An Aspect Of Affiliate Marketing That May Lead To Higher Conversions
It’s not that I usually spend a lot of time checking my stats, but I figured that just for the hell of it I would take a look at a couple of my more active affiliates to see how they were tracking. I chose Commission Junction and ClixGalore and what I found wasn’t really all that surprising. So far this month Commission Junction reported 27,280 impressions which resulted in 55 clicks and ClixGalore reported 10,456 which resulted in 172 clicks.
It wasn’t the fact that ClixGalore resulted in more clicks per impression that intrigued me as much as not one of those clicks resulted in a sale. While I don’t spend a whole lot of time marketing my affiliates I know that there are a lot of bloggers out there that do and I was wondering what their conversion rates were. I figured that I could expect at least a 10% conversion rate which should have resulted in at least 22 sales or leads but to come up with an empty slate lead me to wondering why.
You would think that a person would only click on a link that was of some interest to them and that by doing so the person that sent them there virtually had their foot in the door. So, all the hard work has been done to lead the prospective buyer to a product and yet no sale is made. There seems to be one of three reasons for the lack of a sale.
- He hasn’t quite made up his mind to a purchase so he may actually do so at a later date.
- He was never really interested and only clicked out of curiosity.
- The landing page was not good enough to convert to a sale.
I know when I choose an affiliate I usually pick one that I find interesting or one that I believe would be of interest to others. I usually don’t actively promote them unless, like the FlexSqueeze Theme, it’s one that I truly believe in. The thing is, should we, as part of our marketing regime, also be looking at the landing page of the affiliate? After all, what is the point of doing all that work if it’s going to be wasted because the landing page is of such poor quality that no-one in their right mind would buy from it? I suppose it’s akin to a shopper that walks into a dark, dingy dirty shop and then turns right around and walks out.
Anyway, I was wondering what you guys think. Do you ever look at the landing page to see if it’s worth the effort of all that hard work?
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Tagged with: Affiliate marketing • Landing page • Marketing
Filed under: opinion
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I’ve been wondering the same thing, Sire. Supposedly, one should be making a sale at least every 100 clicks, but that doesn’t seem to hold true for our field. Part of it makes me wonder if the reason we don’t make sales is because everyone else is in the field with us, and, at a certain point, some of these items seem familiar. And yet, Commission Junction items should offer something different for most people.
Of course, you have me looking around on this blog wondering where your CJ ads are.
Mitch´s Last blog post..Where My Traffic Comes From
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Ben Pei from Make Money Online Reply:
March 24th, 2009 at 3:30 am
Yup conversions are at 1% most of the time.. Depending on how big your list or potential leads is.. The number of people buying would definitely differ.
Ben Pei´s Last blog post..Ben Pei’s No Brainer Blog Contest
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Hi Mitch, even at that rate I should have made at least two sales. As for my Commission Junction ads, I haven’t actually had time to implement them on the new theme yet but they’re not too far away. I will be using OIOpublisher to display my them but I have a few things to do first before I implement them. I don’t know if I will go as far as checking landing pages, at least not until I have more time on my hands.
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Mitch Reply:
March 24th, 2009 at 1:47 am
I’ll wait to see what they look like on your blog before I think about doing it on mine; I’m talking about the OIO thing. For now, I’ve removed a couple of the CJ ads from my site that I didn’t feel fit what the blog is mainly about.
Mitch´s Last blog post..Is Alexa Relevant Again?
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It’s like they say Mitch, ask and thou shall receive. Just did it quickly. You can configure it to display as many ads as you want. I chose the 3×2 configuration. Didn’t really take too much time with the affiliates displayed so I may change them at a later date.
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Mitch Reply:
March 24th, 2009 at 2:20 am
Okay, I’m still missing it; which ads are they?
Mitch´s Last blog post..Is Google Reading Your Robots.txt File?
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Sire Reply:
March 24th, 2009 at 2:23 am
It’s the three just above the YouTube Video, with the three empty slots which will give three lucky people the chance to advertise on this blog. The whole process is completely automated.
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Mitch Reply:
March 24th, 2009 at 2:29 am
Ah; see there, I never knew those were CJ ads, though I should have as I now see the link types.
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Most simple of all, ask yourself if you would buy the product when you land on the page and thats probably the same reaction you get with many others.
Ben Pei´s Last blog post..Ben Pei’s No Brainer Blog Contest
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Sire Reply:
March 24th, 2009 at 3:32 am
That’s just the thing Ben, I don’t believe that most people bother to check out the landing page.
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I have checked out most my affiliate programs, and they seem really good. If I were in the purchasing mood, I would buy from them. I think it may be like Mitch said – most people who come to our sites are used to seeing the same affiliates, and it may make for a blind eye towards them.
~ Kristi
Kikolani´s Last blog post..Fetching Friday – Motivation and Inspiration
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Sire Reply:
March 24th, 2009 at 11:47 pm
Seeing as how you are always so organized Kristi, I am not surprised that you check out all, sorry most, of your affiliates. Must be something to do with belonging to the fairer sex.
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As I delve more and more into AM, landing pages are on the top of my list of things to check before promoting. Any affiliate worth his/her weight will say they are KEY.
My (our?) buddy Alex has recently a bunch about it recently.
Dennis Edell´s Last blog post..3 Secrets to Writing for the Search Engines
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Sire Reply:
March 24th, 2009 at 11:50 pm
Are you on the booze mate as that last sentence makes no sense whatsoever. I reckon you must of missed out a word or two.
