Twitter Is Going To Un-Cloak Your Affiliate Links: Are You Ready?

By Luis Galarza - Gamevertising.

The real question here is: What will happened with conversions and your ROI when Twitter start un-cloaking your affiliate links!...

Yes, my affiliate friends Mashable announced yesterday that Twitter is changing the way they display links, this is great for avoiding getting send to a site with malware, viruses, trojans, and other phishing Internet attacks. But, for ethical online marketers this can mean that your conversions can go from hero to zero depending on the campaign, for example if you link to ugly Clickbank or Amazon affiliate links directly this will indeed lower your conversions.

Now, covering or cloaking your links is not unethical, is actually a good way to avoid commissions thief from stealing from you. The problem is that if you are a marketer with zero budget to invest or no knowledge of HTML at all, your revenue can be in jeopardy.

Here is why:

"The first change is the auto-wrapping of links with the t.co short URL. This URL will replace twt.tl, which the company has been using to shorten links in direct messages for several months. However, you won’t see t.co appear very often — if at all — on Twitter.com or your favorite Twitter app, because the company is changing how links are treated on the platform.

Whenever it’s possible to display a longer link, Twitter will display that URL information so that users aren’t fooled by obscure links that turn out to be malware. Twitter’s example is http://www.amazon.com/Delivering-Happiness-Profits-Passion-Purpose/dp/0446563048/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275966329&sr=8-1%22, which links to Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh’s new book. In a text message, you’d see the link automatically turned into a t.co link (due to the SMS character limit), but on Twitter.com, it will display either part of the link (amazon.com/Delivering-), the page title or the entire link. What will exactly be displayed has yet to be decided.

Second, t.co links will be routed through a service that will eventually make t.co part of the Promoted Tweets algorithm. That means the links you click will determine what ads are displayed in Twitter’s new system. Twitter is also looking to provide analytics from t.co data for companies using Twitter’s commercial accounts service. The routing will also check whether the link in question comes from a malicious source, thus preventing malware and phishing attacks."

Source: Mashable.

The Solution.

The solution is simple, if you read my post about bad Twitter marketing tactics you should avoid, you already know that posting direct links to an affiliate page or sales-page if you are a merchant is a big NO, NO! Just like the rules for any social network, you need to build connections and relationships, don't sell, instead pre-sell.

The right marketing method to apply here is:

Find the affiliate products related to your niche.
Create or get the distribution rights of a good small report about the same subject.
Build a squeeze page to generate leads.
Send subscribers to the affiliate salespage right after subscribing.
Set up an autoresponder follow up system, to get more sales.
Build a close relationship with your leads.
Generate more income from back-end offers.

And yes, you can do all that with free marketing resources. Here are the ones your should use:

Find products on Clickback or check this huge list of CPA networks.
To build your landing page you can use Webs.com.
Get free private label right products at PLRWholesaler.
For autoresponders the best free service I have found is MailChimp.

As you can see you can easily and for free have your campaign or a brand new online business up and running in no time.

Your Tweet.

OK, let's come back to how your to tweet your promotions... I'm not a fan of tweeting anything that have to be with selling products, I prefer a different approach which helps me build a strong following, and increase my level of authority in my field. But, if you still want to tweet promotions, here is what you need to do after Twitter applies their new linking system:

1. - Send your followers to a landing page on your site, this way you don't link to ugly referrals URLs. Your landing page can be:

An article.
Lead generating form.
A review of the product you promoting.
A blog post about the product.
A list a the basics stuff people need.
Etc..

2. - Find a merchant that offers a giveaway, then write an article or a blog post promoting the offer, and tweet the article for your followers to see.

3. - Get whole of discount coupons that from one of the merchants you are promoting and tweet it with a little details, this way you can tweet the ugly URL without any problem. Hey, anyone can appreciate a good deal.

4. - Another technique used very successfully, is the promotion of a mega bonus. Where you create a landing page with an exclusive bonus for your followers when they purchase a product or service through your affiliate link.

5. - Don't over do it... It doesn't matter how many strategies you use, everything is fine as soon as you don't over tweet your promotions...

Let us know if you have any other ideas...

Recommended Resources.

- E-Business Star-up Handbook.
- Step-By-Step Guide To Selling Online.

QUICK PROFIT TIP: It doesn't matter what changes are made by media companies, you just need to keep innovative and flexible to adjust when you need to!.

To your success,

Luis Galarza, Internet Marketing Consultant In Massachusetts.
Proud member of the Internet Entrepreneurs Club.

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