CPL payment model: what it is, in what cases it is profitable and in what verticals it is found

On the Web, you can find many cases where webmasters generate traffic to CPL offers and earn good money. Yes, the target action is really simple, which means that it is much easier to get traffic. But not everything is so simple, otherwise everyone would switch from CPA to CPL. Today, in the format of questions and answers, we will consider the advantages and disadvantages of this payment model, depending on the vertical you choose. 
 

What is CPL in affiliate marketing

CPL (Cost-Per-Lead) — this is a payment model when an advertiser pays a webmaster for some simple action: register on the site, fill out a form, leave an application, email or phone number. 

 

For beginners, CPL looks attractive: you will be paid for all leads, regardless of whether they perform targeted actions in the future (for example, make a deposit at a casino, buy a subscription to a dating app, and so on). But this is where the benefits end - if you have quality traffic, CPA and RevShare will be more profitable in the long run. But more on that later. 
 

CPL offers in gambling: profitable or not?

It seems that CPL is much easier and more accessible for beginners. Is this true and is it possible to recommend beginners to start with this particular model?

 

Opinion#1: CPA is more profitable in any case. If you have many registrations but no deposits, the advertiser will stop your traffic. And if he doesn’t stop him, then the traffic is of high quality and you don’t earn enough, as if you were pouring CPA. Recommendation for beginners - start working with CPA, but in GEO with small rates.

 

Opinion#2: Not always a CPL offer can convert well. Beginners had cases when they uploaded a KPI by CPL (usually it is 60-80 regs), and there were no deposits from registered players. At the start of a gambling career, it is better to select CPA offers with small test caps. 

 

Are there situations when CPL is still more profitable than CPA / RevShare and where to pour CPL from? After all, in addition to FB and Google, this model of cooperation opens up opportunities to upload from cheap sources, such as banner advertising, native ads, push notifications. 

 

Opinion#1: CPL is beneficial when you drive motivated traffic, and the advertiser does not understand this and looks only at reg2dep, and not at further retention, but this is very rare. The second option: when on some GEOs the advertiser’s rate is higher than the market due to the pre-spilled volume of traffic at good quality, but again, you can drive using CPA with the same success. As for sources - FB is a must-have.

 

Opinion#2: If you catch a good audience, CPL may turn out to be more profitable, but it is important to understand that profitability also depends on applications, your creatives (here you should not forget to pay attention to the signup bonus), etc. We only generate CPL from FB and requests to other sources no feedback from webmasters.

 

What should you pay attention to when choosing a CPL offer?

 

Opinion#1: For a paid target action. Ideally, there should be a short form before accessing your personal account, and then let them ask for at least an address, at least a bank card on both sides. There are offers in which the paid action is the verification of e-mail and even bank data, it is better to avoid such offers.

 

Opinion#2: It is necessary to carefully study the KPI set by the advertiser, since the requirements are very different, and the webmaster must decide for himself whether to agree to such conditions or not. 

 

A question about the quality of traffic: what percentage of registration to deposit do advertisers consider adequate? Maybe there were curiosities from practice? 

 

Opinion#1: 7-10%, but if you have 90%, but at the same time it will be motivated traffic, they will say goodbye to you. The advertiser does not care about the envelope, etc., he is interested in the dynamics of traffic payback at the moment and at a distance. 

 

Opinion#2: Such indicators are very dependent on the GEO, but usually it is ~ 10%. There were cases when there was no reg for a molded mouthguard, but everything was paid for.
 

CPL and e-commerce offers: where to send and what to look at 

Yes, CPL is also found in e-com. Some advertisers are ready to pay for the fact of the application being left and the webmaster does not have to wait for the client to pick up his product from the post office. 

 

It seems that CPL is much easier and more accessible for beginners. Is this true and is it possible to recommend beginners to start with this particular model?

Yes, I would recommend starting with CPL, since this format makes it easier to calculate the economy. This allows you to spend more time setting up campaigns and choosing offers / GEO.

 

Okay, when is CPL still more profitable than CPA and where do you get CPL from? In theory, in addition to FB and Google, you can upload here from cheap sources, like push notifications.

CPL is more profitable for those GEOs where the cost of a lead is very low (Tier-3 countries). Sources are no different from CPA.

 

What should you pay attention to when choosing a CPL offer?

Lead confirmation conditions, hold conditions, prohibited GEOs and sources, CC working conditions. Traditionally, the fresher the lead for the call center, the better the call.

 

Are there any nuances in the approach to creatives?

If you do not go into the specifics of offer categories, then the approaches are almost the same. When uploading to CPL, the key task is to reduce the cost of a lead, so webmasters often get excited and start to miss lead (exaggerate the benefits of the product). For most affiliate programs, this is prohibited, because the buyback from the advertiser for such leads will be low.
 

CPL in crypto: cheap sources do not work

Many websites are still afraid to climb into this vertical, although, as many of our partners note, crypto is essentially the same rates or casinos. How to enter this vertical with a small budget and test CPL traffic: 

 

When is CPL more profitable than CPA?

CPL can be more profitable than CPA, and vice versa. It all depends on the quality of traffic, on conversion to deposit. None of the brokers will give a high CPL rate if there are no deposits. Therefore, you need to test everything, and look specifically at your traffic, which option suits you best.

