Affiliate Marketing Archives - Lorne Fade - Online Marketing & Digital Media Insights

Battle of the Trackers: Review of Voluum

July 5, 2014 by Lorne Fade 2 Comments

What is Voluum?

For this Voluum review we will be taking an in-depth look at their platform and rating it to give you a better idea of what you can expect from this software. Voluum is a cloud-based tracking tool which has slowly been picking up steam in the online marketing world due to its ease of use, clean user friendly design, and innovative backend. Don’t believe me? Check out their informational trailer here.

The sleek tabs interface is easy to navigate.

I first started using Voluum about a month ago after making the switch from CPVLab and a custom-coded prosper mobile setup I had running, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. The interface is sleek and cleanly designed and it makes campaign setup as easy as pie. Not only that but it allows for split testing and optimization on the fly which is a great feature for marketers.

Down to the dirty business. Voluume is a cloud-hosted platform which means there is no server costs needed and you will simply be able to login from anywhere basically to view your campaigns. This doesn’t come free however and Voluum is set to be priced at $99/mo which scales based on your traffic volume (or is it voluum). The backend is written in Javascript and they are multiple server locations worldwide so speed should never really be an issue. If you are a super high volume affiliate you will have to drive 3 billion+ clicks a day in order to max out, not there yet myself, but maybe one day 😉

A deeper look at the campaign overview screen.

Voluum is a state of the art tracking platform for 2014 and provides a premium solution to your tracking needs in an easy to use platform. They are constantly innovating and their company is only growing so you can expect they will be here to stay for the long haul (something I value greatly)

Lets take a look at the Pros and Cons.

Pros:

Cloud-based
No expensive server costs
Sleek/clean interface
Ease of use
Additional user data (valuable)
Redirect path rules
Automatically fire conversion pixels
2/yr data retention

Cons:

Security risk being cloud-based?
Monthly subscription costs
Lack of taguchi/multivariate testing
Not much else!

The only real drawback I see there is the monthly costs. No one wants to add another $99/mo on to their bills. But if this software is going to allow you to scale and grow your campaigns to $1000’s/day then really what is another $99?

There are free tiered options for newer affiliates as well, so that you can test out driving 100,000 events to their platform before you have to start paying. You get up to 1M for $99/mo and the next level after that is 25M for $999/mo. If you figure dedicated server costs are usually around $300-500/mo you will recoup your investment immediately going with the cloud-based solution.

Overall Rating: 9/10

Voluum is a complete move in the right direction for trackers when it comes to online marketing/affiliate marketing. CPVLab was a great solution for many years and had its time in the limelight, but I feel like this SaaS solution will be here to stay given their constant innovation, clean design and overall easy of usability.

To check out Voluum and start tracking like a rockstar click here.

10 Useful Tips for Adwords Affiliate Marketers

November 5, 2013 by Lorne Fade 3 Comments

For most webmasters and affiliate marketers, Google AdWords is their bread and butter, and rightfully so. AdWords is a beast of an advertising system, and if targeted properly its earning potential can be great. If you follow some of these strategies then maybe even you can make money off Google AdWords.

1. The merchant or vendor site should have a professional look to it, in order to ensure the surfer that it is a credible product/service that they will be buying into.

2. Make sure to be able to maintain a level of communication between you and your affiliate preferably through an AM. This will help you realize which ads convert better as well as keep you updated with new offers.

3. When you are paying for clicks, you need to realize the ratio between what will be a positive return and what wont be. Try and promote affiliate products that will pay more than $15 in commission to get your ROI up. Clickbank is good for this.

4. The landing pages and sales sites need to be top of the line. If the customer is unhappy with the appearance of the page, it is more than unlikely they are going to invest their money into what your selling.

5. Same goes for the sales copy and actual marketing that is done ON the landing page. It should include testimonials , and other key selling features in order to ease any hesitations the buyer may have.

6. Would you buy it? Ask yourself this when choosing a campaign for your affiliate program. Chances are if you wouldn’t buy it, then most people wouldn’t be comfortable buying it either.

7. Affiliate links are fine with your vendor as long as they are low key. It can kill a sale if the user feels like he is getting scammed or bought into something.

