Traffic arbitrage is not an easy business. Every day, users consume billions of advertising messages. According to SocialPilot, Instagram has more than two billion monthly active users, which is only the fourth largest social media platform, behind Facebook, YouTube, and WhatsApp. Think about the number of users on these platforms. Often, a large amount of advertising can scare away customers instead of attracting them. Therefore, it is important to determine the methods of interaction with the audience with special precision and skill to effectively turn them into potential buyers.
Creativity in advertising: the key to success
Creativity is the visual aspect of an ad message that users see. This element must be effective – it encourages the user to click on the ad and perform the targeted action. This requires a unique creative that stands out among many other offers and meets the needs and expectations of target users.
Effective creativity is characterized by clear, understandable text, bright, eye-catching design, a call to action, and an active button. It should be adapted to different placement platforms: social networks, websites, mobile or desktop versions of advertising. Creating a creative does not have a single template that guarantees the best conversion. It is important to know the intricacies of user behavior to accurately identify and offer the right product.
Campaign concepts for different verticals
Even if you are just starting in traffic arbitrage, you have probably already come across the term “vertical”↩. This term refers to a category of offers that share common characteristics. However, it is a mistake to assume that the word “vertical” has only one meaning. It also covers traffic sources and methods of promoting offers. The commonality of products or services within a certain vertical allows arbitrageurs to develop individual promotion strategies, modifying only the details of specific offers.
Vertical is a key element of traffic arbitrage. Without it, users would not be able to see targeted ads, but only random ads. There is no clear classification of verticals; they can be large niches or subcategories. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular verticals in traffic arbitrage today and the peculiarities of developing advertising creatives for each of them.
Nutra
This is one of the oldest and most popular verticals in the world. It includes dietary supplements, weight loss, physical activity, and virility products, as well as products for joints. Wellness is one of the most difficult niches to generate leads. Finding the right audience and choosing the right advertising creatives can significantly increase traffic.
For weight loss products, the target audience is middle-aged men and women who are looking for products with natural ingredients and positive reviews to make sure they are effective. Advertising creatives use phrases such as “How to lose 15 kg without dieting and exercise?” or “Drink a glass of X every morning, and in a week you won’t recognize yourself.” In terms of visuals, you can present before-and-after results or show the ideal male and female bodies that this audience aspires to.
In advertising creatives for joint products, it is important to emphasize the ease of use, naturalness, and uniqueness of the product. Meanwhile, the audience of “male lifesavers” is looking for products that increase sexual performance and reliability. Here, the emphasis is on efficiency and speed of action, which is supported by feedback from satisfied users. When creating visuals, it is important to follow the rules of moderation, using veiled images with subtext instead of prohibited nudity.
Gambling/Betting
In this vertical, creatives are related to casinos, slot machines, bookmakers, and online sports betting. This type of leisure is a well-known method of earning money in different parts of the world. That is why the main feature of advertising materials is to create bright, short videos with no obvious signs of gambling industry promotion. For the audience of this category, spontaneity and first impressions are crucial.
Finance
This vertical includes offers from banking institutions, in particular, for the issuance of credit cards or insurance policies. The target audience in this area is very diverse. It is extremely important to develop creatives that will accurately hit the needs of customers. This is where direct sales are effectively used. You can demonstrate the loan application procedure, happy people who have just received financing, or positive customer reviews. There is no need to hesitate over the headline for a long time. You can, for example, specify: “You need money immediately? ” or “About borrowing from friends – get financing in two minutes”.
Dating
Includes offers aimed at users who want to find men or women for long-term relationships or casual encounters. Advertising materials in this vertical should be as natural as possible and resemble normal communication. So, the people in the photos should look natural, with their characteristics, not like models from magazines. Headlines should also be casual, like a real conversation between people. And of course, create a unique advertising image. It looks unrealistic when the same messages come to the same person from different sources.
Sweepstakes
This is an easy-to-learn vertical that has been around for a long time. Sweepstakes are divided into two categories: the first offers to try your luck and win a prize by collecting user data, and the second is closer to games where various devices are raffled off. Most attention is drawn to advertising materials with a wheel of fortune, using phrases such as “you have already won” or “spin the wheel and take the prize.” A vivid visual with a photo of the prize effectively engages the audience, as well as the use of logos of famous brands.
How to develop advertising creatives for different geos?
Depending on the geo, certain products are popular in some countries but not in demand in others. That’s why the world is divided into geographic categories – Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 – that differ in user solvency, average income, and availability of online payments.
Tier 1
These countries have stable economies and high-income levels. Residents are used to buying online, so this is an attractive category with high payouts for arbitrageurs. However, the cost of traffic is lower here. Countries belonging to Tier 1 are, in particular, Australia, Germany, and the United States. Since the local audience is well aware of online advertising, the advertising material should not only be creative and interesting but also deeply targeted. Adaptation of content to the geo-language plays an important role, which increasing consumer confidence. It is important to adhere to strict rules for advertising activities that prohibit misleading and protect personal data.
Tier 2
These countries are characterized by developing economies and average incomes. The cost of traffic is also lower here, but the competition is weaker, which allows you to make money on special approaches. These countries include Albania, Argentina, Ukraine, and others. In Tier 2, advertising should not be complicated, but it is important to take into account the religious and cultural peculiarities of each country. For example, the UAE does not allow nudity in advertising. You should also be careful with translations and localization so as not to alienate potential customers.
Tier 3
Tier 3 includes countries with low incomes and significant differences in wealth between the top and the bottom. A characteristic feature of these geographical regions is budget traffic with limited ability to pay among the population. However, this does not exclude the possibility of making a profit. Local people are not tempted by advertising, which is ideal for arbitrageurs. Countries with low economic development in Asia, Africa, and Latin America are widely represented in the Tier 3 list.
The key to successful creatives is to adequately customize the audience and avoid scaring them with high amounts. This is a great opportunity to launch offers that are not suitable for other categories. When planning advertising campaigns, it is worth remembering that not everyone is ready for online payments. Especially in countries with a weak Internet connection, it is better to avoid animated images and video ads, and sometimes it is even better to use static images. The texts should be formulated with examples that are understandable to the local audience, using the language of each region, as English is usually not spoken there.
There is also Tier 4, which is usually not of interest to arbitrators. This category covers countries with unstable politics and lack of effective advertising channels, such as Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Malawi, Niger, North Korea, Syria, Sudan, Togo, Chad, and Sudan.
Conclusion
Developing creatives for traffic arbitrage is a complex process. It is necessary to take into account the individual characteristics of the target audience, regional parameters, and industry specifics, performing constant experiments with different types of advertising formats and traffic channels. Those who manage to overcome the initial difficulties usually achieve significant success.
