The average affiliate marketer will scan the net for an affiliate program in their niche that offers the highest commissions. They may research the legitimacy of the program and search for a few reviews from other affiliates but the research stops there. Over 90% of affiliates do not understand their products or target market.

Affiliate marketing is suppose to be simple and to keep it simple affiliates tell themselves, "if I can generate traffic, I can make money doing this". What ends up happening is this:

John is an affiliate for a dating site. This site is catered to an older audience looking for long term relationships. John only knows that they site has high payouts and is in a niche that he thinks he some knowledge in.

When John creates his marketing campaigns, they are an assortment of information for anyone looking for a relationship. His articles aren't highly targeted to his market, his PPC campaigns don't resource the right keywords, and his website isn't properly optimized.

Sally comes across John's banner ad, clicks on it and goes to the merchants marketing site, after a few seconds she leaves.

John has failed to convert a visitor into a customer. Is this the merchant's fault? No, it is John's because Sally is a 25 year old who simply wants to meet new people. John isn't reaching the right target market.

Another common example is promoting a product for the wrong budget group. Let's say John is able to reach people who are in the right age group. But he still cannot make the sale. This dating site is priced for people with high budgets and John is creating marketing campaigns that appeal to those with low budgets. Once again he is missing the mark.

Affiliate marketing is about more than just driving traffic to the merchant's site. It's about understanding what the merchant is offering, so you know the key features and benefits to highlight and who would be interested in it.

One way to do this is to test the product or service. It's important that you get a consumer's perspective on what the merchant is offering. Did you suit you? Would it suit people like you? Testing the product or service lets you see firsthand what others who buy it will. You may use it and realize it is not something you want to promote. Or you may think it's a great product for people who belong to certain groups.

Another thing you should do is communicate with the merchant. Go beyond the sales page and talk directly to the merchant. He can give you insider information on the product because he created it. He can also tell you who he made the product for - who he thinks would benefit best from the product.

By knowing the product, you can determine the merchant's unique selling point and therefore find the target market that would be desperate for the product.

If you are struggling to generate sales with affiliate marketing it may not be the merchant's fault. It could be because you haven't taken the time to understand the business you are promoting and are not promoting it effectively.