Although neither entity will release realistically accurate data, it’s estimated that there will be close toone billion active (and not-so-active) Facebook users by August 2012. In the Twitterverse, this number is around 140 million, although once again this company is notoriously tight-lipped about releasing any concrete numbers.
Either way, there are millions of people sharing their views, pictures and thoughts through both platforms; all of these users equal potential revenue for your affiliate marketing campaign. Before assuming social media marketing is a guaranteed cash cow, learn about the ins and outs of the venture and how ultimately to grab a piece of the proverbial pie for yourself.
Pros and Cons of Social Media Affiliate Marketing
As stated above, the world of social media affiliate marketing is fraught with hidden dangers.You might find yourself becoming banned from one or multiple sites. So remain thoughtful and consider these pros and cons before investing your time in this potentially dangerous venture:
Pros
Time of the Small Business
Many studies are showing that small businesses are finding success through social media marketing. One major factor is the simple fact that several larger companies and corporations aren’t jumping on the bandwagon.
Growing Your Business
Social media, by far, possesses the means to growing your business quicker than any other type of traditional advertising. The sheer amount of people and potential clients, you’ll link-up with on a daily business is astronomical.
Networking and Exposure Potential
To be a successful affiliate marketer you must expose your brand. Social media provides access to millions of contacts each hour, which provides a multitude of opportunities to secure invaluable connections.
Cons
Walking that Line
Everyone wants longevity, but aren’t always using the correct tools to earn long-term gains. Using social media to promote your website or blog is a fulltime commitment and must be treated as such.
Leaving Behind a Lasting Impression
You’ve bombarded social media sites with tweets and postings of your website and blog information and secured multiple links. This is great for now, but leaving behind this kind of deep impression can have disastrous long-term results.
In the end, it’s all SPAM
You don’t like all of the SPAM in your email inbox, so remember that shooting links to your sites across social media outlets is basically SPAM, which will once again leave a sour taste in several user’s mouths.
Tips for Finding Success
Don’t let the potential downsides of using social media marketing to keep you from pursuing this potentially lucrative path. Here are a few tips and tricks to help make your campaigns more successful:
Forget Search Engine Ranking
If you’re using this type of advertising to simply increase your search engine ranking, than you can almost guarantee failure in the long-term. Instead, use social media sites as a way to create contacts, get your brand noticed, build lasting relationships and increase positive customer relations.
Update Thoughtfully
You wouldn’t dream of creating lackluster content on your blog or website, so why would you slap up some half-hearted images and blubs on social media sites? Remember that this content is highly representative of your brand and is often the first impression you give potential links and customers.
Remember your Customers
When creating content for social media , or linking posts to your Twitter, Facebook or Google+ account, keep in mind exactly who you’re attempting to draw to your site. For instance, if your site is all about football and contains banners that feature sports-themed advertisers, it’s probably not a good idea to bash a particular team or post idea and images that deal with a totally irrelevant concept. This may sound obvious, but it’s a hurdle that many novice social media marketers find themselves tripping over.
Get Involved
Many bloggers and website owners are terrified by the prospect of negative feedback, but don’t let this get in your way of becoming involved on social media websites. In the end, your readers want to know that you’re a true, flesh and blood human being, so use personal connections to your advantage. It’s inevitable that you’ll face negative comments, but if you provide quality content, the majority of your experience will remain positive.
There is no denying that social media is forever changing the face of affiliate programs; those that don’t grin and bear this evolution will eventually be left in the dust. As an affiliate marketer, it’s up to you to realize this inevitability and jump into the game before it’s too late.
About Christian Willis
Great post Christian! I agree that social media is a fulltime business and should definitely be treated as such if you wish to get the most out of your hard work and efforts.
Very true, social networking sites are great to promote your product or website. But do so moderately and be careful. You might be banned if they label you as spam!
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In the wake of Google Penguin, it seems that the conventional route of backlinking with anchor text and heavily SEO’d sites are pushing bloggers toward social media as you can be seen by millions of folks without having to dance to Google as much. I for one was hit badly by the Penguin update and have found some better ways to get my articles ranked by the use of social media.
Hi Den, I am glad that you find Christian’s article useful. Also, care to share what are your better ways to get your articles ranked by the use of social media? This will be really interesting!
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I think the awaken of Search engines Penguin, it seems that the traditional path of back-linking with anchor-text and intensely SEO’d sites are forcing blog owners toward public networking as you can be seen by an incredible number of people without having to dancing to Search engines..Thanks for sharing me..
Many ways to accomplish internet goals. Theirs organic growth, which costs less and give you the opportunity to utilize social media vs paid search. Paid search is quicker to get traffic and hence conversions. Ideally I would do both, paid for short term and organic for long term. I learned a lot of great stuff from the University of San Francisco’s Internet marketing courses.
Social media is very helpful in marketing. Social sites promote products and their features in very detail. As everybody is very interested in social sites so there gather a big crowd who interact with product easily.
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Social media are the places to make a product viral. Now Google and Bing has considered links from Twitter and Facebook for ranking of a site.
Lot of people uses a Social Media, So it will be Helpful for one company to set up their Social Media Accounts but They Should follow to the Rules of one site so that they will not be banned.
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