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thousands of clicks but no sales for amazon affiliate on twitter

by selleriu
11 replies
I'm using Twitter to advertise Amazon products.
Links to Amazon products with my associate tag have been clicked more than 10,000 times in the last few days (unique visitors) but there has not been a single sale generated.
Now, first of all, that seems a little unexpected, so I am wondering if there is something wrong the links or how they are being posted on Twitter. Basically what I did was get the share message using the Share on Twitter button while logged in as Amazon affiliate and I shortened the URL using the goo.gl URL shortner before posting the tweet myself.

For some details, first, in the reports, I've noticed that pretty much ALL the clicks are categorized as 'Other Clicks', specifically as 'Share' under 'Text Links' in Link-Type Report. So there are no 'Product Link' clicks (just 10), and I'm wondering if this is normal? Because the links are posted on Twitter, I'd think it's fine but I am not sure.

Second, does using the goo.gl URL shortner mess things up? Or does Amazon not allow me to use this shortner?

Now, granted the traffic is not targeted, but still, is getting over 10,000 clicks (from the US) but getting 0 sales in any way reasonable or possible? I've been trying to sell movie DVDs and toys, like the Frozen doll, which is a top seller.

P.S: Is it OK just building the URL manually rather than using the URL given by Share on Twitter button (which is kind of long)? For e.g. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C6Q1Z6E/?tag=<my associate tag>

Any insights to this would be very much appreciated.
#affiliate #amazon #clicks #sales #thousands #twitter
  • Profile picture of the author talfighel
    Originally Posted by selleriu View Post

    Now, granted the traffic is not targeted, but still, is getting over 10,000 clicks (from the US) but getting 0 sales in any way reasonable or possible?
    There is your answer right there. They are not targeted so you are wasting your time and money if you bought those un-targeted clicks.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by selleriu View Post

    Now, first of all, that seems a little unexpected
    Not to me. Sorry, but I'd really be extremely surprised, if you could make a sale that way.

    Originally Posted by selleriu View Post

    granted the traffic is not targeted
    So why would there be any sales, in that case?

    Please appreciate that I mean this helpfully only, but I think it would be appropriate for you to have a Big Strategic Rethink about "what actually makes people buy".

    Here's something else: it's a thread which explains clearly, and at some length, "how people make Amazon affiliate income". I don't suggest that it's necessarily exactly what you should copy, but the fundamental principles it shines light on will surely be both relevant and helpful to you: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post6608638

    It's not about "taking action". Not to start with, anyway: it's about "setting out in the right direction". Without doing that, it doesn't how matter how much action you take - 1,000 clicks, or 5,000 clicks, or 10,000 clicks, or 30,000 clicks: there still may not be a sale.

    .
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  • Profile picture of the author JensSteyaert
    I guess it simply means that nobody who clicked the link was planning to buy something on amazon that day.

    You could make the odd sale by sending loads of untargeted traffic to an offer, but that would be accidental. So make sure to only send targeted clicks of people interested in a paricualr product and you'll havemuch better results.
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    • Profile picture of the author selleriu
      Thanks a lot for the replies so far.

      So you guys think the issue is in the fact that the traffic is not really targeted.
      But just for more info, these people, they were not forced to click on this link. The tweet said what the product was and I think it even had a picture preview when you expanded the tweet so, I would think these people were at least somewhat curious or interested in the product.
      (Also, now that I think it, maybe the fact that these people would be using Twitter primarily on their mobile devices has something to do with the poor performance?)

      But anyway, so at this point I'd simply try to get some more untargeted clicks for now and see if I can get at least one sale generated. And if I can get up to 100,000 clicks but 0 sale, I'll let you know...

      And just for confirmation, so goo.gl shortened links are OK?

