One of the secrets to successful affiliate marketing is knowing your audience so well that you can instinctively predict what products they’ll like and what they’ll avoid. To get to this stage, will require some effort and research on your part. In fact, it’s crucial that you do it before you even start marketing to your niche.

One reason so many affiliates struggle to convert readers into buyers is that they don’t know their audience. Follow the pointers below and you will be better prepared.

Do you have a customer avatar?

When targeting a niche, who will you be speaking to? If you’re targeting the women’s weight loss niche, how old will your reader be?

Is she a mother or single? How much time do you think she’ll have a day to exercise?

Is she a career woman or a stay-at-home mom?

There are so many questions that you need to ask yourself so that you have a clear picture of whom you’re targeting. If you’re writing for a woman who is in her fifties, she may be a career woman or a housewife.

In most cases, she’ll not be trying to lose weight after pregnancy.

Generally, she’ll be trying to lose weight with gentler exercise programs like Pilates or Yoga. So, you can leave out hardcore interval training programs and focus more on promoting yoga DVDs, yoga mats, etc.

While some questions will overlap and you don’t need to get too specific, you must have a general idea of whom you’re speaking to. This will enable you to tailor your message accordingly.

Where do they hang out?

Finding your target audience will be your next task. Just by scanning the forums they hang out in, you’ll be able to learn a lot about the niche and where there are gaps that are not being filled by the market.

You can then target these areas with your marketing.

Over and above that, knowing where your audience hangs out will be helpful when it comes to traffic generation later on.

What are their problems?

The forums, Facebook groups and other places where your audience congregates will often have questions and problems being mentioned by those in need of help. This is a goldmine of information.

Find out what common problems your market has and address them effectively. You’ll get a lot more sales and a very loyal audience.

What products will help them?

Very often, during your research, you’ll see similar products being mentioned that have helped people with their issues, and some other products will not be looked upon favorably. Take notes here and promote popular products and avoid the stinkers.

Are there any other issues that they may have?

Some niches can be related without you even realizing it. For example, the man who wishes to lose weight and get ripped, may also be doing it to attract more women. He’ll probably also be interested in guides that show him how to pick up women, etc.

This is actually a very popular industry online with tons of sales. You may wish to experiment and try promoting a pickup artist guide and see how that works for you. If it’s well-received, you know that you can start planning to market it more frequently. If it falls flat, you can ditch it and move on.

By following the tips above, you’ll become a better affiliate marketer and your content will be devoured by your readers. You’ll be the Pied Piper in your niche and your loyal readers will follow you wherever you lead them.

Once you get to this stage, you’ll be an excellent affiliate marketer.