12 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
12 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Interested in What Everyone Thinks of This, Please Give Me Your 2 Cents

by rbf738
10 replies
I'm writing about a niche with products sold through which Clickbank I promote, but I think it can apply to any product/niche/service.

I have been marketing products in a certain niche for almost a couple of years now and it's been traditionally good to me. It doesn't matter what niche I'm specifically referring to because this can apply to any niche. The point is that I was making good money with the first product I promoted in this niche, then found that my sales disappeared very quickly while I was maintaining the same traffic every day to my review page with no changes. This was about a year ago. I subsequently found that that product changed their main sales page to include nothing but an email opt in form and I didn't receive a single sale after a point. I then switched to promoting a near identical but newer program in the same niche which didn't have an email form and I started doing great again.

Well they recently (a couple of months ago) put an email opt in form at the top of their lander, one of those visit the site and it pops up type deals. They made the email sign up incentive really attractive, as well, and I can imagine most everyone that visits the site signs up for it and once they do that there's little reason to buy the product on their page while they're there that time. I found my sales dip again and Clickbank Analytics reflects that everyone's sales dropped over the same time frame because the product has lost half its gravity over the past 2 months, roughly the same time they implemented this opt in. This isn't a small drop, either, considering they were once well over 100.

I'm thinking this is in direct result to the opt in form rather than affiliates gave up promoting it. I believe that even with a greater number of customers signing up for the opt in from the publisher, over that time in which they receive the emails I know that cookies can get erased. I don't think anything sinister is going on like the publisher is taking the credit away from the affiliates, I believe losing credit for initially sending the customer to the sales page is just a gradual byproduct of the email list.

I understand how it seems like a good idea at first and building up a list is typically a good idea but they've got to realize that they lose good affiliates over time in this way. I'm about to do a search for a new product in this niche ideally without an opt in and see how things progress from there, but wanted to see what everyone else thought. I'm posting this at Warrior, as well, to see what everyone thinks of it.
#cents #give #interested #thinks
  • Profile picture of the author gvannorman
    I agree with you. Even though I have not sold anything from clickbank I do think that if someone signs up for an email list then they essentially lose the need to buy the product. And at the same time maybe the email opt-in form is driving away customers. I know that I am not a huge fan of spam, so when I see the opt-in forms on some websites, I click away. Because I really do not want to get a bunch of spam.

    So, with the feelings that I have toward this I think that you are losing sales because the buyers are clicking away and not signing up. But, I could be wrong. I just started in Affiliate marketing. I have 2 Amazon ads on my page.
    Signature
    My Fat Free Goal
    Buffalo Bills Opinions
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2251307].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Irnes Jakupovic
    I noticed the same thing and I never deal with any product that has an opt-in form on their sales page. I feel like it's a white hat way of taking another persons commissions.

    We all know how the low % of buying upon the first visit to a sales page can be but when you add something like a opt in with a free report it's like asking the person to leave the page now and come back later. Dropping an already low buy percentage to even less. Why buy the product right then when he can read an amazing free report on a related topic? I am willing to bet a lot of these marketers segment their list for leads that come in this way and later redirect them to buying their product through a non-clickbank method. So the clickbank affiliates do not get commission. I find it seriously shady and do not deal with it.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2251326].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
    It's hard to argue your point. Yes, a lot of merchants WILL lose many
    affiliates when they switch to an opt in form or simply go that route
    right away.

    On the flip side, the merchant may find (if they test) that overall, they make
    more sales by building a list and thus, getting 100% of the sale instead of
    just 25%, it doesn't pay for them to care about affiliates depending on how
    good THEIR marketing efforts are.

    Hopefully, each merchant tests this to see what's more profitable for them.

    If, however, they find that going the opt in route is MORE profitable, it makes
    no sense for them to cater to the affiliate.

    Sorry if this sounds cold, calculated and mercenary, but this is a bottom
    line business.

    Now, if they do this without knowing that they'll get more sales and more
    money, then they're just plain stupid.

    But we, as affiliates, will have no way of knowing if this is the case or
    not. Thus, we have 2 choices.

