7 Tips For Writing Like A 6 Figure Copywriter

7 Tips For Writing Like A 6 Figure Copywriter

Sep 30, 2020 | Affiliate Marketing, Online Marketing

7 Tips For Writing Like A 6 Figure Copywriter

Mark Ling By Mark Ling

7 Tips For Writing Like A 6 Figure Copywriter

When it comes to copywriting, whether it’s emails, articles, or even writing an ad, headlines are the single most important factor when creating great content.

Why?

Because headlines determine firstly whether or not your target will invest time in what you’ve got to say.

And second, how much time and attention they will invest.

Fail to get this right, and the rest of your content might as well be written by a cat playing with your keyboard.

So today, I’m going to share with you 7 simple secrets to writing like an elite copywriter TODAY, by focusing on how to write a killer headline.

Tip 1: KISS

You’ve probably heard of this before, and it’s super important when it comes to writing headlines – Keep It Simple, Stupid.

In other words, simplify the message you’re trying to convey, and try to avoid any confusing or superfluous language.

It’s all about getting the reader interested, versus showing them something ‘creative’. They might think creative is cool, but it usually won’t get the click.

The main key when implementing the KISS strategy is this: Focus on ONE big idea.

Don’t try to cram 5 different benefits/features into your headline, or it’ll just overwhelm the reader.

Simply pick what you think is the most powerful aspect of what you’re going to be showing them, and center everything around that.

Tip 2: Benefits

When you buy some new shoes, do you buy them purely because of the materials made to use them?

Do you buy them because you’ll be able to get 5000 more steps out of them versus a different brand?

Or do you buy them because they will provide you benefits such as comfort, fashion, and perhaps even social status?

We don’t buy things because of their features – we buy because of the benefits, which can be either be either pleasure-related, and/or solves a problem (or helps you run away from a problem…)

Most of the time, running away from pain or solving problems is the most powerful motivator, so try to keep that in mind when writing your headline, and see if you can work it in.

Tip 3: Hooks

I always teach people to use hooks in their headlines wherever possible, as this is the thing that makes people super curious about reading more (or even more curious in the product itself).

It is the ‘thing’ designed to catch people’s attention.

For example:

  • How to Used ‘Screwed Up Paper’ To Stop Dogs Digging
  • 3 Herbs That Balance Blood-Sugar
  • 3 ‘Healthy’ Foods That Make People Fat

In each of those examples, you can see there’s a ‘thing’ that people can use to solve their problem.

You don’t have to give away exactly what that thing is in the headline, but if you do, at least draw curiosity to it (eg. Why would ‘screwed up paper’ stop dogs digging? Now I need to read more and find out..)

Tip 4: Subheadline

The subheadline should be clear and direct, and strongly reinforce the value of the main headline.

For example:

Headline – How to Used ‘Screwed Up Paper’ To Stop Dogs Digging
Subheadline – Discover How This Simple Piece Of Paper Can Quickly And Permanently Stop Your Dog Digging In Just Minutes

You don’t ALWAYS need a subheadline, but they can be perfect for squeezing in a little bit of extra information that you couldn’t fit into the main headline…

… and they’re also perfect in bridging the gap from Headline to Content.

Tip 5: Use A ‘Style’ Of Headline

There are a few different styles of headline which I’ll explain below.

If you’re stuck for ideas, just pick one of these 4 below to help get the ball rolling:

Ask A Question
What better way to get your readers attention than by asking them a burning question?

It’s a great way to make them sit up and pay attention, while making them feel as though you really understand how they are feeling.

Use Power Words
I’ve included a list of power words further down this article to help you get started, but I also wanted to mention it here because it’s exceptionally effective.

Words such as “Warning, Special, Uncover, Success and Winning” are all positive words that evoke emotion. Sprinkle them throughout your copy and make sure you use at least one power word in your headline and sub-headlines.

Be Controversial (if it suits your audience)
Your job is to elicit a response from your reader. So, if you know your target audience and what makes them tick (and you better), you can get away with using controversy to capture attention.

One example of this I see all the time, which is done in a kind of sneaky way, is when a book/series is advertised on TV, and they say “Available at all good book retailers”.

It’s not exactly specific on where people can find the book, but it gets them thinking… Who are these good retailers? And who are the bad ones?

If they can’t find the book at a particular store, it must be bad… and vice versa.

Cater to the “How-to” Crowd

How To styled headlines work extremely well, especially when they directly target a specific solution to a problem or task.

For example, “How to hit the New York Times bestsellers list with your first book!” targets the new author who is yearning to become a bestseller but doesn’t have a lengthy backlist (or any backlist at all).

Be very direct and targeted with how-to headlines!

Tip 6: The 4 U’s Of Copywriting

If you’ve studied copywriting much in the past, the 4 U’s is a term you might’ve already heard.

For those who haven’t, let me explain what it means, and how it’ll help you write better copy.

For your headlines to be engaging and effective, they should contain all of the following four points:

  • Your headline should provide a sense of URGENCY.
  • Your headline should be UNIQUE.
  • Your headline should be USEFUL.
  • Your headline should be ULTRA-SPECIFIC (direct).

Urgency persuades people to take immediate action, because they’re aware that they’ll lose an opportunity of some kind (eg. Cart closes in 24 hours).

Incorporating a sense of urgency into your headlines definitely helps to motivate people, but be careful – You must ensure that your urgency is REAL (at least as far as the reader will ever know), otherwise it could brand you as a dishonest marketer.

