Affiliate Marketing: How to Use Forms for Lead Generation

In the affiliate marketing business, customer information can be your most valuable asset. The best way to build up a mass of customer information is to use forms. Get into the habit of using forms effectively and watch your affiliate marketing revenues rise at a fast clip.

Using forms to the fullest means going beyond the standard "Contact Us" page. Individuals and corporations rake in big money through a boring, profitable business called lead generation.

Read on for some thoughts about how to use forms for lead generation--and increase your income from your affiliate marketing website(s) in minimal time with minimal work. 


Target the 20 Percent

Some people don't believe it, but it is not always worth it to court every customer. The 80/20 Rule dictates that 80 percent of customers are duds.

Especially if you are affiliate marketing a bigger ticket item, such as a business-to-business product, using forms is a solid method for weeding out customers who are not likely to buy anything. Better yet, using forms is the best way to engage actual customers.

A business person who is looking to purchase a phone system solution, for example, is not reading your review of business phone systems for their health. They're in the market for a business phone system. What are you going to make them do about it, though?

Ask that visitor to fill out a form, and then sell that form to a company that sells business phone systems, and then pocket an affiliate marketing commission for your troubles.


Form Frequency

Although you certainly don't want to be one of those websites that keeps popping up the same form over and over again, the forms you want filled out should be widely in use on your website.

Whether it's a button, a flashing banner, or an in-text links, your most desired forms should be ubiquitous, so easy to find that you literally can't miss them.


More Details Please

Lead generation is a fantastic business model because once you get a reputation for providing leads that consistently convert to sales for your affiliate marketing partners, you can charge a premium for your leads in comparison to your competitors.

Do not doubt that a reputation for dishing out dynamite leads is as good as gold.

What exactly constitutes a dynamite lead?

In a word, details. The more detailed information you can acquire, the more valuable your leads are. Therefore, seek to use forms that ask more questions than just the basics. Established affiliate programs may provide you with standard forms, but don't be afraid to deviate.

A form with plenty of customer data details is a special form that deserves a special price.

At the same time, consider giving the casual customer the ability to skip certain fields in your form and still submit a form. You'll catch more flies with honey than with flashing red alerts that painfully announce that this form must be complete or else this form is worthless.

Few, if any, filled-out forms are truly worthless. Stockpile them continuously.