Let’s face it, affiliate marketing has become highly competitive today. With more and more people jumping on to the Internet bandwagon, you need to be different to build an identity and have your own voice. Unless and until you stand out from the rest, you won’t make it to the top.
So the question that comes up here is – how do you go about being an affiliate marketer that thinks out of the box and is unique in his approach?
The answer is – by telling engaging stories:
While the majority are busy trying hard to sell to prospects – you seduce them. No matter how cheesy that sounds, it’s a fact that online marketers who know how to weave good stories win. They make more money, create a strong brand and build a rock solid business. Still not convinced? Let’s see how storytelling can work for you:
a) First and foremost, forget the common sales pitch tactics that you learned. People don’t want to be sold these days, they want to be recommended. Don’t get me wrong, hardcore selling still works. But when you focus on building relationships instead, you can turn tables around.
b) Persuasion is hot and there’s a good amount of marketing literature dedicated to it. However, there’s something that even triumphs persuasion, and that’s offering clarity and winning trust. When you tell an interesting story, you don’t push your prospects, but invite them towards getting more clear about their own goals, about their own dreams. And that sets you apart from the other affiliates.
c) There’s real power in connecting with your audience on a narrative level. It helps them get a ‘feel good factor’. It makes them listen to you and take action. If that’s not awesome, I don’t know what is.
d) Telling a story allows you to present a specific problem in a believable manner – before you even propose to solve it. You sort of make your prospects feel uneasy by discussing the problem they’re facing, and then offer them a solution to it.
Now let’s look into how you should approach storytelling to get those affiliates checks rolling:
1) A worthy story grabs the immediate attention of the readers. It uses lively phrases and words that paint a larger than life picture, something spectacular. If you want to get results with your story, don’t just scribble down the feature, go ahead and show them what it feels like with clear examples. Get them to actually imagine the benefits – and drool.
2) Your story needs to make sense emotionally and logically. And that can only be achieved when you think like your prospects. Get into their shoes and understand their problems – feel what they’re going through. When you do that, it becomes easy to write about what’s necessary or important to them. Also, try to keep it conversational. Write from the heart.
3) Finally, your story will obviously fail if you don’t get your prospects to take action. So be very clear about what you want from them. Don’t be shy asking them for the sale, because if you don’t ask, you don’t get.
As you progress, test your story line and craft it out in different ways.
Sometimes even the smallest tweaks can do wonders.
