CPA stands for cost per action or cost per acquisition. It is a pricing model used to measure the effectiveness of online advertising whereby the person advertising pays some cash for clicking, selling, or submitting a form to an affiliate.
It is preferred because the advertiser only pays when the desired outcome is achieved. This encourages the affiliate to send good referrals. Pay per click (PPC) or cost per click (CPC) are forms of CPA. Payment is done each time an advert is clicked. PPC is mainly used by google AdSense and google AdWords.
CPC is used for other forms of marketing.
What is the purpose of CPA?
CPA is used to measure how useful and profitable internet marketing is. Clicks show you how many customers were interested in your product or service. Clicks are also used to reroute traffic to a specific site or place you want the consumer to visit.
CPA affiliates are paid better commissions than other online marketing affiliates because the quality of visitors expected to be referred. Also the CPA systems charge higher from the merchants for listing their merchandise and pay higher commissions to their affiliates.
Why should I use CPA?
Using CPA comes with many benefits for businesses. For one, possibilities of being conned are very low. The current online market is filled with frauds using auto clicking tools and software in order to earn more from unsuspecting advertisers. They however do not like to put too much effort in a venture therefore they will not like this strategy because it involves working. With CPA you only pay for what you think has the potential to translate to a desired outcome.
Secondly, pricing is not hard. You will decide how much to pay for every action e.g. email subscription, zip code entry or sale. You have the freedom to pay according to what you think will do well or not.
Thirdly, cost per action allows payment of commission to an affiliate simply by prospecting and not necessarily translating to an immediate sale.
Fourthly, you do not necessarily require a website when you start working with CPA. You can simply lead traffic from social networks e.g. twitter, my space and Facebook direct to the seller’s website.
Lastly, there are many strategies marketers use to get traffic and leads in order to maximize on income. Cost per action has the highest margin of acquiring revenue.
What determines if my CPA Application is successful?
Research about the niche you want to get into. Choose a product to promote and be clear the way you will do it.
Create a website. Although some sites don’t need one, this increases your chance of acceptance. The website should bring you out as a qualified online marketer and include your skills there. The name of the website should also depict marketing.
A landing page usually has more details concerning the product in question. It’s not easy to access the seller on this page or sign up to the mailing list. It is of more sense to have a specific path to the landing page as many choices will mean losing clicks.
Include a splash page. This page does not have much details and often has some interesting graphics with catchy headings to entice readers to give their information or click straight to the seller. There is little talk on the product here. They are mostly done for products that are already known to the market.
Other ways of making sure you are successful may include message board posting, sending information through emails and linking adverts to Youtube videos.
Tell the truth. Whereas this may make you or break you, it’s the best practice even if you receive a few rejections. Be sincere with what you can be able to deliver.
Many networks usually conduct interviews on phone or instant messaging therefore it can take a few days for them to reply to your request. If they give a contact, you can call back or send a message even if they don’t reply they will see your interest.
Include an email while setting up the domain. e.g. yourname@yourdomain.com and redirect. This is because CPA networks can reject your application with a general email since they are not sure you are the owner.
Zane McIntyre is the CEO and Co-Founder of Commission Factory, Australia’s largest affiliate marketing network. Follow him on Twitter @Zane_McIntyre
