Written on October 8th, 2008 at 10:10 pm by Darren Rowse
Affiliate Marketing on Twitter – Does it Belong?
What do you think about affiliate marketing on Twitter?
Lately I’ve noticed more and more affiliate marketers getting onto twitter. There’s been a real buzz about it actually in many internet marketing circles – almost like it’s the latest ‘new’ thing (I guess it is relatively new).
The unfortunate thing is that the model I’m seeing some internet marketers use on Twitter is quite spammy. Some have spammed Twitter so much directly that they’ve been booted off.
Today I got an email from Joel Comm. I’m one of his affiliates and have promoted some of his books and ebooks previously. We’ve met in person and I admire his knowledge of internet marketing greatly. However todays email didn’t really sit that well with me and I’d love to hear your opinion on it.
Joel is currently promoting an AdSense Secrets ebook. I actually like his writing on AdSense and some of what he teaches helped me a lot in the early days of getting into blogging.
I’ve promoted his AdSense stuff before and would probably do it again – but not in the way he’s asking his affiliates to do it this time.
The promotion he’s asking people to do is to Tweet a link to his book. Not only has he asked us to tweet about it (something I wouldn’t be anti doing to some extend) he’s given his affiliates a link to make the whole process automated.
All you have to do is click the link and it sets up a tweet in your own twitter account (if you’re logged in) and it embeds an affiliate link into the tweet automatically for you so you can earn money if people make a purchase of one of Joels products as a result of clicking on your link ($10 a month for each month they stay in his program).
Looking at Twitter Search just now it seems that his tactic is working – to some extent.
I wouldn’t call it a raging success (yet) but with 30 or so people tweeting about it (largely using the automated script Joel’s provided) there’s been some take up of it.
Now on some levels I don’t have a problem with Joel’s campaign. I am not against affiliate marketing, I’m not against promoting products in new media – however there’s something that has been playing on my mind about this all day.
To be honest I’m not completely sure why I don’t like it (as I say above I don’t have a problem with some of the principles behind it) but there’s something that doesn’t sit well with me about this.
Risky Behavior and Spam
I think one of my main problems with it is that it almost seems like Joels asking others to engage in a little risky behavior for him and putting them a little at risk. Twitter is pretty anti spam and while he’s not done it directly the search results do look quite spammy when you line them all up and see the exact same message over and over and over again. I wonder how Twitter will respond to this and who will suffer? Joel or those who tweet it?
Impersonal Marketing
Another thing that I am reacting against with this strategy is that the tweets Joel is suggesting seem very impersonal.
“Download Joel Comm’s Adsense Secrets For FREE! “
This just doesn’t resonate with me as the type of message that would do well on Twitter. A message out of the blue about someone encouraging a download. I’m not sure it’s where affiliate marketing is going online either.
My own experimenting with affiliate marketing over the last few years is that it works best out of relationship and trust with those that you recommend products to. I find that promoting products do best when you are able to give an honest review of them, when you’re able to tell people who they are best suited for etc
This is actually why I think blogging is an ideal message for affiliate marketing. It’s a great place to build trust, fully review a product and give a balanced recommendation – 140 or so characters just doesn’t seem enough to do much to do most of that.
I guess what I’m coming to is that a tweet like this doesn’t really sit comfortably with my style of affiliate marketing.
What do you Think about Affiliate Marketing on Twitter?
But that is just me – what about you? Does affiliate marketing belong on Twitter? If so – how would you do it?
To be clear – I’m not wanting to start an anti Joel Comm thread of discussion here – like I say, I like the guy and don’t have anything against his products, but I am interested to hear what you think about the topic of affiliate marketing on twitter (and other forms of social media). Over to you….
How Affiliate Marketers Should Use Twitter?
It’s pretty easy to say you don’t like affiliate links on Twitter and not say anything constructive. So tomorrow I’d like to attempt to put forward some ideas on how Twitter (and other social media sites) could be used by affiliate marketers appropriately and effectively. Keep an eye on my RSS feed over the next 24 hours to see when the post goes live.
Tags: affiliate marketing, Affiliate Programs, social media, twitter
131 Responses to “Affiliate Marketing on Twitter – Does it Belong?” - Add Yours
Eric Hamm
October 8th, 2008 10:40 pm
I think ads, like a virus, eventually spread to all facets of the Internet (with some exceptions of course). It would seem that Twitter may be headed down this road, like so many other forms of social media, but I hope not.
I think Twitter is such a great way to share bits and pieces of your life and your blogging and it would be a shame if you had to weed through the ‘junk tweets’ just to get to the real content. We will see what happens. Eric.
Rich Hill
October 8th, 2008 10:47 pm
Joel Comm is a stand up guy and very smart. I suspect he has considered the various aspects of your post. I see nothing wrong with it but do appreciate your concern.
Rich
jon buscall
October 8th, 2008 10:55 pm
I saw this twittered several times this morning and thought instantly: “Spam.”
I’ve actually bought Joel’s book in the past and I do think he has a lot of useful things to say. But this latest venture seems to be pushing credibility a step too far. I’ve actually noticed an upswing in twam (twitter spam!) in the last couple of weeks as marketing folks start to explore the space.
I do think Twitter can be a useful place for businesses to topic-track customers and their brand, but direct affiliate marketing like this sucks.
Randy
October 8th, 2008 10:59 pm
I don’t know Joel Comm and if all of a sudden one spam turned into thirty… I probably would drop him quickly.
jim
October 8th, 2008 11:00 pm
I don’t like it, if I saw something like that chances are I’d unfollow the person. If it’s a blogger, I get their stuff via RSS anyway so it’s a minor loss. I would be interested to find out the followership numbers after one of these stunts… do people look past it or what?
Also, with all the URL obfuscators, it’s hard to tell where things are going. You can’t tell an aff link as easily as you could before so this could play into the trust factor as well.
Vinh Le
October 8th, 2008 11:00 pm
The tweet actually popped into my radar because it looked like an odd tweet to see… so that’s what it was. Interesting idea, but I don’t think twitter is going to look too favorably on it and the last thing I want is to have to be suspicious of people’s underlying intentions when I am just trying to connect with others.
Brent
October 8th, 2008 11:01 pm
The great thing about Twitter is it is pull marketing. If I don’t like what someone is pushing (political rhetoric, obvious marketing ads, etc.) I can always block them.
Lara Kulpa
October 8th, 2008 11:02 pm
I think if people took a different approach, like wrote a blog post about a product with their aff link in it, and then tweeted it, that’s okay. Because they’re putting forth an effort to be different than the others who are using the “auto tweet” thing.
I know, passive income, blah blah blah. But I think this format is just flat out lazy, and since spammers are lazy (using bots, etc)… well, if it looks like a duck, and walks like a duck, you know?
Then again, Joel’s specialty is AdSense. Not social media. He might’ve made a serious boo-boo here and just not realize it yet. Hopefully he will.
Mihai
October 8th, 2008 11:03 pm
I don’t like the fact that the tweet is misleading/deceiving. It says : “Download Joel Comm’s Adsense Secrets For FREE! ” but it doesn’t say it’s free ONLY if you buy some of Joel’s other product. So you click that link just to end up on his sale page where you see that it’s not actually free.
Kelly Rusk
October 8th, 2008 11:03 pm
I guess I’m a little on the fence about it. Don’t like the automated tweet, which as you mentioned doesn’t sound personal at all, and when you see multiple people tweeting the same thing, it’d turn me off.
However, in another sense it’s a good use of the medium, I suppose if it were more of a “If you like my book, please consider tweeting about it” message I’d be fine with it.
Steven-Sanders
October 8th, 2008 11:06 pm
I remember seeing those links last night on twitter, but It didn’t even cross my mind that they were affiliate links.
Twitterers, link to things they enjoy so often that I didn’t even think anything about it.
It seems like the only way someone would really know compared to all of the other links on twitter would be if you were actually one of the affiliates.
I don’t see anything wrong with it, unless you continually plug it over and over and over again.
Andy Sowards
October 8th, 2008 11:07 pm
Hey thanks for the mug shot ;)
I think that the way Joel had offered it as a link to tweet a blurb of text promoting the product along with an affiliate link is a great innovation on using the twitter API as an advantage.
