Running campaigns in a small GEO? What if there isn't enough traffic? (9)
Running campaigns in a small GEO? What if there isn't enough traffic?
We all know how it goes, the large GEOs are targeted by the most aggressive sharks of them all! So where does a small profit hungry fish find its prey to feed on? SMALL GEOS that the Megalodons don't really give a damn about! Or do they and the world is doomed?
Targeting small GEO's can really be an option for new affiliates, they can still be profitable and the big guns really don't shoot this way all that often. These GEOs are harder to get offers for, sometimes it's harder to optimize them and the scale simply isn't that big … which translates to limited profit potential… nothing for the big guys, eh?
Or so it seems at first sight, because let me tell you one thing : even small GEOs with 5 or so million of citizens are big enough to run $XXX campaigns in … and it's not like just one affiliate can do that, there are DOZENS of them in any GEO at a time. There is a ton of money moved around in ANY country of the world, even in the smallest ones.
The traffic is always there, you just need to find and get it. Ok, maybe running carrier billing offers in Luxembourg isn't the best idea , but as long as the country has a couple million citizens, there is money to be made there.
YOU NEED TO MAKE THE EXTRA STEP!
Let me be honest with you now, running campaigns in small GEOs requires a bit more effort than buying a truck full of Indian clicks, that's simply the way it is. Indian surfers are EVERYWHERE, just as Mexican, Brazilian, Thai … etc surfers. But try to buy a decent amount of visits from Ireland, Switzerland … getting harder now, right? And how about the new hot offer that your AM was raving about, how to get some decent traffic volumes in Oman for it, when there was less than 3 million people living there?
Using one large traffic source for these GEOs simply won't cut it, especially when running with some tight targeting. You need to put the gloves on and start shopping around, there is more traffic sources available than you ever thought possible.
GET TO KNOW YOUR MARKET!
There are certain specifics in every market out there, in order to get the most of any GEO, you need to explore the “internet” of every market you are targeting.
Any idea what SEZNAM.CZ is? Well, that little fucker beat the shit out of Google in the Czech Republic … the giant can't take them down and Seznam.cz still serves the bigger part of search queries in the GEO.
How about SKLIK.CZ, nothing again I guess? Well this happens to be the in-house Ad Network of that seznam.cz SE, which works the same way as Google. You can bid on keywords like in Adwords and they also have their own Display Network, which let's you place ads the web properties of their publishers. One look at the ads … skincare, weight-loss … quite affiliate friendly stuff indeed 
We have a “clone” of Seznam in Slovakia too, it's called Zoznam.sk … yup, our languages are very similar Zoznam got their butt kicked by Google quite some time ago, but they are still one of the most visited website in my country … guess it's hard to teach new tricks to old dogs, err old surfers The site itself kinda sucks, but that's not of my concern … what interests me, is their own in-house ad network, yup they have one too.
Browse the site a bit, and you will notice ADs served by something called ETARGET … which happens to be another contextual/keyword based AD network… and now the good part … these guys have publishers from Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Croatia, Serbia and Bulgaria... how's that for a traffic source you never heard about?
And it doesn't stop here … we have something like a local version of Facebook in Slovakia, it's called POKEC.sk and they have … again … their in-house ad system! And guess what, they cover plenty of other web properties that they own … ton's of traffic available over there.
I could go on and on, but I'm sure you see the potential here, because EVERY single country is the same … there are local social networks you don't know about yet, there are local search engines you don't know about yet, there are local ad networks that you don't know about yet .. there is a fuckload of traffic that you don't know about yet .. it's not all on popads or facebook.
BUT HOW ABOUT THE LANGUAGE BARRIER? Isn't it a problem?
Well of course it is! But it's not a problem just for you, it's a problem for everybody. Large affiliates are not gonna bother with it, it's not worth the extra 100, 200, 300 or whatever $$$ to them. But how about you? Isn't it worth it to you? The bigger the obstacles are to enter a new market, the less people try it. KEEP THIS IN MIND!
These small GEOs are often developing countries, or former communist countries … people still work for pretty cheap here. It's not so hard to find a native who'd be willing to do some quick translations for you and it won't break your budget either.
And one more thing, if you stay in a GEO for a while, you will always realize that many things keep on repeating themselves, many angles are re-usable, many headlines are re-usable … it's not like you need someone to help you with translations 24/7/365.
THERE IS NOT JUST POPS TRAFFIC OUT THERE !!!
I see it all the time, same story over and over … “Hey Matuloo, I'm already buying POPs on ZP, Popads, Propeller … and the scale simply isn't there, should I give up?” …
Well, it's not all about POPs. This traffic is amazing for learning, it really is, but the real profits are often found elsewhere … feels like I wrote this sentence a few times even here on STM, right?
Anyways, the world of AM is way bigger than just the POPs part … there are native ads, there are banner ads, there is search traffic, there is facebook, there is email traffic, there are private or flat deals that you can buy traffic through … DO NOT STICK TO JUST ONE TRAFFIC TYPE.
Stick to one traffic type only in the learning phase, as soon as you mastered the basics, test other types too … the great part is, the funnels are often transferable. Have a good POPs campaign that is using LPs? Grab some generic banners and test the same funnel with those clicks!
Have a good performing adwords campaign? Take it to yahoo and bing immediately! The performance won't be the same exactly, but chances are, it will be at least DECENT.
Have a casual offer that works well with mainstream traffic? Ask the advertisers if they are fine with adult traffic and test it there …
Have an exclusive campaign that other don't have access to? Talk to site owners, buy exclusive spots and secure the volume just for you.
The options are really big, just don't be lazy and EXPLORE THEM!
GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE AND TAKE THE EXTRA STEP!
The traffic is there, even in the smallest of the GEOs. But it won't come to you on it's own, you need to hunt it down! It's a lot of extra work, it's harder than to work with the major AD platforms … but it's the same for everyone. If you won't bend over backwards and pick it “from the ground”, someone else will.
Study your markets, learn the specifics of the local ad market and take advantage of it. Look for social networks, news sites, gossip sites, casual sites … these tend to belong into larger network of web properties, that often manage in-house Ad networks.
This GEO focused approach can really give you a solid edge over large affiliates, they simply don't have time to mess with all of this. But maybe you do!
Thanks for reading
You just open my appetite all the time and brings me hope - I guess this post fits exactly for Israel ..
I understand why you wrote me the comment of the dating offers in israel ..
In a moment when I feel a bit of confidence with the pop, I will probably return to Israel .
Thank you for your wide vision .
Originally Posted by yohaimor
Originally Posted by matuloo
I wish God will give you double from what you give us here.
thank you man I really appreciate it .
Originally Posted by yohaimor
lol i hope they know about their super affiliate-daddy acts :]
Great post Matej!
Making your own research and testing non mainstream sources always gives that advantage
Originally Posted by platinum
Making your own research and testing non mainstream sources always gives that advantage
Actually it is and those new or non-mainstream traffic sources tend to have quite a decent traffic quality since they're seeking to increase the number of advertisers buying traffic from their inventory.
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