CPA Marketing for Mobile Offers
You ever swipe right on a dating app and wonder if you just made someone five bucks?
LOL probably not. But you might have.
Welcome to the wild world of CPA marketing for mobile offers. And if you think this is the same game as plastering some supplement ads on a blog, you’re gonna have a bad time. a very, very bad time.
This is a different beast. It’s faster. More technical. And honestly? Way more profitable if you know what you’re doing.
Most people don’t. They just burn cash.
So if you’re new to all this, maybe read up on what CPA affiliate marketing is first. For everyone else, let’s get into the messy part.
Picking the Right Mobile Offers (This Ain’t Your Grandma’s Coupon Site)
Ok so first thing’s first. Not all mobile offers are created equal. You got two main flavors:
- Mobile Web (CPL/CPS): This is closer to traditional desktop stuff. Someone fills out a form on a mobile-optimized page, you get paid. Think insurance quotes, dating signups, that kinda junk.
- App Installs (CPI): This is the big one. Your entire goal is to get someone to install an app. That’s it. You get paid per install (Cost Per Install).
This is where everyone gets shiny object syndrome. They see a new game paying $3 per install and they jump on it without thinking.
STOP.
Think about the user’s journey. What’s easier? Getting someone to download a “Free Antivirus Cleaner” that promises to speed up their phone, or getting them to install some random RPG game they’ve never heard of?
I was lurking on a marketing forum the other day and this one user, a vet in the space, made a great point. He said he ONLY runs utility apps. Why? Because the advertiser’s Lifetime Value (LTV) is higher. People keep those cleaner apps on their phones for ages, watching ads, maybe buying a premium version. This means the advertiser can afford to pay affiliates more, consistently, for longer.
Genius. It’s not about the highest payout today, it’s about the most stable campaign tomorrow.
So when you’re browsing the best CPA networks, don’t just sort by payout. Look for the offer type. Games, Utilities, Dating, Social… they all behave differently. Pick one lane and master it.
App Install Campaigns: The Real Meat & Potatoes
This is where the rubber meets the road. Or where your thumb meets the “Install” button, whatever.
The whole game is CPI. Cost Per Install.
But what most people forget is the stuff that happens before and after the install.
The funnel looks like this:
Your Ad (Impression) -> They Click -> Your Pre-Lander (hopefully you have one) -> App Store Page -> They Install (You get paid) -> They Open The App & Do Something (The Advertiser gets paid)
You only control the first two steps. But you gotta be aware of ALL of them.
I mean, I literally saw a comment on Reddit from some new guy… he was losing his mind because his conversion rate dropped off a cliff overnight. His ads were the same, his targeting was the same. What happened? The app he was promoting got a massive update that was buggy as heck, and the app store page was flooded with 1-star reviews.
He was sending perfect traffic to a dumpster fire.
You CAN’T be lazy with this. Check the app’s reviews. Daily. Is it trending up or down? Are people complaining? Does the icon look like it was made in Microsoft Paint?
If the app store page sucks, you’re dead on arrival. It doesn’t matter how good your ads are. You’re just paying to send people to a page that screams “don’t download me”.
Targeting Strategies That Don’t Suck
This is where I see the most money burned.
People just set their campaign to “United States” and “All Devices” and then wonder why their ROI is negative. Are you kidding me?
You gotta get granular. Like, uncomfortably specific.
Your traffic generation methods have to be laser-focused.
Here’s a quick list of things you should be thinking about:
- Device: iOS vs Android. This is the big one. iOS users traditionally spend more money in-app, so advertisers might pay more for them. But Android has way more volume globally. It’s a classic quality vs quantity problem. Don’t just guess, test both.
- OS Version: Why are you showing an ad for a brand new, high-performance game to someone on an iPhone 6? Or an Android from 5 years ago? It wont even run properly! Target newer OS versions for heavy apps. This is so obvious but people just forget.
- GEO: “USA” is not a target. It’s a whole country. If you’re running a food delivery app offer for Grubhub, why are you showing ads in rural Montana where they dont operate? Target by city. Or even zip code if you can.
- Connection Type: WiFi vs Carrier (3G/4G/5G). This is HUGE. If the app is a massive 2GB game, who is gonna download that on their mobile data? Almost nobody. Target WiFi only. But if it’s a carrier billing offer where the charge goes on their phone bill? You ONLY want to target carrier data connections.
It’s common sense. It’s just not common practice, apparently.
Optimizing Your Creatives & Landing Pages
Alright, let’s assume you’ve done everything else right. You have a good offer and your targeting is on point.
Now you gotta actually convince someone to click.
Your creative is EVERYTHING.
For mobile, this means banners and videos. Mostly videos. People have the attention span of a goldfish, you need motion to catch their eye as they’re scrolling through TikTok or whatever.
And please, use a pre-lander.
A pre-lander is a simple page that goes between your ad and the app store. Its job is to pre-sell and pre-qualify the user. Warm them up.
Don’t just direct link. I mean you can… but you’re leaving so much money on the table.
Your pre-lander can be a simple “Top 3 Reasons to Install This App” page. Or a review page (talk about the benefits of the app and use real reviews from the app store). Or a quick quiz. Anything to get that initial “yes” from the user before they see the app store.
And you have to test everything. I’m not kidding.
EVERYTHING.
I had a campaign once, for a VPN. I was getting okay results. I changed the color of the main button on my pre-lander from green to a weird orangey-yellow. Just that. My ROI jumped over 150%. No other changes.
The market is irrational. You don’t argue with it. You just test what it wants and give it to them. Test your headlines, your images, your videos, your buttons… if you’re not A/B testing, you’re not doing CPA marketing. You’re gambling.
Look, this stuff is a grind. It’s not passive. It’s not easy. You’re gonna launch campaigns that fail spectacularly. You’ll lose money before you make it. That’s the price of admission.
But if you stick with it, pay attention to the details, and don’t fall for the “push one button and make millions” nonsense… you can actually build something real.
Now get to work.
Stay hustlin’,
Stephen
