Should We Ignore Voucher Code Cookies?

[aotagain]

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I've done my best business by far with adding discount codes to unique content.

Do you think that's because your site is then differentiated from the code sites because of the content and therefore your visitors are likely to trust it more, stay and use your code link rather than go off to check if there's any better codes ? Thats what it sounds like.

I'm just wondering if its product dependent. In electricals (for example) I imagine everyone knows there might be other codes about to find.

[getvisible]

Do you think that's because your site is then differentiated from the code sites because of the content and therefore your visitors are likely to trust it more, stay and use your code link rather than go off to check if there's any better codes ? Thats what it sounds like.

I'm just wondering if its product dependent. In electricals (for example) I imagine everyone knows there might be other codes about to find.

I think you've hit the nail on the head!

but about being product dependant I may agree with you. The products I generally promote are the ones that people "want" but not necessarily "need". They're "latest products" or "hot new" type things where hyperbole is a great deal of the "experience" that people are looking for.

My market may be youth to late 30's and it work very well there. I'm not sure about other demographics.

[potter_gold]

I don't think a blanket ban would work - I personally think that networks should start to record and report on the full affiliate purchase cycle (i.e. how many affiliates and which affiliates are involved on the sale) and then look at potentially (and it's a big potentially) allowing merchants to look at ways in which they can reward different affiliates based on their input into the sale.

It's a big can of worms for sure, but I can see it coming into play in Q4 08 / early 09...

Thanks
James

This is a great point James, and surely good businesses are monitoring this already....

Ive got a quick question. What happens in the affiliate world if I had a content site advertising a product. Today i promote a certain merchant to a customer and they follow a link from my site to a merchant and I get a cookie. Then the following day a customer types into google the name of the site i suggested to them the previous day and the customer clicks on a "GOOGLE SPONSERED ADD" the sponsored add is one their own Marketing team manage.

Would i be paid on this or would it be assigned to their marketing/web team??

[potter_gold]

Sorry something else in terms of my experience a month ago.

A month ago I was going to buy my wife GHD Hair Straightners. When i got into the cart I saw they offered the ability to enter a Voucher code. So i searched for one. Having been on as many voucher code sites i could find, not one voucher code was in date. I still bought the hair straightners, but who got paid? Im guessing not the original site that supported me getting to the site, but one of the under handed voucher code sites promoting out of date codes???

[loquax]

The products I generally promote are the ones that people "want" but not necessarily "need"

But if they already want the product how are you adding value to the sales process.... they've already decided that they want it

:-P

Naughty Jason

[mypickers]

Sorry something else in terms of my experience a month ago.

A month ago I was going to buy my wife GHD Hair Straightners. When i got into the cart I saw they offered the ability to enter a Voucher code. So i searched for one. Having been on as many voucher code sites i could find, not one voucher code was in date. I still bought the hair straightners, but who got paid? Im guessing not the original site that supported me getting to the site, but one of the under handed voucher code sites promoting out of date codes???

Good point. I get really frustrated with sites that show out of date codes and was wondering why they dont just put a time constraint so they dont show up when they've expired (like on my site). Now I know!! (Dont worry, we're nice people who think about our users, so we wont be removing the time constraint!).

[GW-Sean]

But if they already want the product how are you adding value to the sales process.... they've already decided that they want it

:-P

Naughty Jason

OK... two thoughts... We all know that the customer mindset can be a tricky thing to work out - here's my 2p.

Merchant hat :

If a product is pretty generic (i.e. you can get the same thing from a load of different merchants), they yeah - if a customer see's that there is a discount on offer from one merchant and not another, they'll shop there (unless there is some sort of bad history between the customer and that merchant.... or they read some bad customer reviews etc.)... that way, an affiliate can add the value to a particular merchant by passing the word on a particular discount or sale

If the product is unique to a merchant or specifically branded - then the merchant doesn't need to necessarily offer a discount... if the customer wants that item - there is only one option! ...however, the merchant still needs to get that product in front of the customer in order to sell it - again...thats where you guys come in.

