Linkshare Tweetshop; Appealing to Affiliates?

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:20:00 GMT

Performance marketing network LinkShare announced a new feature to their affiliate product line dubbed #tweetshop which enables publishers/affiliates to find products to recommend from their advertisers and send them to their Twitter followers from a single interface.

In a perfect world a solution such as the #tweetshop tool would enable consumers to find the best deals on products and publishers from a trusted network. The reality is that thousands of affiliates repeatedly tweeting similar products and services could cause distaste among an affiliates Twitter followers not to mention the effect such saturation might have on an advertisers brand and bottom line.

Don’t let me dissuade you; this is an interesting way for affiliates to monetize their Twitter usage. But what say you? A good idea or a bad one?

Here’s a video demonstration of how #tweetshop works:

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Merchants Pave Their Own Way

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 03:50:00 GMT

I came across an interesting thread today at the ABW forum from a merchant who had decided to strike out on his own (away from networks) and manage their own affiliate offering.

Under the title "Leaving the networks and Paving Our Own Way”:

“After spending some time as merchant in a few of the popular affiliate program networks, we have decided to go out on our own and offer a truly unique affiliate program. The concept is simple, provide our affiliates with the tools they need (creatives, text ads, tracking links, dynamic co-branded pages) to bring new customers our way, and in return we deliver a $25 to $100 commission for each sale.”

While there’s a lot of value in letting affiliate networks do the recruiting legwork and develop the infrastructure necessary for tracking and managing affiliates, it is possible (in my opinion – we’ve done this internally ourselves) to develop an affiliate program and promote it to those within your industry. So here’s the question, if you’re a merchant, what’s stopping you from “paving your own way”? If you’re an affiliate network, how do you convince merchants to stick with it?

Share your thoughts on this issue - just comment below.

'Net Features : affiliatete marketing

Linkshare Tweetshop; Appealing to Affiliates?

Merchants Pave Their Own Way