Analysis of payment models in partner programs: CPA, CPS, RevShare, PPC and CPV
The Affiliate Program (AP) is a service that plays the role of an intermediary between the arbitrageur and the advertiser. In this context, an arbitrageur is a specialist with access to traffic sources, which may include various online resources such as websites, blogs, social networks and other platforms. The advertiser, in turn, provides an offer, to which the arbitrator must direct traffic in order to achieve certain marketing goals.
The main task of the arbitrageur is to direct visitors to the specified link in such a way that they perform targeted actions. These actions may vary depending on the advertiser's goals and may include filling out forms, purchasing goods, making calls to the company, making deposits, installing applications, and other activities. Since the tasks can be very diverse, the payment for their performance is also different.
If the arbitrator decides to work with an affiliate program, then this program will be responsible for paying remuneration for his work. It is worth noting that the affiliate program may offer payment at a lower rate than the one that the advertiser would offer directly. This is due to the fact that the affiliate program earns on the difference between the advertiser's rate and the payment to the arbitrageur, that is, it takes a certain commission for its services.
In return, the affiliate program provides the arbitrageur with a number of advantages and tools to successfully complete the work. Among these advantages are access to a diverse list of offers from several advertisers covering different geographical regions (GEO), ready—made creatives for advertising campaigns, tools for working with links, as well as a call center with native operators that help convert traffic into targeted actions. In addition, the AP can offer assistance in setting up advertising campaigns, advice from a personal manager and many other useful resources and services.
Thus, cooperation with the affiliate program allows the arbitrageur to focus on the main task — generating traffic and converting it into targeted actions, while all organizational and technical aspects are taken over by the affiliate program.
Direct Advertiser
In traffic arbitration, it is not necessary to always cooperate with partner programs. Many arbitrators prefer to work directly with advertisers. In simple terms, a direct advertiser in traffic arbitration is a company that offers its offer directly, without the participation of intermediaries in the form of affiliate programs. Such companies are direct suppliers of goods and services.
In recent years, large companies have increasingly created their own affiliate cabinets for webmasters and refused the services of intermediary partner programs. This allows them to directly control the process of promoting their offers and work directly with arbitrators.
If you choose to cooperate with an advertiser, it should be understood that in this case you will not have a guarantor in the person of the affiliate program. This means that you will have to independently develop creatives, set up advertising campaigns and solve many other tasks that may be unpleasant.
A direct advertiser can be a company with any offers — from online stores to online casinos. It is usually more difficult to negotiate with a direct advertiser, since such companies prefer to cooperate with experienced arbitrators who are able to provide large volumes of traffic. However, this approach has a significant advantage — higher payouts. In this case, the affiliate program does not take a percentage of your leads, and all income goes directly to you.
Of course, there are disadvantages. Working with direct advertisers requires a long time to check the offer, create prelanding and is often associated with the need to work with less accurate statistics. However, the result is usually worth the effort. In any case, each arbitrageur decides for himself who it is more convenient and profitable for him to work with.
What is a CPA network?
One of the most popular types of affiliate programs is the CPA network (cost-per-action, which means "payment for a committed action"). In this model, the advertiser independently determines the amount that he is ready to pay to the arbitrageur for the fact that the lead attracted by him will perform a specific action. This action can be varied: click, registration, purchase, the player reaching a certain level in the application and much more. Due to its simplicity and versatility, the CPA payment model is popular among all participants in the process: arbitrators, affiliate programs and advertisers.
It is generally believed that the CPA model is most economically beneficial in such areas as nutra (health products), gambling (gambling), betting (sports betting), binary options, forex and loans. These industries are actively using the CPA model to attract new customers, as it allows you to accurately control marketing costs and evaluate the effectiveness of advertising campaigns.
A variety of sources are used to attract traffic to such offers, including social networks, teaser ads, push notifications, popanders and clickanders, messengers, YouTube, display, native and contextual advertising. These sources allow you to reach a wide audience and effectively attract target users.