Although I agree with you on the point that it could be considered ’spam’, However I believe that if everyone uses twitter responsibly (like anything else) there should not be a huge problem, because Twitter is really about getting great, new, and relevant content based on who you follow, and actually I found that Adsense offer to be relevant lol, thats why I chose to be an affiliate of it in the first place :).
Good post! Thanks again!
Cosmin Ghiu
October 8th, 2008 11:07 pm
Darren – great post. I was expecting this evolution of internet marketers using twitter for affiliate marketing purposes. Its the perfect marriage.
Twitter allows the posting of links and many use it to deliver quality stories and news via cloaked shortened URLs from TinyURL, Bit.ly, etc. So an ‘affiliate link’ is more than acceptable. since an affiliate link in many cases is a cloaked link already!
In anycase, my only fear is now that Joel Comm has introduced this (at least got recognition by you blogging about it) as with anything else within the internet marketing circle, he will try to ‘monetize’ his experience and others will follow suit.
if internet marketers than abuse the affiliate links by spamming auto generated tweets, next thing you know they will become synonymous with spam links (same as when Internet Marketers invaded eBay).
It will be interesting to see how it evolves.
Ed @ AAFR
October 8th, 2008 11:07 pm
Darren, this is like so many things in this world, such as letting your dog poop in the park without cleaning up after it: if one person does it, there’s little harm, but if a lot of people start doing it, a terrible mess is created.
The purpose of Twitter is to allow people to share brief, interesting little tidbits with their friends. Sometimes that will be a link, and sometimes it will be self-serving, e.g. a link back to a blog post one is promoting, but genuinely feels is of interest to one’s friends. At least in theory, such a link could also be an affiliate link.
However, encouraging people to put spammy tweets on twitter (”Yadda yadda yadda is FREE!”) in exchange for money is essentially paying them to spam Twitter. Add the fact that an automatic app has been created to do this, and you have the recipe for disaster.
If Twitter allows this, I predict it will spread like a cancer, since the lure of easy money is hard to resist. Soon 8 out of 10 tweets will be affiliate spam. Then reading Twitter will be like looking at your e-mail inbox, only without the delete button handy. A dismal prospect that could bring Twitter down.
Gail
October 8th, 2008 11:07 pm
Spamming social sites always has negative consequences because of the nature of the beast. Social sites depend upon people who are contributing members of the community and have an interest in developing good communication with the members.
On the other hand using Twitter for affiliate marketing when the marketers are already invested in Twitter but the comment isn’t the same for all tweets might be a more accurate way of using the system. Encouraging people who don’t use Twitter consistently to add a tweet just for marketing purposes is a good way to get the marketers name ignored.
Gail
Steven-Sanders
October 8th, 2008 11:07 pm
If you forget, alot of people are using automated tweets to tweet about their newest blog posts.
I think it’s the exact same thing.
Ramkarthik
October 8th, 2008 11:09 pm
Darren, I actually replied to your tweet jokingly:
“That’s example for twitter usage at it best ;)”
Actually I wouldn’t mind if these people promote in their own words. Everyone saying the same thing is spam in my opinion.
I, personally, wouldn’t send tweets like especially if many people are doing that. To be honest, if it is really a FREE resource ‘no strings attached’, I will recommend. But these are hard to find.
I’m sure the ones who have tweeted that message would have lost a few loyal followers.
Just my opinion though.
Kahthan
October 8th, 2008 11:10 pm
its nice to see how concerned you are, you’ve done a good job of putting words to that concern. i share your concern but think thats like Eric said, nothing on the internet is immune to marketing..
David Lee Venters
October 8th, 2008 11:12 pm
In my view if you look at Joel Comm he has a big following and people trust him and when he does something people will know who Joel is.
But are the people who are promoting his free ebook promoting it to there people who trust them or everybody
Yes I believe it to be spammy by promoting it to everyone , but if they instead had a big following who trusted them , and they then messaged their list and said hey I just got a great free ebook from Joel Comm you must take a look
that would work better
to me these people are not following Joels advice , because Joel has built a following some others are just broadcasting to everyone
Traci
October 8th, 2008 11:13 pm
I see your point. I don’t have a problem with affiliate links in Twitter per se, but think that personally written tweets by each affiliate, instead of canned copy, would appear less spammy.
If you have built a relationship with your Twitter followers, then do them the courtesy of a personalize tweet with your affiliate offer and affiliate link.
Personalization is the key. If Twitter is SOCIALMedia, then be social and interact for more than just self-promotion.
Marlene Gavens
October 8th, 2008 11:14 pm
The concept was good. The execution flawed.
Social networking sites work well when you stay with the basic assumption that It’s all about developing relationships.
The brilliance of Joel’s campaign is its viral nature. The failure is that there is nothing personal about automated content.
As with live off-line, you need to develop a relationship before you try to ’sell’ someone.
Marlene
Rae
October 8th, 2008 11:16 pm
IMHO, using an example of BAD affiliate marketing on Twitter obviously done by people who don’t understand Twitter in a real capacity and then asking if affiliate marketing as a whole belongs on Twitter isn’t exactly posing the question objectively.
Mihai
October 8th, 2008 11:17 pm
@Steven-Sanders I don’t think it’s the exact thing like automated tweeting. If tweeting is somehow about sharing what you do then if you just published a blog post it seems normal to tweet about it.
The tweet is not the same as some other 30-100 people’s tweets and it doesn’t try to sell you anything.
It’s about you, or what you do. It doesn’t matter you wrote it into your twitter client on wordpress did it for you.
AirDiogo
October 8th, 2008 11:18 pm
It may not seem buts this is SPAM (or close to that), in my opinion.
Twitter will soon have to act on this if it spreads.
I believe that Twitter only adds value to our life if the content its useful. If this goes on it will became like email.
And the people that will be punished it won’t be the ones making the money with this.
Patrick
October 8th, 2008 11:20 pm
I see this more and more. I usually so a ratio of 10-1 in regards to following/followers. When I see these ratios and anything in the Twitter account associated with blatant marketing I instantly block them. The major attractions of tweeter are one of two things. A “personal” connection with the writer or news of some sort. I am fine with my local newspaper having a tweeter feed or a podcaster saying they are getting ready to record a show and invite people to call in but using Twitter to to this is as bad as leaving comments on a blog that are nothing but self promotion of one’s own web site.
Adam Christie
October 8th, 2008 11:23 pm
I think the thing about Twitter is that you choose to follow other people. If the people you follow start doing things you don’t like then unfollow them, or use it as a reason to start a discussion with them. “@affiliate_linker I like your normal posts but what’s with the spammy links?”
If enough people pull them up on it or unsubscribe they’ll get the message.
Debo Hobo
October 8th, 2008 11:24 pm
I think it would simply muck up the system and drive users away from twitter. Therefore twitter should ban this sort of thing.
Bloggeries
October 8th, 2008 11:25 pm
People trying to make a quick buck on twitter are only ruining their reputation. Twitter isn’t for “making sales” imo it’s for the priceless networking that the space allows which makes it awesome.
The only people I’ve unfollowed are ones that have done similar practices. It’s too bad!
Don Kutzner
October 8th, 2008 11:25 pm
I’ll admit that I was one of the people who sent this particular spam message. I thought what the heck, why not give it a shot and see. However, I am NOT one of those people whose every tweet is about selling this and linking that.
I thought the message was quite impersonal too, so I doubt that it was very successful.
I think it was more of a test by Joel to see how many people would do it and how successful it was. He is working on a new Twitter book.
Pete
October 8th, 2008 11:28 pm
I got that tweet about his program from about 5 different people yesterday – and it was getting a little annoying. I don’t think those types of twitters add much to the twitterverse – but then again I think they may be a fact of life. You have to take the good with the bad I think.
G
October 8th, 2008 11:30 pm
If Twitter is going to become nothing but “commercials” then I’m dropping my account. Enough with ads already!
Mrs S
October 8th, 2008 11:32 pm
Personally I think affiliate marketing can work on Twitter – as long as it’s done naturally. For example if I decided to market the book you mention then I could post a tweet letting my followers know why it is worth signing up for and include my link.