    1. Promote the product
    2. Don't promote the product

    Expecting the merchant to change what they're doing is futile.

    For one of my products (one of the few I have left with Clickbak) I send
    people to an opt in page and then they get redirected to the sales page
    so the affiliate gets a fair crack at them.

    But make no mistake about this...I get more sales on my own than from
    affiliates, so taking away the opt in page makes NO sense for me.

    Hopefully, you understand this.

    It all comes down to what's best for the person creating the product.
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2251330].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Dan C. Rinnert
      One option is for merchants to provide affiliates with a special page they can promote; one without the opt-in form. That way, the merchant can continue to reap the benefits of having affiliates, while not driving them away with an opt-in form that may reduce the affiliates' conversions.

      On the other hand, sometimes the use of affiliates can be overrated. I have products on which my sales are equal to or higher than that of my affiliates. And I hardly do anything to promote them; initially so as not to be competing against my own affiliates. And none of the affiliates has even subscribed to my affiliate list, so if I were to add an opt-in form to my site and setup a special page without it that affiliates could promote, I would have little means of notifying them.
      Signature

      Dan's content is irregularly read by handfuls of people. Join the elite few by reading his blog: dcrBlogs.com, following him on Twitter: dcrTweets.com or reading his fiction: dcrWrites.com but NOT by Clicking Here!

      Dan also writes content for hire, but you can't afford him anyway.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2251385].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
        Banned
        [DELETED]
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2251581].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author rbf738
          Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

          Many affiliates (including, in my opinion, the 10% of affiliates likely to achieve 90% of the vendor's affiliate sales), having produced the potential customer through their skills, experience, time, effort, energy and money, understandably feel pretty strongly that the potential customer (if opting in at all) should be on their list, not the vendor's list.
          Very good points made throughout that post. Many of these products rely mostly or entirely on affiliate marketing to promote their businesses and in those cases to not put the affiliate first is like shooting yourself in the foot, the head, and several other places.

          I agree with the fact that the vendor obviously should do whatever they like, it's their product so of course these are their decions to make. But they've got to realize that it's not ideal for affiliates and they shouldn't expect their affiliates to stick around to help their business any longer.

          I think that's clearly reflected as an example in this one product which I mentioned and how its gravity has been plummeting ever since they implemented the change. Something's seriously not right with that, whether you want to make the argument that affiliates are bailing because of the opt in or that commissions aren't being awarded correctly because of it, either way it's not good.
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2252526].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author rosetrees
      Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim View Post

      On the flip side, the merchant may find (if they test) that overall, they make
      more sales by building a list and thus, getting 100% of the sale instead of
      just 25%, it doesn't pay for them to care about affiliates depending on how
      good THEIR marketing efforts are.....................

      Hopefully, each merchant tests this to see what's more profitable for them.

      If, however, they find that going the opt in route is MORE profitable, it makes
      no sense for them to cater to the affiliate.............
      Of course, that depends where their visitors are coming from. If it's affiliate driven traffic and the affiliates change products - bye bye profits.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2251554].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author defaultuser
    Affiliate marketing is an interesting animal. On one hand done right it pays very well. On the other hand you can spend a lot of time doing a ton of work with no results.

    I feel eventually each affiliate marketer needs to produce their own product. It gives you more control and helps you understand internet marketing in general.
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2252554].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author PaulBaranowski
      I lost so much time on this awhile ago before i discovered what was the cause of the problem.So yeah,steer clear of the sales pages with the vendor's opt-in - that is time killed and money lost.

      cheers
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2252624].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Authentic
    I find this very interesting. I know every time I hit a sight with an opt-in, if I add my name and email, I do just leave it at that, thinking that more info will probably come since they have my info. Or, if it is just a valueless opt-in, I just leave because I see it as just a ploy to get my info and bombard me with email promos. So, that is a consumer's view.

    I think if you have control over the opt-in form and list, then you are able to follow up. This is what I am able to do. But if the opt-in is being fielded by someone else, it does cut you off.
    Signature

    Authentic!

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2252590].message }}

Trending Topics