Zooming In: the Adult Niche

Affiliates promote goods and services provided by different advertisers to receive solid profit, thus acting as an intermediary between sellers and consumers.

The general idea is that you buy traffic at the lowest possible price and select a hot audience that will accomplish the target action, which, in turn, will be paid for by the advertiser (it can be registration, click, or transition to a website.)

However, each niche has its own traits and idiosyncrasies: there are rules regarding the GEO, affiliate program, and network; you should test creative types before choosing the perfect one and explore payment methods. The adult niche is abundant with limitations, strict and otherwise, as open advertising of such services is normally prohibited on popular sites.

As a result, affiliates do some fancy footwork while looking for the right approach: this is not for everyone. So, today we'll talk about the perks of the adult niche, discuss how to make money here, scrutinize successful cases and exciting creatives as well as promotion features. Make yourself comfortable: our journey starts here!

Adult Affiliate Programs

What is adult traffic? Before we move on to that, let us say that the adult niche is one of the most profitable verticals in affiliate marketing. Consistently high payouts are explained by a vast audience of millions of people interested in 18+ topics. Another reason for this sweeping success is willingness: users are ready to pay for the goods and services that can satisfy their internal needs.

That's why affiliates still get their money, regardless of restrictions and against the odds. However, they cannot work on their own — and this is where adult affiliate programs come in.

Thus,

An adult affiliate program is a CPA network that sells products and services to a target audience over 18 years old.

There are several profiles of their activity:

1. Dating. Dating sites and online platforms where users offer intimate services.
2. Goods. Tangible goods for adults: products that improve sexual performance, aphrodisiacs, erection creams.
3. Nutra. Beauty and health products that are connected with sexual life or are used to solve problems in this particular sphere: ointments, gels and creams, tablets, pills, and perfumes.
4. Erotic Apps. Games where users are offered to take on different roles. This content is unacceptable for viewing by minors.
5. Porn sites. Video hosting sites where adult materials are published. Each website has paid services, and users can open access to paid content.
6. Webcam. Platforms that pay for newly attracted customers and models. These sites look for appealing people for private and paid erotic shows.

In the adult vertical, you don't need to search for the target audience for too long as it's quite large and is not limited by age or GEO. So, relax and enjoy your profit... until your account gets blocked. We'll mention it down the road, now let's say a few words on top adult offers.

Adult Offers

How to make money from adult offers? The concept is clear, but what should you focus on? Obviously, dating is your go-to choice. People easily admit that they find online dating a peculiar and desirable concept, but they are not ready to voice out their intentions to continue the date without further obligations, as such open manifestations are stigmatized. Still, situations differ, and sex offers are extremely popular online.

Adult content is the product of consumerism, where consumption of 18+ materials is no longer considered a crime against social norms and regulations. People watch porn videos. There is no reference to the season, day of the week, or religion.

Yes, sometimes they are ready to put their job at stake, which clarifies the situation and explains why these offers are in such demand and bring so much profit. However, instead of condemning the exhausted employees, let's study one curious example: PornHub has 20,000,000 daily visitors, which makes 36 billion over a year.

Webcam is an entire industry that caters to the needs of people with super busy schedules. These workaholics have no time or energy to waste, so real acquaintances are absolutely out of the question. Physiological needs, though, are very much in question.

In short, webcam services are universal and do not depend on gender or age, but in terms of GEO, the EU is in the lead with Switzerland, Austria, and Germany being the most active.

Five Reasons Why

Experienced affiliates have long been earning large sums by promoting goods and services of 18+ topics. And they do it for a reason.

Affiliate programs promoting adult goods and services can be considered profitable for the following reasons.

