Should You (as an Affiliate) Buy the Product Before Promoting It?

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When it comes to promoting affiliate products we can talk about two groups of marketers. The first group argues that it is not necessary to have the product in order to successfully promote it. On the other hand, the second group of marketers argues that an affiliate marketer always should buy, try and evaluate the product, be it tangible or digital, before promoting it.

I am not sure to which group I belong but what I know from my experience is that you really don’t need to have the product in order to promote it successfully. (This depends on the product of course.)

For example, if you know a lot about the product and made your research about it properly, without buying it you can promote and recommend it to others. Especially, for physical products like the ones you can find on Amazon (kitchen supplies, tools, video games etc.), you can successfully make people buy that product even if you didn’t buy and try it.

However, for some certain product types, especially digital ones like informational products, software and services, my opinion is that you should have bought and tried it before actually promoting it. This is because without seeing what’s inside, you will not be able to honestly talk about the product, its features and benefits and whether you liked it or not.

Sadly, it is not rare to come across some marketers who promote products they have no idea about and try to make money out of it. What they do is they simply collect information and reviews from the web, other blogs and forums about the product and add them on their sites as if they were their own ideas. This kind of people also makes use of lies without hesitation.

Anyway, it is up to you whether you buy an affiliate product or not before you promote it. But even for physical products there are certain advantages of owning the product and I will mention them below.

The Advantages of Promoting a Product that You Have Bought and Tried

Do you remember how many times you have bought something after asking your friends’ opinions and feedback about it? Probably many times. Because, you want to hear from a person who actually bought and tried it.

If you apply this concept to your affiliate marketing practices, you will notice that when promoting products that you have tried, you will have a greater response rate from your readers. Simply because, if people trust you and care about your opinions, then they will follow your recommendations as well. This is a very valuable thing to have as an internet marketer.

By having the product you are promoting, you will have a better knowledge of it and you will be able to describe it better to your followers. Answering questions about the product will not be a problem either. Having a faith in yourself about the product you promote will bring you success.

After all, if you care about your visitors, and want them to come back and follow your recommendations, you should only promote quality products that you really think will help your readers. And you can only figure this out by actually trying it.

In conclusion, buying the product that you want to promote is totally optional, but do not let the cost of it scare you, because you could make much more from it if you buy, try and genuinely recommend it.

So, what do you think?

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