How long should your codes last to achieve your marketing goals?
Our dedicated code site, in common with others, has an admin back-end which makes it easy to add and remove codes which last anything from a few hours to many years.
Drip feeding affiliates with new codes periodically means extra coverage on dedicated code sites where new codes cycle through the home page but this can be at the expense of coverage on more content rich sites.
On our content sites, which do feature some codes, we generally don't add short term codes (codes which run for less than a month) because it's too much admin to add/remove them unless you're a blue chip merchant which we know converts well with a code.
Long running codes will attract the most coverage but after the initial burst of visitors from dedicated code sites they tend to "go stale" and you're left with residual sales from contextual placement - which may be exactly what you're looking for.
"Code flooding" can be counter-productive! For example when we get a batch of new codes for one merchant we're not going to list them all on the home page (although some code sites do) so their impact is reduced.
Confronted by a dozen new codes for one merchant or one code each from a dozen different merchants guess which ones we're going to add first?
We have even been known to ignore merchants which flood us with codes, especially if that merchant doesn't convert very well.
Issue Your Codes Intelligently
We've been running codes for over seven years which means we're more experienced than almost all the affiliate marketing network staff or marketing agencies when it comes to codes yet only a few merchants have ever asked our advice.
Codes can be an extremely powerful marketing tool or a costly mistake if you get it wrong so don't issue a code until you have a clear idea what you're trying to achieve. Are you looking to generate a higher average basket value, clear some stock, raise awareness of your brand, etc.
A good general strategy would be to issue both short and long term codes which run concurrently. As we've already explained there are pros and cons to bear in mind.
Consider issuing a long running code so affiliates always have a "base offer" to promote. Once we have created a merchant page and added your code it is going to rank on the search engines so we're going to have to put something on that page even when there are no codes available. A good base offer could be as simple as free delivery.
Top up the base offer with seasonal, monthly, weekly or irregular codes designed to support your carefully considered marketing goals - which leads me to merchant tip #3:
Product specific codes versus generic codes
Stay tuned...
Friday, 12 December 2008
What Has The Internet Advertising Bureau Ever Done For Me?
In discussions on the a4u forum over several years I've consistently only ever been interested in forming a group to represent affiliate interests - not any combination of merchants, networks and affiliates.
I never voted the IAB into existence yet it now controls how I run my business. All my business activities are and always have been within the law to the best of my knowledge yet come the new year my code sites must adhere to the IAB code site guidelines which will be enforced by the majority of the networks who (AIUI) paid for their vote on the IAB.
As it happens the guidelines are a pretty good first effort and I believe my sites are already compliant but that's not the point.
The IAB guidelines were put together with minimal involvement from established code site owners, for various reasons I'm not going into here.
As far as I can tell there is generally very little affiliate and merchant involvement with the IAB so it is effectively a QUANGO where affiliate networks and media agencies can talk shop with each other for their mutual benefit. That's OK so long as the IAB doesn't ever pretend it represents or speaks on behalf of affiliates.
Furthermore (AIUI) the right to vote in the decision making process effectively costs money so it will only ever serve the needs of its paying members and looking at the membership list I can't see any affiliates - please correct me if I'm wrong about this.
There are some people I respect involved with the IAB (Hero, Helen and Keith for starters) and if someone with a wealth of experience of affiliate marketing that affiliates can relate to and trust (i.e. James Little) had been appointed as Chairman I would have been much more likely to engage with the IAB.
The appointment of Ben Woods (never heard of him) who (AIUI) has no experience with affiliate marketing seems to be a compromise candidate - the least worst option - which isn't a good start for anyone involved with, or affected by, IAB decisions.
To answer my own question I'm hopeful the Code Site Guidelines will result in a level playing field for all affiliates and that the guidelines are enforced constructively to give every affiliate the opportunity to comply before sanctions are imposed.
I never voted the IAB into existence yet it now controls how I run my business. All my business activities are and always have been within the law to the best of my knowledge yet come the new year my code sites must adhere to the IAB code site guidelines which will be enforced by the majority of the networks who (AIUI) paid for their vote on the IAB.
As it happens the guidelines are a pretty good first effort and I believe my sites are already compliant but that's not the point.
The IAB guidelines were put together with minimal involvement from established code site owners, for various reasons I'm not going into here.
As far as I can tell there is generally very little affiliate and merchant involvement with the IAB so it is effectively a QUANGO where affiliate networks and media agencies can talk shop with each other for their mutual benefit. That's OK so long as the IAB doesn't ever pretend it represents or speaks on behalf of affiliates.
Furthermore (AIUI) the right to vote in the decision making process effectively costs money so it will only ever serve the needs of its paying members and looking at the membership list I can't see any affiliates - please correct me if I'm wrong about this.
