Is this normal? (8)
*Note: Please move this if this is the wrong place for it*
I've been running campaigns for a few months now, running entirely on mobile using Decisive and Go2Mobi, with Tapgerine and AffiliaXe as my affiliate networks. I've run 11 offers: 9 apps, 1 sweeps and 1 CPA. I've been following mobile cookbook (appetizer and then main course), and apart from the first couple of campaigns I've split tested angles across the different offers and 10-12 banners per offer. After $250 of spend and 1.3 million impressions, and 11k clicks, I've only managed 4 conversions. Aside from running my own banners, I've also run some from WRW in case my banners were one of the issues.
So guys who are just starting out and the more experienced guys and girls here, is this normal? Should I change my approach or just keep chugging along?
These are some of my banners in case you were wondering:
I know I haven't spent that much yet, but I figure there's no harm in picking the brains of you guys since you might help the missing piece fall into place before I keep going down my current route. Thanks in advance 
Hi lionheart,
I dig your username!
I'm in the same spot as you, with a few more conversions but nothing to write home about. Still, it was the first conversion that sealed the deal for me and made me believe this stuff was possible. Now it's just a matter of tweaking my skills to where I can bring those conversions in consistently. One difference maker was in communicating more with my network managers? They're offer recommendations out performed my choices almost every time. Keep spending your money for education purposes if nothing else!
All the best
Hi lionheart,
the copy of the german banners is bad. If you need some german proofreading, pm me.
I don't know if the spanish translations are better.
gunnar
Without knowing details of all your camps, it would be hard to comment on specifics. Nevertheless, here are some thoughts I have:
In my mind I classify all offers into one of 2 groups. 1)Apps that are "one-time only" - e.g. Lazy Swipe, Go Keyboard, DU Battery Saver - where once the offer is pulled we probably won't be able to find another to take its place. 2)Offers that are in evergreen verticals such as sweeps and antivirus - where there will never be a lack of offers to promote once I "crack the code" (better, some good creatives will actually work well for multiple geos).
I would approach each of these 2 types of offers differently. For the first type, I would research, brainstorm and launch camps quickly, make 3-5+ banners for each of my best 3-5 angles (or what I predict to be the best lol), and if I don't see any promise after say $30 I'd just move onto another app. Speed is of essence with apps because you never know when the offer will end, and you really wouldn't want to sink too much money into testing an offer unless it shows promise at the very start - because there's no promise that it will still be around when you finally get it green, so you may not even make back your investment.
However, for the second type, I'd be willing to spend thousands of dollars or more to figure out how to make the vertical work, because I know that once I do, I'll make it back many times over because chances are there'll always be good offers around. In this case I would focus on long-term profits and do a TON of testing. I'd be willing to test many offers in multiple geos, many landing pages etc. and keep optimizing everything, knowing that the time and effort I spend won't go down the drain when an offer is pulled.
AFAIK there haven't been many good apps during the recent few months, which is probably partially why you've had no luck with the 11 apps you tried. As for sweeps - that's what I would classify as a "type 2 offer" described above. If you really want to break into the sweeps vertical, even 10 times of what you've spent so far will just be the beginning. So if you want to pursue this vertical further, I'd suggest coming up with a test strategy to optimize your creatives (banners and landers) as well as test many offers, and go from there.
Your banners aren't bad! As gunnar has pointed out, bad translation is at least partly to blame. I'd suggest to stay away from google translate - there's no reason to stinge on translations when you can get 100-1000 words translated for $5 on Fiverr. Also, some of the text is too small to read. Next time, try to keep text really short - the shorter the better - try to keep under 7 words or even 5 words for the most impact. Most people will only focus for less than a second on your ad (and that's IF their eyes were drawn to it in the first place) so the text will need to be very short and very easy to understand. Try to use a big font as well. Also test animation. And try to use eye-catching images to draw people's eyes to your ad - if they don't notice it they won't read it or click on it. I believe that images will serve to draw attention to your ad (and animation if you do it right; and some power words can also draw attention), and that the text will push for the click and hopefully convince the user to convert after that. I'm no expert on making banners but the more we make and test, the more we'll learn what works and what doesn't (which can be geo- and vertical-specific as well).
All in all I'd say the $250 was well-spent - you took massive action and tested so many offers which must have gotten you a ton of practical experience. That is an achievement in itself. If I were you I'd give myself a big pat on the back, do more reading on STM, talk to my AMs more, choose a vertical, formulate an initial plan, and just dive headfirst into testing. There's gold in them thar hills my friend! Good luck and have fun! 
Amy
That is a rough start...I think I got $100 back off my first $1000...I'll give you my shortcut and a great tool for CPM bidding...The sizes 320x480 and 480x320 got me my first profitable campaign. CPMs go up a decent bit but your CTR will more than offset this to get on avg. much cheaper clicks than a 320x50. They go best in their own campaign so you can make larger bids.
Let's keep it simple.
A good offer + a good angle + a good traffic source = Profit.
Overall, I can't see anything that you're doing wrong, aside from the translation issue - which is quite an achievement. (If you looked at the first $250 I ever spent on AM, you'd find more mistakes than I see here )
It looks like you've invested your cash wisely. The only thing I don't see is how many geos you've
Amy/Vortex's points are great, and definitely bear them in mind. In particular, I think her point about the offers you're testing is spot-on: apps are undergoing a bit of a reversal right now after a couple of years of being on top. Moving into sweeps is definitely a good idea to ride the current wave.
Looking forward to seeing your results from the next $250!
This is totally normal. You've just started and are facing the steepest part of the learning curve. Things will get easier and more streamlined. You'll naturally begin to develop systems (launching, optimizing, etc.). When you start to nail down these systems your numbers will improve. Before you know it you'll hit profit.
Moral of the story. Stay focused, work hard, learn from every campaign.
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