Encouraging a large number of people to post an impersonal and identical post is just spam and I would ignore it if I saw it on twitter.
Kevin Wright
October 8th, 2008 11:48 pm
I think it will work for him, to some degree. I just don’t think it is the best route. Of course, I am new to all of this. However, I would rather have my blog advertised more organicly, by engaging the community and people slowly getting exposed to me. It will be slow and steady, but a little more satisfying to me.
Joel Comm
October 8th, 2008 11:58 pm
Hey Darren et al,
Can’t help but see your tweets because of TweetBeep.com. As you might imagine, I saw my name pop up again and again. The Twitter marketing campaign was far more popular and effective than I imagined. But this is a great discussion and I am happy to have played a roll in firing it off.
You never know how people are going to respond to things and I’m pretty surprised at how this played out. Whenever you try something new there is bound to be controversy.
I use Twitter for everything from daily nonsense and political rants to surveying people and linking to new articles. Using Twitter to market is a new frontier. And it is a frontier that will be explored more and more often. Wherever you find an audience, there you will find people selling something.
Would it have been better for people to customize their message? Absolutely. The best tweets were by those who did.
So we tried something new. :-)
Observing and interested in seeing what others have to say…
Joel
Rajaie AlKorani
October 9th, 2008 12:02 am
I think it’s just one of those things that go big for a while and then soon die off…
Stu McLaren
October 9th, 2008 12:06 am
Personally I think the danger here is not so much for Joel but for the affiliates promoting Joel using this technique.
I think Lara and a couple others hit the nail on the head in their comments above…
The best way for affiliates to promote products is to separate themselves by creating a unique promotion. By everyone having the exact same Tweet, it looks like spam and turns people off (as evidenced by the reaction above).
The same principles apply to affiliate email promotions. Joel did the right thing for his affiliates by making it easy for them to promote (just like creating an email template). At that point it’s up to the affiliate to take what was given and personalize it so that the promotion has meaning to their list/following.
Obviously that didn’t happen and that’s why we’re having this conversation.
If these same affiliates took 30 seconds to customize the tweet, give an opinion on the book or tailored it in some way, I think you would have a different reaction.
Twitter is an intimate and personal platform. The minute you start being “generic”, you’ll lose people.
That’s why it’s dangerous for the affiliates in this case because they stand the biggest risk of people selecting the “Remove” button after they see these generic tweets.
Marketing products on Twitter is fine (even as an affiliate) but the tweets still have to be personal – NO Generic Tweets!
Ravi Jayagopal
October 9th, 2008 12:14 am
Joel Comm is a complete hack.
Never has anyone abused my “permission to send me email” as much as he has.
When I was on his list (note the tense: *was*), he used to incessantly pummel me with emails every day about his blog posts, his own products, products he’s promoting, products from his “buddies” – PHEW!
‘Nuf was ‘nuf.
Completely “banned” Joel Comm out of my inbox a while ago. Haven’t missed a beat since.
Anyway, some morons like to take “advantage” of any opening they get to promote their affiliate links. It was only a matter of time before “Twitter-abuse” came along.
Twitter works great when you first build a relationship – and then try to “benefit” from it (in whatever way that is).
But the good news is that you can *stop following* morons like this who spam.
- Ravi Jayagopal
http://www.RavisRants.com
Chris
October 9th, 2008 12:15 am
I’m not against someone recommending something (with an affliate tie naturally–or not), but automating it will certainly grow and crowd out the good stuff.
Dead Man Walking
October 9th, 2008 12:27 am
Question I would like to raise – what’s the difference between people posting a link to buy Joel Comm’s book and posting thier latest blog post using things like ping.fm? Both are fairly impersonal, and – knowing the kind of people that I follow on twitter – trying to sell me something!
blackysky
October 9th, 2008 12:34 am
recommand something is one but he uses a script…. automated sound to spam for …
he is a spammer because it is not natural
Joel Comm
October 9th, 2008 12:35 am
That’s a really good point Stu. In hindsight, I think providing people with the link only and saying “Fill in your own words to discuss or recommend the offer here” would have made more sense.
Of course then we would have seen tweets that looked like this…
“Fill in your own words to discuss or recommend the offer here http://infomedia.infusionsoft.com/go/as4/a324654”
;-)
Karen Putz / DeafMom
October 9th, 2008 12:36 am
I live in fear of the day that all my followers start sending out promotional links for this product and that product. I don’t mind occasional tweets by someone I trust with a product that is helpful. I would much prefer that people take the time to alter the tweet or write about it on their blog, just as Lara suggested. It gives credibility to the product.
Kris Colvin
October 9th, 2008 12:38 am
Excellent points by all, and my gut instinct, like yours Problogger, says “ewww.” (Not to Joel, but to the concept of affiliate marketing clogging up my tweetstream!)
My passion is “designing for users.” The problem with push marketing is that it is often not wanted. Twitter, as it is today, is so great because your pool of people can be as narrow (friends and family only) or as broad (companies I want to follow for product updates, random strangers who seem cool, etc.) as an individual wants it to be.
Say you post this affiliate-style message, personalized or not… if you kept doing that, I could choose to unfollow you. But what about the 6-8 others who see you doing it and want to cash in on this idea? Now I am potentially spending more time unfollowing and managing my followers than I’d like to, just to avoid being chased by marketing messages.
We market all the time on Twitter – a lot of us do, at least. But it’s fit into the natural ebb and flow of conversation, and hopefully is more akin to meeting a stranger at a party and telling them something cool you do because of something they’ve said, than getting a bunch of real mail in your mailbox, only to find out they’re all messages from someone trying to sell something to you.
Kok Choon
October 9th, 2008 12:44 am
If twitter works for affiliate, I think many will follow and the effectiveness will drop, as usual.
Still very hard to tell if this kind of promotion will last or not, but the credibility will decrease as they are here to promote something… but this is not the Golden Rule, I am sure there are some exception…
joe gelb
October 9th, 2008 12:46 am
i guess that twitter is great to put that affiliate link into traffic ville if ones website is not really drawing the crowd, and to some degree everyone is selling something to these communities and there is always a commodity exchange, and probably joels people will get busted, and joel gets free publicity so sure but the people who won are the people who own the companies who are billionairs and dont care about anything because nothing matters. people like myself are just pawns so popping sleezy affiliate links on twitter is worth it. nothing is more exciting that seeing 20 dollar deposits into the account
Andrea
October 9th, 2008 12:50 am
It’s unfortunate but inevitable that twitter will be used for marketing. It’s the degree and how you market that makes the difference.
Not too long ago I quietly sat in on an Internet Marketing training call and actually heard the mentor talk about how twitter is better than email for marketing – yikes!
In any case, twitter is about telling people what you do. IMHO, if writing a book, writing a blogpost, creating a product, eating a meal, or whatever, is what you do and you can say it in140 characters or less . . . so be it. If you really consider most of the tweets, a good percentage is some form of promotion for something or other – person, product, fire sale, new post, etc.
For me, I look at the ratio of promo type tweets vs. real value and decide whether that person is worth the follow.
Andy Beard
October 9th, 2008 12:50 am
My understanding of the law in Europe (I am not a lawyer) is that for something that is business to consumer, you are really skating on thin ice even for your own products.
1. It is very hard if not impossible to provide full contact information on Twitter including company registration details for a Ltd company.
2. Tweets can end up in people’s email, so if they are marketing messages, it would probably require a declaration that it is a marketing message, and again contact info etc even for US law.
3. Do you have room for disclosure in a tweet?
Joel’s product is business to business, so the rules are a lot more murky, and if you have always used Twitter as a business channel, you might be in the clear in the US, though the first point for Ltd companies in Europe still applies.
I am interested in Twitter and other social media for affiliate marketing. It can be justified from a social contract with your audience perspective, though you might be better sending traffic to a pre-sell or review blog page first.
The legal side (again I am not a lawyer) seems to be very much a grey area.
UltraRob
October 9th, 2008 12:52 am
I don’t mind people using affiliate links as long as it seems natural and doesn’t go to a squeeze page. I got a link yesterday but had something very useful that was free even if you didn’t buy what was promoted. Up front it didn’t seem spammy and I got something useful so I didn’t mind.
