Why you must presell
The most important thing you can do to increase your affiliate commissions is to presell properly.
Before we begin, we need to first define what preselling is. Preselling is both an art and a science. The goal is to get your reader prepped to make a purchase. Then when they’re ready, refer them to the product website so they can buy it. And when it’s done correctly, they don’t know it’s happening.
The gist is that you give your reader some useful information. And then refer them to the product website. In just a minute, I’ll explain exactly how to presell. First, it’s important to understand why we do it. Some major benefits of this process:
- Preselling creates trust – Once you have your readers’ trust, they will click your links more readily. And the more clicks you get the more sales you’ll make.
- It disarms your reader – When you’re preselling vs. pitching, you’re reader doesn’t feel the need to be guarded. And in turn they read to understand what you’re saying. So your content get absorbed.
- It creates buying readiness – Now they’re open to hearing what you’re telling them. Being open means, they are open to everything you give them. For example, the sales message on the page you’re linking to. Being open to a sales message is what it means being in a buying mood.
- Your commissions go up – Now your reader arrives at the sales page in a buying mood. Open to the sales message and feeling safe. The only thing that can result is increased sales!
- It increases customer satisfaction – People like to make their own buying decisions. Instead of being manipulated into buying. So they are happier with their purchase.
- It boosts your profits – Satisfied customers are less like to refund. And that translates to more commission staying in your affiliate business.
Clearly preselling makes sense. You earn more commissions. Your customers are happier. It’s a win-win-win!
OK, so how do you do it?
OK, now you understand why it’s so important. And I hope you’re resolved to being preselling, too. So, let’s talk about how to make it work. Remember, there are two components – art and science.
The art of preselling
Effective preselling requires gaining your readers trust in order for them to let down their guard. And the only method of doing this is to give exceptional value to your readers. The art of this is to provide enough information to be of value, but not enough to satiate the hunger. The idea is that they want more and the sales page you send them to gives them more. Plus they’re not guarded, so they’re more open and likely to purchase the product.
It’s also a science
There are also several key elements that need to be included.
One of these key elements is the presentation of the information. You have to have your end in mind. Your goal is to sell the product you’re promoting. How can providing information accomplish this goal? The first method is to provide enough info to get them started, but not enough to finish. The other method is to explain all the details and expose how difficult it is to do what you’re explaining. In either case, the product you’re referring them to solves the problem for them.
Next, you have to use “convert linking” methods. Instead you link directly to the product sales page. This increases your clicks. But, without your affiliate link, how do you get credit? Well, that’s part of the science of this whole process. You “pre-cookie” your reader before sending them to the sales page.
The next trick is to hyperlink specific words and phrases inside the content of the article you’re providing. It’s habitual to click on words and phrases that are hyperlinked. Plus, if you link on relevant words, it only makes sense to click on there.
What you have now is a super powerful system for affiliate marketing success.
Now for the bad news…
This process is not easy – at all! Let’s look at the skills required to pull it off: Awesome content. First and foremost, you have to be able to write a great article that provides valuable information. To do that you have to have enough information to be valuable and be able to present it in a useful way. Writing to presell. First, you have to give good information. But, you also need to know how to present the information in a way that give value to the reader. And somehow also make them want to learn more. The other approach is to reveal a self-evident problem through the information.
Picking products. Next, you’ve got to pick the right product to presell. Even if you can pull off writing and great article. Your efforts are completely wasted if you don’t pick a winning product.
Techy stuff. One of the keys to this system is using “covert cookies” for the tracking. This is pretty easy – you just make a 1 pixel X 1 pixel image with no border and make the “source” of the image your affiliate link. (But if you mess it up, your referrals won’t be tracked.)
Wrapping it up:
Now you’re armed with the information needed to effectively presell. Preselling properly will boost your affiliate profits up to 500%! The important thing is to use these techniques for everything you promote as an affiliate. Please don’t be lazy. Put in the effort to reap the greater rewards.