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CPA vs CPL

by Justin Says
2 replies
Okay so I would love to hear some opinions on what they feel is better, CPA (Cost Per Action) or CPL (Cost Per Lead) - from a "publishers" standpoint?

Now I will at least toss on my knowledge of the 2 with experiences to give you an idea of how I've used both in the past, you can share your own experiences if you'd like.

Cost Per Action - I've found that these may convert very high, but when it comes to profitability you need to reach a very large market.

I've really been able to do well with this with the backing of social networks like Facebook and YouTube. Sometimes even converting over 25% of leads to fill out their email address. But again, I was only making around $1.00 - $2.00 per person who took action on the offer.

Cost Per Lead - Oddly with the experience I've had these have also converted very high, you don't need a large market if you can just focus on extremely targeted leads.

My experience has been best with search engine and paid traffic. With very little traffic I have still converted above 10% on many occasions. My best experiences were when I helped a company increase their clients. However, I was not paid unless they actually turned that lead into a sale. But the profits from it were above $300 - $500.

So from my personal experiences CPL has done extremely well with much less work.

What are your experiences?
#cost per action #cost per lead #cpa #cpl #marketing
  • Profile picture of the author Prosprio
    It entirely depends, for several reasons. Just because you have a large market for a CPA offer doesn't mean you'll actually see huge volume in conversions, but if your CPL offers rely on a small niche, you'll have to scale outwards rather than upwards in order to increase profits.

    But just to show how subjective it is, just look at offers that have a CPL and CPS version. The CPL version pays like $5/lead, the CPS version pays like $150/sale. It's the same offer, one is just paying for leads and the other is paying for sales. The advertiser sets those values because they are obviously calculating that at least 1 out of every 30 leads will be a sale anyways, otherwise they might as well just pay for sales only. Some affiliates don't bother with the CPL versions though because they have their targeting down solid so they convert better than 1 in 30, so why give the advertiser those extra conversions when you can make more money for yourself by taking credit for the sales?

    All in all, you can usually predict if a CPA, CPL or CPS offer will perform better than the alternatives, but until you do your demographic research and more importantly, split testing, you won't know for sure.
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  • Profile picture of the author vask
    What do you mean CPA vs CPL?

    CPL is a sub-category that falls under CPA. Obtaining a lead is an "action". You can promote CPL offers on CPA networks. CPL vs CPS makes sense, CPL vs CPD makes sense, but not CPA vs CPL.

    Cost Per Action - I've found that these may convert very high, but when it comes to profitability you need to reach a very large market.
    I'm a bit confused when you say that CPA offers "convert high", what justifies a high conversion rate? As affiliate marketers, we make money by adding value to another person's sales funnel. Unless there's little to no competition, offers don't just "convert high" by themselves, it's your campaign that effects the conversion rates.

    I've made plenty of money targeting small demographics with CPA offers. If a campaign has a high conversion rate, then you can profit even with a small demographic.

    I've really been able to do well with this with the backing of social networks like Facebook and YouTube. Sometimes even converting over 25% of leads to fill out their email address. But again, I was only making around $1.00 - $2.00 per person who took action on the offer.
    I'm going to assume that when you say "CPA" you actually mean "Email Submits", because that's what it seems like from your post.

    Now, I don't know what email submits you're promoting, but I've never heard of a 25% conversion rate for an affiliate running an email submit. Can you clarify what offers you're promoting? I'm not asking you to out your offers, just need some clarification!
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