How To Pick Your First Offer/Vertical To Promote And What To Do Next? (6)
How To Pick Your First Offer/Vertical To Promote And What To Do Next?
Starting out in affiliate marketing is a challenging task, there are so many things to learn and so many decisions to make …
it's easy to get lost in the process and delay the start for an unnecessary long period of time.
When I look back at the beginning of my journey with paid traffic, I could identify a few points that were pretty hard to get over.
Since I already had years of experience with affiliate marketing already, I didn't have to learn the basics…
But it was still a different world so to speak.
In SEO based affiliate marketing, you usually build sites around certain niche and then find products that would match the demographics – or you simply sell ad-space to ad-networks.
But with paid traffic, you need to pick an offer first and then build the whole funnel around it.
This was one of the hardest part for me, I didn't know what offer to start with. I had no idea how to pick a vertical, why should I pick one over the next one. I had no idea what actually worked at that time, I didn't know the difference between particular offer types…
Simply put, I was lost and I literally wasn't able to make that decision. I was seriously afraid that by picking the WRONG offer, I will fail at this … and that was something I tried to avoid.
So, in order to save you some of the headache I went through, let me guide you through the process and give you some tips.
YOU'RE JUST STARTING OUT, KEEP THAT IN MIND!
The first psychological barrier you gotta get over is to realize: you're only starting out. You're not picking a vertical or offer that you MUST promote till the end of the days. You just need something to learn the basics with.
At this stage, it really doesn't matter much, it's pointless to spend weeks on this decision – you just need some offer and start testing. Because that's how you will actually learn something... by testing. You are going to lose money anyways, so why delay the pleasure 
There are still some rules to follow here, don't pick just blindly.
1. You need to pick a vertical that is working at the moment. STM has you covered when it comes to this, Caurmen posts an annual report of what works right now, here is the 2017 version : https://stmforum.com/forum/showthrea...orking-In-2017
2. As a newbie, you probably ain't ready to blow hundreds of $$$ on testing. This means you need to focus on offers with low payouts. Lower payouts equal to easier conversion flow, which means more actionable data for less $.
On top of that, lower payout offers can actually make you more money than high paying ones. Read this article for a more detailed explanation : https://stmforum.com/forum/showthrea...you-more-money
3. Since you are new to the game, you don't know how o slay your competition, yet. That's why it's better to stay in less competitive GEOs. Traffic will also be cheaper there, so another positive for you. I wrote more about this in a separate article, check it out : https://stmforum.com/forum/showthrea...ve-TIER-1-GEOs
Ok, so we know you should pick a low payout offer, in a tier2 or 3 GEO and it should be from a vertical that is known to perform well RIGHT NOW.
Based on Caurmen's article, Sweeps and PIN submit offers fit this very well – and my own experience confirms this.
Read this for a more detailed explanation of the Sweeps vertical : https://stmforum.com/forum/showthrea...stakes-Secrets!
And here is a guide to PIN submits : https://stmforum.com/forum/showthrea...o-promote-them
You still need to pick the GEO, right? It's tempting to go with an English speaking one, since we all speak English to some degree. But it's not a good idea, US, UK, CA … these are traditionally very competitive markets.
The good new is, English language creatives can work in a pretty large number of GEOs anyways – India, Nordics (DK, NO, SWE, FIN), many asian countries … especially when using simple banners and landing pages. In case of more advanced creatives, it's recommended to use properly translated copy.
I have some good news for you again, Google translate recently improved a lot in some GEOs! It's coming to a point, when using this service for translating ad-copy is a viable option, check this : https://stmforum.com/forum/showthrea...Translation-**
So how should you pick the GEO? Use the availability of offers as the decision point, you want to start in a GEO that there is a lot of offers available for. Simply ask your AM – “Hey, I want to push PIN submits in Asia or Latam, what GEOs do you have several offers for?”
