Paid traffic & Tier 1 - Tier 2 - Tier 3...

[GriD]

From what I read tier 1 is not ideal for newbies due to high competition and audiences saturated with the most expensive advertising of the tiers...

So for starters Tier 2 and Tier 3 countries seem to be a good suggestion as the advertising cost is lower. Meaning one will not burn through its budget as fast as attempting to advertise on Tier 1... Are the audiences still less saturated with ads so more susceptible to clicking through? Obviously payouts will also be lower... But being able to test more with the same budget is great for learning...

Working with those countries means that you will create a whole series of landing pages and you will have to rely on someone translating unless you are a mega polyglot

With the lower cost, I suppose quite some traffic can be pushed towards the websites. How important is the location of the VPS server? Is the page loading speed as important as for Tier 1 countries? (as these countries could be more forgiving with regards to loading speed?) Would a CDN bring some relief?

Also for those with experience in these tiers, are there verticals to stay away from (obviously anything requiring higher budgets will be very hard to convert)? What verticals would you suggest for newbies?
Any countries that are better to target? And why? (larger number of potential customers, higher income countries,...)

 

[Graybeard]

Language matter in different geo's.
So are you testing Landing Pages already made in that language (provided by a CPA Network) for that offer?
If not, you have the overhead of making many pages in each language you will test.
Just because many speak 'English' in a GEO does not mean many read English well enough to make most buying decisions.
Google translate is not that good for landing page copy either.

 

[azgold]

Are the audiences still less saturated with ads so more susceptible to clicking through?

Treat them as you would any other targets. You still need make your copy/text/lander as compelling as possible, track and target well, optimize, etc. Especially if you're running those campaigns to gain knowledge and experience with your eye on running offers to Tier 1 traffic.

People in the other tiers need a reason to click your CTA button, as much as Tier 1 audiences do. I expect that you'll stand out from other advertisers if you don't make the mistake of thinking those tier 2 and 3 countries as 'less than'.

Working with those countries means that you will create a whole series of landing pages and you will have to rely on someone translating unless you are a mega polyglot

Be sure that your landing page(s) is/are in the native language of the region you're targeting. Some countries have different languages or dialects in different regions. Naturally, you also target those specific landers to those specific regions when you set up your ad campaign targeting.

Something else....be sure that you match your page to the culture of the country you're sending ads to. Never use a pic of a bikini model in a country where women are not allowed to show skin, for example.

How important is the location of the VPS server?

Very. The closer it is to the target countries, the faster your page will load. If your page loads too slowly, people will click away before it finishes displaying.

Is the page loading speed as important as for Tier 1 countries?

Of course.

I don't know how internet speeds are in tier 2 and 3 countries but if they are already slower, your page loading slow as well will be brutal for your campaigns. I doubt many would hang around for a full minute waiting for a page to load.

 

[GriD]

Language matter in different geo's.
So are you testing Landing Pages already made in that language (provided by a CPA Network) for that offer?
If not, you have the overhead of making many pages in each language you will test.
Just because many speak 'English' in a GEO does not mean many read English well enough to make most buying decisions.
Google translate is not that good for landing page copy either.

Thread is general, not related to any specific offer.
Indeed creating a whole series of landing pages and ad creatives (and having them all translated) will create additional overhead... Looking for offers where the network already provides a localised landing page translation is a good hint! (but then still just limited to what the network offers)
English being my third language I know machine translations are useless... Any translation must be confirmed by native speaker...

Treat them as you would any other targets. You still need make your copy/text/lander as compelling as possible, track and target well, optimize, etc. Especially if you're running those campaigns to gain knowledge and experience with your eye on running offers to Tier 1 traffic.
People in the other tiers need a reason to click your CTA button, as much as Tier 1 audiences do. I expect that you'll stand out from other advertisers if you don't make the mistake of thinking those tier 2 and 3 countries as 'less than'.

Oh I did not mean to treat them differently, apologies if I gave that impression... I just wondered if because of this CTR might be higher than the one on Tier 1 countries (which might, even partially, compensate the lower payout)

Something else....be sure that you match your page to the culture of the country you're sending ads to. Never use a pic of a bikini model in a country where women are not allowed to show skin, for example.

yeah those cultural differences...

