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Mobile challenge: from $0 to $300 daily profit in 30 days (7)

03-01-2014 02:33 PM #1 nomono (Member)
Mobile challenge: from $0 to $300 daily profit in 30 days

Hi Guys!

I've been rather quiet since I landed here.

We’re the 1st of March, and I decided to start a follow along in order to get some accountability going on, and in the hope than it might be useful to some fellow members getting started in mobile.

Do not hesitate to post. I appreciate any kind of input, do not be afraid to be harsh with me. I’m here to grow a business, not for pleasure (even though I love it).

I have a SEO agency, but would like to get into mobile and grow a mobile agency.
The industry is booming and I want to be a part of it.

Ok, let’s get straight to it.

Goal: $300 daily profit by the end of march, this would validate the opportunity for me to stay in this industry, and would have given a good education and confidence.

Ressources
Time: Managed to free about 80-90% of my working time
Cash: I can go up to 3000 USD loss, but have more to invest if I find a winner.
Tracking: Voluum

My focus:
- Find a good affiliate network and stick with it.
- Find and deeply understand 2 to 3 ad networks (the traffic, and the platform).
- Try and understand the different kinds of mobile offers available, and decide which one I would like to stick with.
Pin submits, paypercall, app installs ... It's probably going to be appinstalls, at least at first, and then maybe try higher payout offers.
- Spend as much time as possible getting data, analyzing campaigns, cutting, ... In order to get experience, and create my own formula.

Till now:
- Read a lot about mobile.
- Signed up with two ad networks, played with the platforms, and talked to reps.
- Signed up with a bunch of affiliate networks, and talked to the reps.
I want to stick with one at the beginning.
- Started a few campaigns to understand the platforms.
Low payout app installs. Lost money, which was expected. But learned at lot for cheap.

Next step: 2-2-2

I only have 30 days, the number 1 goal is to maximize the amount of learning, not minimize the loss (which is goal number 2).
So I don’t only focus on 1 offer, 1 angle, 1 traffic source. But 2 for each.
- Find two app-install offers (one utility and one gaming).
- For each, try direct linked and landing page.
- For each, try provided creatives, and own creatives.

I’ll try to update this thread quite frequently until the end of the month.

Talk soon!

03-01-2014 03:01 PM #2 kash50 (Member)

Good start so far! looking forward to this.

03-01-2014 04:30 PM #3 iAmAttila (Veteran Member)

Good organization however I recommend you don't stick to one affiliate network. To succeed you MUST split test at least 2, but preferably 3 - the data will tell you after you have significant clicks which one has the best CVR/EPC.

So I'd switch up your initial plan to stick to 1 affiliate network, and instead I'd pick and stick to one traffic source and master it, learn how their algo works to serve ads, etc.

03-01-2014 07:28 PM #4 kenny (Member)

Quote Originally Posted by iamattila View Post
Good organization however I recommend you don't stick to one affiliate network. To succeed you MUST split test at least 2, but preferably 3 - the data will tell you after you have significant clicks which one has the best CVR/EPC.

So I'd switch up your initial plan to stick to 1 affiliate network, and instead I'd pick and stick to one traffic source and master it, learn how their algo works to serve ads, etc.
I totally agree! You might bang your head against the wall thinking you are doing something wrong and the offer may be shit. Try two or three so you can get a feel for how things should be. It also gives you an understanding of what people are looking for and what makes them convert.

I hope you all the best bro...take your time but move with a since of urgency!

03-01-2014 09:40 PM #5 zeno (Administrator)

Just to echo some other comments I also agree you should split test several networks but choose a single traffic source to stick with. Test a few, sure, but don't spread your campaigns across multiple sources to start. Splitting across networks has the benefit of 1) having a better idea of conversion rate for an offer > can optimise to the better performing network, 2) if your leads are low quality you can get more testing in before being kicked, 3) a wider scope of offers available to test (can get AMs from networks to get offers they don't have). The downside is it's harder to get weekly wires if your revenue isn't consolidated to one network.

03-12-2014 04:00 PM #6 nomono (Member)

A huge thanks to all of you for the replies!!

First, split testing affiliate networks for the same offers was huge:
I was reluctant to do it because it meant find a new network with good offers, but here are the results for a simple app install (so the funnel is exactly the same).
Network1: 931 clicks, 6 conversions, CR: 0.64%
Network2: 333 clicks, 6 conversions, CR: 1.80%
Probability of network2 being best: 97%

My progress
Unfortunately I've had a few issues with my business, which are getting resolved, but that meant less time invested in this campaign.
Moreover, joining new affiliate networks, and getting creatives approved also took some time.

Right now, I have a campaign running for an utility app install, I started it 2 days ago.
It's App traffic, carrier and wifi (not possible to distinguish it).

So far:
3928 clicks, 32 conversions, CR 0.81%, Cost: $39.28, Revenue: $7.15

So I'm collecting data, for it to be successful I should at least get a 5% CR.
I've cut a few publishers (with confidence interval below 1.5%).
And ads (if confidence interval below 2.5%).

I'm not using landing pages right now, just direct linking.
But I'm using my own ads.

Next:
- I'll start cutting by handsets, some are really not converting at all.
- Test a few landing pages.
- I'll also start a mobile content campaign, which will cost more to test, but might provide better EPC.

Take aways
To sum up what I've learned so far. (Feel free to contradict me on this)
- Split test affiliate networks
- Test your own creatives (advertisers' creatives got clicks, but not much conversions for me)
- Talk to people, having a rep at my traffic source gave me a lot of information, fast approval, and more tracking/targeting options.
- Starting with low payout is a good option, the CR is usually higher, so it's more data, quicker and cheaper.
- Try testing the trafic source as well, I started with one that was (in my opinion) garbage. And it was recommended in this forum...

Questions
- What do you think about using landing pages for utility app installs?
- Is it possible to get CR in the 20% range for utility apps?
I'm struggling, whether to focus on improving CR for this campaign, or on getting cheaper clicks.

Talk soon!

03-12-2014 07:22 PM #7 iAmAttila (Veteran Member)

> What do you think about using landing pages for utility app installs?

It depends on traffic source, and type.

> Is it possible to get CR in the 20% range for utility apps?

yes and i've seen as high as 40% CVR...

>I'm struggling, whether to focus on improving CR for this campaign, or on getting cheaper clicks.

focus on improving CR, price of clicks doesn't matter if your CR is high

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