What is CPA?
Cost Per Action means that, when a website user completes an action, you get paid a commission for the completion.
For example, if a website user sees an advertisement you have created on the internet, clicks on that advertisement and then, as requested, completes a form, requests a report, buys something or registers for a trial or quote, you receive a pay out when their action has been verified.
1. The first step is for the internet user to visit a website and see an advertisement which they are interested in. This could be for something as simple as a payday loan, free report or quote on insurance, purchase of a bargain or deal promoted by you.
2. The second step is they click on that advertisement to get further instructions
3. Next they are directed to a salespage, landing page or another website providing further details of the offer and their required action and instructions on next steps
4. Lastly, on entering their details, submitting the information or buying something, a commission is generated.
The four steps you need to take to create a campaign for the CPA process is:
1. Select an offer to promote using various research techniques such as previous sales, popularity and commissions
2. Register with the marketplace or provider which are representing the company looking for business and get verified to promote their products, being as honest as you can i.e. if you are new to internet marketing, state this
3. Register with an autoresponder to create opt-in forms for the computer users who will click on the offer
4. Create a link from the opt-in form to the affiliate offer in order that the computer user can complete the required action.
As part of this whole process, it is possible for you to collect the email addresses of those who request or take part in the offer in order to promote further products.
The most successful CPA campaigns use contextual links which are not intrusive to you website and not necessarily "in your face" banners.
There are numerous niches you can focus on when it comes to selecting your offer and creating your website as, much like affiliate and internet marketing, people are constantly looking for information and guidance and inherently lazy so will take the easy option when seeing something they need, or think they need.
So in summary, CPA marketing is the easiest to set up from an affiliate marketer point of view, easiest to complete from a computer user point of view and potentially the biggest money-maker from a pay out of commissions point of view.
