonable notion; the sooner you’re active, the sooner you can start receiving sales.

However, I strongly recommend that you take the time to perfect your site content, and to double-check that your Marketplace title and description are optimized to attract affiliates. You should make it clear what type of product you are selling and list the benefits affiliates receive by promoting your site.

There are third-party companies and sites on the Internet that feature newly-listed ClickBank products for a short period of time. If your site content is not optimum, you may be losing out on an opportunity for attracting affiliates right off the bat.

Tip 4: Offer High Commissions

A penny saved is a penny earned? You’ve heard it all your life, but the sound advice your mother gave you could actually be damaging in the affiliate marketing industry.

When affiliates are looking for a new publisher to promote, they have thousands of products to choose from. Searching through each pitch page for the perfect product and sales copy is not always practical. Of course, having a professional, great-looking pitch page is important, but for most affiliates, other factors take priority.

Advertising costs can be expensive for affiliates. An affiliate wants to be able to look at a product and, in a glance, be able to trust that they’ll receive a positive return on their advertising and promotional investment. One of the most important stats in the ClickBank Marketplace that affiliates look for is “% sale.” This is the average commission percentage earned per affiliate per referred sale on a particular product. With many of our top products offering the maximum commission of 75%, you really can’t afford to not be generous with your commissions.

Though it may seem that the maximum payout amount is high, remember that these are sales you would not have made otherwise.

For more information about this subject, and data that proves the advantages of being generous with your commissions, check out our Generosity as Business Strategy article by Bob Dunlap:

http://www.clickbank.com/blog/2008/04/17/generosity-as-business-strategy/

Tip 5: Advertise

To further increase exposure of your product to affiliates, ClickBank provides a means by which you can purchase ad space within the ClickBank Marketplace, highlighting your product to hundreds of thousands of affiliates.

The Marketplace ads are three-line advertisements found on the right-hand side of Marketplace pages, under ‘Sponsored Links.’ You can see some current ads here:

http://www.clickbank.com/marketplace.htm

The costs of Marketplace ads vary, depending upon how much traffic a particular page or category receives. More exposure means a higher priced advertisement.

All contracts are month-to-month, so clients may utilize the ad space as long as they wish without being locked into any long-term agreements. To check availability and add your name to a possible waiting list, visit https://www.clickbank.com/advertise.html. Select the location where you’d like to place an ad, fill out the form, and someone from ClickBank will contact you when a space becomes available.

Final Thoughts

Many publishers spend months, if not years, in product development. After so much arduous effort, why would you want to leave the success of your product to chance? No matter how great your product is, if you don’t do a good job of communicating that fact to the people who can help you promote it, it will never be as successful as it could be. So as you build the pitch page to sell your product, be sure that you work as hard on attracting affiliates as you do on attracting customers. By putting in the extra effort to make your product attractive to affiliates, you can become a serious affiliate magnet!

Good luck, and thank you for choosing ClickBank!