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Do you think being transparent would have led to a different response from your followers? I am curious to see what role Twitter plays in this space, non deal-specific Twitter accounts, going forward.
Thanks for sharing this experience.
The other side of the coin is not wanting the dreaded reputation of "trying to sell insurance to my friends" .. where people avert their eyes when they see me coming! I don't want my twitter friends to think I view them as just a target customer .. I'd rather use twitter to develop better connections than earn a few % points.
Do opinions change any if we are talking about inserting links in a Facebook status update or is it the same thing? My inclination is that a higher number of twitter users would be able to discern an affiliate link whereas Facebook users would not ... Curious to see if that platform generates any different thoughts on the subject.....
Lisa and a few other people made the distinction on a helpful tweet that was in response to a question vs. just pushing links on people. Even so, I don't see doing much of that personally.
This isn't just about me though. I'm thinking more generally here for academic purposes. Good stuff to think about.
I haven't got a negative response from anybody yet. Just opening it up for discussion, and maybe I'll get some negative responses from asking. :)
I am happy if 1/5 of Tweets from a given person are relevant to me anyway.
Now, if you posted affiliate links for random items without responding to somebody, it would get tiresome.
marketers can be either overly sensitive or completely not care at all. i sort of assume half the links in twitter are some kind of redirect to some potentially profitable source, but if it's useful to me, it's useful to me so i personally wouldn't care if someone sent a useful aff link. if it's not i won't click on it. from a user pov, i'm more annoyed with someone trying to "sell me" on something. assuming the critics weren't aff marketers, is it an issue? ie Is the link still useful and still create a solution?
I personally have no problem with it and probably would have expected it especially considering most that I follow and am followed by are in affiliate marketing. :)
This came up during a recent social media club shindig here. A developer was looking for input on some functionality he was adding to an e-commerce site. During checkout, the shopper would be presented with an on the spot discount in exchange for sending a linked tweet (another way of looking at the scenario) .. it's interesting.
..... discussion ensued about disclosure, spam, magpie etc.. great dialogue. The sentiment of the room was typically mixed. I gave the guy kudos for looking for insight.
On many (most?) affiliate sites out there aren't we basically making recommendations? Some one is searching for something, they find our site somehow, and see a list of products. In some form or another this could be construed as a recommendation, endorsement, etc. . Someone is looking for a coffee grinder, they find my site about coffee grinders, see some products, and buy one "because" they found it on my site. In some obscure, convoluted way this is similar to giving someone a recommendation of a product.
In the real world if you had a friend who emailed you or asked you for a recommendation for a product would you feel wrong sending them to your affiliate site or sending them an affilaite link? Not much difference here.
And you're exactly right, Scott, I personally am 100% okay with this. In fact, I believe, you deserve the commission for that sale if it ever happens. You've done your job! And guess what? You were the *only* one on Twitter who recommended a grinder back in response to me. I got few more replies on Facebook, but none on Twitter...
If we are affiliate marketers, and the basic premise of affiliate marketing is that we earn a commission for driving traffic to a *relevant* merchant... then aren't we self-haters when we complain that someone provides us with an affiliate link?
Now someone pushing ebook affiliate links all day long is another story. But tweeting a legit offer no matter what the product is, I have no problem with.
Affiliate marketing, at its core, is built on WOM word of mouth which is trust. You have tons of it.
I've done surveys and polls on this topic for years now and most recently spoken with top bloggers about this issue. The results? Nobody cares if trusted sources use affiliate links. In fact, my studies have shown that readers/visitors actually prefer to "help out" people they trust by using their affiliate links (or tip jars for that matter).
Ask any top blogger, as I did, about how affiliate marketing plays into their monetization plans for 2009 and beyond, and they'll all tell you that it is quickly becoming the #1 method behind sponsorships. It's currently at a close second. Why? Trust.
Ask them also how many people complain about it and they'll tell you 1%.
Now, I'm going to go buy that coffee thing from your link. :)
Twitter tends to be used for a mixture of business and personal reasons. I personally post updates about programs we manage all the time. By the same token, I also post about going to the gym and having Valentine's dinner with my wife. How you use the mediums available to you is your personal decision. Again, if people are interested, they will follow. Life and business are not black and white, nor are they mutually exclusive of one another.
My Saeco Magic DeLuxe superautomatic, which I bought while still at Be Free (!) is finally giving up the ghost. Do you use a superautomatic? If so, which and what do you like/dislike about it?
