Digital Marketer|CPA Beginner | First CPA Results

[Ashwin Satyanarayana]

Even if you knew everything about PPC, Social Media, SEO, blogging, A/B testing, Analytics, and tracking, when it comes to CPA, I consider myself a complete beginner.

I've made some affiliate sales in the past (CPS, on pure commissions) as a part of my consulting and because of persistent blogging and a strong social media presence.

CPA, however, is new. While I already signed up with Maxbounty (afflink) and Peerfly (afflink) a long time ago, I never really got started until this month.

Initial Setup This Month

Testing Budget: $175 USD
Tracker: FunnelFlux.com
VPS from Vultr (signup with this afflink and get $20 credit -- like free VPS for 2 months, and they are the best at the cheapest possible rates, even faster than AWS and Backspace)
Aff networks: Peerfly and Maxbounty
Traffic Sources: Not to be revealed.

I didn't even setup the tracker first. I went ahead and did direct linking on an mDSP and I got tons of traffic but zero conversions.

So, I picked up an offer a simple email submit offer from peerfly, setup dedicated landing pages with two versions (A & B, for testing), and let the traffic come in.

Unfortunately, I already ran out of my budget by the end of last week (down to $165 from $175) because of all the testing and sending traffic to offers that didn't work.

I did a couple of mistakes:

I didn't bother to check what the offer was really like. Some offers just don't work with some traffic sources.

A few of my blunders, as I see it:

• Long form email submits don't work on mobile
• If the offer was for United States, I send traffic to Australia.
• I promoted an iOS only mobile CPI offer to both Android and iOS.
• Never used tracking.

Silly me

Humble start

Ignore the bulk of that traffic since it was all bot traffic I knew I was getting 2 days before, those are monthly stats.

On 21st of this month, the offer that was pointed to landing pages worked. Got two conversions.

So, my journey begins. Love to be a part of this community guys. Happy to be here. Any feedback will be appreciated.

 

[Ashwin Satyanarayana]

The humble start had expected short comings.

A few things I realised:

• The self-hosted Tracker with VPS setup is a nightmare to manage (while it just keeps getting expensive with the more traffic you get). Support suddenly vanished (both for the tracker and for the Unmanaged VPS). Looks like Voluum is calling. Maybe, just maybe, I might have to take that call.
• Affiliates are not allowed on a retargeting platform like Perfect Audience (and I am beginning to think that there are so many hidden doors for us affiliates. That's surprising because we spend more money (and with the right attitude) than an average small business owner does).
• The traffic source I first tried is now playing up with all sorts of goofy rejections. They say my lander is misleading and there's absolutely nothing misleading about my lander (and it's in like with what the offer says). They say the creative isn't appropriate but it was the same banner they approved earlier. Now, my $100 is stuck there forever.
• Many traffic sources don't even convert well. The traffic sources that are good will require you put up anywhere ranging from $100 to $500 to start with. Anything less than that and you are probably dealing with traffic sources with crappy traffic. You get what you pay for.

My setup almost always involves a lander (with two versions), and banners (with two versions). Two versions are for A/B testing.

Without a tracker in place, it's pointless to even talk about data-driven decision making anyway.

With my monthly budget stuck in all kinds of bad places, I just wait. Meanwhile, I got one single conversion of $0.80 on Maxbounty for a survey offer.

I am $5.20 richer and $250 poorer, from the time I started.

 

[internalsoul]

Good Luck with your journey. Keep updating your journal

 

[Ashwin Satyanarayana]

Good Luck with your journey. Keep updating your journal

Hi InternalSoul,

Thank you so much for the encouragement. I'll absolutely share my journey as I go along. Still racking my brains to get my head around all this

You have an awesome weekend

Ash

 

[internalsoul]

It will need some time. Just go through all the guides, journals and case-studies and you will learn a lot. Try to learn from other's mistakes as it is cost free

 

[Ashwin Satyanarayana]

It will need some time. Just go through all the guides, journals and case-studies and you will learn a lot. Try to learn from other's mistakes as it is cost free

I am already learning a lot. Just wanted an answer for something, if you don't mind me asking:

1. I am choosing to pick one tracker and learn tracking with it. My earlier trial with an unmanaged VPS and self-hosted tracker didn't work that great since I am no techie. This isn't a deal breaker, or is it?
2. I can't stretch more than $100 on any given month the moment, for a few months at least. Is that alright?

Ash

 

[internalsoul]

I am already learning a lot. Just wanted an answer for something, if you don't mind me asking:

1. I am choosing to pick one tracker and learn tracking with it. My earlier trial with an unmanaged VPS and self-hosted tracker didn't work that great since I am no techie. This isn't a deal breaker, or is it?
2. I can't stretch more than $100 on any given month the moment, for a few months at least. Is that alright?

Ash

1. Tracking is everything. If you can't work with unmanagaed VPS, then go for managed VPS. You can also work with adsbridge starter pack which is quite cheap.
2. That's a very tight budget. You should increase that. If you are lucky then you can find profitable campaign with small testing else you would end up eating all your budget and have to wait for the next month to do it again.

 

[Ashwin Satyanarayana]

1. Tracking is everything. If you can't work with unmanagaed VPS, then go for managed VPS. You can also work with adsbridge starter pack which is quite cheap.
2. That's a very tight budget. You should increase that. If you are lucky then you can find profitable campaign with small testing else you would end up eating all your budget and have to wait for the next month to do it again.

