When it comes to affiliate marketing and digital marketing in general, you can’t just set and forget. During the last couple of years, many jumped on the affiliate marketing bandwagon hoping to make serious money, but struggle to keep campaigns alive. In affiliate marketing dead campaign describes a campaign that was once working but stopped making any money. If your affiliate marketing campaign stopped earning, don’t panic! It’s not uncommon for an affiliate marketing campaign to stop earning money after a while.
This can be frustrating, especially if you don’t know how to troubleshoot the problem, as is the case for many amateur affiliate marketers. As an experienced affiliate marketer, I’m here to offer you some advice. Here are some troubleshooting tips to help you figure out the cause and get things back on track.
Make sure to check out traffic sources
In affiliate marketing dead campaigns can have many possible causes. First, take a look at your traffic sources. Have there been any changes or fluctuations that could explain the drop in earnings? If so, try to adjust your campaign accordingly. Constant adjustments are an everyday occurrence for a successful affiliate marketer.
If not, it could be that the ads just aren’t as effective as they used to be. Try changing up the copy or imagery to see if that makes a difference. If the traffic was steady and suddenly stopped, check to see if the app has made any changes that could be affecting your ability to reach users.
Outdated landing page
It’s also possible that your landing page contains old or outdated information, has a lack of content, or is somehow misleading. It’s extremely important to have an attractive, up do date landing page that will simply force visitors to click on an offer, according to many marketers.
If you’re quoting statistics or have checklists in your LP, make sure to update data constantly, as the market is always shifting. Potential conversions could be lost if people recognize obviously wrong data. If you want to continue making good money, successful affiliate marketers always advise you to give special attention to your LP.
Check your affiliate links
There are a few reasons why an affiliate marketing campaign may not be performing as high as expected. One reason could be due to affiliate link placement. If the affiliate links are not placed within the content in a way that is easily visible to the reader, they may not click on the link.
In addition, if there are too many affiliate links in the content, it can appear spammy and turn off the reader. Another reason for an affiliate marketing campaign dying could be due to the type of content that is being created. If the affiliate marketing content is not interesting or engaging, readers will not want to click on the affiliate links.
Finally, if there is no clear call-to-action in the affiliate marketing content, readers will not know what to do next and may not click on the affiliate links. Troubleshooting an affiliate marketing campaign that is dying can be difficult, but it is important to identify the problem so that it can be fixed. Once the problem is fixed, the affiliate marketing campaign should start earning again.
It could also be that your affiliate links have simply expired. Check to see if this is the case and renew them if necessary.
Take a look at the offer
Take a look at the affiliate marketing offer itself. Is it still relevant? Is the product or service in demand? If not, then that could be your problem right there. Maybe you picked an evergreen offer, but circumstances have changed in the interim and now it’s not as popular as it once was.
If you’re still not seeing any results, the affiliate program you’re promoting may have been discontinued or changed. In this case, you’ll need to find a new affiliate program to promote. If you need advice regarding affiliate marketing offers, take a look at online affiliate marketing forums and ask experienced individuals.
Possible banned domain?
If your affiliate marketing campaign has stopped earning, the domain you’re using may have been banned. You’ll need to check with the platform to see if this is the case. If it is, you’ll need to find a new domain to use for your campaign.
People working in affiliate marketing spend a lot of time searching for good domains using Google’s keyword planner, a very useful search engine optimization tool. Most affiliate marketers use it for finding keywords that eventually become new domains.
Choose a country and language, some general keywords that are related to the campaign and are popular in Google search engine, and search for keywords that would make good domains. I always choose keywords with a word count of 3 that have high competition and high cost.
Outdated Creatives
Next, you should check your creatives. If you’re using the same creatives (videos and images) that you’ve been using for a while, your audience may have become desensitized to them. Try creating new amazing videos and images, and see if that helps improve your affiliate marketing results.
If you’re unsure how to create videos or images that will resonate with your audience, consider working with a professional content creator. They can help you come up with ideas that will capture your audience’s attention and get them excited about your affiliate products or services. Many marketers choose to do this as it’s usually very effective.
Another option is to use software like PiPiADS, which allows you to see what your competition is doing. All you have to do is type in a keyword and watch and learn. Many case studies suggest that customers react much better to user-created content than to professional ads. Consider hiring some influencers and instruct them to do what’s popular with your product. Finding good ones shouldn’t be too hard as long as you stay within your niche.
You might be scaling too aggressively
Scaling is a major part of a successful affiliate marketing campaign. As in all things in life, finding a balance is hard but very important. When you scale it too passively, you lose out on potential affiliate income. Scaling too aggressively, on the other hand, might bring short-term profit but kills the campaign quickly. It’s normal for affiliate marketers to struggle with this, especially when starting out.
Your campaigns do need a certain budget, not only because of the algorithm but because impressions in certain GEOs cost a lot more money. For example, for the same amount of money invested you get double the number of impressions in South Africa than in Belgium. Make sure you assign enough funds so a decent amount of people see your ad.
Your targeting could be off
If your affiliate marketing dead campaign is still not performing after you’ve checked everything above, the next step is to take a look at your targeting. It’s possible that you’re targeting the wrong audience, or that your videos are not relevant to the people you’re targeting. Try changing your targeting options, or creating completely new videos that are more relevant to your target audience.
It’s also possible that you’re targeting too narrow of an audience. If you’re only targeting people in a specific city or state, for example, you may not be reaching enough people. Try expanding your targeting options to include more people.
One more possibility is that the age and interests of the people you’re targeting don’t match your offer. As any experienced affiliate marketer will tell you, people older than 25 usually have more money to spend than younger people, as most of them have a steady income.
The algorithm could be the culprit
In social media marketing, you are at the mercy of the social platform you’re advertising on. The TikTok algorithm for example is constantly evolving, and that can have a big impact on your affiliate marketing campaigns. What works today might not work tomorrow, so make sure you’re keeping up with the latest affiliate marketing trends and adjusting your settings accordingly. Otherwise, you could be missing out on vital opportunities to reach your audience.
Finally, there may be just been a temporary downturn in the market. Often, affiliate marketers forget about this possibility and waste time fixing things that aren’t broken. In this case, the best course of action is simply to wait it out and see if things improve. If they don’t, then you can re-evaluate your situation and take appropriate action.
Conclusion
Determining the cause of a dying affiliate marketing campaign can be tricky. Sometimes it’s as simple as identifying where you’re falling short and making some adjustments. Other times, there may be an external factor at play that you can’t control. In either case, troubleshooting your affiliate marketing campaigns is a process that requires patience, perseverance, and a willingness to experiment.
Once you’ve ruled out any potential changes on your end, it’s time to start looking at external factors. Perhaps the platform’s algorithm has changed, or there’s a new competitor in your niche who is siphoning off some of your audience. Whatever the case may be, try to identify the problem and come up with a plan to address it.
When your affiliate marketing campaign is in decline, don’t give up! With a little effort, you should be able to figure out what’s causing the problem and take steps to turn things around. Dying campaigns are a common thing in the affiliate marketing industry, and most affiliate marketing accounts will encounter them sooner or later.
If you’re still having trouble troubleshooting your affiliate marketing campaign, feel free to reach out to us for help at iAmAttila or my forum iAmAffiliate. There, you’ll find many experienced fellow affiliate marketers. We’re always happy to help our clients get the most out of their marketing campaigns.
