Broadbanned Comparison
Posted under: What is it with broadband companies and affiliate programs! We can’t promote Virgin Broadband via Buy.at as we didn’t do enough sales. We can’t promote NTL via Buy.at as although our links are still active – sales that go through to Virgin via the cross tracking will be lost as … yes we can’t promote Virgin. Today we’ve now found out we’re no longer permitted to promote Tiscali – the reason being “our conversion rate isn’t high enough”! Eh?
Apparently we were told about this! I don’t recall seeing it and I think I’d remember as I’d have been equally annoyed by the reasoning then as I am now. When did conversion rate affect whether a merchant would pay you? It wasn’t as though our links were stopped either… so the handful of sales aren’t being paid (as yet) because the conversion rate doesn’t meet someone’s bean counting decision.
Just when did affiliate marketing become such a disaster? I don’t know how many years we’ve promoted Tiscali via competition links mainly (hence the low conversion), but also through broadband offers. Ok, it’s not big cash, but why suddenly is it no longer acceptable? Does it upset someone’s numbers and target percentages? Is it just a decision for “something to do”? Are other programs going to have set levels for payment (convert at 5% and we’ll pay you, 4.9% and there’s nowt for you matey!).
I have been offered the opportunity to talk the account manager, but heck what is there to say. Our opinion on the matter wasn’t deemed to be required before the decision was taken, so gawd knows what difference it’ll make anyway.
Anyway rant aside we now have a broadband offers page with just two broadband companies – not much opportunity for comparison now is there! We can’t develop the area, we can’t push on and try and generate traffic for the section and in the end the best option is switch to an PPC content unit and can any interest in developing anything broadband wise… after all it’s not like we have an audience who use computers is it??
“after all it’s not like we have an audience who use computers is it??” LOL it’s madness mate, if Tiscali had the “our conversion rate isn’t high enough” policy when I was the number 1 Affiliate for making sales for them many moons ago, then I would never have made them 100′s and 100′s of broadband sales as like you my main traffic is competition and free stuff related have over 1/4 million users who funnily enough all need to be online to use my sites.
Merchants if your reading, it all boils down to 1 thing, MONEY, and if you making it. Having a higher percentage of active Affiliates by removing inactive ones is as clever as removing Affiliates who make you sales but the traffic isn’t converting as well as others, what is it costing you in the end.. Nothing! Not a bloody thing, so wake up and get your face out the “statistics that mean nothing†hole so many of you are digging for yourself. Gee Wiz you would think it was CPM and not CPA they are paying for.
[...] Following yesterday’s blogpost further information has emerged about why we’re no longer accepted as a Tiscali affiliate. Although we do leads through the program, the leads don’t go on to become “genuine sales” – the internet equivalent of British Rail’s wrong kind of snow. [...]