If there’s one thing gamers enjoy doing when they’re not actually gaming, it’s discussing gaming. Whether you use social media to touch base with your friends about your impressions of the latest releases, or you like to drop articles into a gaming blog you write, sharing opinions is a vital aspect of appreciating this hugely-popular pastime.
But if you do contribute regularly to a gaming blog, did you know there are easy ways to monetize your hobby? There’s a business model – affiliate marketing – which is tailor-made for promoting games. This represents a market you could easily tap into. And if you do it correctly, you could generate a substantial turnover.
Definition of affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is a relatively straightforward business model. There are two parties involved: a retail organization which offers a variety of their products for promotion via what is known as an affiliate program, and the affiliate marketer who can sign up to promoting these products, in exchange for receiving a generous slice of commission on each sale. So, if you write a gaming blog, you would aim to be signing up for an affiliate program centered on selling gaming accessories or games.
How does this work in practical terms?
As soon as you have joined a particular program, the retailer will forward you a series of hyperlinks for you to post on your web platform. These will channel your site visitors to the relevant sales pages once the links are activated. In order for you to generate any sort of turnover, it is, therefore, necessary for you to encourage as many of your customers as possible to alight on these hyperlinks. Understanding the optimum method of doing this lies at the heart of any successful affiliate marketing operation.
How to promote products or services
What you have to understand about this form of promotion is that it is entirely different from proceeding business models, such as pay-per-click advertising. Formerly, website owners could place banner ads on their pages and hope these would attract the eye (or more likely irritate) visitors. Rather than being tied-in to any purchase page, a paltry amount of income would be generated each time the ad was activated.
With the affiliate model, the promotional campaign is all about a more holistic approach. For instance, say you blogged about relationship issues, you could become an affiliate for an online dating website like Flirt.com, earning commission on every new sign up to the host site. For a gaming blogger, you want to tap into games or accessories. Your commission turnover will be directly proportional to the time and effort you are prepared to put into the operation.
Content
Rather than focusing on the products, what you should be concentrating on is your site content. The links should be organically placed on your pages so as not to look overly intrusive. The last thing you want to do is come across like some sort of salesman who has randomly produced a set of hyperlinks under banner statements saying “please buy these items.” The whole point of this form for affiliate marketing is the links should follow on naturally from your articles. It is the content that is all-important.
Engage with your blog readership. If they enjoy your product review, add ‘share’ buttons so they can pass the message on through their own network. Film live review of the games. It’s worth underscoring this crucial fact: this form of marketing can be lucrative, because it’s all about creating a genuine buzz about the products in the overall context of gaming, rather than just links.