You also want to ask your AM about two more things : you need offers that are LIVE and working well. They can give you 2 performance related statements – EPC or Volume. When looking at the EPC reports, keep in mind it's a network-wide report, so the numbers are averages. Yours can be lower but also higher.
Overall volume is often a better indicator, because if there is an offer that they are doing LARGE volume with … it must be working for many affiliates. Don't be afraid to test also offers with low volume, in case they have solid EPCs… could be that they just haven't been discovered by the large affiliates.
In case your budget allows it, it's also a good idea to utilize a spytool and check what other affiliates are promoting. Just make sure you understand how the spytools work and accept the fact that part of the results you will get are cloaked campaigns that are used to hide the real stuff.
Adplexity is the #1 spytool right now in my opinion and here is a guide on how to use it : https://stmforum.com/forum/showthrea...de-(AdPlexity)
Let's sum it up quickly, so we already know that for the starters (based on the conditions in 2017), you should pick either Sweeps or PIN submits in either Asia or Latam and choose a GEO that your affiliate networks have multiple offers for … in case the offers are doing solid volume or have good EPCs, even better.
Keep in mind, we are still in the starting phase, we are picking an offer to start with, not to become a millionaire from! That will come in stage 2.
I KNOW THE BASICS NOW, SHOULD I CHOOSE DIFFERENT VERTICAL AND OFFER?
Let's assume that you were pushing Sweeps or PINs for a while now and you consider yourself a somewhat experienced affiliate. This doesn't have to mean you are seeing profits already, but you should understand the optimization process, know how to produce and test creatives, you understand the process of setting up campaigns etc …
In case this is true, congrats – you didn't waste time and you already know what it feels like to run paid traffic. Because frankly, nothing compares to personal first-hand experience. And that was exactly the point of the first stage – to get that experience.
Now it's time to step up your game a bit. There are basically 2 positions you can be in right now, you either see potential (you're in profit or close) with your current offers/verticals or you don't (you're losing heavily).
In case you're in profit or close to it, the recommended action is to continue with it, as you're obviously doing something right. If you're still in big loss, it might be a good idea to swap verticals and focus on something else, as the current one is obviously not a good match for you.
Note: NOBODY is able to make all verticals or offers work, not even the most experience affiliate on the planet. We are not created equal and what suits one person, doesn't have to work well for the next one. It's ok to fail at something, because you can win at something else.
SO HOW DO I CHOOSE THE OFFER OR VERTICAL TO FOCUS ON NOW?
It's not a good idea to jump from one thing to the next one, so make sure you choose wisely at this point. You no longer need a “learning” offer, you need something to focus on and make it work. Let me give you some tips that should help you make that decision :
1. You still need something that works NOW, so refer to Caurmen guide : https://stmforum.com/forum/showthrea...orking-In-2017
You can also use a spytool to see what's being promoted by others. There are also some evergreen offers that always work to some extent, so picking one of them is always a decent idea : Dating, Casinos/Gambling, Gaming, Nutra, Education (Clickbank products)…
2. Are you comfortable with ADULT traffic, or you want to stay away from it? In case you decide to work with adult traffic, the options are pretty clear – you should focus on dating, cams or male enhancement.
For a detailed guide on how to start with Adult Traffic in 2017, read this : https://stmforum.com/forum/showthrea...here-you-start!
3. Are you looking for verticals/offers that are simple to promote or do you want to engage in more complicated setups?
In case you're looking for something really simple, focus on PIN submits. This is one of the last verticals that can still work direct-linked, so without a Landing Page.
You can also try Arbitrage with “smartlink type” networks. Check AMY's recent guide on this : https://stmforum.com/forum/showthrea...bitrage-Part-1
For a slightly more advanced setup, choose SOI or DOI leadgen offers. These require a landing page, but it can be a pretty simple 1-page LP with basic info. Good examples are Dating or Sweeps.
Focus on Nutra, Casinos/Gambling to take it one step further. These require more advanced Landing pages, that look like real sites, full articles or guides … Since we are entering a more regulated area, you might need to cloak.
