With Twitter currently taking over the world and fast becoming the biggest social network/micro blogging platform/whatever you want to call it - in the world, you'd of thought that it would be the perfect vehicle for Affiliate Networks to talk to affiliates and announce new programmes, offers, network news etc. Surprisingly however, there are very few networks taking advantage of Twitter so far. Here's what I have found to date:
Affiliate Window - @AffWin - launched on Twitter 16th Feb and look to be just trying it out so far. No Tweets of any real significance yet.
Buy.at - @buy-at - this is the US arm of Buy.at and not the UK network. Come on Buy.at UK let's see you on Twitter. Can you get Aga Marchewka to run it too as she is brilliant at communicating offers, vouchers and promotions to affiliates.
Linkshare - @LinkShareUKBlog - have been live since January 2009 but only 9 Tweets so far.
Paid On Results - @PaidOnResults - has been around the longest, since March 2008, however the last update was October 2008.
UPDATE:
Zanox - @zanox_affiliate - other networks should take this as an example of how NOT to use Twitter. Every Tweet consists of the format "New @ zanox: " followed by the name of the programme and a link. There's no engaging with the users and no variation of the message. New programme announcements are useful but surely you have more to say?
DGM - @dgmuk - unfortunately another laclustre effort. Only 14 Tweets since January 8th 2009.
Buy.at - @buyatUK - following on from this post Buy.at UK are now on Twitter, yay!
And that's it, there are no UK Affiliate Networks really working Twitter. Although I do have high hopes for both Affiliate Window and Linkshare. But what about Webgains? I've been singing the praises of their offers blog for a while now so am very surprised that they aren't on yet. Let's not forget Affilinet, Affiliate Future, CJ, OMG, Silvertap etc. too.
If any of the above networks do decide to join Twitter please let me know and I'll publish your details here. It would be great to see you there :)
P.S. Some networks have been so slow on the Twitter uptake that their names have already been taken by Twitter Squatters. Oh dear!
What I'm listening to right now: Mario – "Starlight"
UK Affiliate Networks on Twitter – or not as the case may seem
20 Responses to UK Affiliate Networks on Twitter – or not as the case may seem
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Welcome to my blog. My name is Kieron Donoghue and I am the founder of ShareMyPlaylists.com, ContentNow.co.uk and some other stuff. I have no idea why I'm blue on this photo though but I like it!
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TBH iv not really bothered with twitter. sounds OK, but I think facebook has taken over the social networking world for the time being!
I don’t get it. Why should affiliate networks use twitter? Maybe its a stupid question as I am not Twitter fan. However, networks all have our emails and are able to push offers and whatever communication by email. Why should they use different channel, which is also limiting number of characters, no images etc.. Seems like waste of time for them. Also, affiliates who dont use twitter will miss out on communication.
Because it’s instant, so you can deliver important updates really quickly and succintly. Also because there are a lot of people who know use Twitter more than any other channel. Plus, it’s a massive opportunity for networks to reach a huge audience and potential new affiliates/merchants. There is a lot of business done on Twiter. And I’m not saying that networks should ONLY use Twitter as a communication channel, they should also use emails and blogs as normal too, it’s not a case or one or the other.
How is twitter more instant than email? If aff. manager wants to reach out to existing affiliates – he/she just sends a mass email. The only good way how I see Twitter could be useful is to announce when something is down e.g. tracking down, merchant website down, I would appreciate if I could get in via text message etc. However, I am sure aff. networks would soon be pushing all other “important” updates to my mobile, just as our mailboxes get cluttered with irrelevant aff.network promotions and newsletters.
Don’t get me wrong Kieron, I guess it would cause no harm if they started using Twitter more, however I see with most of the networks they could improve much more important things rather than jump onto new technology, which will not solve the existing problems the networks have.
Emails can easily get blocked by spam traps. Also, network emails are usually scheduled to go out in batches due to volume, for some networks I have 2 accounts and I can sometimes get the same email but 6 hours apart, so it’s far from instant. Plus it’s a lot quicker for a network rep to type out a 140 word string of text than to format a templated email and schedule it for delivery to affiliates using their backend. However, you’re missing my point entirely, I do not advocate the use of Twitter as the only communication channel. As I said previously email, blogs and forums etc. should still be used.
My point is that Twitter is growing so big now and has such a massive reach, that I believe it is a missed opportunity if networks don’t use it. There is also the opportunity to reach a whole new audience too, surely too good an opportunity to pass up.
