How to Earn from CPA: Beginners CPA Profit Guide

How to Earn from CPA: Beginners CPA Profit Guide

What is CPA?

CPA stands for cost per action, which is the cost per action a customer takes. It is also called Pay Per Customer (PPL) for short. CPA is much easier than selling products.

The main idea behind CPA affiliate marketing is to get a certain action from your visitors. This action can be to send an email, fill a form, download an app, send a pin code, submit a mobile number, or even make a purchase. People are more likely to complete these actions than to spend their hard-earned money, so directing visitors to a specific task can lead to earning money. Generally, you can earn $0.50 to $20 per CPA offer, but there are also some high-end CPA offerings that pay $750 or more for a specific action with your traffic.

How to Earn from CPA?

Some well-known CPA networks control the entire process. Sellers or creators of CPA offers submit their specific functionality or product to CPA networks, and CPA networks promote those offers through CPA marketers like us. They give us a fixed amount of money for each given offer depending on how much the CPA offer creator or seller has invested.

Your job is straightforward. First, you have to apply to the CPA network and, after getting approved, browse the current offers and select the one that best suits your interests. After selecting the offer, promote it as much as possible to your targeted online visitors.

The difference between CPA and affiliate marketing

In the case of affiliate marketing, you have to make sales to get the profit. On the other hand, getting sales in CPA is not mandatory to make a profit. You can distribute free offers, demo products, apps, etc. that people can get for free, and you can make a profit from a specific action, like confirming an offer, placing an order for a free trial product, or even downloading a particular app or software. Hence, earning from CPA is much easier compared to affiliate marketing. There are plenty of sites that offer CPA offers on the web, and one of our favorites can be accessed here.

CPA Profit Terms

Some terms about CPA profit networks that you should know:

Advertiser and publisher: Advertisers are the people who pay CPA networks to convert their offers. Publishers are the people like you and me who promote CPA network offers to make money.Are you wondering how much you can earn with CPA networks suitable for beginners?

EPC: The full form of EPC is Earning Per Click. This refers to the average amount publishers earned from each click. For example, if a $2.50 CPA bid got 500 clicks from 20 different publishers, out of which 70 clicks converted into leads, the EPC will be (2.5 * $70) / 500 = $0.35.

Pay rate/CPA: This is the rate of money you would pay to get each individual lead/action for the given CPA offer. So, take a look at your rate of return/cost-per-acquisition before choosing your offer.

Conversion (in percentage): This is an important indicator about which offer to choose before starting your promotional activities. CPA earning offers with a high conversion rate are always the best. For example, if an offer had 500 clicks and 70 leads/actions, the conversion rate for that offer would be (70/500) * 100% = 14

The Affiliate Network

The affiliate network acts as an intermediary between you (the affiliate) and the advertisers.

Affiliate networks play a dual role in communicating with both parties to maximize sales potential and maintain high standards on both sides.

They work on behalf of the advertiser to recommend offers to publishers and – on the other hand – help affiliate marketers source high converting offers for their campaigns.

You’re gonna discover soon that not all networks are created equal and can specialize in different verticals and promotional methods.

For example, you’re gonna find a network with a lotta health or dating offers, or networks focused on a specific type of CPA model, such as continuity offers or lead gen.

At Mobidea we’re all about mobile-based CPA and have over 2,000 top converting offers live on the platform, making us the most specialized network of this kind in the mobile marketing space.

