Earlier this week eMarketer tweeted:
79% of US marketing professionals plan to increase spending on social media in the next 12 months – ow.ly/atWqm
— eMarketer (@eMarketer) April 24, 2012
And among the first accounts to ReTweet my mention of the above was TicketNetwork’s affiliate program‘s Twitter account. Their RT got me thinking: “How many other affiliate programs and affiliate managers are actively using Twitter to educate affiliates, and other online marketers, thereby promoting their own affiliate program?”
It turns out, there are quite a few affiliate programs with Twitter accounts. However, not all are created equal. Many are plain broadcasters (of coupons, deals, sales, promos, and a here’s-our-newest-newsletter tweet every once in a while). But when as affiliate managers we are explicitly favoring (and looking to recruit) affiliates who add value, shouldn’t we ourselves be adding value — even through those Tweets?!
I have a Twitter list of accounts for various affiliate programs, but today I’d like to specifically highlight those who in the course of this week tweeted out something different or truly useful (yes, another #FollowFriday post of sorts):
Google’s @mattcutts breaks down crawling and analysis that can affect your ranking in SERPs: bit.ly/JJqEVP
— eBay Partner Network (@eBayPartnerNet) April 26, 2012
Funny stuff from @sewatch “Your Website Might be Over-Optimized If:” ow.ly/avYry #SEO #SEO for Affiliates #affiliate
— Fanatics Affiliates(@FanaticsAff) April 25, 2012
What I Learned From Building 5 Popular Blogs — diythemes.com/thesis/what-i-…
— Olga Eskina (@GAorgAffiliates) April 24, 2012
Tweet us your best advice for new affiliates to be entered in today’s giveaway for the Mr. Bunny Travel Kit!
— Sigma Affiliates (@Sigma_Affiliate) April 24, 2012
The big question is no longer: Are you, as an affiliate manager, using social media? The more important one today is: Are your Tweets, status updates and posts truly adding value? Don’t be like most others. Stand out!! Educate others, educating yourself in the process. It’s fun, and it is also truly rewarding.
Thanks for including us in your post Geno! We try to use Twitter as a communication and education tool for our publishers. It’s fine to push out your corporate info, but you also need to think about what will be valuable to your audience and listen to their feedback.
Thanks for all that you do for the community!
Scott
eBay Partner Network
My pleasure, Scott. You’re setting a good example there.
That’s a tough one. I definitely try, but I have trouble finding things that would benefit the affiliates by sharing. When in doubt I post nothing at all rather then spamming them with things that aren’t relevant to them…
Definitely a good approach, Heather (better nothing than junk).
BTW, I haven’t had you on my Twitter list of affiliate programs before. Added you now. Double attention to you now. j/k
Geno! Thanks so much for the inclusion! I definitely try to use social media optimally!
Sure thing, Olga. You’ve earned it.
Thank you for including us in your post, Geno! We definitely try to use our Twitter account and blog as learning tools for our affiliates. Thanks again!
Annie, you’re most welcome. Using social media for affiliate education = the way to go!