8. The referring page for the vendor website should only have one product/service on it. If there are multiple products the user can get confused by the sales messages and become hesitant to buy.

9. Tracking! Keep a keen eye on your keywords and phrases. If any of them are getting higher than a 1:200 buy:click ratio, they need to be cut off. A decent ratio to look for is around 1 in 50 creating a sell. The higher the click-through rate, the better rankings you get on your niche.

10. Most affiliates will keep a record of email addresses for all your referrals. This makes sure that you get credit for a sale even if the customer took 4-5 visits before buying… which is the case a lot of the time.

Must read books for affiliate marketers & entrepreneurs

January 4, 2013 by Lorne Fade 6 Comments

So everyone knows that knowledge is power, and I myself have been on a reading binge the last month or so, soaking up information like a shamwow… you getting this camera guy? Anyways everyone has their own set of must read books that has helped them in some way or another, and I am no different.

I made a list of books I’ve read that have personally helped me gain both financial freedom and valuable insight on personal wealth and well-being. I feel that these books more than others I’ve read influenced me the most and left the most lasting impression on my thought process and my business life in general. So I present to you:

Books for Affiliate Marketers & Entrepreneurs

Four Hour Work Week – Main concept follows an 80/20 rule, where 20% of your work/actions account for 80% of profits (campaigns, keywords, affiliate networks) – you should be finding the most important ones and scaling/optimizing. Stop wasting time on the meaningless pursuits.

Think and Grow Rich – In the original Think and Grow Rich, published in 1937, Napoleon Hill draws on stories of Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and other millionaires of his generation to illustrate his principles. This is carried on into the 21st century where many of the principles still hold true today, and can be very powerful for getting yourself in the right mindset.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad – This book tells a story about a man who was raised by two different households, and two different mindsets. One an educated dad stuck in the proverbial “rat race” and the other a college dropout who simply understood investing and how to work with “smart people”. To sum up this book in one word, outsourcing.

The Long Tail – In the most important business book since The Tipping Point, Chris Anderson shows how the future of commerce and culture isn’t in hits, the high-volume head of a traditional demand curve, but in what used to be regarded as misses–the endlessly long tail of that same curve. Inspirational book on finding those niche niches.

The Snowball – The biography of one of the richest men in the world, and possibly one of the smartest investors that ever lived. Although not written by Warren Buffet himself, it is still a great read that will put you in the mind of this invesment genuius.

There are obviously way more books out there that I am missing, so if you have any *must read* books that I missed, leave a comment and I’ll be sure to check em out.

Increase your Conversions with Tracking202 Pro!

March 24, 2009 by Lorne Fade 6 Comments

Recently the guys over at Tracking202 had sent me an email saying they are ready to launch their brand new updated platform Tracking202 Pro. I’ve toyed around with Tracking202 but have always used Prosper202, and it has always been good to me. But now all that has changed with the launch of Tracking202 Pro!

Tracking is definitely one of the single most pressing issues when it comes to making money online with PPC marketing. How else would you be able to track and monitor your clicks for your keywords to see what is converting effectively. The truth is that most affiliates dont have good enough tracking and fail to monitor their clicks properly, costing them thousands of dollars on advertising. From what I saw from the original Tracking202, they allowed multiple campaigns across multiple networks similar to Prosper202, and it was great, but apparently that wasn’t enough because the guys at Trackign202 have upped the bar to add even more features.

Original Tracking202 Vs. Tracking202 Pro

Unlike the original, Tracking202 Pro is fully integrated with the big three PPC networks (Google Adwords, Yahoo Search Marketing, MSN AdCenter) and the affiliate networks which means the application is able to download all of your data automatically without you having to do anything. It is also able to get 100% precise cost tracking, and it also pulls in your subids from your networks nightly.

The Tracking202 setup is also made easier than ever. Simply add your PPC account login information, your affiliate account info, and place one piece of javascript code across all of your affiliate pages. Once that is done, the only thing you will need to do is make a simple PHP redirect, and basically redirect your traffic to your affiliate link and add in their Tracking202 subid at the end.

Tracking202 Pro will download nightly, all of your cost data from the Google, Yahoo and MSN networks, and then automatically sync all of your conversions. This will enable you to view your conversions with pinpoint accuracy, so you can find out exactly which keywords are performing and/or underperforming.