Some of our top performing verticals are:

Coupons & Vouchers
Sweepstakes
Mobile Content
Games
Dating
Videos
Music
Antivirus
Health & Fitness
Weight Loss
The Main Players in CPA Marketing
You’re gonna have to be aware of the main players in the business – affiliate networks, advertisers, users, affiliates, ad networks – and understand where you fit in.
We already covered the basics of Affiliate Networks, so now let’s look at the rest of the players.
1. Advertisers
These are the guys with the tempting offers that you’re gonna promote.
For more visual example, check Mobidea’s CPA offer wall.
2. Users
These are the customers! In technical terms – someone who’s a good fit for the advertiser and falls within a segment (Country, OS, Operator) that converts well for the offer.
Choosing the right audience is an important part of the process and one that many affiliates overlook.
Yeah, it’s true! People make rookie mistakes, and one of the reasons Mobidea Academy exists is to make sure you stay away from short-sighted decisions!
By reading up on the detailed information in this CPA marketing guide as well as the other articles in the Mobidea academy, you can make sure you won’t fall into this trap!
3. Affiliates
You are the next link in the chain. Your job is gonna be to present the offer to the user and pre-sell it to them. This is commonly known as CPA marketing around here at Mobidea.

How Much You Can Earn With CPA Profit Networks For Beginners?

Are you curious about how much you can earn with beginner-friendly CPA networks? The answer depends on your skill and experience in promoting the offers. However, some expert CPA marketers make over $3,000 per day with these networks.

Below is a list of beginner-friendly and trusted CPA networks for instant approval. Keep in mind that there isn’t just one CPA network, so it’s best to get your account approved for at least three so you can compare the quality of offers, CPA rate, conversion rate, etc. This will help you in the long run.

AdWorkMedia
CPALead
AdGateMedia
CPAGrip
AdscendMedia
Convert2Media
A4D
CPAtrend
ClickDealer
CrackRevenue

Start by applying to 2-3 CPA networks and gaining experience working in the CPA industry. Then, you can move on to leading CPA networks for higher achievement.

How to apply to CPA Network

Here are the practical, step-by-step instructions for applying to CPA networks (both beginner-friendly and leading) and getting fast approval:

Let’s begin with AdWorkMedia and CPALead, which are good networks to start with. Below is a screenshot of the subscription form. Almost all CPA networks require you to provide the same type of information when applying for a publisher/affiliate account.

Most CPA networks require you to have your own website or blog through which you will promote CPA offers. However, you can also promote using other websites and media. If you don’t have a stable website, don’t worry – CPALead does not require one. So, start with it. If you have a good website, it’s highly recommended that you also apply for AdworkMedia.

Step 1: Go to the AdWorkMedia and CPALead sign-up page and fill in your name and personal information. It’s recommended that you provide a professional email hosted on your domain (e.g., admin@gostart.biz) if possible, as it increases your chances of getting approved. If you don’t have one, continue with your usual Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo email.

Step 2: Filling in the promotional method part of the sign-up form is crucial to getting approved. Here are some quick tips:

Choose either Website or PPC as your promotional method. If possible, choose both.
Do not lie about offering another website as your promotion source, as you may get caught.
Always choose “Motivated” as the type of visitor.
You can add these promotional methods in the description: Pay Per Click Campaigns, Facebook Ads, Content Promotion, SEO Promotion, Display Network Promotion.

Step 3: (Only for the best CPA networks) After hitting the “submit request” button, you’re done with the beginner-friendly CPA networks, but not the bigger ones that approve accounts after a mobile phone interview. They will email you to let you know that they will send you a confirmation email after reviewing your application.

For advanced CPA networks, don’t just sit back and wait. Contact your affiliate marketing manager as soon as possible (you’ll receive information about your manager in the first email after applying).

Here are the best ways to contact your referral manager:

First, try making a phone call from your mobile phone.
If that’s not possible, buy some Skype Credit and place a phone call to your manager’s mobile phone number on the network.
If you can’t do that, email or send a Skype message saying that you’ve just applied for a publisher account and are ready for a phone interview.

This simple approach will make a positive impression on the affiliate manager and show that you are interested and serious about the publisher account, which is a positive sign for quick approval.

How to Promote CPA Offers?

