Mobile Follow Along: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ (41)
Hello!
I still run adult, but it's a bit draining and I want to try something different after 6 months 
Tools:
WiredTree Dedicated Server
Rackspace CDN
Photoshop
Sublime Text
Budget:
Whatever it takes
Target:
App Installs
Traffic Source:
Decisive
Day 1 will begin tomorrow! Applied for some offers and lookign up testing strategies for now
Subscribed!
Looking forward to this follow along!
Yeah boiii, do work Jay
Looking forward to this subscribed
Subscribed.
Best of luck with this follow along
Will be checking this for updates, let us know!
Good luck Jay!
Good luck ! I will follow and take lesson before to start my first campaign.
Also added ... looking forward to your success.
(by the way please add me on skype - skype=username - would like to talk to you about something that could help your progress 
)
Fuck shit up, Jay!
Let me know if you need any help (or have questions) 
Thanks for the replies everyone! I'll try my best to keep this updated daily!
I'll let you know if I have any questions Andrea
Day 01:
I ran into some issues today mainly because I ripped some ads that said "1 Virus Detected!" to use them as a benchmark against my own ads that said "1 Virus Detected!" and all the ads ended up getting rejected because they were misleading.. I didn't know about the Ad Approval Guidelines so I'm waiting for my 2nd set of ads to be approved and I'll start gathering some data
Day 02:
I got some more ads rejected but decided to run with the 4-5 creatives I had so I could start collecting data while working on some other things.
At the top is Wifi traffic which ate through my budget pretty quickly so I have a couple questions:
1. Should I be running Wifi Traffic? I didn't set anything for targeting and I'm running as broad as possible.
2. How many ads should I be testing at once?
3. On Decisive should I be running with Manual CPM or Smart CPM?
4. Does the 2x offer payout per ad apply to app installs? If not what would be the best way to test?
Spend: $22.98
Revenue: $1.52
Profit/Loss: $21.46
ROI: -93.39%
i always make 4 ad groups initially to test:
wifi + app
wifi + site
mobile + app
mobile + site
that way i don't burn through my budget on one kind of placement.
What doomXO said. Also you should be trying to get your ads to 1% CTR, and aiming for 1 cent cpcs or lower.
Some things I would add.
Try to use smart cpm, I have seen lower CPCs with it and Mr Green recommends it.
You will need the postback working back to Decisive to get the conversions there. If you are using
http://help.decisive.is/knowledgebas...uctions-voluum
In our mastermind group we are using 3x payout per placement, not per ad. I just check the ads that are poorly performing and I cut them.
Mr Green says to get to 1% CTR, but I really cannot reach that 1% CTR in apps. It is really difficult for me to get to that number.
Hope that helps
Day 03-04:
Mainly preparing my adult campaigns on these 2 days and I have some ad rejection issues with some ads that were once approved so I didn't run until Saturday
Day 05:
see below
Day 06:
I'm going to start showing data from the day before, that way I can include more info in each day
Yesterday I split my campaigns up into the 4 sections like suggested and let them run
I'm happy with the results so far before cutting, but I have to work on my ads some to get cheaper clicks. I have one ad thats at .81% so I'm going to work on getting that to 1%
Spend: $73.66
Revenue: $11.68
Profit/Loss: $61.98
ROI: -83.14%
Questions:
1. I'm running with smartCPM and I set the CPA Goal to the amount for the lead payout. Is this correct?
2. The Wifi campaigns seem to be going through my budget pretty fast and I'm not able to optimize as much since it just lumped everything under Wifi. Should I run those types of campaigns?
3. Since I'm only direct linking right now, at what point do I start testing landers?
I saw you couldnt get the creatives approved on the traffic source side, however also be wary of advertiser approval. I know for a fact that those banners that got disapproved are not compliant and you might not get paid if they find out.
And good luck of course!
Sorry for the lack of updates!
I got pretty overwhelmed with mobile especially with the Google Policy change since I was running cleanmaster. I pausing all my mobile campaigns and worked on my adult campaigns while I tried to figure out what direction I was going to go in when it came to mobile. I decided to focus on pin submits.
