Pros & Cons of Direct Linking vs Landing Pages on Facebook Ads

Now, before you go and build your first Facebook ad campaign, you have to make an important decision: should your ad link directly to the offer or should it link to a landing page on your own website? There is no one right or wrong answer to this question, it depends on you and your offer. Let's examine the pros and cons of each, so you can make an informed decision. And remember - no campaign has a fixed solution, so be ready to split test! If you find that your initial decision isn't working as well as you would like, you can always change it up and try the other way.

Pros & Cons of Direct Linking

When you use direct linking, your ad will go straight to the offer on the company's site when a user clicks on it (this should be pretty obvious for our publishers, but might as well explain it before continuing). With that in mind, though, there are a few reasons that most affiliate marketers do not use direct linking, and the main two are that you are not going to be able to build a list or tempt your traffic with other offers and information if you do not send them to your own website first. List building is important, because it helps you develop a solid base of people that are already interested in what you have to offer, so you can tap into it later for other offers. And having people come to your site first means that you can establish a stream of traffic and build a brand.

But there are pros of direct linking too. For example, it's a great way to quickly test a new offer that you haven't tried before, to gauge interest, without having to dedicate time to building a landing page on your own site for it. The traffic will ideally need to be very targeted, but if you can't convert at all from a direct link, then you know that either the offer is just no good and people are not interested, or making that sale will involve more work via selling on a landing page. The majority of offers that we list in our top social category are meant to be direct linked, but when you build landing pages or list building paths it allows you to promote a vast array of different offers you would never think of.

This is also ideal for affiliate marketers that do not have the time or inclination to set up their own website. If you need help deciding which offers work best, you should also communicate with your account manager for their personal suggestions. For example, if you tried building landing pages for dating campaigns you would most likely* lose your money; on the other hand if you built lists for people interested in health you could promote free trials to them via EMail marketing without breaking the terms and conditions of Facebook Ads. The more advanced of a user you are, and how creative you are really determines how you want to promote.

Pros & Cons of Landing Pages

Landing pages are useful for selling - they give you the chance to talk the offer up more, give more information than you can in the small space a Facebook ad provides, and generally help you generate more interest. After all, if you can thoroughly explain WHY the user needs this product, then they are much more likely to go for it, right? That is one of the largest pro in the direct linking vs. landing page debate. When you send your clicks to a landing page, you are setting yourself up in the best position possible to keep that user's interest and have them follow through on the offer.

Landing pages are the way to go for anyone looking to build an affiliate business that is profitable for the long term. New affiliates may choose to go the direct linking route at first, but if you really want to bring in the big bucks, landing pages are what will help you do that. As you get more advanced, you can use these landing pages to build targeted lists, and paths that cross promote multiple offers. Over time, our internal division moved from promoting JUST direct linked offers to building out long paths that gather EMails and cross sell people through several offers.

The biggest con of landing are that you need to be able to write good sales copy and create a page that looks sharp, professional and eye-catching. If you don't have the skills to do that yourself, you can hire others to make it happen for you, but not everyone has the spare cash to pay the professionals. If you don't have the skills or the budget, then the landing page route may not be for you. With both options, we highly suggest that you speak with your account manager first so we can advise you with our professional opinion.