Using Push Polls to Give a Black Eye to Affiliate Marketing

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Did you ever get one of those calls around election time from a “polling organization” that just wants to ask you a few questions? Sometimes, it’s a legitimate company trying to get the pulse of the electorate. Other times, it’s a tactic intended to influence or alter you opinion.

The latter method is known as push polling, a negative campaigning technique usually employed by politicians.

But sometimes it’s used by marketers, like a piece that ran in MediaPost earlier this week from Seana Mulcahy. The article was titled, Do You Really Know The Company You Keep?, and it was an objective a jaundiced view of affiliate marketing.

The story starts out with the juicy setup, “If you’re in the online marketing/advertising space, then you’d better listen up: you may be keeping some unsavory company.”

That company, of course, resides in the risky scheme that is affiliate marketing, at least in Seana’s world. That’s because “There are no standards, rules or protections in this environment.”

Sure, if you skip silly things like due diligence, you can end up with questionable players in any channel. That’s why a great many affiliate managers apply strict criteria when considering applications into their affiliate programs.

It’s not a novel idea to protect one’s brand in affiliate marketing, and investigate other aspects of affiliates to ensure they are not fraud risks and are CAN-SPAM compliant.

Anyhow, some of the things to consider, as noted in the piece are…

Don’t assume all affiliates (sites that market other sites) have a bad rap. There are some very good companies out there.

Oh, OK. So not all have a bad rap. Maybe just 90%, right Seana?

If you are not promoting porn, make sure to ask if there is any way your messaging can be associated with any adult content. Make sure this is clearly written in your insertion order.

Seriously, how many affiliates in the adult space are clamoring to dedicate their lucrative real estate to a widget that has no relevance to their audience?

Affiliate marketing works just fine for the folks that bother to be selective about their partners. And it sure is a cost effective channel when compared to the non-performance based marketing channels, which explains the veiled attacks and insinuations by those on the brandwagon.

As the character Debbie Hunt said in the classic film, Singles, “Desperation - it’s the world’s worst cologne.”