Ethics in Affiliate Marketing
I’m writing a series of posts here on ethics in affiliate marketing. Whenever you endeavor to write about such a haughty topic, I think it’s important to begin by saying that my opinion is really no more valid than anyone else’s. By no means should any of these posts be considered anything but opinion.
At the same time, I think there’s common ground that all affiliates, merchants, networks, and other interested third parties can to a degree come to, and accept as the premise for promoting the health and longevity of this industry.
Central to all parties involved are some shared principles, which I believe are as follows:
Value to the Consumer
The driving force of affiliate marketing is customer acquisition. As such, all activities surrounding affiliate marketing should in some way represent a TRUE or UNQUESTIONABLY PERCEIVED value to the end user: the customer.
Transactional Transparency
While it’s not critical for each and every detail of all the partners involved in any one given transaction, it’s critical for the health of this industry that the specifics of each transaction be transparent, including, but not necessarily limited to:
- The source of the sale (the click page)
- The amount of the sale
- The date of the sale
- The date the commission will be locked
- The date the commission will be paid
Open Operational Communication
All parties involved in an affiliate relationship should communicate with each other in regards to important matters. That’s not to say that every email from a merchant regarding sales, specials or offers must go answered. Nor is it to say that every communication from an affiliate to a merchant needs to be answered if it’s irrelevant, or simply beyond the scope of a merchant to answer.
What it does mean is that the channels must be there, and they must be respected. Without these channels of communication being available, and further, used properly in regards to properly and honestly driving affiliate sales, a real and effective affiliate channel can’t function properly.
Truth in Advertising
All marketing materials provided by merchants for use, as well as copy that resides on their sites, should be truthful. At the same time, presentation of these materials by affiliates, as well as the addition of their own text or images in support of marketing efforts, should be done in a fashion that in no way misleads a consumer to click through to the merchant website.
I believe that almost every discussion of what is right or wrong with this industry, or any dissection of any action taken by a merchant, affiliate, network or third party tool, can be successfully plugged into any of the above guiding principles.
In the coming days, weeks, and perhaps years, I’d like to discuss this further here, and give my opinion on what each of the participants in any affiliate transaction should be doing to promote these guidelines.
