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Years ago, making money online was a pipe dream, and the only people who could do it were tech-savvy entrepreneurs with big budgets and even bigger dreams. But that’s changed.
Nowadays, there are endless opportunities for regular people to make money online. From establishing a freelancing career to creating a website or online shop to being an affiliate marketer—there’s something for everyone. The key is finding the right fit and staying motivated.
Marketing CPA offers is a great way to make money online.
But how exactly does it work?
And how do you start?
In this article, we’ll answer your questions, and we’ll help you understand everything you need to know about how to make money with CPA offers.
What is a CPA offer in Affiliate Marketing?
It all begins with defining this simple term: a CPA offer.
CPA is short for Cost Per Action.
A CPA offer, also known as an affiliate offer, is a commission-based system where you, the affiliate marketer, are paid every time someone completes a specific action. This action can be anything from filling out a form to subscribing to a service or buying a product.
Here is a simple flow of how you can earn from CPA offers:
- You find a CPA offer;
- You promote this CPA offer to your online audience;
- A user clicks on your affiliate link and completes the action desired by the advertiser (also known as a conversion);
- The advertiser or affiliate network pays you the agreed amount.
That’s it! This is the simplest explanation of how to make money with CPA offers.
Where can you find CPA offers?
There are three ways by which you can find a CPA offer, and that is by working with any of the following:
- a direct advertiser
- an affiliate network
- an affiliate exchange.
Working directly with an advertiser means that you have a direct agreement with the company whose product or service you’re promoting. Usually, these offers have higher payouts because there are no middlemen involved.
Affiliate networks, on the other hand, work as a middleman between the advertiser and the affiliate marketer. They provide affiliates with offers from different advertisers so that they can choose which ones to promote. In most cases, affiliate networks take a cut from the affiliate’s earnings.
Lastly, an affiliate exchange is a platform where advertisers and affiliates can come together to find each other and create business deals. These exchanges don’t usually take a commission; instead, they charge both parties for using their platform.
5 Basic Steps to Making Money with Affiliate Marketing
Now that you know what CPA offers are and where to find them, the most obvious question is this:
How do you start with affiliate marketing?
In truth, there is no initial requirement.
Anybody can become an affiliate marketer! However, not everyone can earn from this business. While it is not easy, you can make thousands of dollars from this business every month if you know what you’re doing.
So let’s get started with the steps you need to take.
There are a few basic steps to becoming an affiliate marketer and promoting affiliate offers. Mind you, however, that the steps below are just the bare bones. To fully succeed in this business, you need to go further and beyond.
These steps are as follows:
- Find CPA Offers to Promote
- Build a Website or Landing Page
- Use a Tracking System
- Drive Traffic to Your Offer
- Get Paid!
Now, let’s discuss each of these steps in detail, so you’ll know exactly what needs to be done.
Step 1: Find CPA Offers to Promote
We’ve already mentioned above where to find offers. The third one—joining affiliate exchanges—is not as common as it used to be. As such, we will just go in-depth on the first two.
Working Directly with an Advertiser
If you already know the niche you want to focus on, you can work directly with advertisers or companies that offer the products, apps, or services you want to promote.
What is a niche?
A niche is a particular segment of a market that you want to focus on. For example, the weight loss niche is a subset of the Health and Nutra market.
When finding an advertiser to work with, you can utilize Google.
To search for companies or businesses you want to work with directly, simply type any of the following in the search box.
- affiliate+product type
- affiliate+product name
- affiliate+company or brand name
If the company has an online store, chances are this company will also have an affiliate or influencer program in place.
Let’s say, for example, you want to promote antivirus programs.
You then search for “affiliate antivirus” in Google.
Click on any of the results to check the company’s affiliate program. Make sure you read through all the requirements and terms.
Before signing up with any company, check other options first. You can actually sign-up for multiple affiliate programs, provided that these companies would allow you to work with a different brand under the same niche.
Once you find a company you’d like to work with and you pass their requirements for partners, you can go ahead and sign up.
Just to give you a heads-up, most companies who have their own affiliate programs require that you have an online property (such as a website, blog, forum, or active social media page with a following) that focuses on their niche.
Some would also want to make sure you already have some form of experience in promoting similar products or, at the very least, have become an affiliate of other companies before.