Day 07-36:
mobile campaigns paused
Day 37: First day of Pin Submits
Spend: $16.35
Revenue: $10
Profit/Loss: $6.95
ROI: -83.14%
Day 38:
Spend: $137.47
Revenue: $32.50
Profit/Loss: $104.97
ROI: -76.36%
Questions:What are some specific reasons to take an app or site and create a campaign just based on that 1 app/site and what do I achieve by doing this?
Try to come up with completely different ideas for each creative (different angles) and see which work the best, then expand the banners for the winning ones and even trying landing pages relating to those angles.
I feel your pain. I was running cleanmaster too, and I'm still trying to find a replacement. Pin submits is something I have not tried, I'm considering jumping into gaming.
Originally Posted by stackman
Originally Posted by rickmn
Day 39:
My spend yesterday dropped a lot but I'm closer to breaking even which is good but after narrowing my campaign down I'm not getting too much traffic. I notice I get most of my conversions earlier in the morning and then after that it comes in pretty slowly. After looking at the Decisive planner I think I need to find another source.. there isn't that much traffic for the country my offer is in.
Spend: $49.90
Revenue: $32.50
Profit/Loss: $17.40
ROI: -34.87%
Questions:
Other than Decisive, are there other ad networks that approve on the weekends?
Day 40:
upped my CPA Goal and not seeing much traffic.. I'm closer to break even but I gotta get my spend back up somehow
Spend: $23.25
Revenue: $21.50
Profit/Loss: $1.75
ROI: -7.53%
Good stuff. What do you think is stifling your spend? Budget? Targeting? Bids?
Originally Posted by zeno
Day 41:
Spend: $4.17
Revenue: $0
Profit/Loss: $4.17
ROI: -100%
Day 42:
I have a new campaign on decisive targeting a site that was converting well to see if I can get some traffic that way but its not working so far yet.. other than that I have some other campaigns that are still pending that I thought would of been activated at least by the end of the day today but they are still pending.
Spend: $4.41
Revenue: $0
Profit/Loss: $4.41
ROI: -100%
What % win are you getting on impressions? That will give you an idea of the overall volume available. Not sure what country you are running in but check the planner to get a better idea of traffic volume.
Bump impressions by increasing your bids. Bump clicks by test test testing to get higher CTR ads.
Additionally, you could open up your targeting or do so in new campaigns to open the faucet a little more.
What are your ad CTRs looking like anyway? Ideally you'd be shooting for >1% and with PIN submits there's a bigger barrier to conversion (vs free app installs for example) so you want all the performance help ya can get ;D
Originally Posted by zeno
After seeing the placement with 9 conversions at the top, I duplicated the campaign and only targeted the placement with 9 conversions. Then I was pretty much breakeven the next day, and then I tried upping my CPA Goal after optimizing my ads, and even tried running normal CPM but I'm getting no traffic.
Day 43:
I know if I could figure this issue with the volume I can get this campaign profitable.. I haven't tested landers yet so theres tons of stuff I can optimize.
I created the campaign from scratch in case something is still blacklisted that shouldnt be.. will see how that works out
Spend: $8.95
Revenue: $0
Profit/Loss: $8.95
ROI: -100%
Hi nyc,
Like to check. Before you run smart cpm, do you need to go through the normal cpm first (to collect data)? or do you go straight into smart cpm directly?
And running smart cpm sees better results?
Any help? Thanks.
Originally Posted by nyc
When you create your first broad campaign it's like throwing out a net. You aren't focused on profit here. You are trying to get a good idea what is out there. You know you are missing out on a lot of fish, and pulling in a lot of crap too.
Let's say that when you pulled up your net you caught a blue fine tuna. You know that shit is money! That shit is easy to sell.
So now you know that tuna is out there, you want to be sure to catch all of it. So you need to adjust your fishing technique (make a separate campaign). Maybe you use different lures (banners), different sized hooks, (bids), different bait (targeting).
Once that is set up, then you go back to your net, and see if there is any other nice catches in there.
Rinse and repeat.
CTRs are prohibitively low on a lot of those top volume placements, I would cull them.
Not sure if asked before for this campaign but what other targeting do you have going on? It may pay to open things up and go fishing as Green suggests. It is a surefire way to at least get your volume up.
