If you’re an affiliate marketer who uses MailChimp, you really do need to read this article. There are terms and conditions that aren’t very well known by many people, that actually state you can’t use MailChimp if you promote affiliate products of any type. I know, not cool right? Read on below for more details and to find out what you can do about this.
What Exactly Does MailChimp Say On This Matter?
If you look at the MailChimp terms of service, section F states:
Also, there are some industries that send certain types of content that result in higher than normal bounce rates and abuse complaints, which in turn jeopardize the deliverability of our entire system. No offense intended, but because we must ensure the highest delivery rates possible for all our customers, we do not allow businesses that offer these types of services, products, or content:
It then goes on to list a number of industries not allowed to use their email marketing software, one of those industries / people types is affiliate marketers.
Why Doesn’t MailChimp Affiliate Marketing Of Affiliate Products?
MailChimp don’t want people promoting affiliated products through their website as they worry that having their emails marked as spam a lot will cause their delivery rates to fall greatly.
So does this mean that if you promote affiliate products but don’t get marked as spam much you can continue to use the old monkey? Well, officially, no. You’ll still be going against their terms of service, which is cause for dismissal on it’s own.
Having said that, a lot of marketers use Mail Chimp without knowing they aren’t allowed to. Some do so without ever getting banned from using the service, most likely as they don’t get marked as spam that much. I’m guessing if your account did it would get manually reviewed, and probably removed.
What Will Happen If They Catch You Selling Affiliate Products?
If they catch you selling affiliated products, they can ban your account without any warning. This means you will lose all your current subscribers and not be able to get them back. This has happened to many people before, and will most likely continue to happen as they get more strict on this kind of thing.
What Can Affiliate Marketers Use Instead Of MailChimp?
If you decide to stop using MailChimp, there are a number of other options available to you. Our favourite is Aweber. They fully allow email marketing for affiliates, as long as you don’t spam your list (Which you shouldn’t be doing anyway). That’s our email marketing tip.
MailChimp Affiliate Marketing Conclusion
I understand where MailChimp are coming from with not wanting to let people ruin the quality of their service, but I think banning all people who promote affiliate products on their site is more then a bit extreme. I can understand if they didn’t allow people who actually sent affiliate links in their emails, but even if they’ve got only one or two affiliate links in their whole site? That’s just unfair.
MailChimp has come leaps and bounds in recent times, and has become a strong contender for Aweber’s crown. But if a lot of people knew about their no sponsored links rule, I’m sure a lot of people would have cancelled their subscription a long time ago.
So can affiliate marketers use MailChimp? Well we wouldn’t recommend it, and officially no. For people looking for an alternative, I recommend Aweber.