1. Financially reliable audience. Everyone who clicks on a creative with erotic innuendo wants to satisfy needs and desires. No country for young teenagers, my dudes.
2. Coverage. Many affiliates cannot even imagine how popular this niche is. Take a look at the PornHub statistics: 220,000 views per minute! Then, think it through: would you rather buy a forbidden thing in a store or online? In most cases, the answer is clear.
3. No restrictions. You can place your creatives on sites completely unrelated to the adult niche. Any type of traffic brings profit.
4. Wide selection. Lots of CPA networks provide attractive offers. Warm users are needed for online dating with a continuation or for webcam sites and online stores. Bear in mind that this is just a modicum of options where new visitors are welcome with open arms.
5. High payouts. Affiliate programs are willing to pay the big bucks for each attracted user as these users are statistically inclined to buy more services and goods than the affiliate program pays to the webmaster. You can get up to $1000 for one visitor who completes the target action!

Another advantage of adult affiliate programs is a lack of target audience: everyone occasionally visits such sites. Of course, the degree of immersion, preferences, and financial capacities of each person is different, but the fact remains the fact.

Hallmarks

There is a wide range of niches within the vertical, but the most profitable ones are dating, adult websites, and webcams, which means that each option motivates affiliates in its own way. The main payment models are:

1. Cost Per Action implies that the affiliate gets paid for an accomplished target action. It means the user should buy a subscription, unlock restricted content, or purchase a bundle.
2. Cost Per Lead is a fee the affiliate gets for a lead. The lead is a visitor who left their contact info on the website.
3. Single opt-in is registration, or a survey, which does not need confirmation. All you need is a visitor's contact info.
4. Double opt-in suggests that the affiliate receives payments for each visitor who signs up or fills out a questionnaire and confirms his contacts by email or SMS.

What a bunch of options! That's why any affiliate marketer needs to determine in advance, which one is the most appealing and which target action they can control. However, always bear in mind that complex actions, such as registration with ensuing confirmation, result in higher dividends. Before you wonder how this unfair state of things became possible, let us switch on the financial mindset: publishers want to sell their services to a bigger number of users, so they pay the traffic source, the affiliate in this case, for motivated users.

Target Audience

Target audiences depend on offers: 18-year-olds barely need erection creams, ointments that increase libido, and sex toys. In general, though, the average portrait looks like this: a middle-aged man of approximately 35-40 years old who works at an office. He is most likely a mid-ranking manager or maybe a qualified worker.

Women shouldn't be disregarded either. Although they are seemingly indifferent to adult topics, they still show little interest in the content, thus solidifying the notion that 18+ materials can be attractive to various groups of people, regardless of their age and GEO. It bodes profit and fortune if you know how to bypass bans.

Rules & Restrictions

Each advertiser asserts a set of specific rules an affiliate must obey. The same can be applied to traffic sources, including expansive social networks and sites with a large user base. Most websites prohibit explicit erotic content and 18+ topics, so you'll have to rack your brain trying to find the right promotional technique.

1. Say no to Spam. Create or buy several advertising accounts to improve your reach and avoid bans.
2. Reject illegal material. Do not use child pornography or scenes with explicit violence.
3. Hide your links. URL shorteners won't do as moderators meticulously check each post and its supporting links. Your only way out is cloaking, which will help you redirect moderators to an alternative version of the site. Consequently, they will skip such a post. Say thanks to the little ruse!
4. Mind your creatives. You cannot exhibit erotic or pornographic content, so resort to subtle inklings and innuendoes: bananas and eggplants, for instance. If the picture is assessed by a bot, and there's no human involved, another photo can be overlapped on top of the erotic image. The bot will be double-crossed, but the target audience will definitely get the hint.

Such small tricks help promote adult content, products, and services but always bear in mind that it's worth having a few spare accounts in case of a sudden ban.

GEO

There's no such thing as a wrong GEO in the adult niche. The question is which region is most profitable.

The statistics reveal that Europe and the CIS countries respond well, so you can safely start right here, but if you've got enough confidence for a higher Olympus, check out the USA and Latin America. A big competition can be expected in Germany, France, and Great Britain as these countries are traditionally considered best in terms of adult offers, and dating, various goods, and libido enhancement products are ideal options for promotion here.

Third-world countries shouldn't be excluded either, but you'll break a sweat trying to find the cheapest traffic sources: remember, the purchasing power in these countries is remarkably low. At the same time, you'll have to select the appropriate creatives and adjust them to the mentality of an average resident.

