The Personal Testimonial
Another article in the Improving Affiliate Program Performance Series
Do remember to be honest in your testimonials however, because the door swings both ways. If you are overzealous and recommend a product that is just average because you know you will make a commission on it, this could easily damage the trust level that you have worked so hard to create. Even worse, it will severely impact the power of your future testimonials because visitors who followed your previous recommendation will remember that they got burnt. The guideline here is to just treat your visitors as if they all were your close friends. Would you recommend it to a friend of yours? If not, don't recommend it to your visitors either. Because, unfortunately, your visitors aren't always as forgiving as your friends may be...
In conclusion, the testimonial is probably the most effective way to promote an affiliate relationship online. I highly recommend you try it. Or even better, test it with a product you are familiar with and would recommend. You could easily set up your site to host a banner ad for a program for a week, and see what kind of results you receive. Then remove the banner, and try a basic text link for a week. Try to keep as many things consistent between tests as possible, such as the location and relative size of the links. Now, try a carefully worded personal testimonial such as the examples I gave above, or perhaps something even more elaborate, and see how well it works. If none of these promotional methods work, than you probably are promoting a program that doesn't fit in well with your site's visitors. You may want to give it more time, or find another. If you do see results, I am confident that the testimonials will work best.
If you perform a test like this, please share your results with the me, and I will be sure to promote your site in an upcoming issue of the ClickQuick Files. Send your feedback to test@clickquick.com
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