An interesting whitehat vertical is Astrology, Horoscopes, IQ-tests and similar stuff. These can work well with simple site-like landing pages or even 1-page landers with some questions.
Info products from ClickBank is an interesting vertical too, these require long sales letters or VSLs. There are many legit products that you can promote, which gives you access to the largest traffic networks.
You can also decide to build for the future and start building email lists. This is a more complicated approach too and requires properly executed conversion funnels. You start with email capture, then try to sell related products to your subscribers. Email collection is a very interesting vertical, since you can build it around pretty much any niche. Make sure you provide value and people will subscribe.
For the most complicated setup, choose E-commerce business, so selling real goods to your customers. This is a very hot vertical right now, it's whitehat so Facebook and Google traffic are at your disposal. But you need to handle customer support, complaints refunds … it's like running a solid business operation.
There are many levels of complexity that you can run into in AM, it's up to you to pick one that you are OK with. I personally prefer simple stuff, so the core of my AM business is in Lead Gen and PINs.
4. How much Legit do you want to be? It's not a secret that some affiliate offers are not exactly whitehat, for example the infamous Tech Support Calls.
If you don't care about morals at all, focus on tech-support.
If you're somewhat concerned, but not that much … Antivirus offers, 1-click PINs, WhatsApp upgrades, Binary options … these are your friends.
For OK stuff, focus on LeadGen, Sweeps, Horoscopes … their value can be questionable at times, but there is no harm involved.
Nutra products can be OK too, their effect is questionable, but so is the effect of Homeopathy which is so popular … Placebo effect FTW
Gambling/Casinos … people are gonna lose money there, but they know it, so it's OK in my book.
If you want to provide value, promote good info products, sell quality goods (ecomm), game apps …
5. What traffic sources do you want to work with? This is connected with point #4, the more legit offers you use, the more traffic sources will be at your disposal. You can forget about promoting Tech Support on Facebook for example (without cloaking). On the other hand, some POP sources might still accept it.
Pick Ecommerce though and Facebook and Google will gladly become your traffic suppliers.
There are also legal limitations coming into play, for example Gambling is regulated, you cannot just create a Gambling campaign on Facebook and expect them to approve it just like that.
There is also the Adult/non-Adult categorization – adult traffic source will let you promote mainstream products without any problem, but not the other way around.
OK, I'M MORE CONFUSED NOW THAN I WAS BEFORE!
Well, I know I gave you a lot of thoughts, but it's really quite simple. Let me use myself as an example.
I prefer things simple, I certainly don't have time to deal with customer service since I want to spend time with my family too. I don't have a problem with Adult traffic. I don't like to scam people, but I'm OK with somewhat borderline stuff. I speak decent English, some German and Russian, but I know how to get stuff translated quickly. I don't cloak. I'm a fan of quick results, but also want to build something for the future.
So, what option does this give me :
1. Fast returns and simple campaigns in both adult and mainstream, without pushing blatant scams – This leaves me with dating and PINs for adult and PINs plus LeadGen in mainstream. Since I can get translations quickly, I work with whatever GEOs I can get good offers for.
2. I want something for the future, but without handling tons of customers – email collection is a perfect match. Here I would focus on English speaking markets and utilize my language knowledge, so I can write the stuff myself.
And that's what I focus on right now, as easy as that
Thanks for reading!
Thanks. I've been doing SEO for several years, and was a bit of an adjustment to go over to focusing more on paid traffic.
All though, nowadays I'd almost also classify SEO as "paid traffic". I.e. you'd run some FB ad spend for engagement, buy links, spend time on outreach, spend money on content etc.
Originally Posted by jessejames
NICE! Damn you stole one of my post ideas.
To add insult to injury, you wrote it better than I was planning to...
Seriously though - kudos on a great post!
Amy
Great post matuloo!
Originally Posted by vortex
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