6 Reasons Why You Should Not Get into Affiliate Marketing in 2022

Affiliate marketing has gained a lot of traction in past few years. It is a low-risk/high-reward system that enables you to earn money online. 

However, even with all the benefits, there are some underlying things that you should look out for. These reasons might cost you time and resources in the long run. 

6 Reasons To Not Get Started with Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing has a lot of moving parts which is why it is quite easy to mess up the process. 

We will discuss these reasons in detail to make you aware of all that goes into affiliate marketing before you get started. 

So, let’s check them out.

1. Conversion Rate

The entire process of affiliate marketing revolves around the number of clicks. However, these clicks don’t always generate a high sales conversion rate.

People often look at a promotion link but they don’t always go on to buy the product. You can generate a high number of clicks but it doesn’t necessarily mean that people will buy your product.

How bad is the conversion rate?

According to online surveys, nearly 50% of people don’t always buy the product presented in the promotional link. 

It means that 50% of the people don’t yield any sales for you. To put it simply, your resources and time are wasted for nothing.

This makes the entire affiliate marketing process inefficient for you in the long run.

2. Unpaid Ventures

One issue that a lot of people have started is not getting paid by their associated brand. Since a lot of brands that require affiliate marketing our new on the market.

It means that these sources are not reliable and have a potential scam behind them. You can put in a lot of effort and resources yet still be left with empty hands.

How do I identify between a real service and a scam?

It is quite tricky to differentiate without proper research. Even then, the companies might change their plans along the way and relocate their funds. 

In any case, you don’t want your hard work to go unpaid. Let’s say you spend 50 hours on affiliate marketing every week.

If these hours go on where they can harm your financial situation. In the long run, you will find yourself spending more money than you are earning from affiliate marketing.

What are some red flags I should look out for?

In case you sign up for an affiliate program, there are some basic things you should look out for. 

Do not sign up for a program if you spot the following:

• Limited inventory
• Uncompetitive products/services
• No affiliate program manager
• No testing procedures

3. Strategic Applications

The entire dynamic of affiliate marketing revolves around how well you can implement a marketing strategy. There is no hard and fast rule on which strategy would work. 

So, your revenue isn’t always guaranteed. This leads you to develop highly risky selling strategies that might not yield a desirable result. 

Why is affiliate marketing so volatile?

It is mainly because affiliate marketing works on niche products and services. For example, Kartra provides web solutions like domains and hosting. 

Not every person wants a service that provides multiple domains or large server space. This is why you have to formulate strategies differently for various audiences. 

Even then, you might not be able to get a substantial conversion rate from clicks to sales. 

4. Lack of Product/Service Testing

Affiliate programs are often offered by start-up companies. These companies don’t offer a trial or testing option because they don’t want to lose potential customers. 

People might test their service and move on to an alternative. Hence losing them potential sales in the process. 

How is it bad for affiliate associates like me?

If your customers can’t test a product and use a service for a trial period, the chances of moving them to an alternative are high. 

According to a survey, 75% of the users prefer to use a product/service that enables them to test it beforehand. 

Why is testing important?

Let’s take the example of Kartra pricing plans. Everything about their plans is clearly stated on their website. 

However, users still want to test the operations before they make their decision. This way they can evaluate their money’s worth. 

5. No Room to Scale

Affiliate marketing is tempting to a lot of people looking to earn money online. However, even with a higher per click payout, the room to grow is non-existent. 

You can start with a base $1 per click payout and upgrade it to $5 or even $10 per sale. Looking at it statistically, the change is gradual and has no confirmation whatsoever. 

Is there any promotional hierarchy in affiliate programs?

The main problem with affiliate marketing is that you can only get promoted to a brand ambassador. That’s about it. 

Unlike other opportunities, the glass ceiling for affiliate marketing is quite low and hard to break. Most people don’t even get to the ambassador level because of the low conversion rate.

6. Sustainability Issues

By far the most complained about issue regarding affiliate marketing is sustainability. Your earnings depend on the clicks and sales conversion. 

If you can’t reach a certain goal, the company won’t pay your affiliate commission. 

Moreover, if the service isn’t as good as you say, users will lose interest over time. Ultimately, it will harm your reputation and you won’t able to generate any sales. 

What are some other issues related to sustainability?

On the downside, your relationship with the company is also at risk if you can’t generate sales. Low performance over multiple months will force them to drop you.

This kind of volatile environment will eventually leave you with nothing but disappointment. 

Wrapping Up…

This brings us to the end of our explanation of why you shouldn’t get started with affiliate marketing. It is a tough market to break into and even tougher to capitalize on.

You can spend numerous hours of hard work without any quantifiable progress. Moreover, it has multiple moving parts that can make the entire earning process difficult.