CPC to CPA Getting started question / AdWords alternative?

by Gec
13 replies
Folks, so I'm trying to get my feet wet in the land of CPC to CPA.

I found a product that not many people know about, and therefore they aren't _searching_ for it, but it would definitely appeal to people in a particular niche.

The product I found is a combination of niches or markets (or interests, whatever) say, A+B. A is an evergreen niche, B is a very narrow and focused niche. I think people in the B niche would be very interested in this product, if only they knew it existed.

I'd like to reach people in the B niche. They aren't _searching_ for the product, as I said. Ideally (I think) I would buy display ads on sites from this B niche... but...

I've tried Google AdWords in the past and got put off by my lack of skill (or maybe it was the tough learning curve?). Couldn't get a proper quality score and my ads were not showing, or I was paying like $5 per click, and was like, are you kidding me?

My questions:

- Is there an alternative to AdWords?
- How would you go about selling this product? (sorry, can't give specifics of niches A and B, except that A is evergreen, B is a narrow, not mainstream niche, people in B would prolly be interested, but they don't know the product exists...)

(eventually I'll try AdWords again, but wanted to get your feedback)

Thanks!
#adwords #alternative #cpa #cpc #question #started
  • Profile picture of the author Greedy
    Is there an alternative to AdWords?

    Yes, Bing Ads. It is great, not as much volume, but still a lot!

    How would you go about selling this product?

    Really to give any useful advice without knowing the niche or product.

    But sounds like you have a good vision.

    Stick with your gut.
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  • Profile picture of the author kinyash
    There are 2nd tire search engines you could try. An example is 7search. You could also try facebook ads as here you can try and target people according to their interests thus "finding them where they are" as opposed to them looking for the product themselves.

    As for advice you just have to get your feet wet and test the hell out of your campaigns until you get you gold nugget

    All the best man.
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    • Profile picture of the author Gec
      Thanks folks! Facebook does sound like a good option, I'll try something there too.

      Bing Ads - from what I can tell, and please correct me if I'm wrong, they only offer "search" traffic, and people don't really search for this thing. Google seems to be (strangely) the only "good" way to get banners on many sites with the keyword - or is it?

      To give more context, I'm trying to promote a weight loss product for a very specific niche, let's say people with red eyes (this is not it but you get the point). These people hang out on forums and read red eyes blogs etc, but they have no idea there's a weight loss program for people with red eyes out there, so naturally they don't search for it in google, bing etc.

      So, how to get in front of those people? Facebook is one option, AdWords with their context ads (not search) is another, and... ??

      Cheers!
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  • Profile picture of the author kinyash
    You could also try blog comments and forum threads and signatures targeting where your audience frequents.
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  • Profile picture of the author 1GreatCPA
    i suggest you facebook
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  • Profile picture of the author Daniel Thomas
    Hi

    I saw that you literally got NO good answers

    It's like this - Text ads VS. Display Ads.
    GDN, or Google Display Network, has, in my opinion, far more options to modify than the Search campaigns you run.

    Just the Placement/Keyword combination is enough to make you work through an endless maze of options.

    Now try to insert the rest of the options, such as topics/interests, etc.

    What I would try, in your place, is running STRICTLY banners, on all the websites you can find that allow it. In my experience, text ads drew far more clicks, but as you said, for you that brought no conversions.

    If you want to discover new placements, run a very very targeted Display campaign, based on the keywords ONLY. Use the placements that come up, in a Placement targeted campaign.
    Signature
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  • Profile picture of the author joshua138
    Bing ads is #2. After Adwords. So if I were you I'd go Bing.
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  • Profile picture of the author jaythebull2
    I tried the Bing ad network for the first time yesterday, and am amazed at how much traffic it's pulling in. We'll see how well it converts, but I do seem to be getting a broad amount of traffic, for a very small campaign.
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  • Profile picture of the author Greedy
    So, how to get in front of those people? Facebook is one option, AdWords with their context ads (not search) is another, and... ??
    Facebook could be good because you niche does not seem like they are actively search for the solution your provide. (If they where PPC aka Bing would be good.)

    Can you accurately target your demographic in Facebook?
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    • Profile picture of the author Gec
      Originally Posted by Greedy View Post

      Can you accurately target your demographic in Facebook?
      I believe I can pinpoint them with laser sharp precision .

      But, question now: it's a clickbank product. Does Facebook allow a hoplink? Or would I need to make a "review page" or something, and from there, they should go to the actual sales page? Or...?
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  • Profile picture of the author ChrisBa
    Originally Posted by Gec View Post

    Folks, so I'm trying to get my feet wet in the land of CPC to CPA.

    I found a product that not many people know about, and therefore they aren't _searching_ for it, but it would definitely appeal to people in a particular niche.

    The product I found is a combination of niches or markets (or interests, whatever) say, A+B. A is an evergreen niche, B is a very narrow and focused niche. I think people in the B niche would be very interested in this product, if only they knew it existed.

    I'd like to reach people in the B niche. They aren't _searching_ for the product, as I said. Ideally (I think) I would buy display ads on sites from this B niche... but...

    I've tried Google AdWords in the past and got put off by my lack of skill (or maybe it was the tough learning curve?). Couldn't get a proper quality score and my ads were not showing, or I was paying like $5 per click, and was like, are you kidding me?

    My questions:

    - Is there an alternative to AdWords?
    - How would you go about selling this product? (sorry, can't give specifics of niches A and B, except that A is evergreen, B is a narrow, not mainstream niche, people in B would prolly be interested, but they don't know the product exists...)

    (eventually I'll try AdWords again, but wanted to get your feedback)

    Thanks!
    The best alternative to Adwords is bing in my opinion.

    I find with search engine traffic the more specific/narrow the better for me
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  • Profile picture of the author wrcato2
    @Gec, if no one is searching for your B niche product or what your product represents, why would you run any kind of adword campaign? Is seems like a waste of time and money.

    In this instance I would use social media advertising like facebook as mentioned. I would also ask niche blogs if they would sell you advertising. Be sure that these niche blogs are PR 4 and above.

    You can also try advertise in high quality newsletters. This is a would be agreat sourse for traffic you do your due diligence as far as researching the NL author. I would suggest subscribing to several B niche NL, and see if the NL is ad driven, meaning is there a lot of ads are present and does the author have good quality content that engages the reader.

    Tip: if there are a lot of ads, it isn't a good sign.

    hope this helps
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