I haven’t seen this one yet but there’s a good chance I’ll unfollow whoever sends it.
Normal Joe
October 9th, 2008 12:58 am
I look at it like the affiliate campaigns that give you pre written emails. You MUST assume that people on your mailing list are on others, if you all send out the same “my friend just sent me this new product, he said I can give you a discount” type of letter…it shows no creativity and is sort of lazy in my opinion.
Like anything, I always try to change it up, so I agree, that if you do promote something like this, you should change it up so it matches your normal style of twitter messages.
From a marketing standpoint it was smart, because Joel, like many of us, know there will be many that just click and shoot because the want to try and get a quick sale or two.
Interesting topic, look forward to more insight on affiliate marketing and twitter, as I think it can be done, when done in the normal course of your regular twittering.
Nathan
October 9th, 2008 1:05 am
I agree that direct affiliate linking has no place on Twitter. First of all, it violates the trust that you build with your network, and second it makes you appear like you just don’t get it or are in for the quick buck. The real movers and shakers in twitter spend time doing more than just sending out affiliate links…they interact with people.
When I see tweets like that, I am instantly turned away and more often than not I stop following that person.
Andre Kibbe
October 9th, 2008 1:23 am
The volume of tweet spam is only going to increase. Whether or not Joel Comm is adding to it is less important than demanding intervention from Twitter to the whole phenomemon. Perhaps Twitter should incorporate a “report” command for flagging rogue updates. After a certain number of incoming report commands, a warning or account cancellation could be issued to the spammers.
Scott Kublin
October 9th, 2008 1:24 am
I’m not against promoting or plugging something on Twitter since those that follow me choose to do so and would hopefully appreciate something that I recommend.
However, I am against the way that Joel is facilitating automatic, impersonal tweets. Why not just give affiliates a copy of the book prior to the launch, ask them to review it, and then have them post tweets that link to their review?
Jack
October 9th, 2008 1:42 am
Funny you mention this, I ran across a “twitter contest” yesterday which has elements of this in it (the mass linking of a site for exposure)
http://www.everythingwebrelated.com/2008/09/30/the-octwitter-contest/
I signed up in part for an entry. My participation was limited to simply following them on twitter and subscribing to the site feed, but you can also gain more “tickets” in the contest by twittering links on there as well.
I just jumped on the twitter bandwagon recently, and generally just enjoy posting mundane nonsense on mine – nothing else. But I can see this kind of thing taking off on twitter, sure.
Not sure how I feel about it – or whether it belongs.
It’s easy enough to remove someone from follow if their spam gets annoying. So I guess it doesn’t really bother me as long as I have control over what I’m seeing and when I want to see it.
It being used in these situations is inevitable though, I’d say.
Michael Martine - Remarkablogger
October 9th, 2008 1:51 am
This is a great discussion. I did not participate in this, even though I’m an affiliate for Joel. I chose not to precisely because the message text would not resonate with my followers. It does not sound like anything that would come from me.
Pushing affiliate links on Twitter is not a good idea unless your audience truly values the links. 140 characters doesn’t give you much room to build value. The value can only come from the trust your followers already have in you. That means you have to be very careful of abusing that trust. I have put affiliate links in tweets before, but it is RARE and it is ALWAYS manual, just like any other tweet I do. And I only do it if I can honestly say that the affiliate link provides just as much value as I always try to provide on Twitter. I can’t stress that enough.
I very much agree with what Rae Hoffman said earlier in the comments, and Stu as well. I’m glad to see Joel here, too. It IS a cool experiment.
PS – Joel, you didn’t need to say “nonsense” and “politcal rants” separately. They’re redundant in your case! :D
JMorris
October 9th, 2008 1:59 am
Hmmm… Good topic.
Recently, I posted several tweets with links to “FREE” resources that I believed would be beneficial to my followers. While these resource could also lead to a commission for a related product also being offered by the company providing the free resource, the affiliate commission was not my motivation. Sharing a useful, FREE resource was.
In hind sight, I think it would be better to write a blog post regarding whatever resource I want others to see then just point to my blog post as a tweet. Any better? Perhaps, perhaps not. That entirely depends on the value the post ads. If it’s nothing more than a hyped up review and there is no value in it, then no, that wouldn’t be any better.
Great post! I’m looking forward to reading more views on this subject.
Stephen D
October 9th, 2008 2:16 am
I haven’t seen these tweets, but my first thought would be that they are pure spam. If this is the thin end of wedge, imagine what the fat end is going to look like. Imagine your screenshot in multiples.
It is a clever move by Joel Comm, it has got everyone talking and I am thinking of taking a look at his ebook because of this post, I probably wouldn’t have done that if I’d have seen the tweets though.
Good marketers will exploit any avenue possible and Twitter is being exploited to death right now. I think it is wrong to use Twitter this way and I think action will be taken by the Twitter people.
If they do not, it could be their downfall. Would you use Twitter if it was full of this kind of thing?
affiliate
October 9th, 2008 2:49 am
Does affiliate marketing belong on Twitter? YES I think so, cause you got all requirements you need like friends trust are … follow me :)
Dorm Room Business Ideas
October 9th, 2008 2:52 am
I think it can be acceptable to an extent like others have mentioned. Had Joel provided just the link and asked his affiliates to tweet about it any way they wanted, I don’t think many (or anyone) would have picked up on it. But since everyone seemed to be using the same message it appears to be more of a spam message. I think a good way to do affiliate marketing through twitter is to have a review of the product or other information on your site and than tweet about it linking to your page. Then people can get a full run down of the product/offer and go from there.
Miss Britt
October 9th, 2008 2:55 am
I think it absolutely puts the affiliates at risk – although you can’t fault Joel so much for suggesting it as you can the affiliates themselves for engaging in it.
Worse than the risk, I think, is that the message itself shows a gross misunderstanding of Twitter as a medium.
A message much more likely to evoke response on Twitter would be “Ooh! You can download this free now! (url) <<– great adsense info!”
Paul Puri
October 9th, 2008 2:58 am
This is a mistake. I am not against affiliate marketing on Twitter, but this is too passive for the venue. It should be part of a conversation. This is plain and simple lazy spamming. Anyone involved should be reprimanded.
Joel should give the ebook away for free, and then those who read it can Twitter about it.
“Hey, I just read Joel’s new ebook about blank blank. i highly recommend it. LINK. I especially liked what he said about blank.”
It is then an endorsement, and your reputation is at stake. Put your money where your mouth is instead of taking the cowards way and becoming a spammer.
Pam Bertrand
October 9th, 2008 3:36 am
I agree with many of the previous posts that state that if done selectively, tactfully and giving value to their followers, then fine, an occassional tweet to an affiliate product is ok. However, I can definitely see this getting out of control and spammers really overwhelming the twitosphere.
I also believe that people will “police” it themselves by just hitting “block user” or “unfollowing” as mentioned previously. But spammers are relentless and will just keep creating new accounts and clicking on “follow” for everyone. Just don’t follow them back!
That’s why I never follow someone who has 2,689 following, 24 followers and 3 updates!!! They are not serious and are there for all the wrong reasons (imho, of course!)… But, that’s just me.
I agree with you Darren that referring to an actual blog post on a respectable looking blog is where an appropriate affiliate review should be posted and is the best outlet for the true full-blown affiliate markerting folks. Let’s not clog up the twitosphere with junk please!
Ben Adkins
October 9th, 2008 3:45 am
I would have to say… This is extremely “spammy”.
I’m not a fan of the idea…effective or not….
Ben
http://www.drbenadkins.com
Social Media Marketing
October 9th, 2008 3:54 am
Well, I myself consider that as spam, If something comes in front of your eyes once or twice that’s fine but after that, it just starts irritating and moreover it kills the basic purpose of twitter too.
infmom
October 9th, 2008 4:00 am
I bought Joel Comm’s Adsense Code book and thought it was great. I subscribed to his email feed for a while. But I got very tired of the constant attempts to sell me stuff.
The Twitters that have been spread everywhere are not only annoying, they’re misleading. The book is only “free” if you sign up for something else, that will cost you money if you continue past the trial period.
