CPA Marketing: The Complete Guide
Cost Per Acquisition Payouts
If payouts are low, the potential for profit is low.
Paid Frequency for acquisitions
How often are affiliates paid? Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly?
Cost Per Acquisition real-time reports
Do affiliates have reports with multiple attributes to help optimizations?
In affiliate marketing, CPA marketing is where the affiliate is paid a certain commission when a user they refer completes a specific action, such as filling out a form, signing up for a newsletter, or completing a purchase. This commission is known as CPA, or Cost Per Action or Acquisition.
For example, at Round Sky, we provide CPA offers for our loan affiliate program. This means that once you join our affiliate network and become a loan publisher, you will receive a fee every time a potential borrower fills out a loan application form through your website. So, all you need to do is publish the application form and work to attract traffic to your site. We will take it from there and ensure that the borrower is connected with the most appropriate lender for their needs.
CPA digital marketing is a relatively simple concept once you take a closer look at all the parties involved and their roles in the process:
✓ Affiliate or publisher.This would be your role. As an influencer (brand, business, or blogger), you would promote a product or service to drive traffic to your website. Going back to our example, this means that you would publish a loan request form from Round Sky on your website to help the consumers find a loan that they are looking for.
✓ CPA Network CPA network is the platform that connects the businesses who want their products or services to be promoted and the affiliates who want to make money by promoting these products. For example, Round Sky is an affiliate lending network, meaning that we provide the glue between the lenders and loan affiliates. Affiliates are connected to 50+ lenders via Round Sky, and lenders are connected to hundreds of affiliates.
✓ Business or advertiser.This is the company or brand that desires to work with affiliates to drive high-quality traffic to their website and generate leads or increase sales. At Round Sky, we work with a network of over 50 lenders around the country so that the clients you refer have the highest chance of finding a lender that can service their loan request.
Once you target the right audience, CPA marketing can prove to be incredibly profitable. In fact, the Cost Per Acquisition formula provides a number of benefits over other ecommerce marketing channels, including:
1. Easy to set up.
A CPA marketing campaign is easy to launch: all you need to do is get a website and join a CPA network. You need very little upfront investment to get started, and, if you partner with a trusted CPA affiliate network like Round Sky, you will take all the guesswork out of the equation.
Once you set up your website and choose a CPA offer, you can start sending traffic to the advertisers and earn commission payouts almost immediately.
2. High-profit potential
When done right, CPA marketing can prove to be an incredibly lucrative field. Regular commission payouts coupled with the low costs of running the business result in high-profit margins. Just think about it: all you need to run your business is a computer and internet access; no office space, no employees, no specialized equipment.
3. Being a marketing guru is not necessary
You don't need to be a CPA marketing guru to succeed, at least not initially. CPA affiliate marketing is an industry where practice makes perfect, and you will reach that "perfect" over time.
You are welcome to choose what campaigns to try out and what learning methods to follow to become better at what you do. For example, if you are a blogger, you can begin by writing optimized content to attract more and more people to your blog. The more visitors your website has, the better your chances of getting them to convert and earning commission payouts.
4. No need for your own marketing kit
Most of the time, CPA advertisers will provide you with any and all marketing materials you will ever need to promote their products. At Round Sky, we offer multiple customized templates and website widgets that you can insert into your website with a few simple clicks. That way, you can just get right on it and start earning commissions.
5. Flexibility, independence, and convenience.
Similar to most passive income strategies, CPA marketing lets you work when you want to, and if you want to. You are welcome to work in a flexible environment and schedule of your own preference. And the best part is that you don't even need to worry about any customer concerns that may arise after the sale; the advertiser's own customer support team will take care of it.
Join the Round Sky CPA Affiliate Marketing Network
All in all, CPA marketing presents an easy-to-start and lucrative opportunity for those looking to establish an additional source of income. As with any other business, choosing the right partners is of the utmost importance.
At Round Sky, we work with over 50 lenders throughout the country. This means that you can advertise their loan products and receive hefty commissions at the end of the day.
Sales or Landing page
A dedicated landing page is simply a direct sales page that introduces all the important information about the product or service you are trying to promote. The goal of the page is to get the reader to complete the action, such as clicking through to the merchant right away or, at least, signing up for the mailing list. In most cases, this means you are sending your visitors directly to the advertiser's website.
Splash Page
You can build a splash page to encourage the readers to either click through to the advertiser or input their personal information. Usually, you would do this if you want to build a mailing list of your own, so before sending the consumer off to the advertiser, you ask them to opt-in to your mailing list, so that you can promote other products later, and then after opt-in you send them off to the advertiser (which is your primary goal) to complete the transaction at hand.
Comparison Webpage
On a comparison page, you can compare and contrast several advertisers all at once and let the consumer choose which one they want to continue with. You'll want to add disclosures to your page that you are compensated by each advertiser, but otherwise, this can be a great way to offer your consumer choices, and for you to earn a commission for whichever choice the consumer chooses.
Use A/B Testing
One of the best ways to ensure the long-term success of your partnership with an affiliate network is to test the channels and pages for maximum outcomes. For example, you can employ A/B testing for promo pitch lines, email lists, the look of the hyperlink, the location of the sign-up form, and so on. Pick up an extra percent of conversion here, an extra percent there, and soon you'll be making more money than you were before!