Interesting post Kieron. I had to list all of our communication channels yesterday for something I was writing. We have email, MSG centre, website, intranet, blog, forum, facebook, msn messenger, dgmknowledge and twitter! That’s a lot of channels but given the diversity of affiliates I want us to use all of these! We havnt got it right yet but it is something we are working on to make sure we send a consistent message through all channels as well as using them effectively. Watch this space for when as crack it.
I have used twitter but not very often! I am finding it hard to see the point of it. Just looks like a bunch of random messages with no common thread! I think more people use it to sell than to buy! Good luck to anyone using it but not my cup of tea.
Must…. resist…. twitter….
Hi Kieron,
I think that I and the 95 year old guy across the street are the only ones around here not on twitter.
It is huge and seems to be growing like a black hole, sucking everybody and everything into it. So far I have resisted, but maybe I am a fool.
How much time do you spend on it a day? ~ Steve
I’m struggling to see the benefits other than marketing around it with “hey, look, we are tweeters” approach. I want to reach out to our affiliates in every means possible, but I’m in 2 minds about twitter. We have done a major overhaul of how our system handles communications between merchants and affiliates and I would like to think that that is more important than 140 characters’ worth of notifications.
I’m not objecting to it though; especially if it means that it’ll drive you to pick up more of our programs
I can’t think why I’d want to follow a network on Twitter. Email works fine.
There are a lot of people who pretty much have Twitter running in the background, all day on their PC. They constantly monitor Tweets and engage in conversations with people, and Twitter is the only tool they use to fo that. These users may never visit your network blog or even bother opening your network emails as they get so many (I know I do). So to get in front of these people all you have to do is Tweet about a special offer, discount, promotion or whatever and then link to ur blog which then gives people the full story.
Trust me Hero, as some of the comments indicate above, a lot of people ignore the existing communication channels. And like I say Twitter is great for getting a message out fast. Some really on the ball merchants are even offering “Twitter only” special offers to further engage customers and reach a whole new customer base. Just a thought
One thing I like Twitter is the immediacy of things… e.g today Drinkstuff saw a product they sell on Something for the Weekend. It goes up on Twitter and an affiliate can react to that info. It’s a great way to get that kind of knowledge across.
If that had gone via email/usual channels it’d have been sat in my inbox and not spotted for a day or two… or not even seen.
Perhaps it’s not right for networks as a relay for regurgitating the same content in emails, forums, blogs etc… but it’s a channel worth investigating for all in AM – even just the affiliate banter which has been missing from other places for a while.
Jason so isn’t the problem with email that you get too much? & if that communication moved to Twitter, you’re back to square one surely – it becomes intrusive, too frequent, and gets batch reviewed.
Unless networks run a dedicated channel for each topic (such as new clients) or merchant or vertical (which then becomes a headache their end), how can they keep the signal to noise ratio such that for most affiliates, most messages are necessary & relevant?
No I don’t get too much email from nwks/merchants – it just doesn’t have the immediate impact as Twitter currently does – and email can end up overlooked/binned off for whatever reasons. Perhaps if Twitter is swamped with messages the same will happen eventually. However, I also said perhaps it’s not right for networks for regurgitating the same content as in emails/forums, but that’s not to say it can’t be used in a constructive way by all in AM.
Have to say I was the one updating Twitter and normally stuck to new merchants and anything I felt was important, but let it slip with all the other things I had to do it went right down my list, should have trained someone on how to do it LOL. If more people are going to use it, then I will start updating it again and may even try putting up other stuff to see the reaction.
Email is better medium than twitter in my opinion. For small info twitter is ok, but for latest deals/vouchers email is better.
I think this is a great idea, the number of people using twitter has increased 1000%. That is huge and rather than someone mascarade around as your company now is the time to pick up your affiliate program url on twitter. I think twitter is only going to get bigger, people should give it a try and then see how they feel, it is really good for instant up dates on what is happening so you can react to new information instantly.
Hi Kieron
Thanks for blogging about buy.at’s absence on Twitter – you’ve got us to pull our finger out and we’ve set up ‘buyatUK’.
If you could drop me an email with the sort of updates you’d like to be seeing from us, we can make sure we’re posting about the sort of information that’s useful of interest for everyone.
Thanks!
Joanna
Hi Joanna,
great news! I was hoping my post would have that effect. I will reply to your email very soon with some ideas!
Cheers!
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