If he wants to peddle something for free it ought to be truly FREE.
I am so glad I stopped paying attention to Joel Comm.
United Voices
October 9th, 2008 4:02 am
Well… there is and was no hard and fast rule as to what twitter might be restricted to. According to my point of view, I believe that technology changes quite rapidly. There was times, when (in our country) the people in the post office demanded restriction on the internet because of which they had faced lack of people who wanted to use the post office to communicate.
This does not mean that I support or not support using twitter as a means of affiliate marketing. There has to be some limit as to upto how much should one be allowed to use twitter. Else ppl will definitely misuse it.
As for me, I do update my twitter a/c (www.twitter.com/nepal) for my regular updates.
Michael Martine - Remarkablogger
October 9th, 2008 4:21 am
Joel’s marketing is not misleading. It is a perfectly normal marketing method: something free plus a free trial. Joel knows–and you know–that you might like the paid subscription and keep it (or that you might be too lazy to cancel it on time). There is nothing misleading about that. It’s a trade-off, like anything else. You have to decide if the trade-off is worth it. Joel is taking a gamble that you’ll like the paid subscription and not just get free stuff from him. You are gambling that you’ll like the free stuff and that you’ll follow up on your good intentions regarding the subscription portion of the deal.
Yael K. Miller
October 9th, 2008 4:27 am
Looking at your affiliate marketing tweet example, my immediate thought was: “Why should I click on the link?”
I like following people on Twitter who don’t put their blog feed directly into Twitter. They tell you what the blog post is about or how they feel about the blog post they just wrote, and then the link.
The same should apply to affiliate marketing tweeting. First, admit the link’s an affiliate. Second, tell me what you think of the product. Tell me who can really use this product. Or share a cool insight from it.
Don’t just throw a link at me — that’s very Web 1.0. Twitter is about talking, sharing, and linking.
Bill Masson (WWAH)
October 9th, 2008 4:34 am
All things in moderation, that being said there is not a social network that doesn’t use some form of affiliate marketing themselves.
I don’t see any problem with it, I occasionally twit an affiliate link but more often link my last post which has affiliate links anyway. As long as the post has some useful and insightful content for the reader, fine and dandy!
Twitter are already using follow links themselves to Hack the debate although they may be just promoting new threads and topics, What i don’t like is twitter ramming the current USA political message at me, no doubt they will evolve to include more Topical links, invariably spammers get into any system including social networks.
Twitter will eventually get tough with spammers , so beware
Potato Chef
October 9th, 2008 5:14 am
I’m just a simple potato…so I can’t claim to know Joe Cromm.
What I do know is this: That is exactly the type of ad I would never click on.
So he might be getting the ad all over twitter, but is it actually converting?
Bryn Youngblut
October 9th, 2008 5:40 am
I don’t like the idea either but it all depends on HOW you do it. I don’t personally do it or condone it BUT if your raving about a product or service most people feel they should get credit for that (affilliate). Copy/Pasting stuff like that is spam and looks like spam, you’d be better off saying something like. “I’m currently reading Joel Comm’s new book at ….http://linkhere.com”
Affiliate Preacher
October 9th, 2008 5:56 am
I don’t really like it but Twitter is open for people to use it however they want. If you like the stuff Joel puts in his twitts you can look at it like a commercial. If you don’t like it, then his whole twitter account is nothing more than an infomercial. Unsubscribe.
Stephanie
October 9th, 2008 6:09 am
I don’t like sloppy affiliate marketing on networks like Twitter, and this was very, very sloppy. Too many people tweeting the exact same thing with that tool.
I am much in agreement with those who would rather see a blog post that happens to have an affiliate link in it tweeted. Or, if you’re going to tweet an affiliate link, shorten it and have something interesting to say, just as I would hope the blog post would be interesting.
It’s a lot like the people who just send unedited sales letters to their lists to promote the next mega launch, as many others have said. You aren’t going to stand out by sending the same thing as everyone else. You’re just an annoyance.
Yesterday I was to the point with those tweets of considering unfollowing anyone else who sent me that ad. There was just no value to me there. I don’t read every tweet that comes my way, but I do read a lot of them, and I like to read interesting things, not just quickie promotion… unless it’s well done. This wasn’t.
Michael Martine - Remarkablogger
October 9th, 2008 6:36 am
Affiliate Preacher brings up a good point. The question isn’t whether or not this belongs on Twitter, because anyone can unfollow anyone they want. This is a different issue from people creating tons of automated accounts (a practice that is not only distasteful, but should be a policy violation if it isn’t already. That’s the real Twitter spam. But if I don’t like what Joel (or anyone else) is saying on Twitter, I’m free to unfollow him.
Andre Kibbe
October 9th, 2008 6:50 am
@Steven-Sanders:
If you forget, alot of people are using automated tweets to tweet about their newest blog posts.
I think it’s the exact same thing.
Automated tweets are sent directly to the immediate follower. Joel Comm is asking his followers to relay his tweet to their followers, making it a pyramid. If this form of marketing does well and gains traction, it will roll back Twitter’s recent gains in scalability. Regardless of commercial intent, spam is fundamentally bandwidth pollution. That said, the affiliate who agree to participate in campaigns like this are more responsible than Comm for initiating it. Again, there needs to be a report mechanism for Twitter to take action against spamming their network.
@Adam Christie: If enough people pull them up on it or unsubscribe they’ll get the message.
At Twitter’s expense. Just like Google slapped MFA sites with their PR update in part to reduce the load of extra spidering incurred, Twitter’s going to have to take action against this kind of abuse or suffer more gripes about downtime.
Andy Beard
October 9th, 2008 7:02 am
The technology used by Joel is effectively the same as having a “Tweet This” button on a blog post, only it provides a custom URL for each affiliate.
It is quite possible that a large number of people might have mentioned the offer without the affiliate incentive, as happens with tell-a-friend scripts, some of which include Twitter now.
I am honestly more likely to unsubscribe from someone’s tweets for tweeting every one of their blog posts (and nothing but) than for dropping an occasional direct affiliate link
Sean Harry
October 9th, 2008 7:19 am
I think it’s fine to ask someone to tetweet if they like it, but the automated message defeats the personal aspect of social networking. I’ve blocked others who use this tactic, and if I didn’t have it on your word that this is a good resource, I’d block this one too. I think it could backfire way too east, so I wouldn’t recommend it!
bugsy
October 9th, 2008 7:25 am
I have been using Twitter quite heavily for a number of months now. It has brought me new clients, new customers, increased my web traffic, introduced me to new friends, and has helped me network across my home state. It has been incredible!
My success has not been from spamming or using it as a marketing tool. It’s just me having mini conversations with friends, using humor to gain interest, and trying to say interesting things in my posts that aren’t dull. It has helped me increase to 230+ followers and some extra money in my pocket.
It definitely can’t hurt that it has helped me to make some friends which has in turn created some memories. It is so much more than a marketing device and they are missing the target.
Marelisa
October 9th, 2008 7:27 am
Hi Darren: I saw your tweet about this and you said explicitly that Joel asked you to do it and that it was an affiliate link, so you were upfront about it. I got the message from Joel too and I also sent it out as a tweet, but I reworded it in language that I felt comfortable with. Also, it’s something for free (granted if they don’t unsubscribe within the first 30 days they start getting charged for a newsletter, but that’s clearly explained).
I think it’s spam if most of what you do on twitter is send out affiliate links, but if you genuinely add to the conversation, sending out an affiliate link once in a while, especially if you’re candid about it, is fine. I also think that you can create trust on Twitter if you respond to people, strike up conversations, and offers links to interesting articles, news, and so on.
WD Favour
October 9th, 2008 7:43 am
At the end of the day, it’s up to twitter to measure this action against their perception and integrity. The perception of twitter users about this issue will be seen in the days ahead and I trust that twitter will manage it carefully. I personally don’t like the idea…just as Darren said, it doesn’t sit well with me.
Janeile
October 9th, 2008 7:43 am
There is something personal about Twitter that makes cookie-cut-out phrases like that look spammy – like some sort of scam. For me, marketing on Twitter is fine…as long as it is personal or retweeted. I can even handle the blog feeds.
