Earning money online is a real possibility but can be a challenge starting out. Affiliate Marketing is a method that involves connecting a buyer of a product to a seller. The beauty of affiliate marketing is there is no inventory, customer service or other responsibilities of the typical business model. The affiliate relationship is about selling a product on behalf of a company or person and earning a commission. It is like being an individual contractor where you earn money when there is a sale or an action preformed without you having the responsibility of delivering, servicing or warranting a product or service.
This is one of the most popular but highly competitive models due to the ease of placing third party ads on one’s own website and driving traffic to it. A commission is earned when a visitor clicks on the advertisement. You can also market a merchant’s text ad or banners and earn a commission even if they don’t buy anything.
This is a compensation plan where the affiliate marketer is paid based on a specific performance of the visitor. Typically this would be considered a transaction when the prospect fills out a lead form, makes a purchase or takes another predefined action.
This is when an affiliate marketer earns a commission when the visitor actually makes a purchase.
This is a niche type of affiliate marketing program that lets marketers earn money when consumers complete an action, generally filling out a lead form or providing other information. In CPA marketing, making money doesn’t require a sale. Instead, the focus is on generating high levels of traffic and conversions to leads through compelling offers such as free products, free information, or sample product trials.
Leads can qualify for payment in several ways, including capturing a consumer’s phone number, address, email or getting someone to fill out a form. The overall benefit of using the CPA model compared to traditional affiliate marketing programs is that income is not contingent on generating sales, and is not affected if a customer returns the product. Payments are earned through the basic marketing efforts of driving traffic and converting the lead through a simple action.
The first step in CPA marketing is to be accepted into one of many CPA networks that act as bridges connecting affiliates and advertisers. The application process can sometimes present challenges as the market is extremely competitive and some networks can be highly selective. The process usually begins with filling out an application, but the networks also need to see that marketers can generate traffic.
These are some simple steps to help boost the chance of being accepted into a network.
1. Be Proactive and Honest
CPA networks often use a phone interview or instant message chat to initially qualify applicants. It is highly recommended that applicants be proactive in their efforts to communicate and demonstrate a consistency of honesty in all forms of communication and business transactions. If the network provides contact information, demonstrate initiative by reaching out instead of waiting to be called.
2. Create a Website
To enhance your probability of acceptance within a network, it is highly recommended that marketers have their own branded website and domain. Within this website, marketers can showcase their overall industry skills that could be email marketing, SEO (search engine optimization) or PPC (pay-per-click advertising).
3. Create an Email Domain
CPA networks review applicants in detail and often prefer those who provide an email address that can directly represent their website domain and verify that the marketer is the same person who owns the website. Use of a free email service provider such as Gmail can be a red flag during network reviews.
Because the use of CPA marketing can be so profitable, it also can be highly competitive. The main purpose of promotions is to direct your web traffic to the website of the company or merchant where consumers can complete their qualifying actions.
Some typical CPA methods used for promotions to drive traffic and find leads include:
There may be a lot of experimentation along with trial-and-error work involved when starting a CPA campaign. Testing is also necessary to see what methods work, how your target audience responds and whether different ad and webpage designs bring more traffic and leads.
Using observations and testing from your promotions will provide you with focused marketing and better results.
The insights and expert knowledge available with continuing education such as a 100% online Advanced Affiliate Marketing Certificate can help guide marketers through a CPA campaign, help them sidestep pitfalls and increase results.