You can analyze your keywords as well as your bids on keywords next to each other. You can also split your traffic between search and content network. You can see the campaign, adgroup and creative being clicked on in real time using their spy-view. This will eliminate the labourious importing of keyword lists and in general make your life a hell of a lot easier.

Free 7-Day Trial Offer

Tracking 202 Pro Free Trial

Tracking202 Pro is a paid hosted enterprise level PPC conversion tracking platform. Unlike the original, Tracking202 Pro isn’t free. The platform was built expressly for affiliates using search to promote CPA or CPS offers. You will increase your tracking effectiveness, save tons of time and in general make MORE money using this system, and I would recommend it for new affiliate marketers and seasoned ones alike.

If you’re a seasoned PPC marketer, then Tracking202 Pro is a must have tool. If you’re just starting out, then begin with the free Tracking202 to get your feet wet. Or, you can jump right into Tracking202 Pro and see if you can make back that $19.95 monthly fee in the next seven days. Either way it’s a great product that I fully endorse and would recommend to any affiliate out there.

Google Adwords Explained in Detail

March 17, 2009 by Lorne Fade 5 Comments

For those of you who may be relatively new to pay per click advertising or simply the Google Adwords model in particular, here is a helpful video that will explain to you just how the model works.

5 Powerful Tips for Better Converting Landing Pages

February 10, 2009 by Lorne Fade 4 Comments

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When you get down to the core of affiliate marketing, you will come to realize that its all about your ad copy and your landing page. Sure you can try your luck at direct linking, but for the most part your conversions will suffer and you will lose money and time again and again. A quality landing page can be the difference to a profitable campaign and a big loser. There are several things you can do to help make your landing pages better, and to convince the surfer to follow through with your offer.

Split Test – When you first start running an offer, its always a good idea to have several mock up landing pages to use to drive traffic to. Use these as a base from which to test your conversion rates and find out what is and isnt working. A lot of the times a simple lander is better, while other times the longer review ad copy landers prove more effective. You need to find out if the niche your targeting falls into either of these categories and stick with the one that works. Affiliate marketing is all about going out and seeing what works, dont get lazy, testing is KEY.
Avoid Distractions – When your targeted visitor comes to your page, you want to make sure that there is a bold call to action. Giving them multiple options and outward links is distracting and can cause your surfer to not follow through on the offer. Make sure there is a clear, concise directive and if you have multiple objectives (ie. acai & colon cleanse), try using a seperate landing page for each of them.
Above the Fold – While a spanning page with multiple reviews and reasons why the user should sign up for your offer may be a good thing, more often that not it is better to keep the sign up/order now button above the fold in plain sight so that the user knows that you are selling something and makes a painless decsion. Often times the surfer can be burdened by an encompassing sales page that is drawn out and confusing, stick to the K.I.S.S. philosophy and you will notice the difference in your bank account.
Avoid Extra Elements – Having too much graphics or too much text on your lander can make or break your sales. Avoid over-using graphical elements such as animations and images that simply do not contribute to your objective of the page. This can take away your visitors attention and eventually lead to a failed conversion. Try and keep the visitors attention by using a blend of text and imagery that flows naturally.
Navigation/Outbound Links – Your best bet is to keep the navigation either off page or in the footer area so that the user doesnt become distracted and navigate away from your offer. If you have more information or in-depth reviews to offer the surfer, give it to them in an AJAX pop-up or CSS based slide down content so that it keeps them on the page and only helps to upsell the offer you are targeting. While you can go the route of having no external links whatsoever, this is frowned upon by Google and will usually end up getting your page penalized.

So that it, hopefully these tips will prove effective in making your landing pages even more profitable, and increase your conversion. The main thing to remember is to keep trying different things, and that no matter how simple the offer may be, it is always better to sell the surfer before they follow through to the signup page.

The main reason why personal review blogs like Becky’s weight loss worked so well is because they utilized all these elements, with an effective ad copy telling a personal story to play upon the visitors emotions. Mix and match different ad copy with an easy and direct call to action, and you will see much more profitable landing pages for your all your campaigns.

If I missed anything feel free to comment and let me know what other methods you utilize to increase conversions on your landers.

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