Promo codes vs. url

[ihatetheredskin]

my company is starting off and was wondering about doing promo codes as discounts to end user and way of tracking for the affiliate. i do ppc as you guys do and would want to to have people like us promote but wanted to hear from you about whether this would work? buttons with url code is nice but with the adding in a promo code would the end user feel more like a special deal and buy??

any experience or feedback would be great.

** our site would have live tracking and stats, but would be generated by promo code.

 

[jeff_p]

i feel as if the actual promo code entitles the user to actually feel like they've saved something. then again, it depends on your demographic... i wouldn't be surprised if some internet surfers can't figure out how to enter in a promo code at checkout.

 

[BigHef]

One thing I always remember about promo codes - if you offer someone a chance to buy with a promo code, and they don't have it, there's a lot of people who'll abort and try and find a code before they buy... if they end up buying at all

 

[Yep!Jamie]

When I buy anything online I search for promo codes first. If I cant find any then I'm less likely to buy.

But having promo codes was crucial in my last job. Personalize the promo codes to the affiliates...If your affiliate is wf.com then make a promo code called wf20.

 

[thedamian]

promo codes are also excellent for advertising outside the web (print, radio, you know)

Also I agree with that comment about abandon-rate with promo codes. and then there's the fact that there WILL be at least one affiliate that will show up for searches like 'your site promo' and you'll be giving away free money to that person.

How you word the "promo code" can help with that. maybe something like "ref" or "code" works better than "discount code" you'll think of better words for your business.