And one more thing: do not direct traffic to highly religious countries, as the consumption of such content is most likely prohibited by their faith.

TOP 5 Adult Offers

Ashley Madison

GEO: Tier 1.

Traffic: Display, Social, Native, SEO, Search (review sites, with keyword restrictions), Blogs, Review/Escort Sites, Pops, In-App, Adult.

Payment models: CPA.

Rate: $2.33 — $116 (USD).

Fuckbook

GEO: Argentina, UK, USA, Canada, Australia.

Payment Models: Users pay $1 for a trial subscription, then affiliates get paid.

Rate: from $9.6 (USD.)

Sofia Date

GEO: Australia, Canada, New Zealand.

Payment: confirmed request.

Rate: from $2.8 (USD.)

My Romantic Match

GEO: Australia, Canada, Ireland, USA, UK, New Zealand, South Africa.

Goal: confirmed request.

Rate: from $3.4 (USD.)

Manga.game

GEO: Australia, Canada, New Zealand.

Goal: confirmed request.

Rate: from $20 (USD.)

Start Your Adult Journey

While the main idea of the niche is more than comprehensible, there are still a lot of tiny hindrances and hitches that can flush your money down the toilet. Here's a heads-up, a whole list of those.

Working with the Target Audience

Adult advertising reveals a wide target audience, including people of all ages and occupations, but each offer still strictly defines its group of people. As it sounds unclear, let us give you an example: young men will hardly look at products that enhance their libido, but they may be curious enough to poke at the goods that prolong sexual intercourse.

The implication is that you should carefully study the features of the product or service you promote and then work on the portrait of the target audience. The more accurately you describe it, the easier it will be to prepare the creative and the more profit the affiliate will receive from the completed advertising campaign.

General Recommendations

Adult traffic targeting settings include the following parameters:

1. Geotargeting. You select a country and a region where your creatives will be displayed. If you have not yet tested the combinations, tick all countries the advertiser may be interested in. When you get the results, cut off low-profit countries and concentrate the budget on more profitable options.
2. Traffic Type. Either mobile traffic or computer traffic. According to statistics, users mostly watch adult videos from mobile devices, so adjust your creatives to smartphone characteristics. If you make two versions of advertising posts, you will get profit from two types of traffic at once.
3. Display Time. That's where you can cheat and get away with it without testing anything: set the time from 9 am to 6 pm, and this interval will be relevant for almost any GEO.
4. Age & Gender. Get the basic analytics on the target audience to save money and extract only the target users. However, this approach works on one condition only: if you're into a highly specialized adult product. In other niches doesn't play that much of a part.
5. Daily Limit. Affiliates on a budget can resort to this feature: the system automatically counts the previously set number of clicks, and the campaign gets suspended once the number is reached.
6. Additionals. Clear a tick box in Show my ads on sites without text (the title will not be displayed). If offers require registration confirmation or subscription confirmation. Activate Show in fixed blocks, if you want to buy high-quality traffic from messenger or slider blocks. To increase the number of clicks, check Buy clicks from system teasers of the same subject and Buy non-thematic but targeted traffic.

Qualitative settings let you get more users ready to accomplish the target action. So, if you find relatively cheap adult traffic, you'll be astonished by the results.

Show Your Creatives

Users do not take the target action because they want to: your job is to stimulate them.

First, all offers in the niche can be divided into two groups:

• searching for a long-term partner;

• searching for a one-night stand.

Creatives for the first option show the real picture, as users are interested in sincerity, but if you're working with the second category, you can choose an aggressive approach, reject the boundaries, and resort to borderline provocative images.

Not every creative will be approved by the platform, so examine the website requirements: outright obscenities are normally prohibited on social media, so you'll either have to try cloaking... or a gimmick: just use a picture that stirs things up a little but stick to the bounds of decency.

Seeing this ad, users will immediately get the hint, and moderators will not have to ban the campaign.

Of course, you can put much time and effort into creative generation, but if you work with several GEOs... just choose an alternative. Save some energy.

