Using Email for Affiliate Marketing Programs: Email Marketing Tips for Cost-per-Action Offers

From opt-in offers to premium-priced subscription products, these tips will help internet marketing specialists and newbies alike market anything CPA-related with email.

Cost-per-action (CPA) offers are some of the most popular affiliate marketing programs available. Offering very favorable conversion rates, attractive payouts, and a range of advertising allowances, affiliate marketers and internet marketing specialists that once focused on sales or subscription-based marketing are quickly embracing the power of cost-per-action offers.

However, with this rise in affiliate quantity comes a dilemma: saturation, and the results it is having on traditional online marketing platforms. Pay-per-click advertising, once a favorite of affiliate marketers and internet marketing specialists alike, has become competitive to the point where many networks are banning affiliates outright, upset and overwhelmed by the amount of paperwork, stress, and needless commotion that they can cause.

While the last big affiliate marketers fight over pay-per-click advertising traffic and pay-per-view platforms, the smarter ones are looking for something better – the next big thing. Being a writer on essaywriter.nyc, I know while email marketing campaigns are not new and certainly are not high-tech, they are becoming the next big move for affiliate marketers and internet marketing specialists. Rather than inanely focusing on short-term goals and rapid income, affiliate marketers are moving towards long-term earning potential, and a focus on multiple scales, trust-based marketing relationships, and scalable online businesses.

These four tips should help affiliate marketers and internet marketing specialists run proper email marketing campaigns for their businesses:

#1: For Large Email Lists, Aim for Low Commitment Affiliate Marketing Offers

A full purchase is a difficult decision for the average customer to make, especially when it is for online products over $40. Most consumers are naturally skeptical and cautious of online offers – if they sound too good to be true, most people assume that they are.

The job of affiliate marketers and internet marketing specialists is not to take the big wins whenever possible, but to create scalable long-term businesses. By prioritizing low commitment offers such as opt-in forms and email submissions, can create affiliate marketing opportunities that are more stable, more valuable, and less stressful.

#2: For Small Email Lists, Aim for Major Purchases

When affiliate marketers and internet marketing specialists have got quantity on their side, playing a numbers game with a small income is not a problem. However, when they have spent all year generating an email list of 200 opt-in they should go for risky but potentially profitable offers. Instead of the $1 zip submission form, they should aim for a $1,000 commission on a major affiliate marketing product.

#3: Be a Friendly Affiliate Marketer

Customers hate the pushy salesman. It is the classic sales cliché – the used car salesman, the bad suit, and the endless pitching – and it is something that more affiliate marketers and internet marketing specialists need to avoid. Whenever marketers are offering a CPA product or service through email, they should be friendly and open. A friendly demeanor is more likely to result in the action that they want.

#4: Switch and Split-Test Affiliate Marketing Offers

Email marketing campaigns might not seem to be the best platform for internet marketing specialists to engage in split-testing, but it is still a worthwhile method for testing offers. Rather than assigning all the email traffic to an online offer that might not perform, those engaged in affiliate marketing programs are best off testing offers between email traffic sources. This can be done by using a PHP script or WordPress plug-in to split traffic between different products, offers, or services in the same niche.

For those who want to move their CPA marketing businesses away from the short-term hustle of pay-per-click advertising and the endless grind of search engine optimization, running email marketing campaigns specifically for affiliate marketing may be the perfect solution.

Why Buying Email Lists Isn’t a Good Idea

Internet marketing specialists are always looking for ways to optimize and supercharge their online campaigns. From sharing leads to boosting advertising budgets, there are hundreds of ways to boost any online campaign’s effectiveness and hopefully, increase overall returns. However, one practice is growing less effective as time goes by buying email lists. Email marketers, many of whom flocked to purchase email lists, are slowly growing wary of the practice, and many are dropping it entirely from their online marketing methods.

The problem is not in the emails themselves – almost all are real and well used – but in the value of them. There is a contextual email capture, which brings in email leads that are qualified and truly interested, and then there is a store-bought email lead, which is often ineffective. Here are four reasons why it is generally not recommended for internet marketing specialists to purchase email lists.

#1: Contextual, Qualified Email Marketing Leads Are More Valuable

There is one major benefit of capturing leads that buying simply can’t match: context. When internet marketing specialists purchase email lists, what they get are often leads that are not interested in what’s being offered. The recipients see the internet marketer’s offers and generally pass them over without ordering.

On the other hand, if marketing specialists capture email marketing campaign subscribers through a relevant, targeted opt-in page, they expect and wait for specific content. They expect to be marketed to. While bought leads can bring great quantity, they rarely bring any real context and permission that targeted email marketing can.

#2: Purchased Email Leads Often Convert Poorly

It is one thing to spring an offer on someone’s interest, and another entirely different situation to cold email someone with a business offer. Sales, especially online sales, are built on trust. When trust with someone is limited to a single email exchange, the chances of money changing hands are significantly lower than they would be with a real email relationship built up. Internet marketing specialists should focus their targeted email marketing campaigns on building real relationships to generate better conversion rates.

#3: Many Sold Email Addresses Are on Spam-Test Lists

It is a sad fact of online commerce that a lot of email ‘lead’ lists are really stolen or unethically captured emails. From shady online lead dealers to spam masters, the methods for collecting and selling mass emails are only publicized, and for good reason. For internet marketing specialists who have purchased an email list that is not converting, it could be because the names on the list are disguised, spam catchers. For this reason, marketers should capture emails themselves – nothing hurts more than being mislabeled as a spammer.

#4: Buying Email Lists Is Expensive and Often Inefficient

The cost of buying a list of emails, depending on the niche and market, be quite high. While the time cost is often slightly larger, internet marketing specialists can save money by capturing emails themselves through a squeeze page created specifically for a targeted email marketing campaign. This method has the added advantage of generating higher quality email leads, along with a long-term email capture asset in a squeeze page.

These are only a few reasons why buying email lists isn’t recommended for people who are serious about email marketing. By capturing email leads themselves, internet marketing specialists could develop a highly targeted email marketing campaign that is effective in generating sales and long-term marketing assets. You can also check our best affiliate marketing agencies if you’re looking for one.