[Jeff (FSO)]

Hi all-

This is certainly a newbie question. I have so many! We are a merchant/advertiser and have been live at CJ for about two weeks. We are noticing significant activity on one link. We've also added some coupon codes to respond to requests by some of our early sellers. When we created the coupon codes we created new links so we could see how the conversions differed with the coupon code. What we're seeing is that everyone is grabbing and using the 1st link they see we offer, (now very successful:-)), and then modifying as needed on their site.
I've sent the link ID/description in the message responding to their request but none are using it.

Is this common? Should I just let it go???

Any advice is appreciated. We want to support without arm-twisting.

Jeff

[christh]

Hi Jeff,

Speaking for myself here of course, but when starting with a new merchant I'll grab the link with the highest EPC (which sits at the top of the listings), and use that link for pretty much all my advertising. So you see, it's a perpetual cycle If there's another link that redirects to a different page for a seasonal promotion for example, I'll use that in addition/instead... But if all links point to the same page, I don't see any point in using a different link. CJ's site is so bloody slow at the best of times that for me at least, it's a case of running in, finding a link, putting the kettle on, then grabbing the a href code for the link.

That said, I do almost 100% use text links though, and generally write my own copy. Banners would of course be a different matter.

[Herb ԿԬ]

Originally Posted by christh

and then modifying as needed on their site.
I've sent the link ID/description in the message responding to their request but none are using it.

if you're talking about publishers re-writing the text on a text link to suit their needs there shouldn't be a problem unless you feel they are misrepresenting your company or product.

I do it a lot. Sometimes the text provided just doesn't fit the need and sometimes it is totally useless.

[Kellie aka Ms. B]

Herb, I think he's talking about affs grabbing the first text link (123 aid) but just using that link and replacing the text to reflect the coupon particulars instead of coupon link (456 aid). It's mucking up their ability to track their stats for the coupon codes.

Jeff, I think you are going to find this is a common thing. Or if you put out new coupons with their own new link, folks will just replace the text info and not get the actual new link (aid).

I've always looked at particular link EPC's as something far less than written in stone because of this.

[Gr_Sacc]

The way that my site is designed, it would be very cumbersome to have to use a different link for each offer.

[Jeff (FSO)]

Thanks for the detailed response christh and others.
This makes sense. I also realized the hard way that banners aren't really used by the sellers... 12 banners for nothing!

Jeff (FSO)

[Tracy]

I've found that banners rarely convert, so I'm in the process of taking them all down from my site. I use mostly individual item product links. As stated above, CJ is so slow, so I'll get one link, and then change the Product SKU number every time I need to redirect to a different product. Much faster and much easier.

[SSanf]

This is a losing battle so just accept it and give in gracefully. Sorry, but some things just ain't gunna change.

[Leader]

What the others said for the text links.

I also realized the hard way that banners aren't really used by the sellers... 12 banners for nothing!

It's too bad that hardly anyone is using your banners. Personally I hate it when a merchant doesn't have a good selection or if they never ever get new ones--so a large selection of banners would be a plus, in my book.

As for what I use them for, it's not to get people to actually buy through them, but mainly to provide a graphic for the page top on the sites where I don't have a logo. I've found that people expect there to be *some* kind of graphic up there, and that overall conversions are better if I have one--even though the actual buying happens through the text links 99% of the time. And I don't really like making logos so banners come in handy...just plunk in the code and the page-top graphics part is done.

[ecomcity]

Trust me ...tasteful banners are a necessity. If you have specific categories then make those banners reflect that category landing page they convert if used with pre-sell text spin. Now if you seek affiliate spammers for their tricks for clicks sites then just put up one text link with your company name or URL in it. That's all the spammers need and all any BHO requires for their merchant directory page.

Couponers do like a small logo banner to fake interest in a merchant's offerings and the landing pages can all be the Home Page on that one. Setting the cookie is job one for 90% of them, so if your coupons get automatically attached to the CJ link (no code need be entered) you'll do fine. If your cart requires hand entered code then expect a 80% cart abandonment rate and you'll find your first referral affiliate gets whacked on commissions as the Google/Yahoo coupon search engine kicks in to trash their pre-sell/qualifying efforts.

Even Overstock is amazed that their banners have come in 3rd, over all other link types generating reported sales, for years. Specific Product links come in #1 and are almost impossible to generate (time wise) with OS at Linkshare, unless your use the build-your-own link feature. Text links going to specific site sections with high conversion offerings come in a solid #2.