Unique is a critical component of a successful headline because it will provide your reader with something fresh and new, instead of the same thing they’ve seen countless times before (and likely become unresponsive to).

Customers are bombarded by sales messages every single day from multiple sources, so you need to work hard to capture their attention with a uniquely crafted headline that your readers haven’t seen before.

Don’t be afraid to be edgy, to take risks and to offer your customers something different. They’ll take notice!

Useful in your headlines gives people a reason to continue reading. This is where you highlight the most important benefit of your product, and persuade them to keep reading to find out more.

This is probably the most important of the 4 U’s, and ties in perfectly with the use of Hooks I mentioned earlier.

Ultra-Specific ensures that you are being direct when targeting your market. It guides you so that your headline is effectively communicating your message to your audience and clarifying its benefit.

As I mentioned earlier, it’s important to focus on one big idea, otherwise you’ll risk losing your readers’ focus and attention.

Tip 7: Power Words

To help you get started, here are some power words commonly used in successful headlines and ad copy.

Most high-converting headlines will incorporate at least one of the following words:

Mystery Words: Secrets, Insider, Proven, Expert, Revealing, Unlock, Uncover, Announcing, Rare, Unusual, Explore, Discover, Exclusive, Private.

Excitement Triggers: Savings, Save, Bonus, Instant, Lifetime, Special, Unleash, Ultimate, Maximum, Exceptional, Powerful.

Urgency Words: Rush, Immediately, Instant, Limited-Time, Temporary, Last Minute, Urgent.

Power Words: Boost, Grow, Succeed, Accelerate, Turbo Charge, Guaranteed, Tested, Profitable, Trusted, Amazing, Stunning, Phenomenal, Incredible, Unbelievable, Jaw-Dropping, Sensational.

Simplify Words: Easy, Simple, Fail Proof, Foolproof, Effortless, Child’s Play, Easier, Stress-Free, Easy Going, Laid Back.

Remember, when it comes to writing great copy, practice makes perfect.

But by simply employing even just a few of the tips I’ve mentioned today, you’ll significantly improve your copy skills in no time.

Good luck, and I can’t wait to start reading some of your amazing headlines out in the wild as I go about my day 🙂

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Affiliate Marketing for Beginners: How to Make Your First Affiliate Marketing Sale in 7 Steps

Affiliate Marketing for Beginners: How to Make Your First Affiliate Marketing Sale in 7 Steps

Sep 30, 2020 | Affiliate Marketing, Online Marketing

7 Steps to Earning Your First Affiliate Commission

We’ve broken down the process into seven steps for affiliate marketing beginners. Following this guide will set you on the right course and have you earning your first commission in no time.

1. Choose a Niche

Before you even begin building your first site, you’ll need to decide which niche you’re going to target.

Obviously, if you don’t know what your site is about or who you’re going to target with it, you can’t really build a site around it…can you? 

If you’ve already figured this one out, way to go! This is undoubtedly one of the most difficult and overwhelming steps.

If you don’t quite know what your niche is yet, here’s some advice that you might find useful. 

Some key questions to ask yourself when determining your niche are:

  • What topics am I already passionate about?

It’s much easier to work on something if you’re passionate about it. Plus, when you have a passion, you’re usually quite knowledgeable about it too, so that definitely helps. For example if you have a passion about about makeup, your niche of choice might be makeup related, too. 

  • Is there money in this niche?

While following your passion is definitely the recommended option, sometimes the possibility of making money in a profitable niche trumps passion. So, you might not necessarily know much about your niche, but if it’s likely to make you money, you can always learn more about it, right? 

For example, KitchenFaucetDivas is clearly a site that was built for profit, not passion. Unless of course there is someone out there with a serious passion for kitchen faucets! 😉 

  • What topic could I see myself easily writing 25, 50, or 100 blog posts about?

The topic you choose must have enough depth that you can create a lot of content for it. This is important for building an authoritative site, for search engine optimization, and most importantly, for the end user. If you don’t have enough content about a topic, you’re not going to be taken very seriously as an authority on the topic and it’s unlikely you can convince someone to make a purchase from you. 

MoneySavingExpert is a great example of a site with a topic for which you would have a never ending supply of content ideas. 

  • Is there room in this niche for another affiliate marketer?

There are several profitable niches that are also very popular among affiliate markets (e.g., weight loss). Before jumping on board with a hugely popular niche, make sure there’s enough room for you. That is — will you be able to make money and compete with already established marketers? If not, keep looking. 

  • Is there enough interest in/demand for products in this niche?

The niche you choose might draw enough interest from your audience when it comes to reading and acquiring knowledge, but are they willing to buy relevant products too? Without consumer interest in products, your niche isn’t going to make you much money. 

  • Are there affiliate programs available in this niche?

This is obviously a crucial factor to consider. You might come up with an idea for a niche you know a lot about, but are there affiliate programs for the niche? No affiliate program = no sales. Time to look for a different niche. 

Additional Resources for Choosing a Niche

Want to learn more about choosing a profitable niche? Here are some excellent resources we recommend for further reading:

2. Research Affiliate Programs

Once you’ve decided on a niche, it’s time to find out what’s out there in terms of programs and products to promote. You’ve probably already done a bit of research for this while researching your niche — now you need to dig deeper. 

Choosing an affiliate program will take some work, but don’t be afraid to invest a significant amount of time into it because this is, of course, where your income will come from. Choosing the right program will make it well worth your while!