Hi Internalsoul,

1. I believe in data-driven marketing and I totally agree with you on Tracking. I am going in for a hosted tracker then. Will consider adsbridge. Tracking is a given and I'll invest in that even before looking for traffic.
2. I know that feeling -- that waiting until next month thing. If I could, I'd want to test with at least $500 each month. Maybe I can do it if I can manage somehow. I am surely considering that option.

 

[Andy Barden]

Thanks for sharing the progress @Ashwin Satyanarayana, I am doing a similar thing myself

 

[Ashwin Satyanarayana]

Thanks for sharing the progress @Ashwin Satyanarayana, I am doing a similar thing myself

Hey @Andy Barden, I am in this with you . Please do share how it's going for you.

Ash

 

[Ashwin Satyanarayana]

I’ve always been a believer in active engagement online.

Unlike traditional businesses and our way of life before the Internet, social media, and the forums, this is the age of interaction, engagement, sharing, caring, and trust.

When you give, you just get. No other time in history than right now stands testimony to that.

AffiliateFix runs an ongoing contest (Sponsored by Mobicow) each month for affiliate marketers who are just starting out.

The entry point to the contest is simple: post your journey in affiliate marketing as a follow along and you could be lucky winner.

Like I was, for the month of August, 2016. I just won $500 off that contest and I am thrilled about it.

It’s just been a month since I actively started participating on the forum while simultaneously launching campaigns for testing and I was automatically enrolled into the contest (didn’t even know) and I ended up winning it.

The point of the post is not to brag about it (since it’s not really an achievement, and it’s only a mark of serendipity).

Yet, one thing is for sure: when you set your heart and mind to what you want to do, good things begin to happen.

Out of nowhere, you’ll start making connections that just too good to have. You’ll inspire others and you’d get inspired yourself. You’d find a way to fix your problems, find solutions to problems, and you’d be well on your path to success.

Affiliate Marketing is hard, when you choose to do it the right way and when you treat it as a serious business.

• It has no place for quick-money seekers.
• It’s no field to be in when you want money today.
• If you can’t spend, you won’t last.
• Multi-tasking, management, productivity, efficiency, skills, and attention to detail – these are all required, on demand.

If you just started your affiliate marketing journey, I implore you to post your cool “follow along” thread. Document your journey. Make yourself proud.

Who knows, you could win the AffiliateFix + Mobicow Contest too.

Good luck.

 

[lumeire]

Congrats on the win buddy. It just shows that good things come to those who persevere.

 

[internalsoul]

Congrats dude. Make proper use of it

 

[Ashwin Satyanarayana]

Thank you @lumeire and @internalsoul All this encouragement means a lot to me. Thanks for being there guys.

 

[Ashwin Satyanarayana]

So, it's been a while since I had put up any updates. That's basically because there have been absolutely no conversions on any of the campaigns I've been testing so far.

Looks like direct linking is of no use since there's nothing in your control this way. You don't even know how the landing page looks like for the customers.

So, for sure, using landing pages is the way to go. So far, no results, but i'll keep trying.

 

[internalsoul]

Ashwin Satyanarayana direct linking works sometimes specially for certain niches. For the rest landing page always work better.With landing page, you can convey a message(through angles) to your targeted user, you can force the user to take desired action to get conversions. The better is your angle and your conveyed message, the better will be your conversion rate and your lead quality.

I know its your learning phase but the best way to learn is by testing everything you have read so far. When you are running a campaign, always test both landing page and direct linking.

On a side note, check offer page using proxies. Don't promote a offer without seeing a offer page. Check out my post on common mistakes by affiliates so that you can avoid some.

Best of luck and keep us updated.

 

[Ashwin Satyanarayana]

Ashwin Satyanarayana direct linking works sometimes specially for certain niches. For the rest landing page always work better.With landing page, you can convey a message(through angles) to your targeted user, you can force the user to take desired action to get conversions. The better is your angle and your conveyed message, the better will be your conversion rate and your lead quality.

I know its your learning phase but the best way to learn is by testing everything you have read so far. When you are running a campaign, always test both landing page and direct linking.

On a side note, check offer page using proxies. Don't promote a offer without seeing a offer page. Check out my post on common mistakes by affiliates so that you can avoid some.

Best of luck and keep us updated.

I thought as much. For the last few days, since my last update. I had setup direct linking and let the campaign run.

Only one conversion so far, for a survey offer (direct link).

I didn't run any tests though. Nothing to compare against. This is my waiting phase to clear card bills and for fresh campaign launches.

 

[Ashwin Satyanarayana]

Ashwin Satyanarayana direct linking works sometimes specially for certain niches. For the rest landing page always work better.With landing page, you can convey a message(through angles) to your targeted user, you can force the user to take desired action to get conversions. The better is your angle and your conveyed message, the better will be your conversion rate and your lead quality.

I know its your learning phase but the best way to learn is by testing everything you have read so far. When you are running a campaign, always test both landing page and direct linking.

On a side note, check offer page using proxies. Don't promote a offer without seeing a offer page. Check out my post on common mistakes by affiliates so that you can avoid some.

Best of luck and keep us updated.

I thought as much. For the last few days, since my last update. I had setup direct linking and let the campaign run.

Only one conversion so far, for a survey offer (direct link).

I didn't run any tests though. Nothing to compare against. This is my waiting phase to clear card bills and for fresh campaign launches.

 

[arush4491]

I agree with this post.