You will still need to spend time building a relationship with your customer base after joining a legitimate affiliate marketing program. As you start your internet marketing campaign, keep the following tips in mind.

Make the most of your email marketing strategy. Every time you process a customer's order, be sure to ask them if you can add them to your email list. Ask only for a person's name and email address, and make the sign-up process as fast and easy as possible. Tell your customers how often they would get emails from you upon signing up. Give them an idea of what type of email they will receive, such as product updates and other interesting information that they would find worthy of their time. Use software to automate the process of sending out mass emails. In addition to your regularly scheduled emails, occasionally send messages that advertise special offers and discounts. Customers also appreciate receiving thank-you messages and knowing that you value their patronage. To increase the number of subscribers, have exclusive offers available only to those on the email list. Once in a while, try to send emails that ask your customers, especially the ones you have built up trust with, for feedback. Reward their feedback with a free gift in their next order.

If you understand your audience, you can address their needs. If you are targeting a younger age group, your customers might respond better to a social network campaign rather than an email campaign. Learn from what your competitors are doing. Visit your competitors' sites under the guise of a customer. Sign up for emails, ezines and tweets. Subscribe to RSS feeds. Use as many interactive methods as you can to determine what the competition is doing right and what they are doing wrong. Post a questionnaire to find out what your customers expect from your service; this type of feedback is valuable. Pay close attention to how your customers respond to different marketing strategies. Remember to consider the nature of your product and service you are offering when you are designing your marketing messages. Products of a sensitive or highly personal nature are best avoided on a very public forum like a social networking site. Constant tweaking and tailoring can be combined with common sense to gradually develop a winning strategy.

When it comes to affiliate marketing, it is important that you pay close attention to your customers. It is important to get yourself established in the market, but be sure to take into consideration the needs and interests of your clients. Consider their suggestions, implement changes that will please them and always let them know you are listening to what they have to say. This will keep the customers you already have happy and help attract new customers.