When choosing an affiliate program, keep these key points in mind:

  • What type of merchants use the program/ affiliate network? 

You want to make sure other similar sellers are also using the network, as this can help you gauge your likelihood of success with the particular program.

  • How much commission are you likely to make from the products?

Make sure you sign up for programs that are profitable and generate a sufficient return in on investment. Some tips:

  • If using ClickBank, products should have over a 50% commission (preferably 60%), and have a high gravity rating (meaning they’re in demand).
  • For CPA (cost-per-action) programs, commissions should be over $1, and products shouldn’t be overly restrictive in how you can promote them.
  • For physical products, look for commissions over $40.  
  • Do you want to be associated with the products and services?

The products and services you will be promoting to your audience must be relevant and good quality. Make sure you believe in them and know everything about them, because this will be crucial to you delivering the sales pitch to your audience. You need to build trust with your audience so make sure the products and services you choose to promote are trustworthy enough. 

Ads like the one below often lead to sketchy products — do you want to be associated with a product that promises results that may or may not be true?

  • What kind of support does the program provide?

Be sure to check what kind of customer support you can expect from your affiliate program once you have signed up. Do your research online and if possible, speak to other sellers using the program to get their thoughts. Can you speak to someone via phone or Skype or do you have to wait 72 hours for email responses? Be clear on this because trust me, you will need support at one point or another. 

3. Build a Site

Steps 1 and 2 are all about research and figuring out what’s possible and profitable. Now, it’s time to start putting your research into action. 

Assuming you don’t already have a website built, this will be the next step. Fortunately, building a site isn’t as complicated or labor-intensive as it was in the past.

If you’re a newbie to building sites, the easiest way to set up a site is by using WordPress. The WordPress CMS is very easy to use and while coding skills can come in handy, for the most part you will not require any tech knowledge to set up your site. 

You need to follow a few steps to have your site up and running:

  • Buy a domain.

Your domain is the address for your website (e.g., www.affilorama.com) so this is the first thing you will need to do when setting up your site. Considering there are millions of websites on the internet, it’s possible that the domain name you want may already be taken by someone else. So make sure you have several options in mind. Be sure to read our advice on how to choose a good domain name. 

There are several places you can buy a domain, including well-known options are: GoDaddy and NameCheap. 

If your domain is your address, hosting is like the actual house within which your site will live. It’s your own little slice of the internet — the place where all your website files live. Hosting is very affordable these days, so don’t unnecessarily scrimp on costs. Go with a reputable, reliable provider because your affiliate marketing business depends on it. 

Some affordable and reliable hosting providers we recommend are GoDaddy, HostGator and BlueHost. 

  • Install WordPress.

Once your hosting is set up, you need to install a content management system (CMS) for your site. We recommend WordPress because it is easy to use and a beginner (like you!) can quite quickly figure out how it works. Most good hosting providers will have a one-click install option for WordPress, which means it will only take you a couple of minutes and you will have WordPress installed on your site. 

  • Install your theme.

A WordPress theme provides all the styling of a site that you (and your audience) see on the front end. There are thousands of themes available, so choosing one might seem daunting at start. Our advice: go with something simple and easy to customize. You can always change it later. 

The AffiloTheme is a great option. Completely customizable, and built specifically for affiliate marketers, you can use this WordPress theme to bypass much of the initial learning curve other affiliate marketers will experience. You can also search for themes on a site like Theme Forest. 

  • Create content.

Finally, once your site is ready, it’s time to create content for it. The content you create must be relevant to your niche but also interesting and engaging enough to keep your audience coming back. You should also ensure the site content is search engine-friendly. More details about content creation in Step 4. 

4. Produce Excellent Content

Now that your site is set up and you’ve joined an affiliate program, you’re ready to begin perhaps the most time-consuming (but potentially rewarding) part of the affiliate business: Producing content.

This is where the overused but truer-than-ever phrase “content is king” comes into play.

Your goal for your site will be to establish it as an authority site in your niche, and the main way to do this is to consistently produce unique, high-quality content.

This could consist of:

  • Product reviews.

Your affiliate site model could be based off writing reviews about different products or services. This is a common model and if done well, can prove very useful in generating affiliate income.

For example, The Wire Cutter is focused on writing reviews of several different kinds of products and helping their readers make the best decision about the product they want to buy. After reading a review on their site, if the user clicks through to the product/service using the affiliate link, The Wire Cutter will earn a commission from. 

  • Blog posts that address common problems, questions or issues relevant to your target market.

Creating blog content is a very useful and effective way of consistently building content on a site. When creating blog posts, it’s a good idea to do some keyword research to figure out what it is that your audience is interested in and searching for online. Also, be sure to research competitors, forums and social media to narrow down on topics for your blog. 

For example, Security Guard Training HQ has a very extensive blog on a variety of topics relevant for anyone interested in security guard training, jobs and more. 

  • Evergreen content.

If you are building a site that has the potential for information that will never age and remain useful for your audience, you have the opportunity to create what is known as evergreen content. It’s important to carry out extensive keyword research before planning any evergreen content for a site like this, as your site could hugely benefit from the proper usage of keywords within such content. 

For example, the content on Super Weddings is useful whether you’re organizing a wedding today or next year. All the content on the site is created accordingly. To make things easier for the audience, it is separated into categories to make it very convenient for the reader to find what they’re looking for. This, of course, is also very good for SEO. 

