[This post was inspired by the post Never, Ever, Pay for Traffic on the MarketMotive blog]

Today’s topic has to do with one of the mistakes that a lot of newer affiliates make, and that’s buying the wrong kind of online traffic. All web traffic is not created equal, meaning varied conversion rates, so knowing what you’re buying is essential.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a terribly excited but very green affiliate tell me how they just paid someone $100 to send 10,000 hits to their site. Their logic is usually that if InsureMe’s average affiliate converts traffic in the 15 - 20% range, and on average they earn $8.00 a lead, if they send us 10,000 clicks, they’ll be sipping frozen drinks on the beach by the end of the month. In reality, those 10,000 clicks will most likely net them nothing, because traffic that cheap is usually untargeted traffic, and untargeted traffic usually does not have the right intent (which means they don’t convert).

Princeton’s WordNet Search defines intent as “an anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your planned actions.” Successful online marketing, especially in verticals like insurance, is all about intent. Search marketing (SEO and PPC) are amazing marketing channels because relevant ads are shown to consumers and those ads align with the consumers anticipated outcome, meaning intent (like buying auto insurance). This differs from more traditional offline and online advertising since it does not interrupt some other action or intent (for example - I want to watch this TV show but they keep interrupting it with commercials).

Because search marketing is so effective at catching consumers with intent, the price of this marketing has been climbing…which is alright since the return on investment from well placed search advertising is high. Thinking about it from an economic perspective, if the price of traffic is set in a marketplace (like AdWords) the higher the cost of the traffic, the more valuable that traffic most likely is from an economic standpoint. Usually, that higher cost can be directly linked to higher levels of intent to complete an intended action. So while higher prices make margins thinner, higher conversion (intent fulfilled) will hopefully make the advertising worthwhile.

As an affiliate it’s important to analyze the intent of the marketing channels you are using, and remember if someone is promising you traffic at an extremely low price the traffic will likely have no intent of doing what you want them to do. As you are analyzing new potential marketing channels to use, ask yourself the following:

• Where does the traffic come from (what sites, channels, methods)?
• Is there any guarantee that this traffic will be real people, not automated bots visiting my site?
• Will the traffic coming to my site have the intent of doing what I want them to do, or will they be there for some other reason?
• Is there any other incentive given by the traffic provider to visit my site? Is their intent to complete my offer or to earn some type of incentive?
• Does the price of the traffic seem lower than the going rate of quality traffic? If so, why?
• If the traffic source is not well known, why is it that no one knows about it?

As many people are fond of saying, the Internet is the wild west of marketing. There is money to be made if you are smart and brave enough, but there are also crooks and snake oil salesmen you must beware of. Looking for intent in your marketing channels is a great way to stay smart, be profitable and keep yourself from getting burned.

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