Setting up and running a successful CPA affiliate marketing site is a great way to generate revenue from wherever you are. That said, countless websites on the internet aim to monetize Affiliate Programs. To stand out, affiliates have to find creative ways to boost their visibility, engage users, and most importantly, boost engagement across the board.
Internet users evaluate a wide range of elements when they access a website, all of which help determine if they interact with the page contents or not. Traditionally, CPA publishers simply developed content and made it available to users. Today, content locking has become one of the best ways to collect details from your audience and deliver superb content without significantly affecting the user experience.
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At Lemonads, our team of affiliate marketing experts works with some of the top CPA publishers, so we’re highly familiar with the different content monetization techniques on these platforms. In this piece, we will look at the definition of CPA marketing and CPA content locker. We’ll also go over the steps you should take to set up locked content and make money from CPA programs with this technique.
Defining CPA Marketing
Before delving any deeper, let’s go over the definition of cost-per-acquisition (CPA) marketing. As the name suggests, CPA marketing is a publicity technique where advertisers (the companies that want to promote products and services) partner with affiliates (independent marketers) to generate leads or sales.
In simple terms, advertisers pay commissions to affiliates for generating either conversions or sales, which is what the “acquisition” in CPA stands for. This is a great option for both advertisers and affiliates because the former only pay when getting results while the letters specialize in developing a consistent mechanism to produce these acquisitions.
CPA websites try to convince users to take a certain action, which can include steps like:
- Exchanging content for an email address and other contact information
- Entering a sweepstake or competition
- Getting a quote for a product or service
- Buying something
- Voting in a poll
- Downloading a mobile app or piece of content
- Sign up for a free trial
- Completing a small survey
With the above in mind, it’s important to understand that CPA websites come in a huge variety of formats and sizes. As an affiliate, you can use this to your advantage and implement content distribution systems that result in a higher number of acquisitions.
What Is Content Locking?
Content locking is a technique where CPA website owners create a “gate” and lock premium content on their sites. Instead of asking for a subscription, websites that implement traditional content locking provide access to the premium content in exchange for contact information or an action.
For example, if you own a CPA website about pet products, you can develop different types of guides that owners may find useful. Instead of simply providing these on your site, you can create downloadable PDFs that are sent to users once they complete a certain action, like filling out a survey or poll and entering their email addresses.
Note that the structure of a CPA agreement can vary depending on the network and advertiser you’re partnering with. Additionally, you should keep in mind that in content locking a “locker” is the action that the website owner wants users to complete to unlock the content. In the example of the pets website above, the surveyor poll would be the locker that can be opened by filling it out.
How to Find a Profitable Content Locking Niche
Content locking strategies require a significant amount of planning, so it’s normal to see affiliates go for evergreen verticals that are not affected by seasonality. But, inexperienced affiliates need to understand that all marketers want to promote evergreen products, so it’s difficult to stand out when starting with this type of vertical.
Instead, we suggest that you opt for something popular, mainstream and that you already have some mastery over. For instance, if you have experience in retail, think about promoting apparel, fashion wear, and similar goods.
Once you have more experience, you can identify other profitable niches by:
Spotting the Trends
If your goal is to make money fast, then you should consider working with trending and booming niches.
Many elements impact the performance of locked content, one of them being the popularity of the vertical in question. If you take the time to study the different movements, you’ll be able to identify the most promising in terms of profitability and specialize in these trends before everyone else does.
This gives you a competitive advantage over other affiliates while also allowing you to set the tone for your audience.
Evaluating Demand
Just because a vertical is popular doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s a product that you can easily monetize. Therefore, you need to find out if there is demand for the products and services available in a vertical before you choose your CPA content locker niche.
Measuring demand levels is tough because there is no set standard that you can refer to. Therefore, you should leverage innovative marketing intelligence tools that can measure conversions, traffic value, and advanced statistics.
Starting a Website for CPA Marketing
So, you now understand CPA programs, are clear on the definition of content lockers, and have identified the perfect niches for your case. Now, it’s time to start thinking about setting up a website where you can promote CPA programs and generate revenue from your content.
While all affiliates are different, there are many steps that all webmasters have to take before setting up a site. Three of the steps that you’ll likely have to take include:
Finding Hosting
Hosting is an essential part of every site. In simple terms, hosting providers own servers that operate around the clock, so you can save your website and make it available to your customers by partnering with the right host. That said, not all hosting services are the same, so you need to find a provider that has safe and functional servers without costing a small fortune.
You may want to inform your hosting service provider that you are setting up a CPA site and ask if there are any additional features available that can improve the performance of your content.
Selecting a CMS (WordPress Being the Golden Standard)
In addition to the hosting, there’s a strong chance you’ll need a content management system or CMS. A CMS is a tool that allows you to control and manage all of the elements on your site without requiring coding skills. These platforms provide a simplified interface or website backend where you can make adjustments without having to use FTP transfers or HTML code.
There are dozens of CMS providers out there, all of which promise the best experience and results. However, WordPress (WP) is a free, open-source CMS platform that currently powers more than half of all active websites -- and for very good reasons. Feel free to research WordPress as well as other alternatives, but we suggest you opt for WP unless there's a specific reason why you need to use another platform.
Create Valuable Content
Next, you should start creating the content that will appear on your site. Note that you have to make two types of content: the materials featured directly on your site and the content hidden behind lockers.
As a general rule of thumb, some of the types of content you can create for lockers include ebooks, videos, PDFs, audiobooks, and even infographics. Remember, your content needs to deliver value, so make sure that the information on your materials is accurate and actionable.
Craft an Attractive Digital Product
The trick behind creating an attractive piece of content is reverse-engineering approaches that work. To do this you should search for one of the biggest questions in your industry, like “how do I get rid of dog fleas?” and look at the top results.
You should create a list of 9 to 12 tips and tricks that users can implement, create your versions, craft an attractive PDF using this information, and voila!
The Best Way to Drive Traffic to Your New Site
Developing a CPA content locking plan requires a significant amount of planning because you need to find the most cost-effective ways to drive traffic to your site. Yes, paid ads are always an option, but organic means allow you to drive traffic without having to pay for each interaction.
Some of the best organic methods to draw traffic include:
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is a superb approach that can help you attract a huge number of visitors without costing a small fortune. Many elements impact SEO rankings, so you need to have a specific technical setup, quality content, and well-researched keywords to be successful.
Social Media Networks
Facebook, Instagram, and other networks have become a part of everyday life for billions of individuals. And, these platforms also allow you to distribute your materials and get the most from your CPA content locking efforts.
YouTube and Similar Video Channels
YouTube, Daily Motion, and Vimeo are three of the top video streaming platforms in the world and you can leverage each one of these without much hassle. The biggest challenge with creating great videos is investing the time and resources into actually doing it. But, if you develop quality video content that revolves around the goods being promoted, you’ll increase your chances of exponentially boosting the performance of your platform.