      Also, I wonder if someone can answer this question as well: So a person clicks on my link, and taken to the Amazon product page with my associate tag. Now, when that person closes the web browser, and then opens it again and go to Amazon.com, will it still track me as the affiliate seller when he buys an item within a 24-hour period?
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      • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
        Banned
        Originally Posted by selleriu View Post

        So you guys think the issue is in the fact that the traffic is not really targeted.
        No - I think the issue is that you haven't thought/learned about "what makes people buy (affiliate) products online", and because of that, you've tried something that probably won't work.

        The solution to that isn't just to "try more clicks".

        It's to think about/learn "what makes people buy (affiliate) products online", which is why I recommended this thread to you: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post6608638 , so that you can maybe set off in the right direction before taking any more action.

        Originally Posted by selleriu View Post

        so at this point I'd simply try to get some more untargeted clicks for now and see if I can get at least one sale generated.
        Then we can't help you, after all, it seems.

        Originally Posted by selleriu View Post

        And just for confirmation, so goo.gl shortened links are OK?
        I've never used them and wouldn't want to, but I've certainly seen many people here saying (as recently as yesterday) that they're notoriously unreliable.

        Originally Posted by selleriu View Post

        So a person clicks on my link, and taken to the Amazon product page with my associate tag. Now, when that person closes the web browser, and then opens it again and go to Amazon.com, will it still track me as the affiliate seller when he buys an item within a 24-hour period?
        That's the theory, yes.

        .
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        • Profile picture of the author selleriu
          Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

          The solution to that isn't just to "try more clicks".
          Well I just want to determine with certainty at this point whether the problem is with faulty links or just people not making a purchase..

          Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

          It's to think about/learn "what makes people buy (affiliate) products online", which is why I recommended this thread to you: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post6608638 , so that you can maybe set off in the right direction before taking any more action.
          Yes I've read this thread a little bit and I'll read some more. Thanks for the heads up. Coincidentally, my immediate goal is to make a 1000 a month

          Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

          I've never used them and wouldn't want to, but I've certainly seen many people here saying (as recently as yesterday) that they're notoriously unreliable.
          Unreliable? How do you mean? Do you mean it doesn't keep track of clicks properly or using it will sometimes not make it work with Amazon or?
          Is bit.ly any better?

          Thanks.
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          • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
            Banned
            Originally Posted by selleriu View Post

            Unreliable? How do you mean?
            Sorry - as I mentioned, I've never used it myself, and wouldn't. The search function is your friend (maybe).

            Originally Posted by selleriu View Post

            Is bit.ly any better?
            No; I think I can say fairly confidently that bit.ly is one of the very worst: The .ly domain space to be considered unsafe | :Ben Metcalfe Blog
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  • Profile picture of the author greenowl123
    Stay away from Bit.ly - I learned my lesson the hard way.

    Goo.gl is probably slightly better, but still not ideal.

    A better option would be to use a WP plug-in such as Smart Affiliate Links
    to track your clicks.

    Keep in mind an important fact : When using any of those URL shortening services,
    you are in effect "cloaking" or "re-directing" your Amazon affiliate links, which Amazon
    frowns upon...

    Proceed with caution.
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  • Profile picture of the author Masondavis
    I guess it simply means that nobody who clicked the link was planning to buy something on amazon that day.
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  • Profile picture of the author redbarronholdings
    seeing the same thing here. 11495 clicks in 3 days of twitter submissions using BUFFERAPP. the bufferapps shortens the url to its own buff.ly url...

    haven't seen SQUAT for sales yet oddly last month I had only 422 clicks and made $7.44 - until finding this thread I was scratching my head about the lack of results I was seeing... I too considered BOTS to be the culprit.

    to mix things up a bit I added some tweets pointing to a free ebook sign up via aweber ( thinking the multi step sign up would shake out the bots if they are involved ) no results yet but im watching!

    with 10 days until the holiday rush kicks in Im keen on getting this stuff ironed out

    as an aside: for clarity here amazon wouldn't HOLD BACK payment on tweeted affiliate links would they?
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