Ryan McAweeney Sees The Future In Affiliate Marketing
Ryan McAweeney started his career in advertising in 1992 with direct marketing and has had considerable experience and success with a wide range of marketing techniques during the intervening years. So when he talks about the future of marketing in the internet age it’s worth paying attention.
He has watched the internet disrupt traditional marketing techniques and believes that affiliate marketing is the way of the future for the always-online world we live in today. Affiliate marketing involves promoting other company’s products, through websites and other content delivery methods, and earning a commission when a sale is made as a result.
He estimates that the affiliate marketing industry is likely worth more than $7 billion today and that in the next five years that number could grow exponentially. When you consider how often people look to the internet for products, for other people’s reviews of products, and to make purchases, it is obvious that this is where the focus of marketing efforts should be for the foreseeable future.
He believes that there has never been a better time to enter this field. Not only does the internet provide a whole new arena for marketing efforts but there are almost no barriers to entry. Anyone with a computer, an internet connection, and a website can start right away without making any further investment, except their time and energy, and be successful.
Ryan is extremely passionate about affiliate marketing and has worked with some of the biggest brands in the world with their affiliate marketing efforts including the NFL, Toyota, and Wells Fargo, to name just a few. He wants to spread the word about the affiliate marketing techniques that are working for him and enjoys nothing more than mentoring the next generation of marketers.
He sees a future where all brands, no matter their size, will be using the internet in some form for their marketing and that it is only a matter of time before they realize that affiliate marketing currently has the best return on investment to any other marketing technique. This is because the startup investment cost and the running expenses can initially be small while providing the potential for huge gains. Setting up an affiliate program for a company can be inexpensive and small at the start and be scaled up when it becomes successful. A company can leverage the creativity and knowledge of its affiliates and their connection with a particular customer group to reach them far more effectively than traditional advertising ever could.
Influencer marketing is a case in point and is a phenomenon that Ryan McAweeney has followed closely. Because of the level of engagement and interest influencers can create with customers, he thinks they will play an even greater role in affiliate marketing in the future than they already do now. Big brands are actively seeking out influencers in their market space to help promote their products. They have discovered that influencers do not need to be celebrities or have a huge number of followers to be effective. In fact, it has been shown that micro-influencers with less than 10k followers can be more effective in achieving customer engagement than influencers with millions of followers and usually offer a higher conversion rate as well. This is because of the relationship influencers have with their followers; when they recommend a product it seems less like advertising and more like a recommendation from a friend.
Ryan also has his eye on future trends and believes that mobile browsing will grow even more as the mobile phone becomes the main device people use to access the internet, view brand content, and to make purchasing decisions. AI is also likely to have a significant impact enabling the tailoring of content to specific customers and audiences and enabling personalized content to be delivered to them. Ryan believes this points to a bright future for affiliate marketers who take advantage of the current revolution that is happening in marketing.