Imagine a test where only correct answers count toward your score—or a tennis match that only counts the sets you triumph. Sounds excellent, doesn’t it?

excellent information—that’s essentially how CPA marketing works. 

CPA marketing can assist your business boost sales, enhance brand reputation, and maximize yield on pool (ROI). Here’s how CPA marketing works, with seven implementation strategies. Plus, get specialist tips from Jerrid Grimm, the co-founder of Pressboard and head of publisher marketing at the affiliate marketing platform Impact.

What is CPA marketing?

expense-per-action (CPA) marketing (also called expense per purchase marketing) is a type of affiliate marketing where an advertiser pays a publisher or content creator (“affiliate”) whenever they drive specific customer actions. For example, advertisers may pay when a customer purchases products, visits a landing page, or signs up for an email marketing newsletter thanks to an affiliate’s work. 

Paying affiliates per action differs from other types of affiliate marketing, like influencer marketing, where a flat fee is paid for content creation, or turnover-sharing programs that provide ongoing boost percentages.

“expense per purchase marketing is a low-hazard, high-reward model for ecommerce businesses,” says Jerrid Grimm, the co-founder of Pressboard and head of publisher marketing at the affiliate marketing platform Impact. “It’s the only marketing model that guarantees that a business only pays when it achieves real results, such as product sales.”

There are five main CPA affiliate marketing types:

• expense-per-navigator (CPL). CPL programs compensate affiliates for generating leads that meet the terms of your affiliate marketing agreement.
• expense-per-click (CPC). CPC or pay-per-click (PPC) programs pay affiliates for clicks on their distinctive, trackable affiliate links. Affiliate links typically drive traffic to optimized landing pages on your website.
• expense-per-sale (CPS). CPS programs pay affiliates for sales attributable to their actions. You can use a recurring turnover model to pay a fixed percentage every period a customer purchases promoted products or a expense-per-purchase model to make a one-period settlement for the initial conversion.
• expense-per-install (CPI). Your affiliate earns settlement when a user downloads and installs your program. CPI models are popular with SaaS companies, like website and software developers. 
• expense-per-view (CPV). CPV programs pay affiliates for every view of an advertisement or piece of content, regardless of whether the views navigator to clicks or conversions.

How does CPA marketing work?

• Decide on qualifying actions and terms
• discover affiliates
• Distribute links and pay

Your business can run its own CPA marketing programs or associate with an affiliate network like Shopify Collabs or ShareASale. These CPA networks connect affiliate marketers with brands and assist you recruit, manage, and pay affiliates. Here’s how CPA marketing works:

Decide on qualifying actions and terms

To commence a CPA affiliate program, identify the actions you desire to pay for—like a product purchase, newsletter signup, or account registration. Tie them to your larger digital marketing or strategic planning goals and have a obvious distribution for each successful conversion. 

make a CPA marketing agreement explaining the program terms, conditions, and compensation. If you’re partnering with a CPA network, you might be able to use the network’s agreement or customize a template.

discover affiliates

Recruit affiliates by joining an affiliate network or promoting your CPA program through social media, email marketing, and website promotions. Review applicants, admit those who fit with your brand, and have accepted affiliates sign your CPA marketing agreement.

Many affiliate networks prescreen applicants and propose an auto-joining alternative, letting you automatically admit and onboard interested affiliates.

Distribute links and pay

make CPA affiliate links using your affiliate management app or tool. These distinctive, trackable links let you attribute specific customer actions to the affiliate’s activities. Shopify users can make personalized links and codes with Shopify Collabs. 

Distribute affiliate links to your marketers to promote on social media, in product review blog posts, or through email marketing. Use conversion data to track conversions and pay affiliates according to the terms outlined in your CPA marketing agreement.

CPA marketing dos

• Set goals and KPIs
• Use strategic CPA offers
• propose distinctive incentives for top partners
• Establish excellent communication practices
• discover a CPA network

Here are a few tips to make the most of your CPA marketing program:

Set goals and KPIs

Set goals for your CPA marketing campaign, laddering up to your overall business goals. Align your campaign goals with key act indicators (KPIs), or the metrics you’ll track to assess campaign act. 