Working with an Affiliate Network
An affiliate network is an online platform that connects advertisers and affiliates, similar to how a dating site would connect two people.
Affiliate networks make it easier for both advertisers and affiliates because they provide a central place where both parties can find each other.
Aside from being a place to find offers, affiliate networks also take care of traffic quality control (for their partner advertisers), creation of marketing materials, providing affiliate support, and releasing of affiliate payments.
Some of the most prevalent affiliate networks are ClickBank, ShareASale, Amazon Associates, and CJ Affiliate (formerly Commission Junction). If you dive deeper into the affiliate marketing industry, you’ll find other major players, one of which is Mobidea.
Just like when you’re looking for an advertiser to work with, you can also use Google to look for affiliate networks. However, the most efficient way to find affiliate networks to join is by searching through affiliate forums and aggregators.
Examples of affiliate forums are STM forum, affLift, and Affiliate Fix. These forums have affiliate network directories that list down networks complete with information on their specialties.
Affiliate aggregators can help you even better when searching for both CPA offers and networks to work with.
Below is affPaying, an example of an affiliate aggregator website.
With aggregators, you can search for offers based on a list of categories, and once you find an offer you like, you can check what network offers it and sign up with them.
Some examples of affiliate aggregators are oDigger, Affpaying, and Affbank.
Advantages of Joining Affiliate Networks
Finding CPA offers by joining an affiliate network is easier than working directly with brands. As we mentioned earlier, these networks have pre-screened advertisers and offers for their affiliates, which means the offers are already good to go. All you need to do is select one and promote them on your website or blog.
Other notable advantages to joining affiliate networks are as follows:
Affiliate networks are also more tolerant of new affiliate marketers—they allow you to promote offers available within the network even when you have no experience marketing anything in the past.
Of course, this all depends on the network you are joining. But there are a lot of newbie-friendly ones.
- More CPA offers to choose from
When working directly with brands or advertisers, you have a limited choice of offers to promote. On the other hand, affiliate networks have a wide variety of CPA offers and verticals that you can pick from.
- Can work with multiple brands at the same time
Affiliate networks also allow you to work with multiple brands or advertisers simultaneously. You don’t have to check through the terms and conditions to see if you’ll violate anything if you promote competing brands.
- Doesn’t require a website
While having your own website can definitely help expedite the process, it is not a requirement for affiliate networks.
Why? Because most affiliate networks understand that media buying is one of the top sources of traffic by affiliates. We will talk about media buying more later.
One example of an affiliate network you can join is Mobidea. To sign up as an affiliate on our network, click this link.
Fill out the necessary details and wait for a representative from Mobidea to contact you regarding your application. Choose “Facebook marketer” if you are an influencer with an active Facebook page or use Facebook ads for promotion. Otherwise, choose “Media Buyer.”
Once you establish your reputation as a reliable affiliate that can deliver high-quality leads, you may even be invited to join Mobidea Exclusive—an invite-only network focusing on CC-submit offers.
Choosing a CPA Offer
Now that you know the different ways of finding CPA offers, it’s time to choose the right offer.
The most common mistake among new affiliates is that they try to promote every offer they can find. This is not the right approach, as you will quickly learn that not all offers are created equal.
Some CPA offers will pay you more money but will be more difficult to convert. Some you can promote, and others you can’t, based on specific offer requirements.
Here are some of the things you need to do when choosing an offer:
- Narrow down to specific verticals
Don’t try to be everything to everyone. It’s better to focus on a few specific verticals that you’re good at or interested in. This way, you can become an expert in those niches and have a better chance of getting conversions.
For example, if you’re interested in the health and fitness niche, then choose offers related to weight loss or muscle building.
Don’t try to promote everything, as this will only lead to confusion, and you won’t be able to focus on promoting any offer properly.
Some of the most popular offer verticals or categories are as follows:
– Beauty and Nutra
– Dating
– Adult
– eCommerce
– Vouchers and sweepstakes
– Gambling / Casinos
Let’s say, for example, you have already been accepted as an affiliate in Mobidea and you have earned at least €50 from Smartlinks—you will then be allowed to choose specific offers to promote.
