Life Cycle of an Affiliate PPC Campaign

[Linda Buquet]

Many times I see affiliates that are running PPC campaigns complain that their winning campaign just died and they can't figure out any rhyme or reason. What some don't realize is there is an ebb and flow that follows a pattern and is somewhat predictable.

Chad from CDF Networks has written the 1st description I've seen that outlines the typical life cycle of a PPC affiliate campaign. I think this is very accurate for affiliates that follow those hot markets - the latest, greatest - that all the other affiliates are running too, like when ringtones 1st went hot, or hoodia, then green tea, then acai berries or whatever.

HOWEVER one way to break the cycle, is NOT to follow the crowd and NOT to promote the same type of offers most PPC marketers are going to be attracted to. Break the mold, find a real niche and the cycle can be broken.

The life cycle of an affiliate marketing niche
Despite your best intentions, profitable niches and offers eventually die out. There is usually a common life cycle pattern I look for a niche in affiliate marketing.

* Offers come on the scene.
* The top affiliates are tipped off and start running the offer successfully.
* The PPC/Social market get saturated, bid prices go up.
* Margins decline.
* Fraud sets in. Merchants enact stricter terms and policies.

Those are just a few of Chad's bullets. Check out the rest at:
The life cycle of an affiliate marketing niche and read Chad's suggestions to see what you can do about it.

[fitnfree]

HOWEVER one way to break the cycle, is NOT to follow the crowd and NOT to promote the same type of offers most PPC marketers are going to be attracted to. Break the mold, find a real niche and the cycle can be broken.

Major thumbs-up to that, Linda. That's the ticket I found to work best.

[PPCguySCOTT]

I would add that even in hot niches, a great way to keep your campaign from dying is to keep nurturing it. If you are not continually optimizing and switching out ad copy and trying new keywords and bidding strategies, then of course your campaign will die. Bill Gates once said that if Microsoft ever stopped focusing on innovation and progress they would always be 18 months or less away from going out of business.

Your PPC campaigns are the same way. If you set it and forget it, of course you're eventually going to fail. It's O.K. to go where the payouts are the highest and the competition is fierce, then just be prepared to outwork and outsmart the competition. :-)

[jackfranklin]

It is important to know the objectives of your campaign. Of course, any successful and profitable PPC advertising campaign will result in conversions on your website.

[James Spinosa]

Typically I try to ride the waves, since I am in the internet marketing niche myself it is pretty hard to re-define a sub-niche, so typically I will find ways to better promote myself based on current trends. Such as when ClickBank has some hugely popular product out, I will try to rank as high as possible for all related search terms.

[azlivin480]

I agree that there are niches that die out and there is not much that you can do it. The important thing is to find a few niches that will last for a while. I believe that their are markets that you can use for years without fizzling out. It is always nice to have a few markets that are consistent to be able to count on as money makers. Not saying that constant vigilance is not important, change and monitoring is necessary.