Offers in CPA marketing: what is it, what are there and which one to choose for a novice webmaster

The offer is the cornerstone of affiliate marketing. The lion's share of your profit depends on which offer you choose and whether your choice turns out to be correct. In this material, we analyzed in detail what these notorious offers are, what they are, what categories they are divided into and what a webmaster should consider when choosing a particular product for promotion. 

Catalog of offers in the affiliate program
 

What is an offer and categories of offers by accessibility in the CPA network

An offer in CPA marketing, in addition to the fact that it means the product itself, is a set of conditions put forward by the advertiser for working with a product (service or product) in the CPA network. It include: 

• description of the offer;
• type and complexity of the conversion;
• the amount and procedure of payments;
• restrictions, prohibitions;
• user flow and KPI (for some categories).

Usually, the advertiser is interested in having as many affiliates as possible have access to the offer. Some offers require a special approach to promotion, so they are limited from the bulk of webmasters. 

There are the following groups of offers according to the degree of their availability in CPA networks:

• Public. Public offers hosted in affiliate network aggregators and available to any registered webmaster.
• Offers on demand (VIP-offers). To gain access, you must send an application, indicate the source of traffic and answer the questions of the manager. Sometimes a short interview is required. VIP-offers require a certain responsibility when working with them, so affiliate programs do not open access to everyone.
• Private. Offers that, for one reason or another, are not in the public access of the platform. Issued strictly upon request to teams or individual webmasters who have managed to prove themselves.

Popular offer categories

Almost any online business is suitable for the CPA model, so all legal (and not very legal) Internet products and services are presented in affiliate programs. Most popular offer categories:

• E-com. This category includes any physical goods that can be sold on the Internet: tools, appliances, clothing, accessories, utensils, As-seen-on-TV, and so on.
• Nutra. A wide vertical of products on the topic of beauty and health: dietary supplements, cosmetics, weight loss products. Also here you can include an assortment for adults, for example, capsules for potency. Nutra includes all non-drug medicine. In other words, everything that you can buy in a pharmacy without restrictions and a doctor's prescription is nutra.
• Gambling. Slot machines, slots, casinos - everything that, one way or another, is connected with gambling.
• Dating. A popular group of offers that differ in age limits: Mainstream dating (regular apps and dating sites), and Adult (services for more frank meetings).

Where to find information about the offer

To make it easier for a webmaster to choose an offer, offers in CPA networks are presented in the form of cards. The offer card is a brief description of the product and the conditions for working with it. It includes:

• Product description — list of the main characteristics of the goods.
• Available GEOs — countries and regions in which the advertiser allows you to work with the offer. Depending on the country, the payout amount and traffic quality requirements change. 
• Traffic Requirements/Traffic Sources: social networks, push notifications, teaser networks, banners, native advertising, pop-up, SEO. Allowed and prohibited sources change depending on the offer and vertical. For example, it is most often impossible to launch traffic from push notifications for gambling, and launch contextual advertising for a brand on e-commerce. It also indicates which traffic will not be paid: the CPA network may not pay if it convicts the webmaster of lead fraud. 
• Caps — some offers have limits (caps). In addition to you, many colleagues can work with the offer. The advertiser needs time to process all the traffic. Everything that the webmaster poured in excess of the established values will not be paid.
• Hold — the period of crediting funds to the balance of the webmaster and checking the quality of leads by the advertiser. 
• Payout per lead — the amount that the webmaster receives for each targeted action performed by the client. Depending on the vertical, hold can be up to 2 weeks.
• KPI — key performance indicators of leads, which are used by the advertiser for traffic quality analytics. 
• User flow — conversion type and the entire user journey from the offer page to the target action.
• Statistics— different average statistics (CR, EPC) for the offer in the affiliate network.

What does an offer card look like in an affiliate network?

Also, if you plan to work with nutra or e-com, then in the description you can find information about the price of the product on the landing page. For some verticals, the advertiser indicates the features of the call center and delivery. Also, the card can contain links to landings and pre-landings that the advertiser suggests using.

Editorial comment AffJournal

Most of the problems in cooperation with partners are due to the inattention of webmasters, as well as due to lack of experience. Always carefully study the conditions for working with the offer, and also contact the manager for help. A moment of indiscretion and ignoring simple rules can cost you all your earnings.