I don’t think anyone will follow someone who is strictly marketing on Twitter, but it’s o.k. to market new blog posts, products or what-have-you occasionally. I think it hurts your credibility – not only as the affiliate, but also for Joel. These things tend to have a way of coming full circle and biting one on the behind.
I’d hate to have to choose between tolerating spam and blocking all the other good tweets from people I want to follow. It’s like a relative in an MLM trying to sell you as a downline. How irritating is that? How much more on Twitter?
Warwick
October 9th, 2008 7:49 am
Interesting.
Ultimately, due, I think, to the “greedy, grasping, self” everything on the net descends to spam. Like made-for-adsense sites and blogs.
I’d be happier, given that I follow Joel anyway, if he, or Problogger, or anyone first-cause wanted to tell me that they have a new offering themselves. I’d probably have a look at it.
I reckon most can smell spam a mile away.
Personally, I wouldn’t be comfortable sending a pre-made link like that. If I find something on the net that I like and that I think some friends might benefit from, I’ll send the link directly.
That said, I don’t mind Ray Edwards affiliate model. Ray has affiliate links for heaps of stuff, but will often give the primary link as well, and say something like – “if you want to put a few coins in my tip jar, go here, otherwise, go here”. It’s hard not to like that.
Cheers from Oz
Warwick Foster
Vanessa
October 9th, 2008 8:01 am
At the end of the day, Affiiliate marketing is about finding new subscribers for a product. He launched a massive marketing campaign at Twitter that will reap dividends well after it is over. He may be testing the waters to see how profitable it could be. Risky but I understand the concept. Unfortunately, other marketers are watching to see how it goes and how Twitter and users will respond.
LP
October 9th, 2008 8:02 am
It would help me a lot if you actually explained what affiliate marketing is. I can gather from your column that it is some sort of relationship where you are paid to recommend things but it can’t be as dishonest as it sounds.
Dan Patterson
October 9th, 2008 8:03 am
Honestly I don’t see a big problem with it, but I think it could be done better. The smarter affiliate marketer will do something besides just use the standardized script.
Also, if this is the only thing that someone sends out, they won’t last. So if someone wants to send an affiliate link out to their followers from time to time, I think it’s fine. Just don’t overdo it and abuse the system!!!
Scott
October 9th, 2008 8:08 am
I think Twitter’s a great tool to use for affiliate marketing. Looking at an individual’s list of who they’re following, you’ll discover that Twitter allows people to wear their interests on their sleeve. Someone following feeds from Marvel Entertainment and Carl Pope, the executive director of the Sierra Club, is instantly identified as a comic book lover and environmental enthusiast. While these two subjects are worlds apart, you can assume that person has a fascination for saving the world, and therefore include them in the target audience for any humanitarian campaigns or action/adventure/superhero movie promotions implemented via Twitter.
However, I do think there’s a lot of extraneous content on Twitter, and it’s hard to draw a fine line between harassing through spam and promoting through Tweets of interest.
Freerangemom
October 9th, 2008 8:44 am
I think the bottom line is a combination of trust and brand.
I follow you, Darren, because your brand presents as a real person. You post a combination of real tweets and ones that let me know what you are thinking about professionally as well. When you tweet about a product, I expect it to be one you personally think that I (or rather we your followers) NEED to know about. You dilute my trust in you if you start sending out spammy tweets promoting stuff that you don’t think rate the headlines.
Another part of it that’s a bit problematic is the ethics of promoting something that you get a kickback on without disclosing your vested interest. If you let me know that you’ll get $ if I buy the product, that doesn’t feel as spammy. Because then it’s YOU asking ME for something. And you’ve disclosed your vested interest.
Finally, Twitter evolves to be what it’s users want it to be. If the Twitospher decides that marketing/advertising/pr/ is the primary use for Twitter, then it will be. There are, after all, no “rules” for how we use Twitter.
I promote things on Twitter, you promote things on Twitter — we both know that about each other. But our relationship is more than the sum of our business objectives!
So Darren, my advice to you is to consider your brand with every tweet. You be the judge of whether a undisclosed affiliate link fits with your brand.
By the way, you have done an awesome job of promoting the product and are clearly NOT anti Joel. From yesterday’s cryptic tweet that I clicked, to this blog entry, you have brought a ton of attention to his product. I hope he’s thanking you!
Katy Woodrow Hill
October 9th, 2008 8:57 am
I think we need to be realistic and understand that (whether fortunately or unfortunately) there are commercial motives at play within all media. It’s about understanding the time and place for your messages and making sure they fit with the contextual environment. You’re right, Affiliate Marketing works effectively as a relationship channel. It is about aligning a brand with a site who’s content and message fit with what they are trying to say/sell/do and it is about adding value to a consumer by providing information and recommendation. And Joel’s repeated message is just not adding any value to the Twitter audience.
Chris - BlogToyBox.com
October 9th, 2008 8:59 am
I have to agree with on this. Being new to Twitter (only joined to days ago) If that was to start showing up in my tweets I would stop using it immediately. I’m prone to do some affiliate marketing, but I could never just blatently spam like that.
Paul
October 9th, 2008 9:30 am
Good way for people to lose followers, spamming obvious affiliate links like that. Its one thing to promote your own blog post where you’ve bought/read the book and want to share that with people, its another to just blindly push affiliate links out.
Mariko
October 9th, 2008 9:34 am
Generally I understand that marketing on the internet is mostly non-existent unless you are networking. It makes sense that this would start happening on Twitter, because a click on a link from an update is so much more likely than a click on a sidebar ad.
The truth is, however, that you (read ‘royal you’ here) endanger your own popularity . Many internet users are so bombarded by spam and ads, but at the same time maintain some sort of belief in entertainment without forced ad views (in contrast to TV, for example, where audience members have accepted forced ads as a way of entertainment), that being tricked into ads are a turn off. It would be like having a commercial in the middle of a cinematic movie. Totally wrong. It’s one thing to establish your audience from the start that way, and another to pop it in. The audience revolts, or just drops the person they follow, in this case. of course, there is some security in not knowing what is spam through tweets. Usually I just consider links to be something of thoughtful interest to the tweeter. Unless I had seen this on your site, I might not have known it was even occuring. I might have considered it totally unassociated with a marketing ploy. And maybe that’s the success of it– Twitter plays on the idea of something more personal.
Mat Packer
October 9th, 2008 10:09 am
I’m not that much of a fan of it, and it did come across as spammy specially when I see the exact same comment / link come through from several people I follow.
There are better ways to increase visibility and sign ups I’m sure.
izzat
October 9th, 2008 10:50 am
if people intend to share the good thing with other people, so it can be use in twitter, but by do “adsense” the twitter not only risk to banned by twitter but also make people stop follow.
i think it matter of time before twitter take action to those people who using twitter as advertising place, we had enough of google adsense, pay post and etc. i do talk about new google advertising feature in my blog, what you think about google click to buy?
Lawrence S. Miller
October 9th, 2008 12:38 pm
I agree wholeheartedly with your complaint about how some affiliate marketers are invading Twitter with spam-like promotions of their wares. I applaud you for your criticism of Joel Comm for trying to get his affiliates to promote one of his affiliate programs on Tweeter. Your criticizing his methods in this case raises your credibility to a new high for me–not that it needed the added boost. It is good to know that your Christian ethical instincts are functioning well. Thanks, Darren, for standing up to this bad example of affiliate marketing.
tacogirl
October 9th, 2008 12:49 pm
Would like to know if the “free” e-book is worth the purchase price. Has anyone read it yet? If so would you say it is worth while? JOle if you are reading this I wish you took paypal lol.
maxx
October 9th, 2008 1:29 pm
Personally I think Ravi Jayagopal is a hack. Joel’s ebooks on adsense are required reading if you are serious about earning adsense revenue. Ravi doesn’t get it because he is a broke loser
Clint Says
October 9th, 2008 4:34 pm
Not too surprising that this is where Twitter is going. If a buck is to be made on Social Networking sites, people will go there the make it. If Twitter users are uninterested in such advertisements the revenues will disappear and the issue becomes moot.
