In the online world, your business can reach a virtually unlimited audience. But converting those leads into customers can be a real challenge. That's where CPA marketing comes in.
CPA marketing, short for cost per action marketing, is a form of affiliate marketing that businesses of all sizes use to scale their marketing efforts and reach more people.
With CPA marketing, you partner with influencers, bloggers, or publishers who promote your products in exchange for a commission fee. When a customer buys a product through the affiliate's marketing efforts, the affiliate gets paid.
For example, the affiliate might write a review, display a banner ad on their website, or post a video on social media promoting your product.
Unlike other forms of digital marketing like cost per click (CPC), where you pay to advertise your brand without any guarantee of a sale, CPA marketing only requires you to pay after the sale occurs. And if the customer asks for a refund, you can recoup any payouts made to the publisher.
In this arrangement, the publisher takes on more risk than the advertiser because their earning potential depends on their ability to attract and convert website traffic into paying customers.
The CPA Marketing Model
The CPA marketing model is a type of advertising that involves a publisher (affiliate), a business (advertiser), and a CPA network (a platform that connects affiliates who want to earn commissions by promoting products with businesses that want their products promoted).
Advertisers often use a CPA network to find the best affiliate to advertise their product – typically a publisher or influencer who creates related content and has a dedicated audience.
For example, a travel blogger might specialize in publishing content about culinary hotspots on WordPress. An app developer might offer a mobile app that lets users find and review restaurants, which would appeal to the travel blogger's audience.
The CPA network helps match affiliates and advertisers so that influencers can endorse products they genuinely like while earning a
Think of CPA marketing like a three-way love affair. There's the affiliate (the publisher), the advertiser (the business), and the CPA network (the platform that brings them together).
Advertisers use CPA networks to find the perfect affiliate to advertise their product – usually a publisher or influencer who creates related content and has a dedicated audience.
For example, a fashion blogger might specialize in publishing content about the latest trends on Instagram. A clothing company might offer a line of clothing that fits the fashion blogger's style, which would appeal to the blogger's audience.
The CPA network helps match affiliates and advertisers so that influencers can endorse products they genuinely like and earn a commission for each sale. Meanwhile, businesses can reach a customer base they wouldn't otherwise have access to.
CPA affiliate marketing uses cookies to attribute customer actions to a specific affiliate link or referral source so that publishers can earn a commission for any sales they helped generate. It's a win-win-win!
commission for each sale. Meanwhile, businesses can reach a customer base they wouldn't otherwise have access to.
CPA affiliate marketing uses web browser cookies to attribute customer actions to a specific affiliate link or referral source so that publishers can earn a commission for any sales they helped generate.
The Difference Between CPA and Affiliate MArketing
So, you might be wondering what the difference is between affiliate marketing and CPA affiliate marketing. Let me break it down for you. Affiliate marketers are basically like proxy advertisers. They work to promote a brand and its products or services, and they get paid whenever someone makes a purchase based on their recommendations.
Here's an example: I have a website that reviews dog food. On that site, I have an affiliate partnership with the Amazon Associates Affiliate Program. If someone clicks on any of my links to Amazon.com and makes a purchase, I get a commission. It doesn't even matter what they buy – I get paid to promote high-quality dog food, and my reviews can be honest. Pretty cool, huh?
But CPA affiliate marketing is different because it's not based on a sale. Instead, you're just creating a lead for another company. CPA is often compared to lead generation instead of direct sales. For example, on my dog food review site, I also have some Media.net display ads. So that site has a mix of CPA and direct sales affiliate revenue. Diversity is the key to surviving long-term online!
Great Benefitsd
Yo, so you might be wondering what the benefits of CPA affiliate marketing are. For the most part, it's pretty passive. Sure, you need to create content that gets enough traffic to make money from, which isn't exactly a walk in the park. But once you have an article written, it only takes a couple seconds to put a Google ad on your site. Then all you have to do is sit back and watch the clicks roll in. Google will even optimize the ad for you!
For other types of CPA affiliate marketing, like when a specific task is required, the payouts can be pretty sweet. For example, let's say you have a website that compares car insurance. Instead of promoting one brand and hoping for commissions from new sales and signups, why not just have people get quotes from 5 or 6 different insurance companies and see who comes out on top? If you have CPA affiliate partnerships with all those insurance companies, they will ALL pay you, regardless of who actually gets the sale. So you can see how profitable CPA marketing can be, and you don't even have to sell anything!
Ready to Become A CPA Master?
Hey there, so if you're thinking about making CPA your main form of affiliate marketing, the first thing you should do is research the different CPA affiliate networks out there. Just like when you become an affiliate, make sure you do your homework and find a company that offers the services, pay structure, and variety you need to be successful.
Once you've found the right CPA affiliate networks for you, it's time to apply. But before you do, make sure you've built up your website and gotten some traffic. Many CPA networks have an approval process, and they want to see that your site is already attracting targeted visitors who might be interested in their CPA offers. So take your time and make sure your site is ready before you apply. Remember, affiliate marketing is a long-term strategy – build up your site, get some visitors, and THEN monetize it.
To learn more about the process I use to build websites that make money, check out the CTPM process.
Now, CPA networks can be picky about who they let in, because their model is based on your legitimacy. So you might get turned down. I know it can be frustrating, but here are some tips to improve your chances of acceptance:
Start here
Alright, so you've joined a CPA affiliate network and you're ready to set up a successful campaign. While creating content is a great way to get traffic and promote CPA offers, there are other marketing strategies you can try. Here are some things that have worked for me:
Ready to up your CPA game? Here are some strategies to try:
- Create a killer landing page: Landing pages are different from regular blog posts or pages on your site. They're specific pages that you can “funnel” your website traffic into. Blog posts should educate, inform, or entertain your visitors, but landing pages should be your main selling pages and optimized for clicks and conversions. Link to your landing pages from your blog posts and you're golden.
- Use a splash page to make an entrance: Splash pages are an introduction page that users see before entering a website. They're fun and flashy pieces of content with music, animations, and graphics. They're a great way to get visitors excited to engage with your site or prompt them to take a specific action. Whenever someone visits a website for the first time, they're on guard. A splash page is a quick way to give your website a personality.
- Use paid advertising (wisely): In some cases, paid advertising can be incredibly profitable. For example, using Facebook Ads to drive clicks or Google AdWords to drive traffic to your site. When paid advertising works, it works really well and can earn you a significant income quickly. However, it's difficult and usually you'll lose money before you make it, so set a budget and use it carefully.
These are just a few techniques I recommend for CPA affiliate marketing. There are plenty of other examples of affiliates making great money through CPA.
Whether you're just starting out or looking to expand your current business, I definitely recommend looking into CPA affiliate marketing. It's a great business strategy that has helped me diversify my offerings, work seamlessly with my other affiliate partnerships, and expand my revenue streams into other areas like social media.