 

[Graybeard]

servers are cheap if you know how to ssh and rsync the files --like $5-$10/mo 1G ram/1TB data:: 2G ram/2TB data
server location on the same continent as the campaign.

 

[azgold]

Looking for offers where the network already provides a localised landing page

Many networks will have those. Check the offer's landing page previews.

Oh I did not mean to treat them differently, apologies if I gave that impression

No worries! My apologies for misunderstanding your meaning.

I just wondered if because of this CTR might be higher than the one on Tier 1 countries (which might, even partially, compensate the lower payout)

If you find an offer that is wildly popular (and not over saturated) in the area you'll be targeting then you stand a good chance of achieving a positive ROI, once you've optimized.

Some countries have higher populations, which gives you a chance for a higher CTR, right out of the gate.

As with any campaign, a little research on an offer before promoting then tracking and testing, will give you the answers via your tracking data.

 

[SuryaJ]

Tier2 and Tier3 Countries will still be expensive since there is not much traffic available. if you want to try tier1 you can always go with the lower daily budget, or try very narrowing down your targeting so the traffic cant come in one go.

 

[T J Tutor]

due to high competition

All Newbies should begin with high competition niches. They can be found in every tier of countries and every tier of traffic.

 

[GriD]

Follow-up on this one...
As mentioned in their why affiliates quit thread, @zeropark seems to prefer Tier 2/3 over Tier 1
Confirmed in their very informative linked article on 7 biggest mistakes newbies make...
This is still leaving me with the question on how to handle the multitude of languages we don't speak in all these different GEO's...
The best option here for starters would probably be to skip landers and direct link to offers... Minimal translation required (only the creative)... And take the decision to work with a lander to increase conversion inly if the offer really converts...

 

[T J Tutor]

best option here for starters would probably be to skip landers

I know this is a knee jerk reaction for many, especially newbies. However, a direct link to an offer will not ever give anyone an indication worth pursuing. I can go into AdPlexity right now, select one of the hot offers performing well today, do a split test between a lander and a direct link, and I can guarantee you the direct link test will bomb and bomb big, while the lander will perform. The reason is that with any offer that is currently hot and being pursued by top affiliates will always have a lander and that is who you will be competing against.

 

[Graybeard]

You will sell a lot more smart watches then real Rolex watches ...

 

[T J Tutor]

Getting landers translated is a must. When I start a campaign, I start (almost always) with U.S. traffic. Once I have an offer performing well, I go back to my intelligence platform to see what other countries are performing for the offer. I do one GEO at a time. ALWAYS one at a time. Once I select a new geo, I get it translated by a native translator of that country. Native translators (a translator native to the geo) don't just translate the written word, they help you by suggesting edits that make the words actually fit into the local vernacular (written as one's mother tongue) of the geo. How words are phrased in one language is not always how they are phrased in another.

Getting a lander made can be $50 to $500. A $50 lander is one I might download from my intelligence platform. Many landers may not have more than 50 words (or less), so my translator may only charge me $25 for translation and my graphics engineer may only charge me another $25 to replace the words on the lander. Now I usually don't go with the $50 dollar lander for the campaigns, only the split tests. Once I have a promising candidate from the split test, I then spend another $50 to $100 to have the graphics engineer make enough changes to the lander so I am not using a 100% pagerized graphic.

A $500 dollar lander, well that is when I am making a my own from scratch. This is usually done when I have a brainstorm about an offer that is performing big for affiliates but my angle idea isn't being utilized by other affiliates. I give the idea to my graphics people, along with several versions of copy, and I may get 3 to 5 versions back for testing. Understand this, there are original thinkers among some super affiliates that have such an abundance of developed skills in utilizing and implementing angles, triggers, and hooks that they almost always develop their own landers from scratch and may spend as much as $1k to $2k (or more) for an effective lander.

 

[GriD]

Getting landers translated is a must. When I start a campaign, I start (almost always) with U.S. traffic.

Thanks @T J Tutor, we all now you obviously are not a rookie affiliate and I personally tend to agree (and but this goes against many recommendations for newbies such as the one mentioned above by @zeropark... Would you suggest this tactic to anyone starting out? (as I live in a tier 1 country myself but believe U.S. is a better Tier 1 country to start...)