1. Paid specialists. Hire a designer who will make unique creatives.
2. Stocks. Adult images are rare on these websites, but if you have experience and knowledge, you'll definitely succeed.
3. Spy tools. Services that automatically track your competitors' creatives and highlight the elements of their advertising campaigns.

The third option is not 100% fair, and you may come across a drained source where the creative is no longer effective, but you can alter a few details in the graphic part and test the result.

By the way, your own creatives may be stolen by the very same means, so try cloaking. We'll discuss the topic a bit later on.

Successful Creatives Check

(Pre) Landers on Fleek

A landing page is a page where a curious user turns into a lead by performing the desired action defined by the advertiser and affiliate.

As adult traffic doesn't go through any exchange service, you are bound to emphasize on the visual component: use the tried and tested AIDA model.

Those who know bits of HTML, JS, and CSS can create a one-pager on their own; those not equipped with such a handy set of skills can resort to online landing page builders, which, unfortunately, won't come up with a unique result. People have already used the templates multiple times. Don't make such a long face, please: personalization is key, and it's saving you tonight.

Most online builders are not free, so add this expense to your list. If you're totally on a budget and cannot afford another expenditure, check out WordPress: this is a free engine you can use for several campaigns.

Pre-landing pages are necessary if you're in the gray area of affiliate marketing. It looks like a full-fledged informational website with harmless content, so moderations have nothing left to do but to grant the go-ahead. In most cases. Not infrequetly, affiliates set up pre-landing pages to push the interested user, thus impelling them to perform the target action.

Be honest with your audience, and don't promise anything you can't deliver. Sometimes affiliates are so eager to acquire more leads that they get the opposite result: the conversion rate decreases, but the risk of being banned from the network grows exponentially.

Adult Traffic Sources

That's where we answer the most vital questions: where to buy adult traffic, how to monetize adult traffic, and, most important, how to get adult traffic. Divulging the secrets below.

Facebook & Instagram

Explicit adult content is not allowed on these platforms, but it doesn't mean you can't cheat with a little bit of cloaking. Be prepared, though, that your fraud will be exposed, and you'll be immediately banned.

That's what you should do: post cover messages with a powerful strawberry flavor if you know what I mean. Formally, moderators won't have a reason for a block, but the users will get the drift. Facebook & Instagram have a huge audience from various countries, so once you're skilled enough, you can direct traffic there without a hitch.

TikTok

TikTok is a relatively new platform with a vast audience. It is impossible to openly promote adult content here, but if you scale back a bit... So, this is how you get adult traffic on TikTok.

1. Develop your account. It takes time and effort, but eventually, you'll know the taste of success. An evident drawback is that you should not expect quick results.
2. Sprinkle it with spam. Spam accounts don't get banned on TikTok, so you can invite users to check out the offer. As for the disadvantages, direct links are prohibited here, so take care of your landing page.
3. Call a blogger. Users trust their idols, so you can promote an adult website or product with local celebrities' help. It will work many times more efficiently than any other approach mentioned in the article, but it will not be cheap.

Teasers

Teasers are attractive tiny pictures and a modicum of text. Such objects do not distract attention but gradually pique the curiosity of a warm audience.

Teasers are usually implemented into adult sites where more than 90% of all advertising promotes other websites in the same category. The rest is allocated to miracle ointments and creams.

Such ads are logically intertwined with the content on these websites, as

hundreds of thousands of people visit them every day. After all, we all know what they're looking for: certainly not a lifejacket for a holiday in Barcelona.

Push Notifications

You can successfully drive traffic to the adult vertical from push notifications. This is a cheap way to get traffic, and affiliates don't have to be constantly stressed about bans, endless adjustment processes, and launching: push notifications are quick. Analyze everything for a moment, optimize a few things, and enjoy the outcome. Focus on the photos you choose for the campaign as people react to hot pictures rather than the implications in the text.

Know Your Cloaking

Cloaking in affiliate marketing is the distribution of traffic in which you show different pages to different categories of people. For example, social media and affiliate programs moderators see a whitehat landing page that complies with the rules of the platform, while the target audience can observe a more straightforward presentation that doesn't quite fit the requirements.