  • Informational products.

Giving away a free informational product such as an e-book, an email series or a mini-course is a popular tactic many affiliate marketers use. Usually, your readers will have to provide their email addresses to receive the product from you. You can then use this to sell to them via email marketing. Additionally, an informational product can generate interest in the actual product you’re trying to sell. If your product is popular enough and brings enough traffic to your site, you could also monetize the traffic in other ways, such as AdSense.

A good example is DatingMetrics, where you’re tempted with a Free Texting Crash Course in exchange for your email. The real marketing will begin once the user has downloaded this course. 

The type of content you create for your website will largely depend on your niche, as certain types of content perform better in some niches than others.

Remember: Purchasing generic content is NOT an effective method to build your site. While it may be tempting to populate your site this way, in the long run it won’t help you to position yourself as an expert in your niche (and ultimately means less traffic and fewer sales).

5. Build an Audience

Building an audience for your site will, in some ways, follow naturally once you start producing excellent content. An interested audience will not only bring you consistent traffic, but also result in consistent sales for you. 

So how do you start building an audience for a completely new site? Here are some ideas: 

  • Promote your content via social media.

The easiest and most common way to start building an audience for a website is via social media. Depending on your niche and industry, you can choose from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and several other niche and location-specific networks. Building up an engaged and interested following on social media is a great opportunity to build relationships and once you have their trust, promote your products and services to them. 

I’ll use MoneySavingExpert.com as an example again. The site has over 154,000 likes on its Facebook page and it connects with the audience by sharing links to content but also asking money-saving/budgeting related questions. The highly engaged readers then visit the website, where they read content and no doubt make purchases.

  • Guest post on high-traffic blogs.

While your site is still new, it’s a good idea to start capitalizing on someone else’s audience. Continue focusing on building your own content, but also considering writing content for a few big, high-traffic blogs that are relevant for your niche. By writing content for a bigger site, you are able to get in front of another audience and showcase your expertise on a particular topic. This will eventually lead to more traffic to your site, as well. 

  • Build an email list.

Let no one tell you that email marketing is dead. An email list is crucial for every affiliate marketer. You can start building up your email list with a lead magnet (like the information products mentioned previously) or even just by encouraging your audience to sign up for your updates. You can then push your content to this audience via email and also direct them to your affiliate offers. Don’t be sleazy about the sales, but if you build up enough trust with your email audience; when the time comes, they will not mind purchasing a product from you. 

  • Use basic SEO techniques to increase search engine traffic to your site.

Organic search remains an important source of traffic for any website, so it’s important that you optimize your website for search engines as well. When creating your content, you must always do so keeping the reader in mind first, but don’t forget to follow a few basic SEO principles as well.

Learn SEO yourself or hire a good SEO marketer to help you maximize on-page and off-page SEO opportunities for your site. If your site starts to appear in search results for terms relevant to your niche, it will be a huge boost towards building your audience (and your sales)!

  • Invest in paid advertising.

Many affiliate marketers use paid advertising to generate additional traffic to their site and drive more sales. Paid advertising on social media is often a good place to start, as these networks tend to be more affordable.You may also want to consider taking out inexpensive banner ads on small niche sites. Depending on your niche, Google AdWords could also be a good option to drive some paid traffic to your site.

6. Promote Affiliate Offers

Finally, the part we’ve all been waiting for!

This, my friends, is where things really kick into high gear. Many fly-by-night affiliates will jump right to this step and bypass steps 1–5 completely. And this is what will set you apart.

Once you’ve shown that you can offer something of value in your niche, it’s time to continue adding value by promoting products that will be useful and helpful for your audience.

You can promote your offers in a number of ways. It will depend on the type of site you’ve built and also what you’re selling. Some ideas include:

  • Product reviews.

Write honest, real reviews about products. Build up trust with your audience, and remember that they rely on your opinion. Don’t just point out all the positives of a product and gloss over the negatives. An honest opinion will be valued. Add compelling images and make mention of useful features, specifications and other details. 

Your product review can then link to the page (with your affiliate ID attached), where your audience can make a purchase if they’re interested. If do, hooray! You’ve made your first sale. 

  • Banner ads.

You can put up banners on your site, to promote your affiliate offers. Most affiliate programs will usually provide their own creatives when you sign up for their offers. All you have to do is insert the banner on a highly trafficked page (your affiliate tracking is usually embedded within the code). Banner ads in the right locations can do a great job of driving sales.  

Below are some examples of banners that Templatic provides to its affiliates. 

  • In-text content links.

This is a very common way to promote offers. For example, you will often see a blog post with links to certain products or services. If the reader clicks through and makes a purchase, the blog owner will make a commission. These in-text links blend in with other content on your site and are a great way of promoting an offer within your content, without being over-the-top salesy with banners. 

  • Email promotions.

If you have built up an email list, you could also promote your affiliate offers via email promotions. Just make sure you build up a relationship with your audience first instead of going for the hard sell straightaway. The emails you send out must contain your affiliate links to products so when your audience click through. the sale is attributed to you. 

  • Discounts and giveaways. 

Many affiliate programs will often run promotions with good discounts or giveaways that might be attractive to your audience. For example, if you’re an Amazon Associate and the site have a big Holiday Sale, it would be the perfect opportunity for you to promote discounts to your website visitors. This is a great way to promote your offers while also providing good value to your audience. 

