I was promoting one particular product for the better part of a year and was doing very well. Only recently did I begin to notice my sales dry up while sending the same amount of traffic to the publisher's page. The only difference I've noticed is that the publisher added an opt in list with a month of free whatever as a gift. Anyone else have bad experiences with publishers adding opt in lists?
Nope. Opt in lists actually help my sales. They allow me to get commissions from customers who decide to buy later on.
If the publisher is honest they can really boost sales, but if they overwrite your cookie then this is obviously bad and this sounds like what has happened - if you see an opt-in it is always best to signup and see what you receive and see if the links back to the site are natural links, or if they have other hoplinks attached to them. Right now I would contact the vendor and let them know youll be leaving, and redirect your traffic to a rival program and hopefully word will get out that affiliates are not happy with this
I just signed up for the mailing list and tried to purchase the product in the first email. Although my ID wasn't in the URL of the publisher page like it is if I visit it through one of my own links, when I went to the purchase link at the bottom I found my ID on the bottom of the next screen for the affiliate= section, so I assume if I bought I'd get the credit. If someone clears their cookies and later purchases through a subsequent email, will I still get credit via the email, or is it all wiped clean at that point?
most programs are good with opt-ins so they will help you. but there are a few bad apples out there who will steal your customer when they buy later on. How i find out, i go to the site through my link, opt-in and then after about 7 emails from them, buy. If i get credit i continue and if not, i return the product with a nice little note to them for stealing my sale. I also copy Clickbank on this so they can see what the vendor is doing. not sure if it helps at all but better than saying boo to them.
Just cleared cookies and accessed page through the email again. My ID is gone. Guess that was just wishful thinking. So basically we're hoping people won't clear their cookies before they opt to buy but it's likely that they won't wipe their cookies so even by the 4th email if they decide to buy I'll still get credit for a sale I started working on weeks ago? Basically my question is if I clear my cookies are they supposed to reinstate your affiliate id with each time a customer opens a mailing list email and accesses the publisher's page? Obviously it didn't happen with this publisher, I just didn't know if that was supposed to happen or again just my wishful thinking?
The whole system is cookie based, if they wipe their cookies and come back and buy you will not get the sale - this is how the whole system works and isn't down to the vendor being manipulative. The customer vists the vendor Picks up a cookie As long as that cookie is present then you will get the sale. If they wipe their cookies you will not, if they purchase through a different browser you will not, if they purchase from a different computer you will not. You don't need to buy, you can just visit the order page and at the bottom there is some text saying "affilite = blah" if your clickbank ID is there then you will get the sale, if it says = none then they have wiped their cookies, or if there is another affiliate ID they have either picked up someone elses cookie, or the vendor has replaced this -but you can test this by wiping your cookies and clicking vendor links from the newsletter and seeing what displays at the bottom.
Most people don't clear their cookies. I don't know, but I'm not that worried about. Just diversify your affiliate products and don't rely on just 1 -2 products to earn you commission. Then gradually weed out the ones that are not bringing you sales. Stop worrying.