Is this something that is normal for a publisher to do? I have been an affiliate for this publisher for about a year and a half and get regular sales on one of his books. When I checked my affiliate link the other day, instead of going to the normal pitch page for that book, it instead sent me to a page which is an opt-in to get their e-mail address -- not the normal pitch page for that book. (I have a review site and people are expecting to go to a sales and/or order page). The opt-in page reads as though when they submit their e-mail, they will get access to the site for that specific book, but instead it just sends them back to the same page after they enter their e-mail. I then checked to see what e-mail they sent me and it's just a generic e-mail with links at the bottom to click on several books, one of which is the book I am promoting, but when I clicked on that link -- right back to the same opt-in page. I did some testing on my affiliate link and clicked it several times and discovered that every third or fourth time, instead of going to the opt-in page, it goes to the old pitch page. I'm really confused and not sure whether to pause my campaigns. I'm still getting a few impressions on the order pages, but not nearly as many. I sent them an e-mail three days ago -- still no response. Does this sound like a publisher who is trying to do something unethical or is there some logical reason why they would be funneling traffic this way? As I said, I've had a long-standing relationship with them, I've made lots of sales, and it's a really good product with low refunds. Any advice would be most appreciated.
It's not unusual. Sounds like the vendor is split testing a new sales page if it only shows up every now and then. They might be trying to see if capturing emails leads to more sales, which is beneficial for you and them. They may just have set it up incorrectly by accident. Email the vendor and ask what's going on.
Yeah, probably not set up right. It's not unethical to use the opt-in The only thing that drew a red flag was the email they're sending out. If it has multiple products that require different hops that's a problem. You only cookied one product when you send traffic to the opt-in. If they're visiting the other products in the email there's no cookie for you, so no sale. Know what I mean? If it's all under the same product line but different item number that's okay. But a different product under a different ID = sales leak and no credit for sales. Bottom line though is whether the change has effected your sales.
I'm just wondering how do affliates make profit from opt in pages? like I see some items on clickbank where it's like enter your email to get a free ebook and they are paying affliates supposely 10-20 dollar per sale but how do you make a sale is it if they enter the email or what. its so confusing
Thanks for the replies. I'm going to wait it out a little and hope they respond soon. Sure hate to lose them. I can't imagine they would intentionally have it set up the way they do, either for themselves or for an affiliate. From the way their opt-in page is worded, they're obviously targeting those who have arrived there expecting to see something about that particular book, because it says to provide your e-mail and you'll gain immediate access to the site for that book. When I put in my e-mail, the next screen I get is the exact same screen with the opt-in again. And then the e-mail doesn't mention anything at all about that particular book -- it's actually promoting one of their other books. You have to go all the way to the bottom to find a very small link to the book I'm promoting -- and then it takes you back to the opt-in. I can't imagine how this could be beneficial for anybody. Oh, well. Not much I can do but wait to hear from them. Haven't had a sale since Friday, so it's definitely having a negative effect on things on my end. Again, thanks for the input.
How would an affiliate benefit from this? The publisher is building an email list and then presumably will try to sell the product through an email campaign. There is no tie in to the affiliate who sent him that customer who later bought from the email campaign, not unless the publisher is later tracking which affiliate got him that opt in. And in that case it's not CB doing the tracking. So do you trust a publisher to do that? I don't think so. I think you are getting ripped.
You're getting ripped off. He's building an opt-in email list for free using your traffic. No other way to look at it.
Thanks for all the replies. I've been having correspondence with the publisher. He says that his sales/marketing team has advised him to require the opt-in on all of his books. My problem is that I have a review site and my pages are optimized for the name of the book. Most of those people who come to my site have already been to his site, would have already opted in, and come to my site looking for more information (review) on the product before they buy. My affiliate link now sends them back to the same opt-in page, so they would have to go through the whole opt-in process again just to be able to buy the book. One note: I did test the opt-in page again myself and they have at least fixed the problem to where after the opt-in, it actually does go to the sales page, and when I clicked the order button, my affiliate ID was displayed. I sent an e-mail inquiring about the possibility of direct linking to the order page, bypassing the opt-in page. I don't know if that's possible or not. I know it used to be but I've never done it. Otherwise, I'll probably just have to shut down my campaign, because I can't imagine this being good for the affiliate at all.
You are wise to move on to something else. And let the publisher know about it, tell him it's a rip and you know it and so do other affiliates.
Hello, It's quite obvious that this Publisher is taking advantage of his Affiliates traffic to generate a Mailing List which will only profit him and no one else as he will get the sale and not you. Nick