A guide to PPC affiliate marketing
- March 13, 2024
- By financeAds Marketing-Team
Although many websites reach their visitors through organic traffic, this can be a long and tedious process. For those looking for a faster and more efficient way to generate revenue online, pay-per-click (from now on PPC) affiliate marketing may be the solution.
In this article, we’ll go over everything you need to know about affiliate marketing with PPC, including how it works, the benefits of using it and tips for launching successful campaigns.
What is PPC?
PPC is a digital marketing tactic where every time a user clicks on your ad and visits your website, you pay a fee to the ad platform.
Instead of publishing content to generate organic traffic from search engines (SEO), you buy traffic from a platform (such as Google Ads) with an existing audience.
You can bid on specific keywords so that Google displays your ad in search results when someone uses the keyword in a search.
Profitability of PPC ads
A PPC campaign is profitable only if the amount paid to the platform is much less than the amount earned when a visitor clicks on an affiliate link and makes a purchase.
For example, if you pay €1.99 per click and earn €69.99 for each purchase, you can make a significant profit if a relatively small percentage of your paid traffic converts.
A key advantage of PPC ads is the ability to precisely target them to the people who are interested in your products and have a clear buying intent.
PPC landing pages
Google Ads, Bing Ads and Facebook Ads allow you to choose where to send your paid traffic.
It is not advisable to send paid traffic to your home page because it generally does not convert well and can increase your cost-per-click. When someone lands on a general page, finding specific information is more difficult. In many cases, that person soon leaves the website without viewing another page (bounce).
A high bounce rate also signals to the ad platform that your landing page is not meeting the visitor’s expectations.
By creating a dedicated landing page, you can write texts that are well aligned with your ad copy. Such landing pages are better known as money pages because they lead to 65% more conversions compared to general website pages.
Types of PPC affiliate marketing landing pages
There are many different types of landing pages, some of which are more suitable for affiliate marketing than others.
Here is an overview of the three most effective types of affiliate marketing with PPC:
- Landing page focused on one product. With, for example, general product information, reviews, product benefits, etc.
- Landing page focused on multiple products. With, for example, general information about multiple products, what the differences, benefits and features are, reviews etc.
- Landing page focused on comparing multiple products. This refers to a set of products presented in comparison tables, for example: a table of financial products in a financial comparator. This allows the user to check and compare the different products’ characteristics and advantages at a glance before making a decision.
- Landing page for collecting email addresses. This encourages visitors to leave their email address in exchange for something valuable, such as an e-book. The focus is on generating an email list to create new sales opportunities.
Here’s how to create a conversion-oriented PPC landing page
The right landing page for your PPC campaigns depends on your niche and the products you are promoting.
Take the time to make your landing page conversion-oriented, and it will make money when you send paid traffic there.
Here are a few tools to increase the conversion rate of your landing pages and boost the ROI of your ad campaigns.
Leave out the navigation menu
We recommend removing all distractions that can cause visitors to leave a landing page without converting.
Omitting the navigation bar or a menu, prevents visitors from clicking away to another page and therefore increases the chances of conversion.
Keep content simple
If your landing page is cluttered or the text difficult to understand, you will lose conversions. Visitors will be confused or distracted and won’t click the Call to Action (CTA) button.
Keep it simple by using short and understandable sentences, interrupting blocks of text with bullet points, images, etc., using lots of white space and adding a strong CTA. In addition, always place the most important information at the top of the page.
Emphasize the benefits
As an affiliate, your goal is to get people to click on your link and visit the advertiser’s sales page.
So make sure you emphasize the benefits of the product without sounding overly commercial. Focus on how the person can benefit from your offer rather than listing the features.
Add an exit-intent pop-up
Another option to convert visitors before they leave is to add an exit-intent pop-up to your landing page.
This pop-up should have a catchy title, highlight the benefits the product offers, have an attractive CTA and preferably offer a temporary bonus or discount.
In addition, it is wise to test different variations of your exit-intent pop-up to see which combinations of layout, CTA, title and text generate the most conversions.
Perform A/B testing
A/B testing allows you to try out variations of your landing page by splitting your traffic and seeing which page performs better.
For example, you can test titles, CTAs, text and images to see which variations yield the most conversions.
By optimizing elements one at a time, you can make adjustments to continuously improve your landing page.
Tips for affiliate marketing with PPC
The affiliate marketing world is competitive. If you want to make a profit, you need to stand out from the rest of the affiliates through PPC advertising.
Here are five ways you can increase the success of your PPC campaigns.
1. Know your target audience
When you decide to invest in PPC ads, you need to know your target audience very well.
If you know what their wants and needs are, you can write more compelling copy, create more effective landing pages and generate more sales.
2. Do extensive keyword research
Do research on the search terms your target audience uses to find certain products and recommendations online.
For PPC affiliate marketing campaigns, you want to focus on keywords that show buying intent. These are the keywords that people search for when they are about to make a purchase.
3. Provide a strong SEO foundation
In general, we recommend using pay-per-click affiliate marketing if you have already established an SEO foundation.
In addition, it is helpful if you have experience conducting keyword research and understand the importance of search intent and user experience.
4. Offer a free bonus
Adding a free extra can be an effective way to generate more clicks and sales from your PPC affiliate marketing ads.
A bonus can be a free tool, discount or add-on that a user gets by clicking on your ad and making a purchase through your affiliate link.
For example, if you are promoting a well-known product, you can use a bonus offer as an extra incentive to close the sale. Consider an ebook, webinar, course or other valuable content.
5. Avoid brand-related keywords
We do not recommend launching PPC affiliate marketing campaigns for brand keywords because this can lead to higher CPC prices and more competition. Moreover, as a business, you often already invest in your own PPC campaign for brand-related keywords, which only creates confusion and reduces the effectiveness of the campaign.
Targeting non-brand-related keywords that are relevant to the product or service can offer a better chance of attracting potential customers who are actively looking for what the company has to offer.
Conclusion
PPC can be an effective way to accelerate your affiliate business. But it’s not something you should rush into. First, you need to understand search intent and keyword research.
And before you start a campaign, you’ll need to study the relevant policies for PPC ads. Get approval from your affiliate account manager and take the time to try out the advertising platform you will be using before you start a campaign.
Finally, the most successful PPC affiliates are always looking for ways to increase the ROI of their ads. Therefore, measure your campaigns accurately and keep running tests to improve your ads and landing pages.
At financeAds, we are experts in affiliate marketing with a focus on the financial sector. We operate as a trusted partner for banks, insurers and FinTech companies. We also offer account management for websites, influencers and other affiliates. For more information, feel free to contact us!