This technique is used when affiliates promote prohibited goods and adult content. Officially, cloaking is prohibited by all CPA networks, so if you're caught, you are banned. Sooner or later, the fraud will be exposed, so never use cloaking on your personal account. Leave gray schemes for the freshly registered accs.

A Few Words on Smartlink

What do we call smartlink? Well, it's all in the name: it's a smart link that redirects users to a personalized landing page and offer. The embedded algorithms receive click-related data, analyze user data and send it to the appropriate site.

It's a godsend for the affiliates working in the adult niche. Since 18+ topics are enticing for many people, regardless of their age or occupation, you won't have to waste your time making up creatives for different target audiences: choose Smartlink instead. You can simply paste the link from the affiliate program into the settings of the advertising campaign.

Analyze

If the advertising company did not bring enough profit, it does not mean that you have chosen a bad offer or GEO. Affiliates work with promotion, that's true, but there's another thing to their daily routine: they need to achieve the maximum efficiency of the advertising campaign by any means possible. This implies that you are expected to constantly test various combinations and creatives, search the bottlenecks and vulnerabilities while tracing the user's way from a click to the target action, fixing the problems in the process. Keep testing, accumulating knowledge and experience. The more you do it, the easier things will get: you'll learn to identify problem areas and improve the efficiency of the campaign.

Case Study: How Much Can You Earn?

How much money can you make in the adult niche? That's the question everybody asks, especially in the first stages of work, just examining the vertical. Well, we're here to share, right?

Case 1. Driving traffic to a sex dating site

Duration: 20 days.

GEO: world.

Budget: $16,000.

Income: $29,840.

Net profit: $13,840.

ROI: 86.5%.

Each country had its own set of creatives and 30 advertising campaigns with no GEO restrictions. Promo materials and push notification services were used to attract traffic.

Case 2. Driving traffic from push networks to continued dating sessions

Duration: 21 days.

GEO: South Africa.

Budget: $2200.

Income: $4017.

Net profit: $1797.

ROI: 80%.

Traffic came from three large push networks, and more than 1,000 different creatives were made, all personalized to the target audience to impel people to click more actively and perform the desired action. 80% of the profit for an incomplete month per country is an excellent result.

To sum up:

1. The adult niche is a profitable vertical for experienced affiliate marketers (cloaking, provocative creatives).
2. Most traffic sources have a negative attitude towards adult topics, but moderation approves creatives with vague innuendos.
3. 18+ content is in demand in different countries, so the target audience is quite large, and there is no need to adjust the GEO and age.
4. Men visit adult sites more often than women, so when you make creatives, focus on what men would respond to.
5. Before you choose an affiliate program, find out what target action it pays for and how difficult it is to stimulate the user to do it.
6. In the adult vertical, the most popular topics are sex dating, webcams, eCommerce, Nutra, and erotic games.

FAQ

Which CPA networks pay the most?

The biggest profit is offered by CPA networks that pay for user activity: purchases or wallet replenishment. The cost of one visitor reaches $170. However, such offers don't convert quite well as it is extremely difficult to lead the user from a creative to registration and then their wallet replenishment.

Is it possible to use ready-made schemes for earning money in the adult niche?

This is a controversial topic since combinations can exhaust themselves several times, and the budget will vanish without a trace. At the same time, it is possible and necessary to surf the Internet for successful cases to acquire knowledge and skills for adult content promotion. You can also contact the CPA network managers, and the specialists will provide up-to-date information about the vertical, a specific niche, thus helping you select the right offer and the best traffic channels.

95% of the audience of the adult niche are men. Are there no women at all?

No. This statement does not imply that there are no women in the segment. However, it's way harder to work with the women there: they are absolutely not interested in erotic games and webcams, and, according to statistics, men buy adult goods more often. Women, though, have a positive attitude to dating, but even this factor depends on the GEO and financial stability of the audience. For example, there's no point in sending such offers to Eastern countries for obvious reasons.