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Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face (7)

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$350 in spend with $22.30 in conversions on my listicle lander

Which has me looking for options...

My first thought was a listicle, lots of offers, more options to succeed right?

After spending a little over $350 and seeing only 3 conversions worth about $20.30) I'm wondering if that is the right approach.

My thought was to run a listicle similar to the nerdwallet, pennyhoarder, etc. style listicle using offers from credit score, auto ins, personal loans etc.

Unfortunately, I have very little data from these sites because my first mistake was to attempt to run on MGID, Outbrain and Taboola at the same time. I've since fixed that and just moved to taboola as I was able to get a rep there from a previous attempt.

So now I'm wondering if the listicle is the best way to get started or if it's better to start with a single offer lander and work on one thing at a time.

Ideally, I'd like to build a long term site that can become a brand in the space like the previously mentioned site, I know that's probably the holy grail of AF but if you're gonna dream, why go small.

I'm totally open to spending more, just trying to make sure I'm on the right path before I increase spends.

I'd be more than happy losing $300 on $1000 in spend because at least I can start playing with the pieces to improve, but losing $300+ on $350 in spend feels bad. Is this just normal when starting in native or am I just aimed in the wrong direction?

So to summarize, listicles vs single offers for a native newbie?

Are there any other masochist trying to figure this stuff out too

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Yup, 100 good theoretical plans will never be as meaningful as only 1 real practical experience.

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While a listicle or offer wall sounds tempting, I went with a single offer and believe that is the correct path. It is going to be much easier to optimize a single offer, plus you aren't giving the user options. Analysis paralysis is real and I suspect a listicle could easily trigger that in many people. While a single offer is much more straight forward. Either they inquire about this offer or they don't. If the pain is strong enough and you fanned the flames well enough on the lander, they will go through and convert.

Once you get good a making single offers profitable, then it is time to look for additional profit opportunities such as with a listicle or offer wall.

Of course, YMMV.

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Is it an ecom listicle or a lead-gen listicle?

I've never had an ecom listicle work and honestly I think one group made one work and every attempt since then copying it has been a failure lol.

Lead-gen listicles can be great, but the people running them typically have access to extremely good offers and payouts, so its really hard to get one to work when you're starting out.

I LOVE listicles (lead-gen ones), but if you're just starting on native I definitely wouldn't limit myself to them. Try as many things as you can to get the broadest array of experience possible.

Your "alpha" will come from really understanding a traffic source like the back of your hand, so the faster you can learn that traffic source the better, hence the more campaigns you start the better.

So yeah, I wouldn't write off the listicle, but I wouldn't go into the red trying to make it work. If you fail at one attempt at it, wait a few weeks, re-do it, then try again and see if it clicks

Just view it like you're going fishing - keep casting lines into the water and once something gets a bite and produces green start reeling in (optimizing) like hell



Edit: Ah... I just saw your reference to Penny Hoarder - yes, that is the holy grail I would caution though that Penny Hoarder has venture funding so I would not be at all surprised if they're losing money on that listicle. If they aren't, its because they have custom high payouts on those finance offers. So I wouldn't copy their offer selection. If you really want to make a listicle work, incorporate offers you see working on their own (Medicare, life insurance, funeral, refi, roofing, equity release, etc). Basically anything targeting seniors.

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Awesome! Yea it's lead gen. I'm seeing Medicare, Life Insurance, Refinance a lot and I've done a small amount of that on FB so I think I'm gonna go the single offer route. Like you said starting out it's tough because you get the base payouts and don't have the volume to get the big deals. That's a good point on penny hoarder, they can probably run in the red there because the lifetime value is a lot higher for them.

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Cool! Keep us updated! Would love to see how its going

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I would also recommend to focus on single offers for the starters, it's easier to build a targeted campaign that way. Once you have some experience and data to work with, you can test a multi offer listicle again.

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