Also, if you're solving a problem, what's the issue?
In this case, I see it as Scott was providing assistance and happened to include an affiliate link. His Tweet didn't exist just to have an affiliate link in it.
Money changes everything.
There are many points on which someone could suspect a bias. Affiliate links are only one of many.
You also failed to reveal that you own stock in KitchenAid and a family member of yours works for them. ;)
Good points. Affiliate links just happen to be a visible bias if you know what you're looking for, so it's easy to get put off by them.
Posting affiliate links should be determined per situation.
If tracking based on some other type of tracking, would we still be having this convo?
I have mentioned before that when you promote something, you're putting your personal rep behind it.
Recommend something dubious and your rep might get shot from one lousy recommendation.
A number of shopping comparison sites, coupon sites comprise nothing but affiliate links, but on a deeper value, they need to provide some kind of value.
In this case if you've used the machine, it does what it's supposed to and more, and you make a couple of bucks recommending it, I don't see why all this stuff should be factoring in.
As with any other potential advertising medium, there will be spammers, and there will be genuine good advertising. I think you fall into the latter category in this case.
Affiliate marketing exists solely to build brand and revenue through bringing in consumers ready to buy. Ignoring Twitter would be folly, just like ignoring Facebook would be.
You also have to remember that most of your followers are most likely affiliates, and therefore aware of what you are doing. 99.9% of people wouldn't be. Therein is the real bonus to the merchant, and the real danger to the consumer. If you really didn't like the coffee maker, it's problematic for the buyer.
Since you do own it. No problem.
It's a problem that extends beyond affiliate marketing, and really lies with word of mouth advertising. It's a question of intent. Am I doing this to make money as the root reason, or is the commission incidental?
As with any other potential advertising medium, there will be spammers, and there will be genuine good advertising. I think you fall into the latter category in this case.
Affiliate marketing exists solely to build brand and revenue through bringing in consumers ready to buy. Ignoring Twitter would be folly, just like ignoring Facebook would be.
You also have to remember that most of your followers are most likely affiliates, and therefore aware of what you are doing. 99.9% of people wouldn't be. Therein is the real bonus to the merchant, and the real danger to the consumer. If you really didn't like the coffee maker, it's problematic for the buyer.
Since you do own it. No problem.
It's a problem that extends beyond affiliate marketing, and really lies with word of mouth advertising. It's a question of intent. Am I doing this to make money as the root reason, or is the commission incidental?
Edit: I just read your Disclosure policy here. I could have saved a lot of time :)
(a) it is a product you own or have experience with
(b) you know the person you are twittering too
(c) you aren't spending all day long sending affiliate links
Adam
I know a few people who own restaurants. Often I am asked for recommendations, I encourage to tell the owners of restaurants I suggest that I sent them in. Hopefully it will get them a decent table and service and maybe some money off the bill, it will also enhance the service I get next time I go there. If I start to recommend them based on who gives me the biggest backhander it no longer is a recommendation and people will soon stop asking for them.
I think it's cool. should be encouraged, it won't affect my decision to buy or not to buy.
Thank You
No different than a blog. Readers have the choice of clicking or not. Always an option either way. Personally, if I liked the product and decided to buy it, I would not clear any cookies and buy with my link. I would give Jangro the sale.
Affiliates should be honest, but many are not.
I don't see a problem with offering up an affiliate link if you have used the product and just want to spread the word and make a bit of money for your effot, but lately, there has really been in increase in people opening multiple fake accounts and sending tons of automated tweets with affiliate links.
I agree that everyone has the choice to click on a link or not, but its frustrating trying to sift through all the affiliate tweets to get to the ones that have good information.
As the author of Advanced Twitter Marketing, let me state right up front that I post a lot of affiliate links on Twitter, and retweet a lot of other people's links as well. But it's important to remember that each person creates their own Twitterverse based on whom they choose to follow. I chuckle when I see comments like 'trying to sift through' - you only see the tweets from those you chose to follow, and can always unfollow them anytime.
Almost every usage for Twitter is legit as long as people are upfront about it - those who want to use it for business purposes and those who want to discuss what their kids had for breakfast are equally relevant to their own following.
My advice is simply to follow those you think have the same interests as you, and fine tune it as you see what each person tweets. Then just be yourself and let your followers do the same.