Discount Codes Podcast

Fraser's Affiliate Marketing Blog » Podcasts

Podcast 28

As I mentioned in a previous post we have been working on a podcast involving some affiliates who specialise in promoting merchants using discount codes. The affiliates who agreed to take part were

• Joe Connor from discountcodes.tv
• Chris Frost from discountcodes.co.uk
• Keith Bond from vouchersuk.co.uk

One podcast probably wasn’t enough time to deal with all the issues but we tried to address some of the questions that people left as comments in the previous post. We also considered some of the following issues

• Recent Bad Press For Discount Codes Sites
• Possible Technical Solutions to improve discount codes
• Advice for merchants on how to use discount codes to their full potential
• The Voucher Manager Tool From Paid on Results
• The suggestion of an affiliates4u management system
• The future of discount codes

Many thanks to all the guys for taking part in the podcast

Joe also took the time to answer the specific questions in written form as well

Ian asked:

Why do you think voucher sites are imune form the rules regarding cookie stuffing. i.e. “click here to reveal the voucher code and open the site”.Half the time, the merchant does not offer vouchers or the vouchers are out of date, but you still get your cookie dropped. If you want to show people vouchers, surely they should be listed in the open, and if they want to visit the merchant they will click a link.

On CantBarsed.com we let it all hang out but it’s not a dedicated code site.
On DiscountCodes.tv we list any codes and offers and it’s up to the user to decide if they want to [Show codes & visit site] – if there’s nothing listed we don’t try to stuff a cookie, instead we suggest alternative merchants or a visit to our cashback site Cashbackhub.com

We changed the click through wording a while back in response to the debate about cookie stuffing and although the temptation is to burn the cookie ultimately we want happy visitors that come back or sign up for updates.

Jason asked:

How do the ethical affiliates feel about the bad reputation some voucher code sites have given the sector (e.g. using iframes, cookie stuffing, forced clicks, misleading consumers etc) – has it made working with networks/merchants easier or harder – how do they perceive voucher code sites now? What steps do they think can be undertaken to repair the damage (if any).

We don’t use IFRAMES, on DiscountCodes.tv we use frames to display codes to the left with the merchant frame on the right BUT we have an alternative method which opens the merchant site in a new window for any merchant what doesn’t allow frames or uses frame-breakout coding.

The recent activities of some code sites has definitely made the everyday life of ALL affiliates more difficult – which is probably why there’s been so much abuse directed at code sites generally.

The upside is most of the networks are in discussion with code site owners and progress is being made.

Jason asked:

Do you think merchants/networks have been pro-active enough to act against affiliates who perhaps aren’t working within the ts&cs? What more could they do to make sure everyone is playing within the rules? Why do you think some affiliates seemingly can “get away” breaking the rules?

I want a level playing field for all affiliates.
I believe the key to stopping code abuse is to track all codes both on the merchant site and via the network tracking.
Put a clear policy in place which offers one commission level without a code, a reduced commission with an authorised code and no commission if an unauthorised code.
If this info shows up in the network stats the problems will quickly disappear as code site affiliates will police themselves – or they won’t make any money.

Jason asked:

How do the panel see the future of voucher codes – especially as more and more affiliates jump on the bandwagon. Is the future bright? Or will it be a fad for 2008?

I touched on this in my recent blog post about discount codes. Sites which give visitors ALL the codes they can find without worrying about legalities, merchant wishes or network T&Cs could do well six months ago but that’s no longer the case and ultimately the sites which strike the best balance between what visitors and merchants want will win out.

Jason asked:

Figleaves offer a discount based on a click via an affiliate link – no code required – why can’t other merchants take this lead and wipe out “copying exclusive codes” once and for all? Are merchants really technically capable to implement codes?

I prefer dedicated landing pages on merchants sites over dedicated code links because it makes it clear to the visitor they’re getting VIP treatment and the merchant can explain exactly what they’re offering – along with all their codes and discount offers.

Jason asked:

Paid on Results are bringing in a new voucher code system – is this a good thing? Will it cause problems? Will affiliates who once complained about being copied now encourage sites to copy them?

It’s a great system – certainly the best yet but it’s still early days. Certainly if it’s the code that decides who gets the commission I’d be happy to see my code on other sites but it won’t take long before someone starts posting those codes to the public forums which would open another can or worms.

Now the media has raised the awareness of code sites the public are naturally using them and they can’t see the distinction between marketing channels and they actively look for and publish any codes on the money saving forums which then leaves code sites looking second best so the temptation is always there for code sites to bend the rules, NOT just to make money but to offer visitors what they want.

The best way forward has to be for merchants to work with networks and affiliates to optimise their use of codes. Networks and agencies can (and should) play an active role educating merchants on the options available so everyone ends up as a winner.

The visitor gets the discount, the merchant gets extra sales and the affiliates and networks get their commission.

Thanks for taking the time to give some extra answers Joe