Paul Shipgood
October 9th, 2008 6:04 pm
Whilst I’m not against advertising affiliate links on twitter I would run shy of using this method; much better to have something unique so as not to spam your readers. However, I would much rather use a blog and fully and fairly review the product or service I was trying to sell.
Grampa Starling
Hamdani Amin
October 9th, 2008 6:35 pm
I personally think twitter become uncontrollable noisy and chaotic medium for social media even before affiliate marketing took place.
If we added the affiliate marketing into twitter, we actually added more noise into twitter, making twitter unbearable to follow.
Dave Adams | FlickerLister Blog
October 9th, 2008 9:20 pm
I was always of the opinion that affiliate marketing should be relatively transparent, and if its to be used in a location not normally associated with affiliate marketing, it should be clearly marked as such.
I also believe that for affiliate marketing to work, you have to have a relationship with your audience. Much like Darren states, it works best when there is a trust between both sides.
Seeing a load of twitter messages repeating the same thing isn’t a direction I would want to take with a product that is on the edge of credibility as it is.
A better approach would surely to ask associates to promote the product if -
a) They have used the product
b) They believe it has value
c) They are willing to spend some time writing a review
Point c is the clincher – people are more likely to buy into a product (sign up for a course) if they read a review than if they see a simple (and spammy) click-me link.
Wayne Tully
October 9th, 2008 10:41 pm
I happen to think that they are not very successful, in fact the links that you place in twitter that are affiliate inks just have the muted effect of a link directory submission, I think there could be a place for it, if you have built up a good few hundred followers and they really are in demand of a converting affiliate product, I prefer to tweet my squidoo lenses when I have updated them or added new content.
In the future I may find a use for affiliate marketing with twitter and any other social networking site, I feel that the internet should be moving forward to stop this type of social spam on our media sites.
Daniel Richard
October 9th, 2008 11:48 pm
It could be successful given the nature of the tweet.
1) The person who sent the tweet did mention that it was someone else stuff that can be downloaded for free.
2) “FREE” – this word stood out
3) The link didn’t seem anything associated to any spam sites.
Most likely to grab the attention of curious web users over on the web.
Of course, not everyone would like it though.
Chris Morin
October 10th, 2008 12:05 am
I am fairly new to social networking & blogging and just started twittering and pouncing around. I for one have been rather discouraged by both of these mediums. I have a “friend” on pounce that emails the same link to his blog EVERY single day. I only have about 12 people I’m following in twitter right now and I’ve already seen this and other spam type link several times.
I think it will hurt Joel’s credibility.
Jon Bishop
October 10th, 2008 12:07 am
Affiliate marketers have left a bad taste in my mouth across some of my favorite social media sites. I believe there are appropriate, and probably more successful ways, to promote your links.
That said, I don’t think requesting for ReTweets, which is basically what hes doing, is an effective way of promoting an affiliate link.
I’m all about the relationship building across my micro-blogging platforms and I won’t hesitate to unfollow someone that I feel isn’t conversing with the twitterverse. If other people feel the same way then I don’t think his twitter campaign will work.
Michael Martine - Remarkablogger
October 10th, 2008 12:20 am
There have been some good recommendations made here, but it’s pretty funny to see some of these commenters think they’re going to school Joel Comm on affiliate marketing. That totally cracks me up.
Jennifer Barthe
October 10th, 2008 12:22 am
I like it when people talk about products because they work and like it. Twitter is a place to share information, not spam.
Joel Comm
October 10th, 2008 12:58 am
I’m loving this conversation!
So for those who don’t know what we did with this experiment, let me explain it.
We did NOT use the API to “spam” Twitter. There was nothing shady here.
What we DID do was set up a link in our shopping cart system (Infusion) and notify our affiliates that they could Tweet the AdSense Secrets book promotion in two clicks.
Basically, we provided the text “Download Joel Comm’s AdSense book FREE” followed by the affiliate link with their ID embedded.
When they clicked the link it automatically took them to Twitter.
This is the url format for a pre-written tweet.
http://twitter.com/home?status=This+is+the+text+for+a+premade+tweet+http%3A%2F%2Fjoelcomm.com
Once the link is clicked, the user only needs click the UPDATE button. Voila.
We sent an email to our affiliates with their custom link and explained how it worked. We had no idea if they were on Twitter or not, but turns out a lot of them are. They aren’t even necessarily my followers, just affiliates.
These are people who choose to Twitter because as my affiliates they believe in my products. They are NOT spammers. These were deliberate tweets.
What we SHOULD have done is provided a number of different pre-written tweets AND encouraged them to change the text to best fit their voice.
And please note, people ALWAYS promote things on Twitter via tinyurl and other services. We just asked a lot of people to promote so there was a lot of tweets. But what’s the difference?
Here’s one thing we know for sure…
As Twitter continues to grow, people and businesses will seek to use it commercially. You can count on it. The question is, what will be the best practices that lead to success in this arena. I think the marketplace will naturally dictate in the long run, but you can expect to see people take things way beyond our little experiment.
And for those who are wondering… yes, it was very effective.
Darren, your handling of this issue is admirable and I appreciate the conversation. Kudos!
Dave Adams | FlickerLister Blog
October 10th, 2008 1:55 am
I think that it is here that the distinction has got muddied. I think if you had, like you said, asked the affiliates to reword the tweet into their own voice, it would have removed the element of ’spam’ about the process.
However it still wouldn’t have avoided the fact that multiple people are tweeting the same content at the same time. If the effect of tweeting could have been staggered over a longer period, say a week rather than a day, would the promotion -
a) be as effective as it has been?
b) seen as less spammy?
As you say Joel, the boundaries are going to be pushed further and further – its a question of what gives first.
Syed Balkhi
October 10th, 2008 2:35 am
That is pretty spammy on Joel’s side…
Ryan Peterson
October 10th, 2008 5:40 am
What is SPAM anyway? In the email world the FTC describes SPAM as unsolicited commercial email or UCE. Brent made a great comment when he said “The great thing about Twitter is it is pull marketing.” You clearly have a choice about who you follow mostly taking out the unsolicited portion. Now most end users don’t use the legal definition of SPAM so “SPAM” has become whatever the end user feels is SPAM or SPAMMY. I would say the true SPAM on twitter is when people create fake accounts and use them to follow large numbers of people to try and get them to look at post by the user when they try and see who is trying to follow. This was not the case in this instance. While this could have been executed better to reduce the perception of it being SPAM or SPAMMY I think twitter is a good medium for people to share their interest and things they are promoting with the people who choose to follow them. If you don’t like it don’t follow them it is that simple.
Living on Adsense Blog
October 10th, 2008 8:47 am
I am a fan of Joel Comms, I bought his book, prior to the free giveaway.
I have a few thoughts on internet marketing in general on Twitter. After watching all of the videos from Ed Dales 30 Day Challenge, and spending some time Tweeting it seems that Twitter is full of internet marketers and web savvy people. Are these the type of people that respond to spam style internet marketing?
No.
IMing on Twitter is really all about marketing relationship building. I cannot see that much results coming from the Spam style that Joel is suggesting his affiliates to follow
Joseph Manna
October 10th, 2008 10:18 am
This is a great discussion topic, Darren. Thanks for bringing it up. I posted our perspective and best practices for marketers on our blog, http://www.infusionblog.com/ so everyone can benefit.
I’m not necessarily going go into the practice of marketing on Twitter itself; there has been quite a lengthy debate in the comments here, already. I want to caution all readers on this entry that whether this practice is never in the marketer’s control.
What I mean is this — If a few users choose to take the initiative to report some suspicious Twitter accounts, created possibly by one’s Affiliate program, Twitter reserves the right to blacklist the domain in question for contributing as a “service disruption” or possible “spamminess,” even if it isn’t. Twitter doesn’t owe anyone anything, not even service. It’s free and has not had one advertisement on it published by Twitter themselves.
Personally, I don’t advocate anyone to send the same exact message repeatedly over Twitter. Not only does it appear lame, it could result in further consequences later from SURBL, Twitter and any other social network who maintain anti-spam blacklists. However, I will contend, it’s a creative use of Twitter + Affiliate Marketing.
