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Ethics and sweepstakes- Congrats, U won a iPhone (11)

11-07-2019 04:52 PM #1 cpa2020 (Member)
Ethics and sweepstakes- Congrats, U won a iPhone

Congrats u have won a iPhone- send the code to confirm delivery.

Are these types of sweeps ok?
Sorry, I am new with sweeps. What exactly the customer gets when they send the code?

I have run Nutra, Mobile content offers- there we provide value/service to customer or fulfill his needs and he gives us money. Win-win situation.

But in the above mentioned offer, when he sends SMS, he is charged(is that right?). Does he really gets a chance to win iPhone?

I am trying to understand how these offers work.
What does the advertiser get when someone signs up(sends SMS). Customer's mobile number? What does advertiser do with mobile number?

And then there are Credit Card submits. Are CC submit offers mostly misleading or not? Why advertiser collects CC details?

I have heard sweepstakes are the easiest offers for newbies? Is it true?
And do we have to be a little aggressive/misleading/greyhatish if we want to run sweeps. I mean, is it considered very normal in Affiliate Marketing community? Or at least, it is considered ok for newbies/young guys to get feel of some success initially?

I just don't feel too comfortable with destroying someone's peace of mind for a few dollars.
Please guide me in this regard- what sweeps really is all about?

11-07-2019 05:25 PM #2 sushiparlour (Member)

Personally I would say if you're really not comfortable then don't run it. There are a lot of other options out there in the affiliate market world that can work so you can always try something else (e.g. ecommerce, WH lead gen...) even if it might be harder. Worse would be to run something like a cc submit but give yourself "ethics constraint" since you will probably lose out to someone else willing to step past the extra mile. (Would you pay $1 for a free iPhone or $1 for a chance to win an iPhone?)

As for how they convert there are many ways:
1. For email collection (SOI submits) - they are selling your emails along or running something else on it themselves to recoup the acquistion cost.
2. For cc submits, it is suppose to work like a lucky draw. You pay $1 for a chance to win a $1000+ phone as long as you're lucky.
3. Ways that I'm not even aware of, who knows as people are very innovative in this space.

In theory the advertizers are all suppose to give out prizes, whether they actually do or not I have no idea and you'll have to check with your advertizer.

Think I've address mostof what you asked, happy to answer a few quetions or you could ask your affilaite manager as they probably have an answer to what you're asking as well.

11-07-2019 09:05 PM #3 stickupkid (Senior Moderator)
Ethics and sweepstakes- Congrats, U won a iPhone

Vertical Guides: Sweepstakes 101
https://stmforum.com/forum/forum.php?id=288

Ps: cc submit use 1 dollar to lure people into a creditcard subscription somewhere between 10-100 dollar per month.


Sent from my iPhone using STM Forums mobile app

11-08-2019 06:49 AM #4 vendetta (Member)

Quote Originally Posted by stickupkid View Post
Ps: cc submit use 1 dollar to lure people into a creditcard subscription somewhere between 10-100 dollar per month.
Now, I understand why the payout is so high. :O

11-08-2019 08:24 AM #5 stickupkid (Senior Moderator)

Quote Originally Posted by vendetta View Post
Now, I understand why the payout is so high. :O
In agressiveness I would say, most ethical -> least ethical;
- lead gen sweeps (email etc, no transaction, "just" a bunch of advertisers calling/mailing you instantly)
- IVR (calling a paid number/pay per minute, no subscription)
- one-off pins (confirm by sms, but no subscription, just one transaction only)
- pin submits "classic" (confirm by sms, subcription attached)
- cc submits (confirm by creditcard, only possible way to charge high amounts monthly)
- paypal submits (one-click possible, for some even harder to discover on their bills)

There is also a significant difference in agressiveness regarding angles. You can be very mild and subtle with CC submits. The product still is questionable, but at least you don't deceive on your end that agressive you can sleep without staring at the ceiling thinking what have I done lol.

In my defense, I am oke to run pin submits because it cost the consumers only a few dollars (from 5 to 30 dollar generally) per month. I know its for a lot of people still "serious" money. Also I work with advertiser I know they give out prizes on a regular base. It's kinda like a small lottery. Thereby the offers we run are regulated by law, very strict I can tell. Ofcourse we deceive a bit, but that's marketing right?

(Don't laugh!) Also the people I am targeting are mostly tax-slurping people (not working) and sitting on their ass all day clicking on catchy stuff. Since I pay taxes big time, I am basically earning my taxes back somehow lol. I generalize here ofcourse a bit......

11-08-2019 02:51 PM #6 eduaffiliates (Member)

There are three main forms of conversion flows: Single Opt-in (SOI)/Double Opt-In (DOI), Subscription-based and Credit-Card-submit based.

For beginners it's better to start with SOI or DOI. You can learn how to create the right funnel and are able to play with higher volumes on a lower budget.

11-09-2019 01:29 AM #7 taormina (Member)

What I found out in life is that you absolutely reap what you sow.

I am not comfortable running offers where the buyer is clearly being taken in a dishonest way.

We do a lot of continuity billing. I offset the nastiness associated with continuity by having a telephone support team and a1-800 number. Want a refund? Call, and it's done. Easy.

ALL marketing involves some level of deception and manipulation, but everyone has a different appetite for risk and worse yet many marketers lack a moral compass.

I'll leave you with this nugget: You might get away with it now, but if you run your shit like a con man and a thief, you won't escape the judgment that will inevitably find you.