Promoting CPA offers can be done in more than 100 ways. Here are some strategies to get you started:

Participate in relevant groups and communities on social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn. You can also try sharing your CPA link on LinkedIn to boost confidence in starting a new project.
Create converting videos to get leads through video marketing on different platforms such as YouTube, Dailymotion, and Vimeo.
Write high-quality content and promote it on other blogs, web 2.0 websites, and article directories.
Use your blog if it matches any offers of CPA networks to get conversions/actions and earn money.
Build an email list for quality leads. GetResponse is recommended because of its high-quality service and affordability.
Create a new site based on any type of CPA offer and categorize it to get unlimited CPA clients.
Buy banner ads and post your CPA offers without having your own site.
Run Facebook ad campaigns and PPC campaigns to earn profits from CPA offers.

Promoting CPA offers on Facebook

Facebook is known for its massive traffic, with over 1 billion unique visitors daily. Here are some tips to effectively promote your CPA offers on Facebook:

Conduct research and find relevant pages for your chosen CPA offer. Create authentic and trustworthy feedback with a strong call-to-action (CTA) to encourage people to click on your provided link. You can also ask friends to like your comment to increase your credibility.
Target your audience by sending private messages to those who have a problem that your CPA offer can solve. Mention their name and how you found them while sending a private message. Don’t make too many comments or send too many private messages within a short time, and limit yourself to five comments and messages per day.
Stay safe and avoid being marked as a Facebook spammer. Leave a gap of at least 30 minutes between your comments and private messages.

Promoting CPA offers on Twitter

Twitter is less strict than Facebook when it comes to links. You can shorten your CPA affiliate link with bit.ly and promote it on Twitter. Here are some tips to promote your CPA offers on Twitter:

Start with a hashtag search to find the best result. Use a hashtag analysis tool like hashtags.org and search for keywords associated with your CPA offer. For example, if you’re promoting Amazon deals and gift cards, search for the keyword “amazon.”
Make tweets that include your chosen hashtags. Tweet 8-10 times per day and use 2-3 hashtags per tweet. Try to include a relevant image in your tweet.
Take a personal approach and search Twitter for keywords to find people who might need your CPA offer. If you think you can offer a solution, send a direct message describing how your offer can help.

Promoting CPA offers on Pinterest

Pinterest offers an easy and fun way to market your CPA offers. Here are some tips to promote your CPA offers on Pinterest:

Create a board related to your CPA offer and name it appropriately. For example, if you’re promoting CPA offers on the Clash of Clans mobile game, name your board “Clash of Clans Guru.”
Pin attractive and relevant photos to your board and follow other boards related to your niche. Don’t follow more than 100 boards per day.
Once you’ve gained some followers, start promoting your CPA offers by uploading and pinning images with your offer link. Ensure your photos are visually appealing and relevant to your offer.
To add a link to any pin on your board, open the image, click on the edit button, and put the link in the box. Add as many pins as possible to your board and find out which pins are popular for other boards by looking at the number of Pin it and Like.

Promoting CPA Offers on YouTube

YouTube’s massive traffic has made some CPA marketers very successful. If you are good at making and editing videos, then creating high-quality videos is the way to go. I know some CPA marketers who earn $10,000 or more every month through YouTube video marketing without AdSense ads, using various methods.

Here are some tips for arranging your YouTube videos so that you can get more traffic and make a profit from CPA:

Go to keywordtool.io and search for your specific keyword under the YouTube tab or use another keyword research tool.
Select the keyword that best fits your selected CPA bid.
Try to keep the video longer than 2 minutes.
Put your keyword in the video file name (before you upload it), in the title, in the description and tags part while uploading the video to YouTube.
To speed up the ranking, share your video on all social media as often as you can.
You can also create some backlinks for your video to get the best result. Click here to see ways to get high-quality backlinks.

Promoting via Reddit

If you are new to Reddit, it is best to avoid this section for now. However, you can get thousands of hits from Reddit in a couple of hours if your post reaches the first position.