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I’ll tell you that some people are just inquisitive and have no real intention of buying anything; bit of a pain for you,I guess.
Cheers
Peter
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Sire Reply:
March 25th, 2009 at 12:07 am
Damn those window shoppers huh Peter. Still, as most cooking last a little while they may come back to buy at a later date so all hope is not lost.
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I think you need to be careful with CJ and Clixgalore (and clickbank for that matter).
Their merchants don’t necessarily track statistics particularly well, in my experience, so even if you ask them for help, in a lot of cases they CAN’T help you, even if they wanted to.
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Sire Reply:
March 25th, 2009 at 12:16 am
I’m not too worried about them tracking statistics as long as they track sales. Do you think that perhaps they are failing in that particular area?
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Narzuty Reply:
April 2nd, 2009 at 7:44 am
I’ve heard about the problems with tracking statistics as well. My friend actualy send couple emails to them about it recently but as of yet they haven’t replied. However he’s never had any problems with tracking sales so I guess you have nothing to worry about.
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Sire Reply:
April 3rd, 2009 at 3:53 am
True, as long as you know you’ve made a sale you should be able to followup the commission.
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Hi Sire,
If after a hundred clicks there are no sales, I remove from my advertising campaign. I won’t waste time advertising or promoting a non-profit maker. If I particularly like or use the product or service I may reconsider.
I have one now where I am only making a sale in every 200-250 clicks, but I believe in the product 100%, so I am going against my golden rule.
I must say your page impressions aren’t anything to go off…they’re probably me!
Geoff Evans´s Last blog post..Affiliate Marketing and Multiple Streams of Income
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Sire Reply:
March 25th, 2009 at 12:24 am
Hi Geoff, thanks for taking the time to comment. Those impressions I mentioned in the post are for multiple affiliates not just one. If they were for just the one I reckon I would have tried a different affiliate before now.
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I would be afraid that you are not getting credit from the vendor. A friend of mine used my site to connect to hostgator and set up a new account…but OF COURSE, hostgator said that he did not come from my affiliate link. That really turned me off. We will see, but they said it will be made right. I’ll let you know.
The Almost Millionaire´s Last blog post..Franchising For Cash Flow
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Do any of you all think you have ever been screwed out of a commission?
The Almost Millionaire´s Last blog post..Franchising For Cash Flow
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Mitch Reply:
March 25th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
I am right now, and I’m going through Commission Junction trying to get my money. They don’t handle it themselves; it comes from the seller.
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Sire Reply:
March 25th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
So, does that mean that you know for a fact that someone clicked on your link, made a purchase and they do not recognize the fact. That’s bullshit. If I knew that CJ were doing that I would drop them for sure.
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Mitch Reply:
March 25th, 2009 at 11:41 pm
Yes, I know that for a fact, Sire. I know who bought the items because I sent her specific links. She allowed me to use her name, give the tracking number of what she ordered, price, etc. I sent that to both the company she bought the items from, then Commission Junction itself. I’m still waiting for an answer, but CJ said it’s up to the advertisers to pay, but they’ll keep an eye on what transpires. However, they also said it could take a couple of weeks; that part I feel is bogus, but what can I do, other than, at some point, possibly drop this company? But right now, if those sales go through, I’ll make a nice chunk of change, as she purchased a third item this week of almost $200; and I sent her that link also.
Mitch´s Last blog post..Where My Traffic Comes From
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Sire Reply:
March 26th, 2009 at 12:35 am
That sucks Mitch. Still, hopefully they will sort it all out. I’d really like to know the out come. Even though I have that $100 in the system since December, I still haven’t had a payment. ClixGalore on the other hand is a lot more regular as long as you’ve reached the minimum level for payout.
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Mitch Reply:
March 26th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
I hope so also, Sire; don’t make me have to drive down there and pimp-slap someone.
Mitch´s Last blog post..Sites You May Not Know About
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Bitch Slap someone Mitch? Now that is something that I would pay to see
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Mitch Reply:
March 27th, 2009 at 8:46 am
I said pimp slap; that’s where you do that backhand slap so that you don’t leave fingerprints. lol
Mitch´s Last blog post..Three Things To Share
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Sire Reply:
March 27th, 2009 at 8:53 am
So you did, now where the heck did I get bitch slap from
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Mitch Reply:
March 27th, 2009 at 8:58 am
I think your mind just went there, Sire. You’ve probably rarely heard my term, but the term you used is quite common these days.
Course, it could have been a Freudian slip from Kristi talking about kicking your behind!
Mitch´s Last blog post..Some Random Thoughts
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Sire Reply:
March 28th, 2009 at 2:01 am
Nah, I reckon as far as Kristi was was concerned, it was just a bit of wishful thinking
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I hope so for your sake; she IS from Georgia after all. lol
Mitch´s Last blog post..More Stuff You Probably Missed – Ten Plus One
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Sire Reply:
March 28th, 2009 at 2:42 am
I’m am Aussie remember Mitch, what exactly does being from Georgia signify?
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Mitch Reply:
March 28th, 2009 at 8:55 am
Southern women are either very tough or very demure. So, being from Georgia means she could very well be capable of kicking your behind! lol
Mitch´s Last blog post..More Free Ebooks On Internet/Forum Marketing
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