When promoting affiliate offers, just make sure you are fully aware of all the terms and conditions attached to your affiliate program. Some programs can be strict about how they allow you to promote their products. For example, some may limit you to banner ads and links only, while others will allow you to use paid advertising, but won’t allow email marketing. 

Also, make sure you have a disclaimer on your website that advises your audience that you may have links that promote affiliate offers. This is necessary for several affiliate programs and also a basic courtesy to your website visitors. In the U.S., the FTC mandates disclosure for affiliate marketers (and anyone issuing endorsements), as well. 

7. Rinse, Lather, and Repeat

Now that you’re done with Steps 1 – 6, Step 7 is simply to keep doing what you’re doing. Yes, seriously!

Your ongoing work as an affiliate marketer will be to repeat steps 4 – 6 on a continual basis. Building a site up to a point where it can make you consistent income takes a bit of work and you must be willing to constantly create, promote, market, innovate and of course, sell. 

Review of Key Points

It can feel overwhelming to do all the necessary work involved in setting up your site and building your reputation. But trust me, once you’ve made that first sale, all the hard work will be worth it!

To sum it all up, making your first affiliate commission requires a bit of work but if you break it all down and follow it step by step, it won’t seem so overwhelming at all. Here’s a quick recap of what you need to do:

  1. Choose your niche.
  2. Research different affiliate programs and products.
  3. Build a site.
  4. Produce excellent content.
  5. Build an audience.
  6. Promote your affiliate product(s).
  7. Repeat steps #4–7 on a continual basis!

As you can see, there is a tried-and-true strategy when it comes to affiliate marketing for beginners. Put in the work, and you’ll soon be reaping the rewards of your first sale. 

By Radhika Basuthakur

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The Best Affiliate Marketing Tools (Free and Paid)

The Best Affiliate Marketing Tools (Free and Paid)

Sep 30, 2020 | Affiliate Marketing, Online Marketing, Seo

The Best Affiliate Marketing Tools (Free and Paid)

 

Introduction

Being a successful in affiliate marketing is about working smart, not just working hard.

Learning to be more efficient and more effective in the day to day running of your business can pay dividends.

To help you become the super affiliate you know you can be, we’ve compiled a list of some of the best affiliate marketing tools that will help you monetize faster, and pave the way to greater success!

These tools will help you at every step of your journey, from planning your campaign through to the optimization process, while being able to track your performance like a pro!

In a business where time equals money, it’s important to know how to save on both with these awesome affiliate tools.

Here’s what does it mean to be more efficient and effective in affiliate marketing:

“Efficiency is doing things right and effectiveness is doing the right things.” – Peter Drucker, the father of modern management

That’s easy to say, but in reality this is easier said than done.

The tools you’ll find below will show you how to achieve this optimal performance in your own work, so you’ll be able to make brass with annoyingly cool class!

Our hope?

That you’ll get some great insights and boost your ROI by using these awesome tools for affiliate marketers!

Let’s put this in perspective for a moment.

If we can save you just 20 seconds per one hour of your work, this will basically mean that we’re gonna help you save an extra day in your work life per, just by working smarter!

You then get to enjoy all the amazing revenues this industry can provide you with!

That’s something to think about, right?

This was with only 20 seconds. Now imagine what you could do with your time if you managed to save a whole minute per working hour!

But first things first, there are two important objectives you should tackle right away:

You need people to sell to (traffic sources) and you need something to sell (the offers).

Let’s review the top affiliate marketing tools tools!

List of the Best Affiliate Marketing Tools

Knowing your competition is at the heart of any good affiliate marketing strategy.

Identifying industry trends and gaining insight about competitor campaigns, along with top performing creatives and traffic sources, is essential if you want to make sure you can hit the ground running.

 

Spy Tools

Ad spy tools are a huge advantage nowadays when compared to the beginning of online advertising, when the only way to know what your competitors were doing was to visit the website where affiliates would promote their offers and just check what appears.

Spy tools come in handy in case you don’t know much about designing creatives.

Thanks to these affiliate marketing tools, you can now keep-up with a whole lotta things that’ll simply blow your mind.

You’ll be able to know which offers, pre-landers, and banners your competitors are using and even be able to download them like a super pro!

With spy tools and competitive intelligence tools you can analyze the stats and results of everything that your rivals are doing – from the carrier where the ad is running, to the conversion rate for a given GEO.

And, as if that wasn’t enough, you can also compare the performance of networks, find the best offers, and pretty much gather all the info you need to get that competitive advantage that’ll separate you from the slow-moving herd.

So, after all the hype created around these game-changing tools, here’s what we’re specifically talking about:

If mobile, desktop, e-commerce, native or push ads are high on your list, look no further that AdPlexity. This platform makes finding profitable campaigns a piece of cake and with support for multiple traffic sources, it’s an essential tool for the serious affiliate marketer.

SpyPush is the first ever tool to spy on push notification ads helps you dig in your competition’s funnels. Learn what works for them by accessing a database of over 200 000 ads in more than 140 countries.

SpyOver is very similar to AdPlexity, but it focuses on native ads only.

Tracking competitors Facebook ad campaigns and identifying black hat opportunities for your offers makes Idvert a strong contender in its category. Add to this the ability to view an impressive range of your competitors knockoff, COD and dropshipping data, and you’ll be able to find profitable campaigns in no time.

Tracking Tools

If you’re looking to optimize your ROI and keep your eCPC as low as possible, you’ll want to track your campaigns with a professional affiliate tracker.