The Reddit community hates marketers, so if you want to promote your CPA affiliate links or offers on Reddit, you need to be very careful and strategic. Here are some tips to get started with Reddit marketing:

Get an account on Reddit.com and get involved in subreddits (these are individual groups about any specific topic/niche within Reddit).
Act like a real member of the community and avoid all kinds of promotion for at least the first month.
Collect link karma (by posting useful and funny links) and comment on karma (provide valuable comments in other posts).
Use Redditlist.com to track the most active and fastest growing subreddits.
After you achieve some karma, you can write a helpful post on any topic related to your CPA offer (don’t forget to include the link to the CPA offer or blog article) and publish it.
Make your title catchy so that you can get more views and votes.
Upvotes are a game changer on Reddit, so focus on getting more upvotes from other community members. If you provide value via your post or link, you will get upvotes.

Marketing on Forums

Many people misunderstand forum marketing and end up getting banned. Simply posting a link in any forum post or reply is not called forum marketing. First, you need to know the ultimate goal of forums. Forums are created to build a community and help each other, not to promote products and services.

Here are the steps that will lead you to successful forum marketing:

Sign up for a signature-enabled forum and complete your profile details.
Ensure that the forum has a sufficient number of members and visitors. Just look at the number of threads and responses.
Add your blog link in the “Homepage” or “Website” section of the profile.
Write a good looking sentence and include the link in the signature section. Some forums do not allow direct linking to affiliate links, in which case, you can link to your own blog post.
After setting up your profile and signing up, start engaging and helping other community members.
Make friends, give responses

Article Marketing

Article marketing is a technique similar to promoting a blog post. If you don’t have your own blog, you can sign up for free blogging services such as Medium.com, WordPress.com, or Blogger.com.

To start, write articles that are somewhat related to your chosen CPA offer. For example, if you want to promote CPA offers related to the mobile game Clash of Clans, you could write an article about the game and its features.

Ensure that your article title is catchy enough to grab people’s attention. Additionally, add a strong call-to-action phrase or button for best results. In the case of the above example, you could use “Grab Free COC Gems” or “Participate in COC Gems Giveaway” as a call-to-action phrase to encourage people to take action and earn a good amount of revenue every month.

Here are some tips for successful article marketing:

Don’t over-promote your CPA display in articles.
Ensure that your content provides value to readers to increase the chances of approval for publication.
Use a catchy title to attract maximum attention and increase conversion rates.
Include your CPA referral link twice in the article.
Aim to write articles of 800+ words for better results.
After publishing, promote your article to drive more traffic to it.

Best CPA Networks

If you’ve learned about CPA and how it works, let me introduce you to some of the best CPA earning networks through which you can start your CPA and earn a great amount of money. Read the details about each CPA network to get more ideas. For each CPA site, you will get its introduction and information about payment methods, payment threshold, type of offers, etc. in an organized way.

AdWorkMedia

AdWorkMedia is by far the best CPA network I’ve ever tried due to the great user experience. It always has different types of offers, so you will never feel a lack of the kind of offers you want. In addition, the dashboard is contemporary and stocked with the necessary information so you can keep track of everything very easily.

The best thing about AdWorkMedia is that it has its own tracker with which you can find out the browser, device, location, etc. about your converted visitors. While this tracker isn’t as powerful as the premium ones, it still has a built-in (and free) link tracker that means a lot to CPA fans. Earning from CPA with this network will be relatively easy for you.

Minimum payout: $35
Payment frequency: Weekly, Biweekly, Monthly
Available payment methods: Check, ACH Direct Deposit, Wire Transfer, PayPal, Payoneer, Payza, Western Union

MaxBounty

MaxBounty is another preferred CPA network that is equipped with an amazing dashboard and high-converting offers with amazing landing pages. The support you will get from MaxBounty affiliate managers is unexpected because they care so much about their partners. Apart from promoting others’ offers, if you need inspiration for good landing pages, MaxBounty offers are the best to consider.

Minimum payout: $50
Payment frequency: Weekly
Available payment methods: Check, PayPal, Wire, Payoneer, ACH (direct deposit)

PerformCb

PerformCb is one of the oldest players in cost per action marketing. It is one of the most popular networks where you can find almost all types of CPA offers on the market. PerformCb pays around $100 million each year to its marketers.