Thanks again for posting this, Darren. We support small businesses who market themselves, even on Twitter. They just need to it responsibly. ;-)
~Joe
http://www.infusionblog.com/
Amit
October 10th, 2008 5:27 pm
Twitter is definitely not a place to spam to be honest and what Joel has done would just harm is reputation, common if you want to drive traffic why not buy traffic from Google adwords.
Stock Market pundit
October 11th, 2008 1:44 am
The name of the game is traffic , affiliate marketers were bound to pounce on twitter sonner or later.
MLRebecca
October 11th, 2008 3:04 am
I’m a huge fan of Twitter, and I wholeheartedly believe it can do wonders for a person’s online presence. That said, I believe every affiliate marketer should create a Twitter account now. So long as you’re abiding by the Terms, your tweeting efforts should help to expand your brand online!
Yu Ming Lui
October 11th, 2008 11:07 am
If you didn’t tell me who he was and that you liked his work, I would definitely dismiss this as spam. It makes him look awful and denigrates his image. It’s a bad PR move.
MMOHIT
October 12th, 2008 11:59 am
affiliate marketers can use anything for their traffic :)
Therese Prentice
October 12th, 2008 5:30 pm
We have to allow affiliate marketers to use their own discretion when promoting their products. I don’t like to be censored nor do I want to censor anyone else. If I find activities of others offensive then I would simply unfollow them on twitter. I have actually found a lot of great information and tools behind a few affiliate links. Everyone should be allowed to build their online brand, manage their online credibility and reputations they see fit.
Lenin Nair
October 18th, 2008 4:09 pm
This is pure sure twitter spamming. I have never been for spam. particularly when somebody gets traffic and profits for spamming a social network like twitter. It’s downright deplorable and unethical. I hope, Darren, that you don’t support it.
Jill C.
October 22nd, 2008 11:27 pm
I come to Twitter to learn and share ideas on how to build my brand, to nurture relationships and to sometimes just have fun! I do very little blatant self-promotion, and my only “promotional” tweets are done when I am doing giveaways or contests of some sort. I do think the above is SPAM and I do not think Twitter is the place for this type of post – just my 2 cents. I think it makes the person look desperate…he would peak my interest more by sharing tips from the book as opposed to blatantly linking to it. Then again, I never respond to any of those types of sales pitches anyway!
Momma
October 23rd, 2008 2:06 pm
I’m not sure twitter is reliable enough for anything these days… marketing or otherwise…. can you say FAIL WHALE??? LOL
Momma at http://engineeradebtfreelife.blogspot.com/
Ragnar
October 26th, 2008 10:48 pm
looks pretty spammy to me, I would consider it spam even if I saw only one of those, and if there is some sort of “report” function on Twitter I’m sure some of them have been “reported” unless only close friends watch what they write there. For me the way it’s done here is just a big no no for a program like twitter.
Dr. Kangaroo
October 29th, 2008 7:53 pm
Twitter will evolve in accordance to it’s users wishes… period!
Whether it’s Joel doing the marketing or someone else the fact is that it will continue to go that way.
Someone like Joel has a few thousand followers, who want to hear what he has to say… duh that’s why they follow him! He would be mad to pass them by and just tell em what he’s having for lunch!
Given that, the people who do not like what he has to say or market can stop following.
I for one do not like the way he throws his political leanings into the ring… and if that was all I was getting from him it would be bye bye Joel… however he has enough to say about other matters that make me excuse his politics.
Isn’t this a bit like if you don’t like what you’re watching use the remote?
So stop following the marketers… and stop following your friends who follow the marketers, and just maybe you should stop following the friends of your friends who follow the marketer… sheesh already!!
Twitter is a marketers’ paradise… get used to it people!
This is Dr. Kangaroo and I’m lookin’ out for the little guy! – gonna test your hype!
Lee Chin
October 31st, 2008 4:17 am
Well, I definitely think that so long you don’t mislead your readers, sharing something that might benefit them will definitely be helpful.
However, there seems to be so much that you can typed in on the updates on Twitter. Besides, I think Twitter is a great place to share a more personal side of you and build bonds with people.
If too much of affiliates promoting the same messages, it definitely create the “spamyness” on Twitter. It can be quite frustrating if too much of the same messages appearing same time.
But then again, I kindda feel that more of these might to come in the future, especially if more ‘Mentors’ are to pitch to more ‘Students’. So guess we kindda need to start with the root…
- my 2cents
Brian
November 1st, 2008 8:00 am
Though I don’t think this was one of Joel’s better ideas it’s still within his and his affiliates rights to use twitter for promotion. If you don’t like it unfollow the bums and stop whining like little pansies.
Lawrence Ip
November 2nd, 2008 6:52 pm
Okay, there really are several sides to the proposition at hand, all of them having value and merit. My first point of agreement is that Twitter as a platform does not fit into the “review” strategy, but rather the “comment upon, here’s an idea” strategy. In other words, I feel that Twitter is all about creating and establishing relationships, and updating followers and the Twitter community in general, to what you are up to. It is in this regard, the communal, that gives rise to concern, as Twitter, as the brilliant device for promoting our opinions and points of view that it is, will be used by marketers, indeed even presidential candidates, to solidify their relationship with their followers. To the very edge of some peoples tolerances. In my instance, the marketers that I follow on Twitter mainly Tweet personal stuff, like yourself Darren, John Reese, Frank Kern and several others. These are people that I want to hear from. This is what I like about Twitter, I also like the fact that if we are launching a new product we have the facility to promote the fact too. But as far as using links in the manner in question… Well, the jury’s out on that one. But I am quite inclined to agree with Brian.
Keep Shining
Gina Jennings
November 18th, 2008 9:17 am
I’m not sure about doing twitter. I have an account but never used it.
I’m sure Twitter has great applications, and is probably working wonders. I just don’t know if I need to be that connected to someone that they have to know what I’m doing every minute of the day.
SW
February 17th, 2009 2:41 pm
Invevitably, affiliate marketing is going to be pervasive on Twitter. It’s goot big a group of people to be ignored. However, I agree with you up to a point. The problem with Joel’s method is that as you stated it’s a) impersonal and b) that ugly affiliate link won’t sit well with anyone. Surprisingly, Joel has a url shortener not sure why he didn’t use it.
There is also a growing crowed voicing their opinion against ANY type of commercial use on Twitter. To them, anything that’s not a link to news or something non-commercial is automatically labeled as “spam” Spam is way too generalized nowadays. People are posting links on Twitter all day long but, as far as affiliate marketing is concerned, it’s best to bring people to a site or blog and give them something for FREE. Then, in the material that’s given for FREE, they can pitch whatever they want. This assumes that if the person took the time to get something for free, they’re likely to be interested in other things. The notion taht people are just going to click on an affiliate link and buy stuff as part of a numbers game is nonsense. All Joel has to do is what I have done with my viral tool, send them to a blog, to another site, give them something for free and then hope they buy from your gifts and freebies. That way, the complainers won’t be so hard on the marketers. IN summary, there is a right and wrong way to market on Twitter and I have observed the same thing you have, right now it’s done wrong. Some people take Twitter very personal and they quickly complain about spam even when it isn’t. Perception of reality to them. So, marketers have to use common sense and think before they post stuff. Instead of buyers, all they get is a bunch of irate people screaming “Spam!”
weight loss affiliate
February 27th, 2009 8:27 pm
I think that as long as you’re not spammy then it will be tollerated by the community. If someone puts. “looking to buy a laptop” then I can’t see anything wrong with sending them a link if it’s relevant.
lawsen
March 22nd, 2009 2:52 pm
wow alot of people have alot to say about this hot topic! as long as you dont spam you will be ok! im thinking about using twitter myself, only time can tell.
FlexOffers
April 8th, 2009 12:19 am
I believe it can have it’s legit purposes with zero spam. What if I am an affiliate network that wishes to communicate to all my affiliates about a new program or commission change? The affiliates who follow me, will most likely get the info before someone who only relies on newsletter alerts.
Tom HD
June 23rd, 2009 1:46 pm
I think its okay to allow affiliate marketing on Twitter because if the volume of SPAM gets too high from any one tweeter you can choose to no longer follow them. I have done that on several occasions and have been satisfied with my experience.
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