So, I was booking a trip to my hometown of Toronto to surprise my 100-year-old mother with a visit on Mother's Day. (If you've followed me on Facebook for any amount of time, you'll know that this effort goes beyond the beyond.)
I'd chosen a hotel that I've stayed at often over the years. As the best pricing is most often available by contacting them directly, that's what I did, BUT while I was on the phone with the hotel I'd, I was checking Hotels.com for their pricing and discovered that their price was $9 a night cheaper which amounts to more than $10 per night when you factor in taxes.
After going back and forth with the hotel manager – who refused to honor the Hotels.com pricing – I booked online through Hotels.com.
After the runaround, I thought I'd let my Facebook friends know about the tack I'd taken to save over $100.
Being a good affiliate marketer, I grabbed my Hotels.com affiliate link from CJ, then went to Bit.ly to have it shortened.
Right after posting, I returned to the CJ site noticed the following Hotels.com affiliate marketing restrictions posted very clearly just below the ‘Get Code' area:
Restrictions:
- We do not pay commission on packages, flights or any other line of business except completed hotel stays.
- Affiliates are not allowed to promote Hotels.com via Twitter, Facebook or Facebook Advertising without written approval.
- Toolbars, browser applications and/or extensions are not permitted. Publishers wishing to utilize such tools will be evaluated on a case by case basis by Hotels.com.
YIKES!!!
You can bet that I deleted that Facebook post immediately and fervently hoped no one was the wiser. 🙂
I know the rules and restrictions imposed by those advertisers that I promote most frequently, and most allow me to post direct links on my Facebook account.
But because I don't promote Hotels.com very often, I just assumed the same was true for their program.
As always… ASSUME… Makes an ‘ass' out of ‘u' and ‘me'… mostly me.
Don't shoot yourself in the foot.
ALWAYS check your affiliate program restrictions so as NOT to restrict your affiliations.
Comments, questions or suggestions? Please leave a comment below!
Cheers,
I don’t think that posting an affiliate link in your timeline will hurt anything. Most of the affiliates don’t allow you to pay for facebook advertising, but when you share an affiliate link in your timeline it is visible only from your friends – which I think is nothing to worry about.
When in doubt, create a post on your blog/website talking about your experience and then create a social media link to that post.
Unless you have read the terms explicitly for each merchant, and know it’s okay, avoid affiliate links on social media sites.
Hopefully you made contact with their rep and worked things out.
Its kind of like when you agree to the terms of usage or service on
a website.
Always read the find print 🙂
Isaiah Jackson
Yeah, its so easy to make mistakes like this but it was very prudent of you to follow up. We’ve all had those ‘woops’ moments!
Yep, Have to be a Attorney, as The Print a Ant Could read with Contacts!!!!,, Great story,and Ive Been Using The “ASSUME”,, For as Long as I Can Remember, Maybe Kinygarden,LOL:)
Thanks,,Jack,,