How Online Marketing Will Work In 2020?
Today I wanted to discuss some things that are taking place within the online business industry.
The online marketing in 2002, A Little Back Story…
This post is much more than me wanting to save you money, and help you build a business in the year ahead.
It is a post that I have been wanting to offer you to help give you some perspective of the opportunity that resides online, and what the future looks like in the world of internet marketing.
And how your journey moving forward can be positively impacted by the technological changes that have happened over the years.
Now, let’s go back to the year 2002.
To many, this may sound like the dark ages of the Internet as it is now close to 18 years ago.
People are under the delusion that there wasn’t competition back then, and it was “easier” to be an affiliate back then.
The reality is that this assumption couldn’t be further from the truth.
It was difficult back then.
Difficulties that you don’t have to deal with these days.
Here are just some issues that people faced when they were starting out online back in 2002.
Old Issue #1: Websites Were Difficult to Build
Back in 2002, there was no Wordpress, there were no “website builders”, there was software that you could use to code and build websites yourself.
There were templates that you could buy to speed things up, but they were oftentimes very difficult to use.
And the imagery on your website, menus, and other features like “mouse-overs” were things that you had to create in Adobe Photoshop.
Building a website, including graphics used to take up to 30 days.
No joke.
And to top that off, my websites were horrible looking, the menus were oftentimes broken or shifted from page to page…they were ugly and must have been an awful experience to the end-user.
No longer an issue today as the same thing can be created in less than 60 seconds using the state-of-the-art website builders.
Old Issue #2: Technology Was Confusing
This meant everything.
Setting up a domain and DNS was confusing.
You needed a technology map just to figure things out.
Even finding out where you could buy a domain from was confusing.
Not only was the technology disconnect there, but there was also little in the way of resources and tutorials to walk you through the process.
Remember, Youtube didn’t even start until 2005, and they’re certainly weren’t resources that could teach you the process, and offer you the tools you need to seamless make things like connected domains, and setting up hosting happen.
Today, setting up a website on your own domain is now instant, you don’t need to even understand what DNS is or what updating name servers are.
The technology is only going to get more and more seamless for running an online business as we evolve the technology.
Old Issue #3: There Were Limited Products to Promote
Back in 2002 and for the first few years, there were certainly affiliate programs.
There were few retailers that first, understood the power of the Internet.
Back then companies were still unsure whether the Internet was going to take off with consumers and even be a viable business.
There were still what felt at the time, lots of affiliate opportunities.
And certainly compared to today’s standard there were next to none.
Clickbank was popular, along with CJ.com and Linkshare.com (which then became Rakuten).
There were also independent affiliate programs, but their technology and the software they used back then was very simple.
It was unusual to have access to any form of promotional tools outside of some promotional banners.
That was the extent of “affiliate resources” someone would have access to as an affiliate.
Today, you can now search from hundreds of thousands of affiliate programs on many platforms with just a click of a button.
Old Issue #4: Fewer People Were Buying Online
Online spending has increased drastically since 2002.
In 2002, online spending in the USA topped out around $30 Billion.
know that might sound like a lot, but comparatively, it is a fraction of what people are spending online in 2019, and certainly in the years ahead.
Here are some stats from 2017, and projections for online retail in the next 3 years ahead.
Based on the $30 billion spent in 2002, online spending will have grown by 2,000% heading into 2020.
Affiliates reap the rewards of all online growth, and your year over year growth is anticipated to continue climbing by double digits for the foreseeable years to come.
Today, more money spent online, more revenue for affiliates. Simple as that. You simply need to learn how to take full advantage of all the online marketing opportunities, old & new, in 2020.
Old Issue #5: Cookie Stuffing Was a Thing
Affiliate Programs were not as honest, there was far less policy around online marketing, and it essentially was the wild west as the industry had not matured.
There used to be a lot of talk around terms like “affiliate skimming”, which was the act of merchants taking sales from affiliates or overwriting their cookies before someone bought.
If you had been subject to this fraudulent and unethical activity, it was oftentimes difficult to prove, but even more difficult to enforce anything.
There was also nowhere to publicly share this information other than the few forums that were out there in the online marketing space.
Also, cookie stuffing was also a prominent activity by unethical affiliates.
What someone would do is stuff 1,000’s of affiliate links on their page, then advertise that page in a search engine.
It would overwrite any of the cookies
These are moot issues these days, the internet has evolved and most unethical companies have been pushed out of the industry.
Yes, people have seen new types of scams in the online marketing space (like high ticket products, multi-level schemes, etc), but these older issues are no longer even discussions.
Today, the technology has evolved a lot and it’s not difficult to track any kind of stuffing or trick to tamper the cookies.
Old Issue #6: Limited Traffic Sources and Limited Traffic
There was no such thing as social marketing back then, in fact, Facebook didn’t even start their business until 2004!
That was the reality back then.
When many people started out in those days, Yahoo was the most popular search engine and to advertise in Yahoo, it was done through a 3rd party platform called Overture.
It was fun as you could bid for “exact” placement, and see how much your competitors were bidding…but at the same time, it was archaic and the amount of traffic available through search engines back then was fractional compared to what it is today.
Today you have the luxury of “traffic abundance” and you have the opportunity to create a business through many forms of traffic, whether that is Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google, Pinterest, Yahoo, Bing, LinkedIn…there are many viable sources of traffic these days.
Today, the traffic is plentiful and if you understand how to get it, you can get 1,000’s of unique clicks per day in any niche.
You have access to all the SEO, Social Marketing, and PPC training you need to rank, convert, build a following, and to build positive ROI campaigns, etc.
Where Do We See Online Marketing in 2020?
Of all our years in this industry, the online marketing space has never been a more exciting one.
There is still a shortage of qualified affiliates out there, and by being in this business, you are certainly here at the right time.
Now is YOUR time to gain a foothold in a particular industry, and start working towards the creation of a long term and sustainable business.
Affiliate Programs and Retailers are going to continue to put more and more value on their affiliate base (the smart ones anyway), and the companies that don’t are going to follow the same demise as companies like Toys R Us and Sears did…they simply didn’t understand the importance of their online channels and how to properly work with affiliates.
So it is a very exciting year ahead in that respect.
More affiliate opportunities, more people spending money online, and more people online equate to more success for us all as affiliates.
The year 2020 is going to be a year full of innovation and evolution.
2002, at the time, seemed good.
But the reality is, 2020 is significantly better in every way…and there has been no better time to be online than there is RIGHT NOW.
Let’s ALL make BIG things happen in the year ahead!
PS. In the comments, I would love to hear your plans and goals you have in 2020…and if you haven’t thought of them yet, now is a good time to start planning for the year ahead!