Here’s how you can narrow down offers based on vertical or category:
The first thing you want to do when choosing a CPA offer is to look at the accepted traffic types. Trying to promote an offer that only accepts email traffic when you’re generating traffic through Facebook is a waste of time, as you will not be paid for the conversions you make.
You may even be kicked off the offer, or worse, the network.
As such, you want to make sure that the CPA offer accepts the traffic source you’re using.
Let’s use Mobidea again as an example. Once you choose an offer in this network, you will be taken to the offer details page, where the requirements and restrictions are listed.
Under the Allowed Traffic tab, the network shows the types of traffic that they do not allow (adult content, content-locking, etc.) so that you can avoid sending such traffic to this offer.
- Check the conversion flow
A conversion flow, also known as a payout model, is the mechanism by which you get paid for your conversions. Several conversion flows are available, such as email submits, pin submits, CPI (cost per install), CC-submit, and CPS (cost per sale).
We suggest you start promoting CPA offers with simple conversion flows first, such as email and pin submit. While the payouts for these offers are low, converting them is easier.
For the same example as above, you will see that this offer’s conversion flow is single opt-in, direct billing.
- See if it matches your audience’s demographic
Suppose you will promote to audiences you already have (like organic website traffic and social media followers). In that case, you need to make sure your audience fits the target demographic of the offer.
For instance, it won’t make sense to promote a US offer if your audience is Australian.
If you plan on purchasing traffic (which means you can choose the audience’s location), choose an offer from countries that are not too competitive. Tier 1 countries (such as the US, UK, AU, and CA) will be very expensive to promote to, not to mention harder to convert if you’re a newbie.
If available, also check the offer’s conversion rate within the network.
Furthermore, make sure you double-check all other offer restrictions pero applying for the offer or choosing to promote it.
Step 2: Build a Website or Landing Page
If you want to be taken seriously in this business, you need to have a platform to showcase the offers you’re promoting. Creating a website is the best way to do this. It doesn’t have to be fancy; all it needs is to be functional and presentable.
You can create a website using WordPress or any other content management system. If you don’t know how to code, there are plenty of themes and plugins that you can use to make your site look good.
If you want an easier way to create a website, you can also use a drag-and-drop website builder such as Wix or Weebly. These platforms allow you to create a website without having to touch a single line of code.
If you do not have a website, you can always create a simple web page that can be used as a landing page.
What is a Landing Page?
A landing page is a single web page that is designed to promote a specific offer. It contains information that a potential customer needs in order to make a decision, but it can also be as simple as a bridge page that eases the user into the offer.
Creating a landing page is simple; you can use a platform like Unbounce or Instapage, or if you know how to code, you can create one from scratch using HTML and CSS.
For more information on how to properly create one, visit our guide on How to Create Converting Affiliate Landing Pages.
Take note that a website nor a landing page is not a requirement. Some CPA offers allow the affiliate to send traffic directly to the offer page.
However, we have included this step here since it has been proven time and again that a landing page is crucial to increasing your chances of conversion.
Step 3: Use a Tracking System
A tracking tool is a platform that allows you to track the progress of your campaign.
It is crucial to promoting affiliate offers as it allows you to see which of your efforts are bearing fruit and which ones need improvement.
How do you use an affiliate tracker?
It’s simple:
- Create an account with your tracking tool of choice and log in.
- Choose from their list the affiliate network that you’re promoting an offer from and create a campaign. Trackers nowadays typically have pre-made templates for affiliate networks, which beats having to set up the codes manually. If there are no network templates, check your tracker’s Knowledgebase for details on how to set one up.
- Enter the details of the offer you want to promote, such as the name of the offer and your affiliate link.
In the end, you should be able to get a new link, which you will then use on your website, landing pages, or advertising campaigns.
Moving forward, we will be calling this “campaign link” for easy reference (affiliate link that has been placed in your tracker).
Every time a user clicks on the campaign link or views the webpage, your tracker will be able to capture the click data. If you have set up the Postback URL that links your tracking tool to your affiliate network, your tracker will also be notified when a conversion has occurred.
If you plan on using paid traffic, you can also set up the link so that your tracker will be able to capture not just the click information and how many clicks you receive, but also how much your advertising campaign is spending.
How does the tracker help?
