CPA Affiliates: What your Advertiser Wants

In articles and reports geared towards CPA affiliates, the focus is naturally on the results the affiliate wants.  But getting inside the mind of the advertiser who is ultimately paying your commission is an exercise every CPA affiliate should consider. Understanding the desired outcome for the advertiser - and how it works from his end - may give you a better understanding of your own marketing campaigns.

The Way an Advertiser Sets Up his Campaign

Advertisers can choose whether or not they would like to pay per click, per lead or per acquisition - in other word, you make them a sale.  If you don't achieve your goal, it's no skin off the advertiser's nose. He doesn't pay you a penny: However, he is paying the CPA network a substantial sum.

That means the advertiser doesn't particularly care about you personally - or guarantees that he even knows you exist. All your pressure will come from the CPA network - that is, from your CPA affiliate rep or manager. The pressure isn't negative, but he will expect you to keep him in the loop if you are having problems. And he will have solutions, suggestions and resources you should take full advantage of.

But if you consistently produce inadequate traffic and results, you may be dropped.

Is the Advertiser Just Concerned with a Sale?

The advertiser may be using CPA ads much the way you would use a PPC campaign to bring quick traffic to your landing page or site: To test how well a particular ad converts on a small scale, before launching a no-holds-barred campaign. He'll be able to guesstimate fairly accurately how well his new product is going to do, if he launches his his campaign again on a large scale.

He may also be looking to leave no stone unturned, adding CPA to other methods to boost the results. It may not be his primary campaign strategy. And because you are only paid for results, this is a "no risk" way for him to use your services and efforts. As you yourself would do with a PPC ad, the advertiser is able to set limits on his campaigns too.

But rather than worrying about either the CPA network and its rep, or the Advertiser you are driving traffic to, your main focus should always be on one goal:  Targeting and honing in your focus, so that every site visitor who wanders in, by chance or by strategy, is highly motivated to click on your CPA ad.

After all, the risk is on your side: No lead generation or sales (depending on what ad campaign you choose) - and no payment for you.

The advertiser doesn't stand to lose a thing.