You’ve decided to give affiliate marketing a try and found an amazing affiliate program. You’ve decided on your strategy, thoroughly checked the product, set up your web page, and you’re ready to rock and roll. Now what?

Before you start placing your ads and promoting that product to your prospects, be sure you’re aware of some of the potential pitfalls that can make your marketing efforts useless.

Banners

Most affiliate program managers provide a variety of banners for their affiliates to place on their websites. Banners should be tested extensively because they are not always an effective method to advertise. As you begin your testing, try to use banners that are smaller than 15k. And, as with all of your advertising, be sure any graphics you put on your own website match the theme of your site.

Pop-ups and Pop-unders

Many companies also provide pop-up or pop- under ads to their affiliates. Pop-ups work in some markets and for some products, and they don’t work in other markets and for other products. The best way to know…test. The same applies for pop-unders, but it’s generally accepted that website visitors find these less “irritating” when they’re visiting your site.

Text ads

Some of the most successful promotions come about because of text link ads. They load very quickly because they’re small and they are usually easy to place on your web pages. The problem is that many affiliate programs provide their affiliates with ads highlighting the product name and possibly features. The best text link ads let your website visitors know WHY they should click the link rather than simply state what product the link is for.

Email messages

If you plan to use email to promote affiliate offers, be sure to customize the messages that are provided by the company you’re promoting for. Your email promotions should be personal in tone and provide your prospects with a good understanding of your own experience with the product. You definitely don’t want to send out the same email message that every other affiliate for that product is using.

Cookies

Many companies with affiliate programs use cookies to track your referrals. Since the vast majority of visitors don’t purchase the first time they see an offer, cookies “tag” those visitors so if they return later and complete a purchase, you will be credited for the sale. The problem lies in that cookies are set for a specific amount of time, as determined by the company, not by the affiliate. Some companies set cookies that last only as long as the visitor remains on their site, and others set them to last for years. Additionally, the visitor might delete all of their cookies as a way to improve performance on their computer, and you will lose out on that commission.

Affiliate Links

Once you become an affiliate for a company, they'll usually supply you with a personalized link or affiliate code. It's essential that you use this code in all of your promotions, or you may be sending visitors to the company without earning any commissions. Unfortunately, there are some dishonest people out there who know how affiliate links work and will steal your commission. They simply sign up for the affiliate program for the product that YOU introduced them to and order the product from their own affiliate link.

Fortunately, there are tools available to help you improve and protect your affiliate marketing efforts. Be sure to spend enough time to thoroughly research any tools before making a purchase.