What You Should Know about CPA Marketing

Cost per action or CPA marketing, also called cost per conversion and pay per action (PPA), is an advertising model where the publishers are paid for each specified action such as double opt-in, form submit, click and impression.

This is different from common affiliate marketing methods in a way that you do not have to make sales to earn. Payments are based on the lead generation like submitting an email address or phone number to get some information or free products.

Direct response advertisers consider CPA as the optimal way to purchase online advertising because advertisers paid for the advertisement when the desired action was performed.

CPA Promotional Methods

There are several ways that you can do to promote your CPA campaigns. Some of these ways involve developing your website, and some do not necessarily require it. You have to study the products that you are promoting and decide where you can find a target market that is interested in buying your products or services. This article discusses some of the most commonly used CPA promotional methods.

Splash Page

Often, this is a content-light page that has flashy graphics and punchy headlines. Its purpose is to persuade readers to input their details. Splash pages contain minimal product information. These are often used to promote products that are already popular like a MacBook or an iPhone.

Landing or Sales Page

This is a direct sales page, and it contains a lot of information about the product. Using this type of promotional method is a bit challenging. It is difficult to get the readers signed up to the website owner's mailing list or to encourage them to click through to the merchant.

Review Website

Usually, review sites contain 3 or more products within a specific niche. A site about losing weight, for instance, may review products like weight loss pills or syrup. The page contains a brief product introduction, product reviews and star ratings. Usually, these products are ranked in order, and each contains links directly to the merchant or a customized landing page.

Fun or Quiz Landing Page

Fun or quiz landing page is almost the same as the splash page, but it is a simpler version. It usually contains a question with 3 or more answers. Games are sometimes used in this type of page. The only purpose of this CPA promotional method is to generate a high number of clicks.

Aside from all the methods mentioned above, you can also promote CPA offers by adding links to YouTube videos, emailing contact lists and posting to message boards.

CPA Marketing vs CPL Advertising

In CPA marketing, advertisers pay for a completed sale through credit cards. This affiliate marketing is publisher-centric. Publishers have control over where they want ads to appear. They choose which brands to run on their websites.

In cost per lead (CPL) campaigns, an advertiser pays for an interested lead. This affiliate marketing is best for direct response marketers and brand marketers who want to engage consumers in a member acquisition program, reward program or community site.