This is the first ever Affilorama Niche Markets blog post to my knowledge and my choice for this week's niche would probably come as a big surprise. Our Niche of the Week is Diablo III. In this blog post we are also going to look at some of the best Diablo 3 affiliate programs.
I chose this niche purely for selfish reasons. I love the game. I have been playing this game since the first version came out late in the 90s. The sequel, Diablo II and its expansion Diablo II: Lord of Destruction was released in 2000. Finally, after more than a decade of waiting, Diablo III was released to eager fans last May.
Diablo is a critically-acclaimed, engaging RPG (role-playing game) set in a fictional world called Sanctuary. You choose a Hero from among classes. Barbarian and Sorceress are just two from the five you can chose from. Then you go out in Sanctuary and battle demons of all shapes and sizes, completing quests until you come face to face with the mega-boss Diablo. The game is over only when you defeat Diablo. Or when you give up. :)
Diablo II has a multi-player option, letting users group together in Battle.net and complete quests together. This feature is further enhanced in Diablo III. Now, players need to be online and logged in to Battle.net when playing the game. Not everyone is happy over this, but the inclusion of a Diablo III Auction House got everyone paying attention. The in-game Auction House is where players can sell or exchange items and gold. Blizzard has decided to allow purchase of game gold and items in your local currency.
So what does this mean for us marketers?
This means Diablo III gold and levelling guides are in high demand.
Now, let's take a look at the statistics. Could we really earn money in this niche?
Diablo III as a game is not new, but since it has just been released, as a keyword it has high global search count, but low competition. Same with the keywords “Diablo” and “Diablo III leveling guide” and the variation “Diablo 3 leveling guide” as well as “Diablo 3 Auction House”. The only keyword that has high competition is “buy Diablo 3”, but there are a whole slew of other keywords I can target in this specific niche.
Market Analysis
Since there are a lot of keywords I can target, there is no limit to the content I can place on my site. I can target keywords like Diablo 3 characters (9,900 exact global monthly search, low competition) and create a page for each Diablo 3 character. There's also Diablo 3 Classes ( 27,100 exact global monthly search, low competition) that I can target and then create a page for each Diablo 3 class. I can easily make my site an authority/resource site for Diablo 3 players, providing information along with promoting several leveling guides. I'm using Traffic Travis for my keyword research - grab a free copy of Traffic Travis here.
Diablo 3 Affiliate Program Information
Heading on to Clickbank, I looked at some products that I can promote in my Diablo site.
I’ve been monitoring the Clickbank Marketplace for Diablo III products for about 2 weeks now. A new Diablo III strategy guide is added to the Marketplace almost every day, proving that there is a demand in this niche. There are now 47 Diablo 3 guides in the Clickbank Marketplace when there were only about 10 to 15 two weeks back.
I’ve looked at several, like Diablo 3 Gold Secrets by Markco and Diablo 3 Guide - Inferno Codex. They are the products I was considering to promote along with Diablo 3 Secrets by Peng Joon. Diablo 3 Billionaire is a new gold guide, but it seems to be making a lot of sales if we’re to base it on gravity alone. I got curious and went over to the sales page for Diablo 3 Billionaire.
The sales page for Diablo 3 Billionaire has compelling sales copy, having both video and text copies. There are screenshots and testimonials as well as a Contact link that gives you the merchant’s email address and an Affiliates section. They’ve got a good Affiliates section, showing you the conversion rate. As it happens, the product has several OTO (one time offers) that also earn you a commission. On top of the commission from the sale of the main product, you get an additional commission for each OTO the user purchases.
Here's the awesome looking salespage for Diablo 3 Billionaire:
The gravity’s a bit high, but they’ve got good sales copy and the commission looks great. So I’ll go add this on my list.
The next two products I looked at are Diablo 3 Guide - Inferno Codex and The #1 Diablo 3 Speed Guide. These are both leveling guides. I like Inferno Codex's sales page layout and design. I like the product's name too. The gravity's good at 47.95. Their Affiliates page is a bit "thin" though compared to the other Diablo 3 guides, but they do offer review copies of the product. That's another one on my list.
The last product on my list is Diablo 3 Speed Guide. They've got a nice Affiliates page and they offer a VIP Affiliate program where I get a 15-page report along with email templates and articles. That free report can come in handy in my site, for me to use to attract subscribers to my list. I’ll be sure to promote this one too.
The only drawback in this niche is how I’m going to get players to actually go and pay for these guides. There’ll be plenty of competition coming from “free Diablo 3 guides” sites. There’s plenty out there so I looked at some of these sites to see what I will be up against. One way to get the upper hand in a specific niche like this is to have a sound selling strategy.
That free report from Diablo 3 Speed Guide is looking real good. I can target the keyword “free Diablo 3 guide” in an article and offer that. I can write an article on the importance of having a gold guide and how it helps you move up the game, then sell the Diablo 3 Billionaire at the end. Gamers will be asking why do I need to purchase a good gold guide, and my articles need to answer that question each time in my articles. Free guides are great but everybody else will be using the same strategy in-game so it loses its value. That’s a good thing to keep in mind when writing reviews as well as when going around in forums.
Diablo 3 Affiliate Products Recap:
Remember to get your free copy of Traffic Travis, in order to help you find profitable keywords for the Diablo 3 niche (as well as great link opportunities)
I’m all set. I will go and get my Diablo site started. Time to review the Affiloblueprint 3 Site Building videos!
If you've got any questions about this Niche of the Week, please leave a comment below - I would love to hear from you.
website • 12 years ago
Lam Nguyen • 12 years ago
Really love this post. This is truly useful and practical tips.
However, I really worry about the drawback note. Because gamers usually look for free info, not mentioned there're many torrent sites sharing the same free info. It's really tough to kill it in this niche.
Do you have any "unique selling points" to kill it in this niche?
All best,
Cecille Loorluis • 12 years ago
Thank you! I'm glad to hear you like my post.
It is precisely because there's a lot of free information there that having a paid strategy guide is better. Everybody else will be employing the same strategy whereas you can up your game using techniques only available to a few.
That is the idea that I will be promoting in my site. There's the "exclusivity" that having a paid strategy guide gives and I'll be writing articles from that angle as well.
I can take a look at those free guides and share them on my site too. That will help me reach out to more players of the game to promote the paid guides to.
Hope that helps. Have a good weekend!
All the best!
Joe Iarocci • 12 years ago
I enjoy the thought process and the practical strategy you have laid out. Good luck with the site
Joe