It’s essential for keeping an eye on your balance. You see, a lot of beginners don’t pay regular attention to their stats and lose track of their ROI.

And if you don’t know where you’re standing, how can you get where you wanna be? You’ve gotta track everything and analyze the results.

How are you supposed to know whether or not your campaign is converting if you don’t have solid proof to look at?

Write every little shift, alteration, tweak and change!

It may be faster to ignore the tracking part, but it’s also a very quick way to lose money on advertising.

Now, when it comes to analyzing numbers, the storyline changes. Media buying isn’t just splitting profitable and non-profitable campaigns. You’ll actually need to retrieve the information through good tracking tools!

Below, we’re sharing the market leader in tracking tools, along with some alternative sites of equally good quality for new affiliates or those with medium to low volume campaigns.

It’s worth mentioning that not only are these tools worth their weight in gold, but as an affiliate marketer, you really can’t afford to run traffic sources without having at least a basic tracking solution in place.

So, which ones should you pick?

Voluum

Pretty much the market leader in tracking software, Voluum is a powerful tool for marketers.Track ads for all your campaigns and manage your team all form one place at a starting price of $44!

Redtrack

This easy to use ad tracker allows you to keep an eye on the impressions, clicks and conversions of your campaigns. Packed with features and regularly updated, it costs just $28/mo for a starter package and up to $939/mo for an enterprise plan.

Bemob

With 100,000 free events per month, BeMob is an excellent tool for smaller volume affiliates who are looking for a low cost way to track their campaigns. Their sixth sense tech can analyze your advertising campaigns for audience optimization and paid plans start from $25/mo to $499/mo.

Binom

A self-hosted tracking solution with blistering speeds that gives you full control over your campaign data. It has a 14-day free trial and the licence fee is only $69/mo.

Adsbridge

If you’re looking to step-up your game with advanced tracking tools, AdsBridge is a perfect choice. The investment is gonna be something between $25 and $595 per month, depending on the package.

ThriveTracker

This tracker is designed for mobile and web media buyers and performance marketers, who are looking for a agile, real-time campaign management tool. Plans between $79 and $799.

Hosting

As with domain registrars, when hunting for a hosting company, you really want to go with the top dogs.

The companies cited below have proven to be reliable for marketers and affiliates, and all have excellent support in a combo with a variety of features that will transform the hosting of your sites into a breeze.

Make sure to do your research to see which features are most suitable to your strategy. There’s no need to obsess too much on that tho – you’ll be in safe hands with any of the hosting companies listed below.

bluehost

Consistently found at the top of many “Best hosting” lists, Bluehost is a service with a well-earned reputation. If you need reliable and affordable website hosting for your landing pages or WordPress sites, they’re the ticket! Bluehost also offers a free domain for those who choose their hosting services.

Siteground

SiteGround is another great solution for expert hosting. It’s secure, affordable and packed with features that make it ideal for affiliate marketers. We found the WordPress and Joomla staging on the GoGeek plans to work particularly well and is perfect for creating a test environment for your campaigns.

Hostgator

Another big hitter in the web hosting space, HostGator offer packages from just $2.75/mo and you can choose yours with cloud hosting, WordPress hosting, VPS hosting or a dedicated server.

WPX Hosting

If you’re in the market for dedicated WordPress hosting, look no further than WPX. Fast, secure and with free built-in support, you’re sure to have everything you need to get your site up-and-running in seconds.

Domain Registration

Setting yourself up with a domain may sound simple, but it’s always a better idea to go through a reputable domain registrar, rather that using the hosting company.

A reliable domain registrar can save you fees in the long-term especially if you ever need to transfer your domain name, plus many offer additional services like private whois protection, customer support, ICANN Accreditation and SSL certification.

It’s usually better to go with a company that specialises in this area and has been around for a long time, rather than one who simply offers domain registration as a bolt-on service and-or doesn’t have a long track record.

namecheap

Namecheap is one of the most reputable and long-standing domain registrars with discounted domains starting from just $0.98. They give free WhoisGuard on many new domains and have additional features such as trusted SSL certificates and private email support.

VPN Services

Having access to a VPN is essential for any serious affiliate.

Not only will it keep your information private in public spaces, such as cafes or while on the move, but you’ll also be able to check how your landing pages appear to people in various global locations.

Plus, you’ll benefit from the security, freedom and privacy that a VPN is all about.

There’s been an influx of VPN providers on the market in recent years, all of which offer fantastic services at a reasonable price.

To spare you the headache of researching, we’ve shortlisted the most trustworthy, so read-up and if you find a match – register your account!

You’ll be glad you did.

nord vpn

With 5200 servers in 62 countries and apps for all operating systems and devices, NordVPN has established itself as one of the most secure and reliable services you can buy. Plans start from just $2.99/mo and allow you to secure up to 6 devices at the same time.

safer vpn

If you just want a simple plug-and-play VPN service, then take a look at SaferVPN. It’s easy to use from all your devices with plans starting at $2.29/mo.

Ivacy

Designed to be a one-size-fits-all solution, Ivacy gives you complete freedom over however you choose to use the web. Prices start from $2.35/mo.

vyprn vpn

Great speeds and proprietary technology to defeat VPN blocking, makes VyprVPN the perfect choice for unrestricted internet access. Plans start from $5/mo.

express-vpn

Another popular favorite VPN service with high speeds and offshore privacy protection. ExpressVPN plans start from $8.32/my and you can buy anonymously with a preferred payment method.

cyberghost

Simple, automated and customizable, CyberGhost is a serious contender in the VPN space. Plans start from $2.5/mo.