Affiliate program with payment for sale
CPS (Cost Per Sale), also known as PPS (Pay Per Sale), is one of the most common payment models in the e-commerce segment. Cooperation with an affiliate program operating under the CPS model involves payment for each sale made. In fact, this is a kind of CPA (Cost Per Action) model, where the arbitrageur receives payment for the user's action, and in this case, for the purchase of a specific product or service.
For an advertiser, cooperation under the CPS model is the safest option, since he pays the arbitrageur only for a specific result — a perfect sale. This ensures that marketing costs are directly related to real income.
The scheme of work according to the CPS model looks like this:
- The webmaster uses a track link with which he and advertisers can track traffic, purchases, abandoned items in the cart, traffic sources, and more.
- The advertiser provides the webmaster with access to a dashboard with statistics where you can track traffic and conversions.
- The webmaster receives a percentage of the purchase amount or a fixed rate for each purchase made using his link.
It is important to understand that payment is made only for the user's first order, subsequent purchases are not taken into account. The commission can be a percentage of the customer's first check or a fixed amount agreed in advance. This format is the most expensive and has a fairly large hold — usually from 30 days.
The CPS model is controversial among arbitrators and partner programs. It is beneficial for the affiliate program, but it is long-term for the webmaster. Therefore, beginners should consider other options. The average profit that an arbitrageur receives per lead depends on the percentage of the sale of the offer.
Pay-per-click affiliate program
Cost per Click (CPC) is a model in which the amount of this payout depends on the number of clicks received on a link, banner, or text. This model is rarely found in affiliate programs, as the value of a single click is usually low. However, this option is suitable for arbitrageurs who want to receive passive income without complex conversion and optimization processes.
Such affiliate programs are often represented by advertising networks that resell traffic. They are willing to pay for the users they bring in. When registering on such a network, you may notice two buttons: “I am an advertiser” and “I am a publisher". By choosing the second option, you get access to your personal account to monetize traffic.
As a publisher, your task is to direct traffic to the link provided by the CPC affiliate. For each click on this link, you will receive a small income. Despite the fact that each individual click brings in a small amount, with a large volume of traffic, this can provide stable passive income.
Such ads are placed in various formats, including contextual advertising, teaser networks, banner ads and social networks. Contextual advertising appears in search engine results or on sites that match the content. Teaser networks offer ad blocks with images and short text that attract the attention of users. Banner ads are graphic ads on various websites, and on social networks, ads are embedded in the feeds of the platforms.
Although the CPC model does not always generate large revenues, it is easy to implement and requires minimal effort compared to the CPA or CPS models. For beginners or those looking for an easy way to start monetizing traffic, CPC can be a great start.
A pay-per-view affiliate program
CPV (Cost Per View) is a payment model in which the arbitrageur is paid for viewing ads, not for clicks, purchases or app installations. In this model, it is enough for the user to just watch the promotional video. Viewing is counted if a person sees an ad for 5, 15, 30 seconds or more, depending on the terms of the affiliate program.
One of the key aspects of working with the CPV model is finding a high-quality audience that can be monetized in this way. This requires some effort, since not all users are ready to pay attention to advertising for the required time.
The CPV model has a fairly low price per view, which averages from $0.002 to $0.004 per view. Although the cost per view is low, the ability to reach a large number of users allows you to get a stable income.
In conclusion, CPV is a model that is suitable for arbitrageurs who are able to attract and hold the attention of the audience. Despite the low cost per view, a large number of views can provide significant revenue.
Affiliate program with payment for installation
CPI (Cost Per Install) is a payment model in which an arbitrageur is paid to install an application, program, or plugin. Typically, affiliate programs with this model offer the promotion of mobile and desktop offers, including games, catalogs, services, software and browser applications.
In addition to the installation itself, advertisers often set additional KPIs, such as registration, making deposits, performing certain actions in the application and other indicators of user activity.
This format of cooperation is ideal for arbitrageurs who want to monetize high-quality sources of mobile or desktop traffic. Instagram, Facebook and popular sites can be great sources to attract users, but they require a high-quality and targeted approach.
