Non-traditional Performance Partnerships on a Cost Per Action (CPA) Model

There’s a common marketing belief that performance partnership marketing is primarily comprised of deal and loyalty sites. Deal and loyalty are the baselines for which affiliate programs are built. Once those lower-funnel channels are established, upper-funnel performance partnerships such as content placements, targeted emails, and mobile opportunities, are available to reach the consumer in every part of the funnel on a Cost Per Action (CPA) model. 

The most popular and well-known of these upper-funnel placements is content. Content aggregators are a great tool to utilize so that brands can see which content is resonating with consumers and where. Partnering with content publishers such as Business Insider, Forbes, and CNN on sponsored articles or listicles on a CPA can create great brand awareness. If brands are looking to drive sales, Ignite recommends listicles and deal posts to capture the consumer who is looking to buy, rather than just perusing the internet. Maintaining relationships with these content publishers is crucial in order to stay top of mind – meaning, when there’s a listicle that’s a good fit for your brand, you could be at the top of the feature list.

Mobile is another platform to draw consumers to your brand on a CPA model. Mobile-focused brands perform best in these placements with publishers such as Ibotta and Acorns, who solely offer mobile placements. A large portion of these publishers target high-earning Millennials, which is important to note for brands who are looking to partner with such publishers. While these publishers are mobile-focused, many work in the deal and loyalty space targeting a different audience in the mobile space. For example, social media influencers promote the Drop app, a mobile loyalty app, via Instagram stories. In this scenario, Drop may not consider typical loyalty sites such as RetailMeNot and Ebates competitors because they’re targeting a completely different consumer.

Finally, there are two ways to partner with publishers who offer email blasts. The first being a “masked” email wherein the publisher will send the email on behalf of the brand; for example, if Blue Apron is partnering with Forbes, the email would say “from Blue Apron on behalf of Forbes”. The second method involves a well-known publisher emailing the consumer featuring the brand or a deal round-up based on the consumer. Utilizing this method gives consumers the impression that this large publisher is recommending the brand to their audience. Both of these options are developed for brands based on individual targeting goals and are available on a CPA basis. 

Deal and loyalty sites are a piece of what’s needed to build and maintain a successful affiliate program. The non-traditional performance partnerships mentioned above support the lower-funnel by creating another touchpoint in the buyers journey and driving brand awareness while maintaining an efficient spend on a CPA marketing model.

Interested in learning more about non-traditional performance partnerships on a CPA? Contact the Ignite team now!

Are you interested in learning more about non-traditional performance partnerships? Read more about testing into non-traditional distribution opportunities here!

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