Landing Page & Design Tools

If you’re a programmer and know all about coding, we recommend you stop reading this paragraph, as you’ll probably despise the tools we’re about to drop.

In case you’re a common mortal as the rest of us, there are tools that’ll do all the work of creating your pre-lander, banner and whatever creative you’ll need for your campaigns.

The most important point here is that, once you find a hit offer, you’ll need to “polish” it. It might look perfect and you might believe it will convert for every user who’s gonna see it, after all – it’s your baby, right? But the truth is – good is not good enough. You’ve gotta engage the user and create that extra step to make it irresistible to them so they click on the subscription button.

Having said that, you’re gonna need to build your own creatives adapted to your offer and even to the websites, where you’ll be advertising. The more the user sees a pattern, the more trust they build for your product.

Being into programming and coding is always be the best option in the long-run. Learning PHP, Javascript, CSS and HTML will make you a master when it comes to creatives.

However, if you don’t have the time/interest/budget for all of this, there are still some tools to save you time and help with perfect your product pitch.

Nope, we’re not saying you can skip the design part. We’re saying there are plenty of landing page tools that will make the process of creating high-converting LPs easy as a piece of cake!

You don’t have to be a coding whizz to get started, so it’s a win-win situation:

Thrive Architect: If you use WordPress to create landing pages, you’re gonna love this visual page builder from Thrive. A huge time saver and the simplest way to get beautifully designed, high-converting landing pages without the need for any coding.

Landingi

Landingi is a fantastic landing page tool for non-programmers that automates key tasks, and analyzes and optimize your pages. Well worth the look!

Instapage

Great for solo or team projects, Instapage will help you to maximize your conversions and it comes with neat tools to optimize and share your pages. Depending on the package, it will cost you anywhere between $29 and $127 per month.

With over 100 conversion-focused templates and a sweet page builder, Unbounce remains a popular choice for affiliates priced between $49 and $199/mo.

Wishpond

More than a landing page design tool, Wishpond enables you to create funnels that include contests & promotions and are ideal when running social and email campaigns.

Leadpages

Leadpages is a great choice for lead gen campaigns and a good all-rounder. The amount to invest is gonna be something between $25 and $199 per month, depending on the package.

Email Marketing

For quality email campaigns, what you’ll need is a robust solution that guarantees optimal delivery rates.

In the list below we’ve covered everything – from capturing leads to sending and managing your campaigns. The picks we’ve selected are packed with features such as autoresponders, automation and workflow tools that will make your life much easier.

You’ll probably also want to segment your lists and split-test your subject lines. Say no more!, You’ll find that all recommended solutions below are more than adequate and can help you set up professional-looking campaigns, whether you have a list of 1,000 or 100,000 subscribers.

thriveleads

To capture more leads from your WordPress site, you need ThriveLeads in your life asap. It’s more than your average leadgen plugin – it will help you increase your opt-ins and conversions, and can spit-test variations of the form with its A/B testing engine.

Constant contact

With excellent mobile optimized templates and an intuitive interface, Constant Contact is an all-in-one solution to send and manage your email campaigns, taking your email marketing to the next level.

Campaign Optimization

Once your campaign has been running for a while, you’re gonna want to make sure it’s optimized for the best results.

Unprofitable campaigns can (sometimes) be turned around, and a profitable campaign can always be made better. Split-testing is the heart and soul of any affiliate marketing success.

The following tool can help you with automatic optimization for conversions across multiple campaigns, so that you can focus on the winners for your offers.

The optimizer

TheOptimizer gives you the ability to automate and optimize your native, pop redirect and push traffic with its hassle-free campaign management software.

They have 3 versions:

The best in the business!

Traffic Sources Tools

Sometimes you wanna be able to manage multiple traffic sources from a single platform.

Or, you might want a tool that can facilitates the creation and optimization of your campaigns, to save you time across multiple offers.

This can help by linking together various accounts from paid traffic sources, helping you visualize and optimize your ad performance in a jiffy.

AdEspresso

If you regularly create Facebook, Instagram and Google Ads campaigns, you’ll find this tool to be a real timesaver. You’ll be able to create campaigns and manage them all in one place, leaving more time to enjoy your profits.

SEO Tools

If you’re looking to get more organic traffic to your landing pages and wanna know what the competition is up to, then these tools are for you.

With these tools at your disposal, you’ll be able to analyze and track competitor campaigns and identify top performing keywords in your niche, relative to the competition.

Make sure you give your landing pages a thorough SEO and content audit and then work through the list of recommendations to get your pages up to scratch.

You’ll be racing ahead of the competition!

If you’re looking to track the performance of your competitors’ organic search campaigns, then SEMRush is a tool you need in your stack. For detailed analytics on your competitors including SEO, Paid Traffic, Social Media, Content & PR it’s just what the doctor ordered and the reporting and layout is a dream to work with. Check them out now!

As both an SEO and competitor research tool, Ahrefs is well respected in the industry. Use it to get a complete overview of your competition’s search marketing campaigns, whether that’s organic or paid channels. It’s well-maintained and regularly updated, making it one of the most feature-rich tools out there.

This fully featured website crawler is a must-have if you want to drill down into the technical side of your competitors on-page SEO. In addition, you can use it to carry out comprehensive technical audits on your own sites to make sure there are no technical errors that could cost you visitors.