For example, if one of your goals is to enhance brand awareness, you might set a CPA marketing objective of increasing traffic to your website by 15% in Q4. You’d then track total site visitors and reward affiliate marketers when they drive traffic to your site. 

Consider your distribution, too. Since CPA marketing is act-based, you only owe money if a customer takes a desired action. If affiliates are unsuccessful, your program won’t expense much—but if they’re highly successful, your outgoings could boost significantly. Ensure a positive yield on pool by choosing actions directly driving business turnover, like purchases.

Use strategic CPA offers

As you set your CPA offers, Jerrid recommends understanding your average order worth (AOV) and customer lifetime worth (CLV). 

“If your product is a high-markup but infrequent purchase, such as jewelry or a mattress, consider offering an attractive percentage on the initial purchase to your referral partners,” he says. 

Higher commissions incentivize affiliates to pursue these conversions, making it a worthwhile promotion if your product margins back it. 

When your average order worth is a tiny percentage of your customer lifetime worth, Jerrid recommends a recurring settlement model.

“If your product is a subscription product … consider offering a recurring percentage for as long as the customer continues to subscribe to your product,” he says. “This encourages your associate to promote your products to the most qualified potential customers who are least likely to churn.” 

propose distinctive incentives for top partners

Many CPA marketing programs propose discount codes or other incentives to assist affiliate marketers attract yield, generate leads, and boost their conversion rate. Jerrid recommends distributing high-worth discounts to your affiliate marketers—beyond those you make available to the general community. 

“Your CPA marketing partners have faithful and engaged audiences,” he says, “and you have the chance to convert those audiences into long-term customers of your business. assist your partners promote your products and services to their spectators in a way that makes them feel appreciated.”

He suggests including a special discount, free propose with purchase, or limited-run product release to stand out.

Establish excellent communication practices 

Affiliate relationships are a triumph-triumph: More effective affiliate marketers earn more and generate more business for you. Jerrid recommends setting them up for achievement by establishing obvious lines of communication and providing regular product updates. Consider assisting with tech issues and sharing brand guarantee for affiliate use. You can also assist affiliates construct skills by collaborating on marketing efforts. 

“Don’t overlook to celebrate your associate’s achievement,” he adds. “A little recognition goes a long way in boosting morale and fostering a sense of camaraderie.”

discover a CPA network

The correct CPA network can save you period and maximize the yield on your affiliate marketing efforts. A powerful network helps you recruit and manage high-standard affiliates, monitor their act, and optimize your CPA campaigns. 

Some CPA networks pair you with your own affiliate manager who represents your business to affiliate partners, manages onboarding and settlement, and advises your CPA marketing schedule. 

CPA marketing don’ts

boost your chances of earning a high ROI on affiliate marketing campaigns and protect your business from impoverished actors by avoiding these ordinary pitfalls:

Running on autopilot

CPA marketing can be relatively hands-off—especially if you associate with a reputable affiliate network. But don’t set it and overlook it. Monitor key metrics and discover opportunities to enhance campaign act. Your ideal metrics depend on your goals, but pay attention to data like total affiliate sales, sales per affiliate, gross markup, and number of recent, returning, or dropped affiliates.

“CPA marketing is a powerful way to boost your business’s awareness and sales, and it deserves your attention,” Jerrid says. “Optimizing your program, associate mix, and tracking business outcomes is essential to growing your CPA marketing.”

Using a shady CPA network

Reputable CPA networks can save period, reduce costs, and boost returns on your CPA marketing program—but shady networks can do the opposite. Less credible networks can undermine your efforts by using low-standard publishers, delaying payments, or inflating conversion rates.

Don’t join the first affiliate network you arrive across. receive period to research your options, comparing pricing, features, and back. inquire a potential affiliate network associate to provide customer testimonials or case studies to demonstrate program act.