Been there, done that: you see a post with an eye-catching banner “$500 WASTED — $1000000 EARNED” and your hand automatically reaches to click it and finally figure out what it is you are missing to get the same results. Today we will take a closer look at what stands behind these success stories from affiliate marketers and how not to swallow the bait.
Fantastic cases and what makes them special
Let’s see what a case study is and who can benefit from writing it.
A case study is a set of nicely presented statistical data on driving traffic to a certain offer, affiliate program, or GEO with exemplary approaches and creatives, sometimes including the reveal of the launch setup.
It can be favorable for both sides — the affiliate themselves and the affiliate program they are working with, if the latter is mentioned in the case description. It also happens that the webmaster generates a lot of traffic for the affiliate program and they suggest writing a success story based on this experience. Another example is when webmasters want to enter the public domain. Let’s say some affiliate team carried out a successful marketing flow and now wants to go public. It can attract new connections, increase audience loyalty, help grow the business, and push even inexperienced newbies to the top of the affiliate world.
A case study is always a win-win idea as it creates catchy news hooks and helps both affiliate programs and affiliates to develop professionally. But what is in it for you, our dear readers? Let’s find out!
Success story structure
It is better to start with unscrambling a typical case study and then decide which practices work best for you. We will show you how to tell a good case from a bad one and what to look for while analyzing it.
Case study components:
Title — as a rule, it mentions the earned amount of money, GEO and niche;
Offer — it includes the name of the affiliate program or the advertiser and the offer itself;
GEO — the country where the traffic is generated;
Campaign timeframe — case studies are usually presented either during campaigns (with limited details) or once the marketing flow has already been exhausted and it is financially safe to make it public;
Expenses / revenue / profit — rate ratio; if the revenue can be calculated within the affiliate program, the exact expenses might be hard to count as they are usually distributed among numerous offers;
Approval rate / ROI — these rates don’t reveal much as the approval rate is usually average for the whole offer, the drawdowns might happen, plus ROI can be miscalculated due to the above-mentioned point.
It can also include the information on:
accounts;
creatives;
other consumables (proxy, cards, etc.);
target audience and specific settings;
link cloaking;
prelanding / landing / white pages;
traffic source characteristics;
conclusion.
How to get the most out of the case study
Hope you found the structure meaningful and now let’s get to the in-depth analysis.
GEO / offer — At this point, you decide whether this case study is relevant for you or it is not worth reading it at all.
Campaign timeframe — This is probably the most important aspect as good timing is everything if you want to repeat the success from the case study. Let’s take focus on loss offers as an example: high season for slimming products doesn’t start until late spring or early summer. If you read such a success story in December and see six-month-old statistics, it is highly unlikely that you will be able to get the same results right before the new year. Another example: the case study on betting shows generated traffic on the dates of major championships but it has been published a few months later — it’s a crucial thing to notice.
Expenses / revenue / profit — At first glance, these metrics may seem less significant, however, they can give an understanding of how saturated this offer is and help with calculating the average cost per click and action. If the case study includes the dashboard screenshot from the affiliate program, you can assess the conversion dynamics of this offer. But keep in mind that all these indicators are quite rough and serve more for understanding the big picture rather than for drawing conclusions.
Approval rate / ROI — Here you can compare the information given in the case study to the data provided by the affiliate manager.
Next on the list are consumables and promotional materials. Without going into detail: these days high-quality consumables are pretty hard to find. Each affiliate team is always seeking for their own ideal and it’s doubtful they will be willing to share it.
As for promo materials: pay attention to the timeframe. If you are reading a newly-published case study on the current or recently completed campaign, you will probably come across either irrelevant and outdated creatives or maybe even the ones that simply don’t convert. A thorough analysis of creatives can give you useful insights on how to approach certain GEO and target audience. There is no point in dwelling on landing, prelanding or white pages — some split testing will definitely help you find out what suits you best.
Save your budget
Our first advice is to assess the adequacy of the authors and the information they provide. If it is claimed that driving event-oriented traffic to a certain GEO resulted in a $1 million profit, it sounds more like a fantasy.
An exemplary success story usually includes a thorough analysis of the target audience, GEO characteristics and other small details suggesting that the authors know their job.
As a rule, consumables are either barely touched or only one of the options is revealed. If you see the title “$23526336346 PROFIT ON MASS REGISTRATION IN A WEEK!” always question and double-check the information that follows.
Let’s say, you stumbled upon a case study on the gambling niche for Switzerland promising the mountains of money to all players. Once you google an average salary in this country, it will become absolutely clear that €100 instant win is unlikely to interest anyone. Therefore, the information might be misleading.
The description of a negative experience, on the contrary, can be a good sign. It is surely optional, but if a webmaster or a team share their failed tests or problems they faced while generating traffic, it sounds more credible and builds trust.
Conclusion
Success stories may harbor various insights to benefit from. However, it is essential to read into details and analyze the given data. Use our tips to clarify controversial points, learn from other people’s mistakes and get the maximum results!
Good luck!
