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Who Gets Credit for the Sale...

by Andrew Fox
7 replies
The first affiliate, or the subsequent one?

It makes umbilical sense to me that the original affiliate should be credited for the sale. After all, he introduced to the customer about the product a priori.

What's your take in this? I thought about it real hard and decided to promote programs that preferably credit the first affiliate.
#affiliate advertiser #affiliate marketing #credit #sale
  • Profile picture of the author danieldesai
    Originally Posted by Andrew Fox View Post

    The first affiliate, or the subsequent one?

    It makes umbilical sense to me that the original affiliate should be credited for the sale. After all, he introduced to the customer about the product a priori.

    What's your take in this? I thought about it real hard and decided to promote programs that preferably credit the first affiliate.
    That's a terrible idea because there are many instances where buyers are introduced to a product and go through multiple referrals to get to a point where they buy it.

    Here's another thing to consider; there are affiliates who work exceptionally hard at building a relationship with their email list, and some people may have only bought a product because of the recommendation of the person they're following.

    To credit the first affiliate for introducing a product but not necessarily being responsible for the customer making the decision to buy is incredibly unfair to someone who works hard at closing the sale (and is the actual reason the buyer made that decision).

    So no, it doesn't make much sense; "first touch" affiliate marketing sucks for people who build a real relationship with their list.

    Regards,
    Daniel
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  • Profile picture of the author Andrew Fox
    But Daniel...the first affiliate instigated the "branding effect" of the vendor who might also worked his way to converting as much as the last affiliate did.


    Here's a hypothetical "but real life" scenario:
    Joe cookied the prospect. Then the prospect went on and did a bit of research for the vendor because of the effort of the first affiliate. Then the sale was made and if it weren't for the first affiliate, the vendor in all odds wouldn't have a new customer sitting pretty on his list.
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    • Profile picture of the author danieldesai
      Originally Posted by Andrew Fox View Post

      But Daniel...the first affiliate instigated the "branding effect" of the vendor who might also worked his way to converting as much as the last affiliate did.


      Here's a hypothetical "but real life" scenario:
      Joe cookied the prospect. Then the prospect went on and did a bit of research for the vendor because of the effort of the first affiliate. Then the sale was made and if it weren't for the first affiliate, the vendor in all odds wouldn't have a new customer sitting pretty on his list.
      Often, that's not the case.

      Furthermore, that scenario assumes that the prospect is searching for more information on the product.

      What usually happens is that the prospect may get on someone's list (let's call him Frank) without the intention of buying any product... but because they end up trusting Frank's recommendation, then they buy.

      "Joe" did absolutely nothing in convincing the prospect to buy the product, and if he hadn't first introduced the prospect this wouldn't affect the fact that the prospect chooses to buy only because of Frank.

      In other words, this case is where the prospect wasn't searching for product information, even after Joe's introduction; the prospect didn't need Joe to introduce him because Frank would have done it anyway (and been successful at selling it, too).

      Regards,
      Daniel
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  • Profile picture of the author Eagle07
    Originally Posted by Andrew Fox View Post

    The first affiliate, or the subsequent one?

    It makes umbilical sense to me that the original affiliate should be credited for the sale. After all, he introduced to the customer about the product a priori.

    What's your take in this? I thought about it real hard and decided to promote programs that preferably credit the first affiliate.
    In Clickbank, when a purchase is made, the commission is awarded to the last affiliate who referred the customer to that particular vendor.

    This is the reason why I win in my review sites. When people search for reviews and end up on my optimized review sites, clicked on my affiliate link and go to the salespage then to the order page, I get the commissions.
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    • Profile picture of the author getbread
      If makes since the last person get credit for the sale, but maybe that is because we are all so used to it. Not sure how I would feel it it were different.

      Isn't hard to find programs that give credit to the original affiliate?
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  • Profile picture of the author Rob Whisonant
    It should always be the last person. The one that actually makes the sale. Here is an example.

    Person walks into store and asks if they sell blue widgets. The sales person says yes, they are on isle 5.

    Person goes over to isle 5 and a salesman over their shows and demonstrates the blue widget to the person. This salesman gives the person enough information to make the buying decision.

    Person buys the blue widget.

    Last salesman gets the commission.

    Also when you offer the first person the commission you end up with all the cookie stuffing scum coming out of the wood works.

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    Rob Whisonant
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  • Profile picture of the author kurttasche
    It should be the most recent affiliate, not necessarily the original one. I mean, let's say one of your subscribers saw a product being promoted by another affiliate, but they wanted to buy it through you because you've established a trusting relationship with your subscriber. It wouldn't be fair to you or your subscriber if they had to buy through the original affiliate.
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