It is important to understand that working with the CPI model requires an honest and transparent approach. The use of fraud or fraud will lead to a quick termination of cooperation with the advertiser. Advertisers value the quality and activity of users, not just the number of installations.
The profit that the arbitrageur can receive for the attracted lead varies significantly depending on the type of offer and other indicators. It can be either $ 0.1 or $5.5 per installation. The amount of payments depends on the complexity of the offer, the geography of users and additional requirements of the advertiser.
As a result, the CPI model provides good earning opportunities, especially for those who are able to effectively attract and retain their target audience. High traffic quality and additional KPIs can significantly increase the revenue of the arbitrageur in this model.
A pay-per-call affiliate program
PPC (Pay Per Call) is a payment model in which the arbitrageur earns on every call received by the advertiser from a potential client. In this model, the user can call to find out information about the product or service offered or place an order. The arbitrator is paid for each call exceeding the minimum duration, for example, one minute. PPC is used to promote offers such as the sale of real estate or cars, ordering insurance or banking services, trucking or medical services.
The advantage of this model is that customers who make phone calls are more likely to make a purchase than those who simply browse the product on the site. The advertiser is interested in getting "hot" customers and is willing to pay for such high-quality traffic. One call can bring several thousand rubles to the arbitrageur, especially if it is a question of promoting expensive services.
The PPC model uses a "white" offer, which allows you to use a variety of traffic sources, such as social networking, Google or Yandex. The affiliate program provides each arbitrageur with an individually generated phone number, which is used to record the number of incoming calls. This means that not only Internet channels can be used for promotion, but also offline methods such as paper ads or distribution of information booklets.
The average profit that an arbitrageur receives for a lead is about 1,500 rubles. However, the revenue can be significantly higher, depending on the volume of the order and the specifics of the offer. Working with the PPC model requires a careful approach to the quality of traffic and the ability to attract customers who are ready to buy or use services.
The experience of working with partner programs using the PPC model shows that this format can be very profitable and effective with the right strategy and approach to promotion.
RevShare
RevShare, or Revenue Share, is a payment model in traffic arbitration where the webmaster receives a percentage of revenue, rather than a fixed amount for each action or sale. This model is especially popular in such verticals as gambling and betting, where the webmaster receives a percentage of players' losses or betting turnover. In other areas such as essay, dating, adult, finance, or crypto, RevShare can also be used to earn a percentage of customers' expenses for paid subscriptions, deposits, or other activities.
The main difficulty of RevShare is the need to attract regular users who will regularly return to the offer. This requires a long-term strategy and investments in turnover. Passive income from RevShare comes when users continue to use the advertiser's services or products for a long time.
For successful work under the RevShare model, it is important to choose reliable partner programs that will not cheat and will honestly pay the earned interest. This allows the webmaster to invest with confidence in attracting traffic and build a stable source of income on a long-term basis.
Conclusion
In traffic arbitration, there are many different payment models through affiliate programs. Each model has its own characteristics, advantages and disadvantages, which are important to consider when choosing a strategy. Some models, such as CPA (Pay per action), allow you to earn money from specific user actions, such as registration or purchase. This is preferable for those who can effectively manage traffic and ensure high conversions.
The CPS (payment for sale) and RevShare (revenue sharing) models are suitable for arbitrageurs focused on long-term cooperation, where remuneration depends on actual revenue or long-term user engagement. These models can provide stable income, provide the right choice of partners and effective traffic management.
PPC (pay-per-click) and CPV (pay-per-view) are often used to quickly monetize traffic, but bring less profit compared to other models. They can be useful in certain cases, for example, to monetize large amounts of traffic with low conversion.
Each model has its own characteristics, such as holds (payment delays), minimum requirements for user actions and the degree of risk. An informed choice of payment model helps to minimize risks and maximize profits. Research and analysis of market offers will help arbitrageurs stay up to date with the latest trends and choose the most favorable working conditions.
