I'm new and I'd like to hear from people doing great in affiliate marketing. Can you briefly tell me how you start every campaign from beginning to end? And please be a little specific if possible. I appreciate it!
http://stmforum.com/forum/showthread...Run-a-Campaign
Mehdi
Here's a few more!
http://stmforum.com/forum/forumdispl...g-2016-Edition
Hi, twazzan!
When you’re starting in affiliate marketing, planning thoroughly before launching a campaign is actually as important as the process of optimization that follows.
After choosing your traffic source (consider volume and quality of traffic, the stats provided and the targeting options), carefully ponder on which segments to target. It's important to bear the potential costs and the average RPM (revenue per 1000 visits) of the segment in mind. Traffic sources usually provide you with general info about the costs, such as the minimum prices per country and ad format. You can contact your affiliate network's account manager to get an idea of the average RPMs of a segment for a rough estimation of the returns.
If you're totally new to affiliate marketing, I advise you to choose one or two countries, 2-3 ad formats. Then, try to explore and understand those to the fullest, instead of trying to work everywhere at once. This process will allow you to use your resources more efficiently. Plus: choose countries with big traffic volumes and low payouts. This is how you can gather data faster without losing a lot of money. Moreover, by doing this you can understand the traffic’s behavior more easily so as to make the right optimizations afterwards. We usually launch a campaign by country + operator and open the target, as far as your budget allows it. It's important to test all parameters within those segments in order to fully understand what is and isn't working.
The bid you set will depend on the targeted country, the ad format, as well as on your strategy. I suggest you start off with an aggressive bid right away, so you can optimize the campaign faster and be profitable. Does your ad-network have the option to use smart bidding systems such as ExoClick's Smart CPM? If so, just go for it! In the case of Exoclick, it means your bid will be 10% higher than your next competitor's bid. By doing this, you guarantee your position at the lowest possible cost.
The choice of creatives is super important as it really does influence CTR and conversions. That's why you should make sure to put a lot of effort in creating attractive banners and pre-landers. A good pre-landing page should engage the user, be related to the offer and have a professional appearance that matches both the design of the banner and the offer. Test around 2-3 banners in combinations with 2-3 pre-landers to see which flow works best. There are several spy tools available such as AdPlexity or GeoEdge. These will definitely help you check what your competition is using.
Naturally, another crucial part of your campaign is the offer – promoted either manually or as a smartlink. Ask your affiliate network's account manager for the performance of both. If you're starting out in adult traffic, I advise you to go for a smartlink, as it saves you the hassle of choosing the right offer. For mainstream, we usually work with single offers since this is a vertical in which you need a higher degree of banner customization.
After launching your campaign, wait 3-5 days (depending on the volume of traffic you get) to gather useful data to analyze. It's likely that your campaign won't be profitable at the beginning. No worries! Don’t panic! Just try to gather enough data to get a good understanding of the traffic’s behavior before you optimize. Of course, if you see that your money is largely being “eaten” by a “bad” website, or a non-converting banner, go ahead and cut it.
Another tip: don’t try to change everything at once. Every parameter you cut might have an impact on the others. This means you should give yourself time to observe the influence of the changes you've made.
Remember: don’t optimize too often! Wait again for a few days after a change until you optimize again.
I hope these tips will help you be more organized!
Let's see if you can start your campaigns, saving both time and money!
Cheers!