Hello again! 

Dear media buyers, 

I’ve met a lot of newbies who want to make fast money with media buying and affiliate marketing.. and I have two pieces of news for you guys. 

The bad one, is most often you can’t make fast money if you don’t have previous experience. The good one is, I’ll show you the most common mistakes that new affiliates make, so you can avoid them in advance and have an extra advantage ;)

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Mistake nº1: Invest too little in traffic

Do not forget that when doing media buying, you’re investing your money in data. Be prepared to start your campaign with a negative ROI, it’s normal. 

You shouldn’t be afraid of it. Do not stop your campaign after a $5 ad spend - you need to test different angles and verticals, different landing pages (at least 2), and, after you have enough data, pause your campaign and make decisions based on representative stats. Only then you’ll be able to decide whether you should continue a campaign or kill it and try another one. 

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Mistake nº2: Invest too much in traffic without result

It is common that newbies are often in love with their first campaigns, and they don’t want to stop them because of emotional connection. That’s the reason they put so much effort and budget into trying to make them profitable. 

The sad truth is that, if after optimization your campaign is still in big red numbers, it won’t be profitable. So you need to find the balance between not giving up too early and give the campaign time, and not being capable of saying that’s enough. 

Before giving up on a campaign, make sure you optimize it in all levels: supply ID, site ID, user freshness, etc. Make sure you have cut all the worst angles, landing pages, OS, browsers, you have all the Blacklist possibles, etc. If all of this is already done and you still don’t have good results, then it’s time to move on and try a different approach. Also, don’t spend time changing the CTA button, color or font - all of this is important but for sure it will not convert your campaign to a profitable one. 

Mistake nº3: Optimizing your campaign too often

We’re all addicted to the refresh button when our campaigns are running. Not healthy. 

In the beginning, your campaign will be bleeding money, accept it. If you make changes too quickly, every 30 minutes, you won’t have proper data or it will be mixed and unclear. Do not change bids, creatives or angles - let the algorithm do its job. 

Go for a walk, open a beer, talk with friends but don’t think about the campaign, or how your money is getting lost! 

Also, don’t make a lot of changes at the same time - remove creatives, blacklist zones, that’s OK. But don’t touch your angles if they have at least 1 conversion, wait to see how they will perform after the first optimization and after that make your decisions. Patience is your friend now, remember that. 

Mistake nº4: Copy your competition

You have a spy tool. Great! 

Don't use it to copy paste your competition’s work, creatives and landing pages. Use it only for inspirational purposes, otherwise it can harm your campaigns. See what, how they promote their offers and make their own materials based on their brand. Use it to inspire your own work and make a difference. 

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Mistake nº5: Being a lazy media buyer

Don’t listen to fake Youtube gurus who promote that bedia buying is easy. It’s not, especially if you are new to the industry. You need to put a lot of time and effort into it. 

Use your time and take advantage of your competitors - test your landing pages, how fast it loads and make it faster if needed. Learn HTML, CSS, JS and how to clean and edit the landing pages you rip off from the spy tools. Browse for the best images for your creatives, do a brainstorm and find the perfect angles that will make your campaigns profitable. 

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Mistake nº6: Giving up on a traffic network after 2-4 bad campaigns

That’s an awful idea! You need time to learn your traffic source - how their algorithm works, how to bid properly, discover which feeds you’re most interested in. After mastering one traffic source, you can move to another one. Don’t forget the traffic source should match the offers. There’s no logic in promoting crypto on adult sources, right?

Mistake nº7: Changing verticals too often without success

Same as with the traffic sources - do not change your verticals before mastering them! You’re running sweeps - make 5 or 6 profitable campaigns before moving to the next vertical. Believe in your skills and trust your optimization logic. 

Mistake nº8: Bid too low 

Usually, young affiliates prefer low bids. 

But it’s important to understand that in most cases low bids are equal to not-so-good traffic. Better stay on the middle-level or even start with the highest bid, and see what will happen. 

Mistake nº9: Not treating media buying like business

Affiliate marketing is a business like any other business! You should treat it seriously. 

It’s not a game and it’s your money that’s on the table. 

You’ll need to plan your strategies, investments, monthly budgets, etc. 

Don’t underestimate it, because it’s your business. 

Mistake nº10: To run your campaigns without having a tracker 

Almost all new media buyers have issues or questions regarding trackers. 

From how to properly set up a campaign, how to integrate them, etc! 

I know sometimes it can be confusing, but it’s much easier to optimize your campaigns with a tracker! There are a lot of them out there, and some of them even have free plans. 

Take some time to read their manuals, ask questions to the support team and set up 40-50 campaigns. You’ll end up having the experience of how to deal with each one of them.

Make sure to check out this article regarding the best trackers! 

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Mistake nº11: To not disconnect

Don’t forget it: taking care of yourself while you’re planning and running the campaigns is essential. Find some time to disconnect and clear your mind - this will help you become a successful media buyer! 

Mistake nº12: To not read this blog

Make sure to check out the latest articles & materials! If you’re a newbie, this section is yours - Getting Started. 

Mistake nº13: To not take action

In my opinion that’s the biggest mistake you can make - without running campaigns you’ll never know whether you can be a successful media buyer or not. 

Do not only read forums and blogs! I agree they’re important, but nothing is more important than experience and practice. 

Start now - not tomorrow! And not the day after tomorrow!

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Now, ask our Account Managers for their best insights and contact your Affiliate Managers for the best offers ;) 

That’s all for today! Please feel free to share any mistakes you’ve made in the forums comment section. 

See you soon! & Stay profitable! 💪🏼