11-12-2019 04:39 PM #8 vendetta (Member)

Quote Originally Posted by stickupkid View Post
(Don't laugh!) Also the people I am targeting are mostly tax-slurping people (not working) and sitting on their ass all day clicking on catchy stuff. Since I pay taxes big time, I am basically earning my taxes back somehow lol. I generalize here ofcourse a bit......
Haha, this is the best explanation dude. I won't ever feel bad anymore. Although, I don't pay taxes and I don't think you can ever get your taxes back from me.

11-15-2019 12:30 PM #9 elprofesor (Member)

All marketing is deception, depends on what you're comfortable with. Even "whitehat" e-commerce from big networks push questionable products of low quality for an above fair price. If you're not comfortable with it, I really wouldn't do affiliate marketing.

11-15-2019 01:40 PM #10 twinaxe (Senior Moderator)

I have run Nutra, Mobile content offers- there we provide value/service to customer or fulfill his needs and he gives us money. Win-win situation.
You ask about ethics for promoting sweeps but you had no problem promoting Nutra and MC?

I had a discussion about such stuff some time ago with one of my Pop students.
He also had a hard time to run CPA offers and he had no good feeling about it.

One day he asked me what happens with the users when they convert.
And to be honest, I couldn´t tell him and I never thought about it because I just don´t care.
Eventually he gave up on affiliate marketing because he just couldn´t promote CPA offers when he has a feeling that he´s scamming people.

What happens when a user signs up for a leadgen?
What happens when a user pays for a CC submit?
What happens when a user converts on Adult/Game/Video/Whatever mobile content?
What happens when a user signs up for a streaming CC submit?
What happens when a user deposits $250 on a Bicoin platform?

I have absolutely no idea what hapens when users convert on any of these stuff or anything else that I promote.
But for me as an affiliate this is also not interesting what happens AFTER the conversion.
For me is only important what happens BEFORE the conversion, because this is what I can control and this is what makes me money.
And let´s be honest, probably people also want to be deceived somehow or why should someone really think that he gets an iPhone 11 for ONLY $1 when he puts his credit card info on a random website.
Or he gets a free Samsung Galaxy S10 just for giving his email and name.
Or an unknown girl "Olga, 18, horny" sends a random push message to his phone and asks for a date and he instantly signs up to the dating website Olga recommends.
Or Bill Gates tells his secret how he made 100 Trillion with Bitcoins and also tells the secret platform where YOU can earn the same when you deposit $250 today.

Back to your question, it´s not really about ethic for sweeps.
Sweeps are not better and not worse than other stuff.
In the end you need to ask yourself if you feel comfortable runnig specific stuff or not and when you have a strange feeling about it then just don´t do it.
But don´t try to understand the higher sense of these offers or how exactly they work because this doesn´t make a difference for your campaigns anyway.

Offtopic:

- paypal submits (one-click possible, for some even harder to discover on their bills)
I always thought about it and asked me why something like this isn´t possible but I never saw such offers.
So do they really exist?

11-15-2019 03:00 PM #11 stickupkid (Senior Moderator)

Quote Originally Posted by twinaxe View Post
You ask about ethics for promoting sweeps but you had no problem promoting Nutra and MC?

I had a discussion about such stuff some time ago with one of my Pop students.
He also had a hard time to run CPA offers and he had no good feeling about it.

One day he asked me what happens with the users when they convert.
And to be honest, I couldn´t tell him and I never thought about it because I just don´t care.
Eventually he gave up on affiliate marketing because he just couldn´t promote CPA offers when he has a feeling that he´s scamming people.

What happens when a user signs up for a leadgen?
What happens when a user pays for a CC submit?
What happens when a user converts on Adult/Game/Video/Whatever mobile content?
What happens when a user signs up for a streaming CC submit?
What happens when a user deposits $250 on a Bicoin platform?

I have absolutely no idea what hapens when users convert on any of these stuff or anything else that I promote.
But for me as an affiliate this is also not interesting what happens AFTER the conversion.
For me is only important what happens BEFORE the conversion, because this is what I can control and this is what makes me money.
And let´s be honest, probably people also want to be deceived somehow or why should someone really think that he gets an iPhone 11 for ONLY $1 when he puts his credit card info on a random website.
Or he gets a free Samsung Galaxy S10 just for giving his email and name.
Or an unknown girl "Olga, 18, horny" sends a random push message to his phone and asks for a date and he instantly signs up to the dating website Olga recommends.
Or Bill Gates tells his secret how he made 100 Trillion with Bitcoins and also tells the secret platform where YOU can earn the same when you deposit $250 today.

Back to your question, it´s not really about ethic for sweeps.
Sweeps are not better and not worse than other stuff.
In the end you need to ask yourself if you feel comfortable runnig specific stuff or not and when you have a strange feeling about it then just don´t do it.
But don´t try to understand the higher sense of these offers or how exactly they work because this doesn´t make a difference for your campaigns anyway.

Offtopic:



I always thought about it and asked me why something like this isn´t possible but I never saw such offers.
So do they really exist?
I tested one in the UK yes. I even had a big audience putting as interest “paypal” in FB, so people who liked Paypal page. I am guessing people with paypal are a bit more tech savvy, not the kind of audience to show a sweepstake offer to apparently. Even with the combination of the brand of the sweepvoucher as interest.

Wasn’t good, I expected more because of the possibility to have a one click confirmation you can select in the paypal settings. I think it’s called “one touch”.

I still think it’s a viable payment method to test more with...


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