Keyword Research

If you’re working with any type of paid search to promote your offers, you’ll first need to carry out keyword research.

This is what will separate your target audience from the traffic you don’t want.

Identifying profitable keywords in your niche can and will drive down costs by finding keywords that are within your competitive reach.

Which ones, you ask?

The ones who are looking for your product!

The ones who are gonna make you $$$!

You’ll want to have an awesome keyword research tool so you can understand what people usually search on the web; that also happens to be similar to what you’re selling.

Keyword research tools will be one of your biggest allies by helping you target your campaigns and promote them to the right customers.

In addition, don’t limit yourself to any one tool as you’ll find the results will vary from one solution to another.

There’s also a difference between keywords for SEO and those for paid search campaigns. Make sure you use the right tool for the job of tailoring keywords to your traffic source.

Here are some of the best choices in the market:

kwfinder

KWfinder makes you finding long tail keywords easy as 1+1. Use it to identify keywords with low SEO difficulty to increase the flow of converting visitors to your landing pages.

ubersuggest

This free keyword tool is owned by Neil Patel. It’s a great way to get new suggestions for keyword ideas for both SEO and PPC projects.

Google keyword planner

The mac daddy of keyword tools, Google Keyword Planner should be your go to tool for Google Ads campaigns. Look for high monthly searches with low competition in an affordable bid range when planning your campaigns. Remember also to choose buying keywords, as you want traffic that converts as well as bringing visitors to your site.

lsi graph

Search over 28 millions Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) keywords for words that have relationships to the primary keyword in your campaigns.These words are great for anchor text links and for discovering new keyword opportunities that are closely related to the ones you primarily want to rank for.

Bonus Tools

If you made it till here, we bet you’re hungry for more tools?

That’s why we’ve prepared a few bonus picks (to make you happy!).

They’ll hopefully turn you into a more rounded marketer, as well as help you to spot new opportunities when promoting your offers.

Networking: Networking is crucial for quality business development. We need other people to buy from us, sell to us, and breakthrough with us. Of course, to get people to be excited to do all these things for and with us, we must give something of in return. So go out there and meet all the interesting prospects you can. At the end of the day, the benefits of working with others go well beyond the immediate sales figures.

Affiliate Marketing Forums: You’ve also got great forums where you can learn all there is to know! This is a way for you to learn from others players’ mistakes instead of making your own (costly and time-consuming, don’t you think?). Wondering which affiliate marketing forums you should explore? Check the top ones!

The superstar forums are not free. Yes it will cost you to register, but trust us – your long-term ROI will be worth more than those pennies.

Conferences and Trade Shows: We hear many people argue that conferences aren’t worth it. We disagree. You see, the trick is to know how to take full advantage of the potential of any event!

These 5 tips will help you make the most of conferences and trade shows:

  1. Have a goal: why are you going there, what do you want to achieve, etc.
  2. Pre-arrange meetings: trust us – this is a must. Don’t schedule meetings in the morning since the probability of missing them is higher!
  3. Work on your introduction. The first impression is all that counts!
  4. Attend the parties and ALWAYS give those cool business cards!
  5. Quality is better than quantity: you’re not trying to meet everyone. Time is money, you feel us? Making 5 really good friends is better than making 100 scattered acquaintances that you’ll never meet or connect with again!

Account Managers: Account Managers are a crucial aspect of affiliate marketing.

You can almost see these guys as tools for marketers; tools that help you get awesome advice, optimize with knowledge, and recognize mistakes in order to maximize profits!

They are your most priceless source of info, guaranteed to give you the latest updates on the market.

Therefore, when asking them to show you the hottest campaigns to promote or which GEO to target, you should always be as specific as humanly possible.

Don’t go about asking them for “their best campaigns.” They hate that! Instead, ask about their “top 3 dating campaigns in the UK based on EPC”. Help them help you. Easy!

Google Sheets or Excel: Hey, wait. Did you think we were never getting to Excel?

Believe us when we tell you the following jaw-dropping, life-changing truth: Excel might as well be all you need to dig deep in your data.

Information is power and this power comes from doing serious continuous analysis for which Excel is perfect:

  • Easy to analyze data
  • Good at summarizing in different ways
  • Building a pivot table report is a piece of cake compared to the process of building the same report manually. Boring, indeed!

Through the use of the pivot tables, you can perform a successful A/B testing and split-test offers. It basically helps you to create cross tabulations of ‘keywords’ against all the others.

For example: ‘operators’, ‘creatives’, ‘countries’, etc. Input these parameters into the sub-ids of your target URLs.

All this precious info will then be processed through pivot tables in order to optimize your campaigns.

Conclusion

In conclusion, today’s affiliate marketing industry is busier and much richer in terms of resources to work with. It’s also much more competitive.

Where are we going with this?

The more you know about your niche and the better prepared you are, the more you’ll benefit from that tasty extra-mile advantage.

Remember: being smart today means saving money tomorrow!

Equipped with the various tools we shared above, you’re sure to make it rain like a real affiliate pro! If you think we missed anything important, don’t be shy and reach out! We wanna hear from you so shoot all the questions you have in the comments below!

Also, remember to take quality time out – it can never be all work and no play!

Loved these awesome huge list of affiliate marketing tools?

Then tell us what are your favorite tools in the comments below!

João Aguiar

Head of Marketing at Mobidea

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