@ubergeek you don't need to run normal CPM first. Smart CPM varies the bid over time to try and lower your CPA, it just needs time and conversions to test. It's ideal if you are going broad and want to spend efficiently per-placement. You can later make new campaigns and bid specifically on certain placements to dominate profitable inventory.
How many ads are you running, and what are the stats looking like on those?
Any LPs yet, or are you still testing direct-linked?
Any updates?
Sorry for lack of updates..
Originally Posted by ubergeek
Originally Posted by Mr Green
Originally Posted by Mr Green
Originally Posted by caurmen
The ups/downs of the last week
Day 44:
Spend: $1.92
Revenue: $0
Profit/Loss: $1.92
ROI: -100%
Day 45:
Spend: $192.78
Revenue: $27.50
Profit/Loss: $165.28
ROI: -85.74%
Day 46:
Spend: $43.90
Revenue: $2.50
Profit/Loss: $41.40
ROI: -94.31%
Day 47:
Spend: $732.91
Revenue: $632.12
Profit/Loss: $100.79
ROI: -13.75%
Day 48:
Spend: $1,109.29
Revenue: $1,054.53
Profit/Loss: $54.76
ROI: -4.94%
Day 49:
Spend: $1,282.26
Revenue: $1,376.84
Profit/Loss: $94.58
ROI: 7.38%
Day 50-53: Paused
On Day 50 I had to put my dog to sleep so I didn't feel like running anything.. and my offer got paused
Day 54:
Testing new offers..
Spend: $75.36
Revenue: $2.40
Profit/Loss: $72.96
ROI: 96.82%
Day 55:
Spend: $89.48
Revenue: $7.68
Profit/Loss: $81.80
ROI: 91.42%
Day 56:
Spend: $89.48
Revenue: $7.68
Profit/Loss: $81.80
ROI: 91.42%
Day 57:
Spend: $7.95
Revenue: $0.72
Profit/Loss: $7.23
ROI: 90.94%
I'm back in the red now but I did learn a lot especially on days 47-49. On those days I cut a lot of sites/apps/devices and by doing that I worry about killing my traffic similar to the first offer that I got to breakeven. I've been cutting placements first when they are at 3x offer payout with high CPCs, then by 3x offer payout. Is there a better way to cut placements?
awesome to see this. keep it up!!
Looking good! Nice work on keeping testing.
How many ads have you run through now? You're absolutely right, if you cut too many placements or devices you're in danger of choking off your traffic. The collective wisdom is that it's generally better to test until you have some ads that work across nearly all devices / placements.
Sorry about your dog.
Great work. I'm still working in getting many days like your Day 49.
What has been your best bidding strategy with the regular cpm? I was able to make smart CPM to work for at least 65%ROI and 0.005 clicks for two weeks, but then after they had some problems last month I haven't been able to make it work. Maybe my offer or my ads aren't working anymore. Keep the good work, this is inspiring.
Originally Posted by caurmen
Originally Posted by rickmn
The CPMs vary on decisive so I would just pick a CPM and see how the winrate is and I would raise/lower based on cpc.