Here are some of the benefits of using a tracker:
- You get to see which of your marketing efforts are working and which ones are not based on revenue and conversions.
- You can track how much money you’re making from each offer. While affiliate networks allow you to monitor this, the information they provide is pretty limited.
Plus, if you promote the same offer on different platforms, you won’t be able to properly identify how many conversions and how much you’ve made from each traffic source if you just use the affiliate network’s reporting system.
- You get to see how much you’re spending on your advertising campaigns.
- You will be able to analyze your campaigns based on calculated metrics such as Click-Thru Rate (CTR), Conversion Rate (CR), and Return on Investment (ROI).
- You can drill down your campaigns and filter them based on segments so that you can see what user demographic or campaign element is delivering the results you want.
For instance, you may find what mobile device is converting better, what publisher ID or traffic source is sending a lot of traffic and no conversions, and so on. These are necessary for ad optimization.
This article on building a profitable pops campaign has some pretty good insight on ad optimization that you can learn from.
Below is a sample dashboard of a tracking tool (Bemob):
A tracking tool is also not a requirement for starting out in affiliate marketing, but if you want to do it right the first time, we recommend you use one.
There are many awesome paid ones like Voluum, Kintura, and Binom, but there are also free options out there. Trackers that have free versions include Bemob and Clickervolt.
Check our list of The Best Affiliate Tracking Platforms to find one that’s right for you.
Step 4: Drive Traffic to Your Offer
You’ve joined an affiliate network, found an offer, and added it to your tracking tool. The next step is to then send traffic to it.
It is important to note that you shouldn’t just send any old traffic to your offer. You want to make sure that the people clicking on your links are actually interested in what you’re promoting.
There are dozens of ways to send traffic to your CPA offer. You can try to send organic traffic to your link (via SEO or social media), or you can buy traffic.
What is Media Buying?
Media Buying is the process of purchasing ad space in order to drive traffic to your offer. In short, media buying means engaging in paid advertising.
It is the most common method of driving traffic to CPA offers simply because you can see results faster. This is important because an offer’s lifespan can be as short as a few days. If it takes months before your see traffic from organic methods, the offer may have long since expired.
If you use paid ads for your affiliate offers, then you are a media buying affiliate. Remember that when signing up for affiliate networks next time.
Traffic Types You Can Use
Here is a list of various traffic types you can use to send viewers to a CPA offer. We will include both organic and paid traffic here.
1. SEO
SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of optimizing a website so that it will rank higher on search engine results pages. This can be done by improving the website’s content, structure, and on-page elements such as titles, metatags, and anchor text.
To use this traffic, you must place the campaign link within the pages of your website. You can use a banner ad or place text links within the content.
If you want to use SEO traffic, you can create reviews, listicles, or other content related to the offer you are promoting to increase the chances of conversion.
Visit SEO Affiliate Marketing: A Comprehensive Guide to learn more about this topic.
2. SEM
SEM, or search engine marketing, is the process of using paid advertising methods such as Google Ads to place ads on search engine results pages.
It is often called PPC (pay per click) traffic since you only pay every time your ad is clicked.
When using SEM traffic, you will want to create ads that are relevant to your offer. You should also research keywords appropriate to what you are promoting.
3. Display Ads
A display ad is a type of online advertising that typically appear as banners on websites. It is the most popular online ad today and is sometimes referred to as traditional ads.
To create a display ad, you will need to create an image or video, select a size, and then input text and a link.
Some CPA offers have pre-made banner ads that you can add to your website or you can use for paid promotions, though some of them allow you to make your own.
There are tons of traffic networks selling banner ads spaces, including Google Ads and Microsoft (Yahoo!) Ads.
4. PPV Ads
PPV, or pay-per-view, is an advertising model where the advertiser pays each time their ad is viewed. These are usually full-page ads and are one of the most popular ways to promote a CPA offer, especially for beginners.
There are two types of PPV traffic:
Pop ads are the most common type of PPV traffic. Pop-up and pop-under ads are modes of online advertising that appear as a new web page or window. They are typically triggered by clicking on a link or button and can be used to promote special offers, discounts, or other information.
Pop-up ads can effectively promote CPA offers, as they are highly visible and difficult to ignore. Plus, they are relatively inexpensive compared to other paid ads.