Minimum payout: $50
Pay rate: 15 net per week
Payment methods available: Check, PayPal, Wire, ACH (direct deposit)

Lemonads

Lemonads is a 100% performance marketing network based in Geneva, with partners around the world. This is a great option for making money from CPA.

Lemonads has created a first-class platform, which makes it possible to significantly increase its trading performance. Lemonads offers marketers one of the most profitable smart links in the industry and also a marketplace for 2000 campaigns with different reward models: CPA, CPL, CPI, and CPI from over 2000 active advertisers.

Minimum payout: $100 or €100
Payment frequency: Daily or weekly, depending on the workload
Available payment methods: Wire, PayPal, Paxum, and ePayments

PeerFly

PeerFly is another major player in the CPA space. Having an amazing control panel, lots of offers, and good support are the main points that make many affiliate marketers join this network. You can find deals for almost everything in this network.

Minimum payout: $50
Payment frequency: Net-30, Net-15, Net-7, Bi-weekly, Weekly, Daily
Payment methods available: Check, PayPal, Wire, Payoneer, ACH (direct deposit)

CPALead

CPALead may not be as large as some of the other networks mentioned above, but it’s a small yet amazing network to work with. It is one of the most flexible and fast networks to work with, and pays every week with different payment methods. Additionally, you can monetize mobile applications via this network. Whenever a newbie asks me for a suggestion, I usually recommend CPALead.

Minimum payout: $50
Payment frequency: Net-30, Net-15, Weekly, Early payment (on request)
Payment methods available: Check, PayPal, Wire, Payoneer, ACH (direct deposit)

A4D

A4D is an amazing CPA network with advanced monitoring and tracking tools to maximize your productivity. It is very flexible for publishers, as they change their policies based on publishers’ opinions.

Minimum payout: $50
Pay rate: 15% net per week
Payment methods available: Check, Bank Transfer, ACH (Direct Deposit)

Convert2Media

Convert2Media, better known as C2M, has been around since 2007 and is based in Florida. They are very experienced and savvy, with a network of committed marketers, and have been one of our top-rated networks for several years. C2M has a very popular network of advertisers and publishers. To get into C2M, you will need high-quality traffic volume that converts. Their affiliate managers will help you in any way possible to convert your visitors.

Minimum payout: $100
Pay rate: net 7
Payment options available: Bank Transfer, Check, PayPal, Payoneer, Paxum

ClickDealer

ClickDealer is a relatively new yet amazing network that deserves to be called one of the best CPA affiliate marketing networks in the world. This network is very active in affiliate market events all over the world and has established physical offices in the Netherlands and throughout the world. This shows how serious this network is, enabling you to earn from CPA as well.

Minimum payout: $500
Payment frequency: Weekly, Biweekly, Monthly
Available payment methods: Wire, Payoneer, PayPal, Paxum, Check, WebMoney

Mobidea

If your main source of traffic to your website or YouTube channel is mobile, then you should definitely sign up for this great CPA mobile marketing network to get high converting offers. Mobidea is a beast when it comes to mobile CPA offers. This network is full of cutting-edge mobile-based offers, and most of their CPA offers start at $30 and go higher and higher.

Minimum payment: 100 euros
Payment rate: daily
Available payment methods: Bank transfer, Electronic payment, Payoneer, Payza, Paxum

CPATrend

CPATrend is another beginner-friendly CPA network to take your first step in thriving in the profitable CPA world. The interface is very easy to use, and the flexibility will help you operate it very smoothly.

Minimum payout: $50
Payment frequency: Bi-weekly, Weekly
Available payment methods: Check, PayPal, Bank Transfer, Payoneer, ACH

How to receive payments from CPA networks?

There are various payment methods available for receiving payments from CPA networks. Among the methods I have tried, PayPal transfer and bank transfer are the most popular. Other methods include Skrill, Payoneer, Check, and Western Union.