Day 58:
Spend: $168.73
Revenue: $35.51
Profit/Loss: -$133.22
ROI: -78.95
Day 59:
Spend: $46.14
Revenue: $34.65
Profit/Loss: -$11.49
ROI: -24.90%
Day 60:
Spend: $51.59
Revenue: $24.20
Profit/Loss: -$27.39
ROI: -53.09%
Day 61:
Spend: $28.12
Revenue: $49.20
Profit/Loss: $21.08
ROI: 74.99%
Day 62:
Spend: $52.23
Revenue: $22.95
Profit/Loss: -$29.28
ROI: -56.06%
Day 63:
Spend: $47.16
Revenue: $54.10
Profit/Loss: $6.94
ROI: 14.71%
Day 64:
Spend: $106.24
Revenue: $68.55
Profit/Loss: -37.69$
ROI: -35.48%
Day 65:
Spend: $60.83
Revenue: $50.40
Profit/Loss: -$10.43
ROI: -17.15%
Day 66:
Spend: $44.45
Revenue: $26.40
Profit/Loss: -$18.05
ROI: -40.61%
Day 67:
Spend: $29.16
Revenue: $14.40
Profit/Loss: -$14.76
ROI: -50.61%
Day 68:
Spend: $34.68
Revenue: $4.00
Profit/Loss: -$30.68
ROI: -88.47%
Day 69:
Spend: $87.06
Revenue: $12
Profit/Loss: -$75.06
ROI: -86.22%
Day 70:
Spend: $6.49
Revenue: $0
Profit/Loss: -$6.49
ROI: -100%
Day 71:
Spend: $4.17
Revenue: $0
Profit/Loss: -$4.17
ROI: -100%
Day 72:
Spend: $17.26
Revenue: $7.50
Profit/Loss: -$9.76
ROI: -56.55%
Day 73:
Spend: $8.39
Revenue: $19.73
Profit/Loss: $11.34
ROI: 135.25%
Day 74:
Spend: $172.90
Revenue: $227.50
Profit/Loss: $54.60
ROI: 31.58%
Day 75:
Spend: $276.94
Revenue: $276.86
Profit/Loss: -$0.08
ROI: -0.03%
Day 76:
Spend: $228.95
Revenue: $243.27
Profit/Loss: $14.32
ROI: 6.25%
Day 77:
Spend: $558.25
Revenue: $498.05
Profit/Loss: -$60.20
ROI: -10.78%
Day 78:
Spend: $520.90
Revenue: $492.69
Profit/Loss: -$28.21
ROI: -5.42%
Day 79:
Spend: $470.02
Revenue: $521.69
Profit/Loss: $80.33
ROI: 10.99%
Day 80:
Spend: $664.81
Revenue: $701.48
Profit/Loss: $36.67
ROI: 5.52%
Day 81:
Spend: $885.62
Revenue: $780.02
Profit/Loss: -$105.60
ROI: -11.92%
Day 82:
Spend: $775.36
Revenue: $741.46
Profit/Loss: -$33.90
ROI: -4.37%
Day 83:
Spend: $677.85
Revenue: $621.07
Profit/Loss: -$56.78
ROI: -8.38%
Day 84:
Spend: $626.06
Revenue: $591.80
Profit/Loss: -$34.26
ROI: -5.47%
Day 85:
Spend: $609.13
Revenue: $614.27
Profit/Loss: $5.14
ROI: 0.84%
Day 86:
Spend: $487.36
Revenue: $536.61
Profit/Loss: $49.25
ROI: 10.11%
Day 87:
Spend: $287.76
Revenue: $275.70
Profit/Loss: -$12.06
ROI: -4.19%
Day 88:
Spend: $300.93
Revenue: $299.80
Profit/Loss: -$1.13
ROI: -0.37%
Day 89:
Spend: $196.31
Revenue: $221.55
Profit/Loss: $25.24
ROI: 12.86%
Day 90:
Spend: $322.96
Revenue: $300.35
Profit/Loss: -22.61$
ROI: -7%
Spend/rev has dropped a little but I’ll get it back up soon with some better profit. I’m not sure if I’ll be updating more frequently yet since it takes a lot of time to keep up with this follow along but I should be seeing more green days before 120. My biggest issue so far seems to be structure/focus.. I get easily overwhelmed so I’m trying to work on campaigns less hrs during the day but the time that I do work I focus 100% on what I’m doing. It has been working as long as I can go through omnifocus and check stuff off.
Should be profitable soon
Hey guys I know this is a newbie question. Can someone explain to me what exactly are bids? and in mobile, the term POP?
Hi mate, do you suffer from a massive click-loss as well? Are your amounts of clicks in Decisive, tracker and affiliate network similar or is there a huge discrepancy? Thanks!
@jay_per - bids are the amount you're offering to pay for views on your ads (or clicks on your ads if you're running Cost Per Click - CPC). POP usually means "pop-up ads" but there are a couple of other things it could mean - what context did you see it in?
@nyc - nice work! Seeing a healthy amount of green pop up in there! Is the variance because you're testing new campaigns, or is it instability within your existing campaigns?
thanks @caurmen, I found out it meant pop up ads for the type offer being offered to me.
Are bids the same thing as impressions?
Home > Mobile > Follow-along Campaigns