However, they can also be annoying and intrusive. When used correctly, pop-up ads can be a powerful tool for driving conversions and generating leads.
Domain redirect ads are a powerful way to promote CPA offers as you can get traffic from an expired or parked domain to your affiliate offer.
It is a good way to get targeted traffic that is already interested in what you’re offering, especially if you target domains that contain a specific keyword (or misspelled keyword).
Popular traffic networks that have PPV ads in their line-up include Zeropark, RichAds, and PropellerAds.
5. Native Ads
Native advertising is a type of online advertising that blends in with the surrounding content. Unlike banner ads or pop-ups, native ads are designed to look like an organic part of the page, making them more inconspicuous and less intrusive.
Native ads can take many forms, including in-feed ads, search ads, and recommended articles.
One advantage of native advertising is that it can be highly targeted.
For example, if you’re promoting a CPA offer related to cooking, you can target your ad to appear on cooking-related websites and within recipes on food blogs. It ensures that your ad is seen by people who are interested in what you’re promoting, increasing the likelihood of conversion.
Examples of native advertising traffic networks include MGID, Taboola, and Outbrain.
6. Social Media Advertising
There is no doubt that social media advertising is an effective way to promote CPA offers. By targeting a specific audience and using relevant topics or interests, you can ensure that your ad reaches the right people.
However, it is important to remember that not all social media platforms are created equal. For example, Facebook is typically more effective for promoting B2C offers, while LinkedIn is better suited for B2B offers.
Therefore, it is important to select the right platform for your offer. With a little research and trial and error, you can find the perfect formula for success with social media advertising.
7. Push Notification Ads
Introduced in 2019, this is one of the newer forms of online advertising. Push notification ads appear as a regular notification on the user’s device and show up even when the user is not actively using the app that delivered it.
By delivering timely and relevant messages straight to users’ devices, push notification ads can drive high levels of engagement and conversion.
There are three major types of push notification ads, and these are:
- Classic Push Notification – This shows up as a regular notification on a device. It appears only on Android, Windows, and Mac devices.
- In-Page Push Notification – This shows up on websites and imitates the look of a classic push notification. In reality, it is a banner ad.
- iOS Calendar Notification – This shows up on iOS devices and is pushed by the iOS calendar app.
One excellent example of a push notification ad network is Mobidea Push.
If you’ve decided that media buying is the best way for you to send traffic to the CPA offer, the next steps would be to:
- create an account;
- fund your advertiser account;
- start a campaign and add the campaign link from your tracker.
Depending on the ad network, it can take anywhere from a few seconds to a few days for your ad to be approved and start running.
Again, ensure that the traffic type you are using is allowed for the offer.
Using your tracking tool, monitor your ads regularly and optimize them to improve your ROI!
Step 5: Get Paid!
If you’ve done your research well and have created web pages that warm your audience enough, you’ll be able to get conversions from your traffic.
And what does a conversion mean?
Earnings!
Whether you work directly with brands or you’ve joined an affiliate network, chances are they have a scheduled payout frequency and a payment threshold.
What is a payout frequency?
It is the number of days that an affiliate network or a brand takes to pay its affiliates after a successful transaction.
For example, if an affiliate network has a net-30 payout frequency, it means that affiliates will get paid 30 days after a sale or conversion is made.
What is a payment threshold?
A payment threshold is the minimum amount of money that an affiliate needs to earn before getting paid by the affiliate network or brand.
For example, Mobidea has a €50 payment threshold, which means the affiliate will only get paid once they have earned at least €50 from the network.
How do I get paid?
It depends on the available payment methods within the network. The most common methods are bank transfer, PayPal, and Bitcoin.
Final Thoughts on Making Money with CPA Offers
Making money with CPA offers is a relatively simple process: you find an offer, promote it, and get paid when someone completes the offer.
However, it does require some effort on your part, especially when it comes to learning how everything works. The steps we’ve outlined in this guide are just touching the surface of the world of affiliate marketing.
The key is finding the right offer and promoting it effectively. There are a lot of CPA networks out there, so it’s important to do your research and find one that has good offers and pays well.
Once you get the hang of it, promoting CPA offers can be a lucrative online business.
We hope you found this guide helpful, and we wish you the best of luck in your affiliate marketing journey!
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