Voucher topic

1. The click to reveal thing is a problem to be honest- if it means dropping a cookie and the customer hasn't proceeded to the site, its an issue. Especially if the code they were actually looking for doesn't exist. :sneaky
   
2. The thing with voucher codes is that its all well and good for a merchant to offer them if they have analysed their own traffic and sales enough to make sure its profitable. There is no stopping the content guys from making use of the voucher codes if they're open to all. (shouldn't this prove to be better converting traffic?.... as a consumer I wouldn't bother looking elsewhere if I'd just read a review and found a discount all on one site)
   
3. Out of date discount codes wouldn't be as much of a problem without the "click to reveal" issue ... If a voucher-specific site is listing out of date codes (or listing programs with no code at all) - then to my mind they're shooting themselves in the foot anyway... it certainly puts me off when I've trawled through a site for no reason. another merchant may have a relevant code for a similar product. In some cases the customer may still buy on the spot, but I can't see it happening all that often after the disappointment of a code which didn't work.

I think as Hero said - each merchant needs to look at their own traffic to determine what works for them...and then be clear to affiliates on exactly what they need.

I've always been an advocate of more detailed tracking, and preferably allocating various commission levels to different stages in the buying process**

If a merchant can track a few stages in their sales process over a long enough period of time...surely there will be a trend, in which case the commissions for each stage and the ROI for the client can be assessed properly rather than the usual stab in the dark with assumptions.

Sorry for the essay....quite a few issues to talk about here! :blush

** e.g : Customer goes to PPC based on a TV ad, then to a content site, then to a voucher code, then makes their purchase

[befuddle]

Sean - I list hundreds of programmes that don't do voucher codes and for some of them I make a lot more sales and commission than for other merchants that provide me an exclusive code. There's nothing on my pages to imply there is a code for these types of merchants ... just straightforward brainwashing

I'm trying to think of an example that I won't mind people knowing about ... OK here's a good one ...

Boots Kitchen Appliances.

[GW-Sean]

Sean - I list hundreds of programmes that don't do voucher codes and for some of them I make a lot more sales and commission than for other merchants that provide me an exclusive code. There's nothing on my pages to imply there is a code for these types of merchants ... just straightforward brainwashing

I'm trying to think of an example that I won't mind people knowing about ... OK here's a good one ...

Boots Kitchen Appliances.

Fair point Ray... you don't seem to have a click to reveal, or any mention of a voucher code that isn't there - so I guess this would just be a level of customer loyalty having used your site ...or having found it and found that you've led them to the right place. You're listing a couple of products, and some relevant competitors - so its not ALL just a blag

[DavidCartlidge]

Whilst we wait for a 'solution' to code sites 'unfairly' taking the commission when they have not contributed to the sale, maybe we should reverse the standard and reward the first cookie dropped, not the last.

It seems that this would be 'fairer' at the moment as the odds are that a punter searching for the product is going to find the 'content site' before the 'code site'.

[potter_gold]

Whilst we wait for a 'solution' to code sites 'unfairly' taking the commission when they have not contributed to the sale, maybe we should reverse the standard and reward the first cookie dropped, not the last.

It seems that this would be 'fairer' at the moment as the odds are that a punter searching for the product is going to find the 'content site' before the 'code site'.

You will open another can of worms with that one!!

Does anyone know if its typical of a merchant to overide an affiliate sale if the final activity is from their own Marketing activity such as PPC etc.

[Hero]

Does anyone know if its typical of a merchant to overide an affiliate sale if the final activity is from their own Marketing activity such as PPC etc.

There are quite a few (ill-advised in my opinion) merchants who do that, yes

[dougs]

How about people who have a content site also list discount codes on the page...not a hard task....maybe we could build one????

Doug

[getvisible]

How about people who have a content site also list discount codes on the page...not a hard task....maybe we could build one????

Doug

I already have one (a few)

[Leeky]

We are currently developing a service to include 'voucher code ads' on affiliates websites which will be relevant to the page content. (using the icodes database)

Lee