There are some people I respect involved with the IAB (Hero, Helen and Keith for starters) and if someone with a wealth of experience of affiliate marketing that affiliates can relate to and trust (i.e. James Little) had been appointed as Chairman I would have been much more likely to engage with the IAB.
The appointment of Ben Woods (never heard of him) who (AIUI) has no experience with affiliate marketing seems to be a compromise candidate - the least worst option - which isn't a good start for anyone involved with, or affected by, IAB decisions.
To answer my own question I'm hopeful the Code Site Guidelines will result in a level playing field for all affiliates and that the guidelines are enforced constructively to give every affiliate the opportunity to comply before sanctions are imposed.
Monday, 3 November 2008
Code Tips for Merchant #1
DON'T issue your codes at the start of the month.
If you think about this for a moment it really is a no-brainer. Codes can make you many more sales and they're the perfect way to increase your media coverage so think about how your code is used on code sites.
As a code site owner I've just spent hours adding and updating all the codes issued on the first of the month. In common with many code sites on our code site new codes cycle through the home page which gets the most traffic BUT because everyone else's codes are also being added your codes fall off our home page often on the same day they are issued when there's a lot of new codes.
Merchant Code Tip #1
Reset your dairy and release your codes in the third week of the month. Not only will your codes stay on the home page much longer but people generally get paid towards the end of the month so it's a double whammy.
Stay tuned for more tips...
If you think about this for a moment it really is a no-brainer. Codes can make you many more sales and they're the perfect way to increase your media coverage so think about how your code is used on code sites.
As a code site owner I've just spent hours adding and updating all the codes issued on the first of the month. In common with many code sites on our code site new codes cycle through the home page which gets the most traffic BUT because everyone else's codes are also being added your codes fall off our home page often on the same day they are issued when there's a lot of new codes.
Merchant Code Tip #1
Reset your dairy and release your codes in the third week of the month. Not only will your codes stay on the home page much longer but people generally get paid towards the end of the month so it's a double whammy.
Stay tuned for more tips...
Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Click To Reveal Or Not?
Click to reveal is the burning question all code site owners, networks, merchants and non-code affiliates have at the top of their agenda at the moment.
Since the Expo there seems to be a consensus that Click to Reveal code sites are going to be outlawed in the short to medium term.
The interim position seems to be click to reveal is OK so long as there is a valid code but it's not a good place to be.
After the a4u Expo we burnt the midnight oil changing DCTV from a click to reveal site to "Hover to reveal code and click to copy code and visit site" which we think is best in class at the moment.
This method adds value to the visitor (because the code is copied to their clipboard which saves writing it down or remembering it) and it's not a forced click - the visitor is free to decide whether this convenience is worth the click or not.
Share your thoughts...
Since the Expo there seems to be a consensus that Click to Reveal code sites are going to be outlawed in the short to medium term.
The interim position seems to be click to reveal is OK so long as there is a valid code but it's not a good place to be.
After the a4u Expo we burnt the midnight oil changing DCTV from a click to reveal site to "Hover to reveal code and click to copy code and visit site" which we think is best in class at the moment.
This method adds value to the visitor (because the code is copied to their clipboard which saves writing it down or remembering it) and it's not a forced click - the visitor is free to decide whether this convenience is worth the click or not.
Share your thoughts...
Do You Want Your Code Site Listed?
Comment to this post telling me:
- Your code site URL
- How your codes are displayed (freely displayed, click to reveal etc)
- Unique features your code site offers
Code Sites Is Live
There are currently so many issues surrounding code sites I thought I'd put this site together partly to clarify the issues for myself and partly to give everyone the opportunity to disagree with me - shock horror!
In the codes niche I currently have a dedicated discount codes site which uses what I believe to be "best in class" hover to reveal code and click to copy code to clipboard and visit site technology, CantBarsed.com which is a shopping directory which also features promotional codes which are freely displayed for our visitors to cut and paste and I also have voucher-codes.co.uk which is an icodes site. Icodes has definitely made it possible for everyone to have their own code site which is really cool and the way it uses a shared database is a great idea.
Codes are no longer a niche, it's mainstream media news and the downside for the existing code site owners has been lots of new competitiors which means we're going to have to shape up or give up. Interesting times ahead!
In the codes niche I currently have a dedicated discount codes site which uses what I believe to be "best in class" hover to reveal code and click to copy code to clipboard and visit site technology, CantBarsed.com which is a shopping directory which also features promotional codes which are freely displayed for our visitors to cut and paste and I also have voucher-codes.co.uk which is an icodes site. Icodes has definitely made it possible for everyone to have their own code site which is really cool and the way it uses a shared database is a great idea.
Codes are no longer a niche, it's mainstream media news and the downside for the existing code site owners has been lots of new competitiors which means we're going to have to shape up or give up. Interesting times ahead!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