 

It seems that CPL is much easier and more accessible for beginners. Is this true and is it possible to recommend beginners to start with this particular model?

CPL can be recommended, but again, in order to calculate the optimal rate that the broker is willing to pay, you need to merge the CPA test. For beginners, it is definitely better to start with the CPA model.

 

Where do you pour CPL from? In theory, in addition to FB and Google, you can upload here from cheap sources, for example, from push notifications.

Well, here, in fact, the dog is buried. So that the broker is not slipped under the guise of traffic from the context, traffic from pushes, pops or other cheap but ineffective sources - the broker always asks for a CPA test, and we agree with him.

 

How does the CPL ebb differ in your vertical?

The main difference is that the broker, when the tide is out according to the CPL, sets the criteria for leads, which he pays. Most often, this is the time of the call-center, the separation of trash and invalid registrations (that is, with a crooked number or with cold leads, when the user does not understand why he is being called and what kind of investments he is talking about).

 

What to look for when choosing a CPL offer?

Definitely to the CPA network where you send, to the recommendations given by the manager, to the landing page, during the work of the call-center.
 

CPL and dating: when it is unprofitable to pour for registration

The guys from the dating affiliate also shared their vision of working with CPL offers in the dating vertical: 

 

It seems that CPL is much easier and more accessible for beginners. Is this true and is it possible to recommend beginners to start with this particular model?

Yes, there is some truth here, it’s easier to start with CPL, because here is the simplest flow - the user only needs to register, there are rarely any KPIs and it is possible to quickly get statistics for analysis and subsequent optimization of the campaign. At the same time, you should pay attention to the traffic source, budget, GEO. For example, when it comes to sweepstakes, we don't recommend starting with CPL on FB (the top source in this vertical) at all, because buying ads on FB is not cheap and it is unlikely that traffic will pay off. Here we focus on CC offers.

 

When is CPL more profitable than CPA?

There are a number of locations where there are no CPL products in principle. This mainly concerns a number of tier-3,4 countries. If we talk about tier-1 countries, there are many products with payment both for the sale and for the lead. So this is where the web needs to look at the quality of its traffic and how quickly it wants to return on its investment. If the traffic consists of cold contacts for whom there is no information about their dating/adult interests, then you should not choose the CPL model. Here you can count on the user’s interest “what will happen after registration?”, Only a small percentage will be sold. If the web parses the audience from dating products or, for example, from adult product groups, then the interest is already higher here, then you can try to work with CPL offers. In any case, a decision can only be made after the tests.

 

Where do you pour CPL from? In theory, in addition to FB and Google, you can upload here from cheap sources, like push notifications. 

Traffic sources are very diverse, it can be pushes, teasers, pops, banners, natives, review sites, video ads, also drains through applications with UAC, traffic from social networks, there is also a share of free traffic from the same instant messengers and from all social networks etc. Yes, everyone needs their own approach, but there is plenty of work to do and we are ready to monetize any traffic, except for fraud, of course. Also, almost all sources accept the IVR vertical, of course, there is no CPL there, the user needs to make a call, but working out in tier-3.4 countries is very suitable, so beginners can try to work with this topic, because traffic in the purchase on these locations are not expensive and you can start with a small budget.

 

How does the CPL ebb differ in your vertical?

As mentioned above, there are practically no KPIs in dating. This is a big plus, however, you should adhere to some points: for example, you should not use the words free in creatives, although registration is free, but advertisers are not interested in the data of the lead, but in its subsequent financial activity, so you should not set up the audience that everything will be free there . Also, to improve the quality, you should not promise a meeting in a chat, for example, with a certain girl. Otherwise, the user may leave the product after a couple of minutes of unsuccessful searches.

 

Is there any difference between DOI and SOI?

There is no fundamental difference in dating. It is clear that for a webmaster, confirmation of registration is another step in the user's funnel, but a good web should lead to advertising of customers, and not just registrations. After all, advertising is based on the possibility of traffic monetization when deciding on its quality, rates, caps and the ability to continue receiving traffic from the source. All other manipulations are a short game, which will quickly end with a stop loss. Unlike the “long” game, when the web receives higher payouts for high-quality leads, generous caps (or lack of them) and the ability to calmly pour, squeezing the bundle to the maximum.

 

What to look for when choosing a CPL offer?

On the requirements/restrictions in the offer description, and how the webmaster's traffic meets these criteria. For additional KPIs (a rare phenomenon for dating, but still). How many people are already uploading this offer and from what sources. Competitive payouts – if different affiliates have the same offers, for different payouts, then other things being equal, the choice is obvious. Also on landing pages - how they fit in with the funnel of the web and the product. And, perhaps, on the recommendations of the manager - the proposed options, at least, should be tested.

 

A question about the quality of traffic: what is the minimum percentage of a reg to a target action that most ads consider adequate in dating?

The average conversion rate is at least 5%. Lower interest rates call into question the advisability and benefit to the advertiser of further spillage. It is clear that there are many factors that determine the “adequacy” of the percentage: the amount of the sale, the country of registration, the expected percentage of chargebacks and unsubscribes from users, the methods and effectiveness of further monetization of customers by the owner of the product, etc.

 

That, in fact, is all. Now it's interesting to listen to our readers: how do you feel about the CPL? Was there an experience and with what result? Share in the comments ↓↓↓