I know this is a knee jerk reaction for many, especially newbies. However, a direct link to an offer will not ever give anyone an indication worth pursuing. I can go into AdPlexity right now, select one of the hot offers performing well today, do a split test between a lander and a direct link, and I can guarantee you the direct link test will bomb and bomb big, while the lander will perform. The reason is that with any offer that is currently hot and being pursued by top affiliates will always have a lander and that is who you will be competing against.

To be honest I remember this being mentioned by at least one of the many guru's around... Test without lander and create one when the offer converts... But your findings make sense so this time I hope I got it! An offer converting with a lander might completely bomb without one (resulting in missed opportunity!)
So thx for correcting me on this one (and I knew it). This was a wrong suggestion to make! There is no such thing as cutting corners when doing business...

Getting a lander made can be $50 to $500.

You're right, the biggest problem I have as a newbie is not the cost of having the lander built, it is more about having the confidence that the lander is written correctly as a I suppose a badly written lander might give the impression the offer is not working... And this is where a tracker comes into play, I'm starting to get the point while writing my replies here... (I guess this is why I love this forum, the interaction helps me think, I can only encourage all newbies to start using the forum themselves as learning platform. Thanks to anybody actively participating )

So forget about using Google translate.

I can't agree more... As a non native English speaker I can guarantee that Google translate is not there to create anything useful. It just allows you to understand whatever is translated...

 

[T J Tutor]

I personally tend to agree (and but this goes against many recommendations for newbies such as the one mentioned above by @zeropark... Would you suggest this tactic to anyone starting out? (as I live in a tier 1 country myself but believe U.S. is a better Tier 1 country to start...)

So, first I will say that the folks at zeropark really know their stuff and while I know enough to be a pretty successful affiliate and marketer, there are those that know a lot more than I do. Keep in mind that more than 70% of my business is as an affiliate for affiliate programs and less than 30% of my business is as a publisher promoting offers. I completely understand zeropark why wants new publishers to start with the lower tiers, it's about budget. Spending less while going through the newbies learning curve. It makes sense.

So, says this in their article:
"Those who chose to give up started by running their campaigns in Tier 1 GEOs, while those who persevered focused their efforts mostly on Tier 3. Additionally, the first group (the quitters) has spent the most money on their Tier 1 countries as opposed to the second group (the winners) that spread their budget more evenly over different regions while still putting the most focus on Tier 3."

I would have to say this is not a bad idea. To be clear, I was pointing out that "I" tend to start with U.S. traffic, but I was actually blending that statement into a bigger response about my process and what I do about translations and landers for other geos. While zeropark is recommending not to spend all your cash on Tier 1 as a newbie, their statement tends to not completely eliminate Tier 1 either, but rather recommends to spend most on Tiers 2 & 3.

An offer converting with a lander might completely bomb without one (resulting in missed opportunity!)

Exactly!

There is no such thing as cutting corners when doing business...

I try to get this message out many times a day. This is not 1996 when Frank Kern, et al (including me), could just throw a few ebooks up for a $3 download and not worry about a tracker (there weren't any), or a real lander, or targeting, etc., etc.

Today, this industry can absolutely be identified as a very sophisticated industry with requirements for developed skill sets and requirements for investments in the tools of our industry. A VPS, a tracker, an intelligence platform, outsourcing assets, continuing education, etc.

This is a no cutting corners business and I think the articles that zeropark has generously brought and shared with our community clearly demonstrate this. They are not the only businesses here bringing great information. They, and many other well established and respectable businesses represented here, have been contributing awesome information and direction to our members.

I'm starting to get the point while writing my replies here...

You have hit the nail on the head! Here's the truth, no matter the level of our respective businesses, a community like this brings benefits in many ways. I learn something new here everyday from members and from the represented businesses and their reps. Participation is simply engagement and engagement generates thoughts, and these thoughts help bring clarity, solutions, and creativity. Collaboration is a magic tool and everyone really needs to embrace it as often as possible!

 

[Graybeard]

Native translators (a translator native to the geo) don't just translate the written word, they help you by suggesting edits that make the words actually fit into the local vernacular (written as one's mother tongue) of the geo. How words are phrased in one language is not always how they are phrased in another.

So forget about using Google translate.