I had a quick mail from Jamie, one of my readers, a while back asking about the best criteria to apply when choosing a merchant to match with site content. Here’s his question: -


Hi Kirsty,
firstly let me say thanks for creating this blog - it has certainly helped me
make my first small step in to affiliate marketing.

Many thanks!
Jamie

Well, it’s no easy task trying to work out which merchant is the best match for your carefully crafted content. In many ways, the ability to choose a merchant well is the hallmark of a truly successful affiliate. After all, what’s the point of your carefully obtained traffic if you can’t actually make it pay you dividends in the form of lucrative commissions?

So is there a secret formula to choosing a good merchant? There is a formula, but as we all know a good formula is only good if the numbers are actually right. As I mentioned in another post recently, here is the formula I use to help me work out if a potential PPC campaign might work out. You can use merchant data or network stats to work out the following: -

Avg Basket Size x Avg Conversion rate = Avg Sales Per Hundred Clicks x
Affiliate Commission = Avg Earnings Per Hundred Clicks

OK, this is a formula to work out if paying per click will turn a profit. However, it can also be used to work out if you think a merchant you’re considering is going to convert well enough in comparison with other merchants offering similar products.

But Are Network Stats Reliable?

And this is the issue. Whilst network stats are an excellent guide, you have to bear in mind that like any data they can be skewed by several factors.

For example, if a merchant is being heavily promoted by discount code or cashback sites, this could create artificially high conversion rates. Similarly, if the merchant allows brand name bidding or there is a closed group in play, this could make conversion rates look better than they really are.

However, a merchant’s conversion rate can also be skewed downwards if an affiliate is promoting them using methods such as incentivised clicks.

Finally, it’s also difficult to pick which merchants your own traffic might be a best match for.

OK, So It’s Less Than Straightforward Kirsty… What Can We Do?
Well, the solution is almost both the things that Jamie is talking about. Yep, look at the conversion rate but take it with a pinch of salt. Look at it and ask yourself “is that realistic?” Eventually you will gain an eye for various different industry segments and will begin to learn what is and is not a reasonable site conversion rate and EPC.

The second part is kinda “pick the cheapest”, but not quite. I’d say “pick the site you’re most likely to buy from yourself”. If you’d buy something from an online shop and you’ve researched your niche well… then it’s likely to be a good candidate for promotion. I also thoroughly recommend going through the order process once you have chosen your merchant. It may well highlight whether you’ve stumbled upon a winner or not.

Finally, once your traffic stream is coming in remember to check what your site users are looking for when the arrive on your site. Make sure that the search terms people are entering match the kind of products you are featuring. Sometimes you can unwittingly rank for a search query which generates good traffic. You’d be missing a trick if you didn’t make sure you had the product your visitors were looking for!

Jamie has a mainstream marketing blog here