CPA Networks

Set a Performance Monitoring Schedule.
Then Stick with It.

Quick Links

The Basics

  1. Intro: Why You Should Use CPA Ads
  2. Who the Players Are
  3. Context: Who Needs Whom?
  4. Getting Approved
  5. Finding the Right Advertisers

The Ads

  1. Ad Sizes
  2. Pulling Ads
  3. Inserting Full Page Ads
  4. Creating/Inserting a 2-Page Ad Spread
  5. Inserting Small In-Article Ads

The Relationships

  1. Who's Keen To Build a Relationship?
  2. Negotiating: Perspectives & Leverage
  3. Choosing the Right Ads
  4. Is an Advertiser Worth Working With?
  5. An Example EPC Analysis

The Data

  1. Tracking: Part 1
  2. Tracking: Part 2
  3. Tracking: Part 3
  4. Wrap Up

Ad Performance Tracking - Part 2

What to Do with the Information

Metrics are all about turning information into intelligence.

As your start to see stats on what's working at what's not, the first instinct is often, "Well, let's just do more of that!"

Instead, a better approach is to see if you can see why they're working so you can replicate the concept.

Step 1: What's in Common?

These are the basic questions to ask as you reverse engineer this.
  1. Are the offers that are working?
    • Services
    • Apps
    • Stores, e.g.
      • Single-product companies (water bottles, turtle leashes, thneeds...)
      • Niche ecom stores (wireless headsets, vegan cosmetics...)
      • Niche discount ecom stores (Petco, Revzilla...)
      • Department stores (Nordstrom, Barneys, Macy's...)
      • Discount stores (Target, WalMart...)
  2. Do they have similar checkout processes?
  3. Are they mobile-friendly?
  4. Are they old "dependable" brands like GE or State Farm?
  5. Or are they startups?
What patterns do you see in what's working?

Sometimes the answers may be all over the board; other times the pattern smacks you in the face.

For instance, one of the early patterns we saw was engagement on mobile-related stuff. (Duh.) Cases, covers, repair, telco-related services, and so on were places where there was a disproportionate amount of activity for us relative to other categories.

Sure, there's a bit of the "duh" factor here, but not all mobile-related offers work for us, nor will they for you. YMMV. Test it yourself. Look for patterns.

Bottom line: you're looking for the one thread the connects the concepts.
By the same token, if your magazine is littered with mobile-related offers, you'll crash spectacularly into the saturation point with your readers.

Counter-intuitive though it may sound, sometimes ads are worth keeping even if they're not making you money because their presence in your magazine is so important in the big picture.

Step 2: What's Getting Clicks but No Sales?

Since we already know we're looking at clicks as one of important metrics, let's dive deeper and see where there are clicks and no sales. Surprise, surprise, we're going to be asking the same thing here in what's not working as we do in looking at what is working. Just with a twist.
  1. Are the offers that are generating clicks but no sales:
    • Services
    • Apps
    • Stores, e.g.
      • Single-product companies (water bottles, turtle leashes, thneeds...)
      • Niche ecom stores (wireless headsets, vegan cosmetics...)
      • Niche discount ecom stores (Petco, Revzilla...)
      • Department stores (Nordstrom, Barneys, Macy's...)
      • Discount stores (Target, WalMart...)
  2. Do they have similar checkout processes?
  3. Are they mobile-unfriendly?
  4. Are they old "dependable" brands like GE or State Farm?
  5. Or are they startups?

The Re-Swizzle

The short version: expand what's working; contract what isn't.

It's a simple concept that's pretty easy to make hay with: what's being clicked with no action taken. Kill it.

What's generating sales? Try a different ad, try a larger ad, try a second different size ad elsewhere in the issue, website, broadcast, etc.

Are there competing brands that might offer more generous CPAs or that have better creatives, better landers, or better checkout processes?

Where's This All Headed?

Ultimately, ultimately, what you're going to be tracking this all back to is a stat NO ONE (and I mean no one) is talking about: EPR or Earnings per Reader.

EPR means net profit after marketing costs. The beauty of it is it distills everything down to one "winning or losing" number.

Here's how to calculate yours in two steps:

Calculating EPR
Step 1:
Gross Revenue:
[All Sources] 		$10,123 
Marketing:
[Instant Audience, Facebook, etc.] 		($1,097)
Net Revenue: $9,026 
 
Step 2:
Revenue / Readers = EPR
$9,027 / 25,052 = $0.36
This spreadsheet helps you track yours each month: Download Running EPR Calculator.xlsx

The spreadsheet has a fictitious data in it; you'll want to use your real data, of course.

N.B. ONLY update the GREEN fields in the spreadsheet. All others autoupdate.




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Tracking: Part 1 		Next »
Tracking: Part 3