The dating vertical is a constant, fruitful, and generative hunting ground for affiliate marketing, not the least because of the insane number of people who use it daily. According to TrulyExperience, there are over 8,000 dating websites, and Tinder has over 7.86 million users. If that isn’t enough, according to Business of Apps there are over 300 million users of dating apps worldwide.
It’s self-explanatory, but that is a BIG market, and your target audience lives there. Not only this, but the dating vertical will last forever. People will be looking for love until the end of time, so why not present them with your fantastic products, services, and business at the same time?
Keep reading or checkout this video guide to learn how to make money online promoting affiliate dating programs.
Types of Affiliate Dating Offers
There are two types of affiliate dating offers: mainstream and adult. Mainstream dating is all about matching, dating, and meeting somebody to love and cherish. It’s what we think of when we hear the term ‘online dating’, whereas Adult is more about sex. Generally, the adult offer has a higher turnover than mainstream, but both are prominent locations to gain ad viewership.
Payout Models
You’re probably wondering what payout models are available. Let’s roll.
CPL (cost per lead)
This metric ascertains how cost-efficient your marketing campaigns are for lead generation.
SOI (single opt-In)
SOI is a ‘conversion’ and is accounted for when users register with your website. This one can be considered risky due to a lack of lead generation. For instance, it’s easy for customers to enter information such as phone numbers and addresses incorrectly. Even a single digit will prevent them from signing up and result in a lost conversion. In simple terms, this option is not recommended.
DOI (double opt-in)
This option is similar to SOI but goes one step further. Once customers have filled out the details in the registration form, they must confirm registration with a confirmation email. Like the SOI, this isn’t recommended too highly, because it not only asks users to fill the form out but to go to their emails and click a confirmation link.
Revshare
Through Revshare, you get a paid percentage when users purchase memberships. With this one, leads don’t lead to sales unless they drive more paid memberships. Advertisers get paid once users convert. PPS (pay-per-sale)
PPS pays you a flat rate for each member brought to the site or app. This one is simple and easy to do because websites publish ads on their pages to gain revenue for each sale. It doesn’t necessarily create leads, but its focus gains sales.
PPC (pay-per-call)
Similar to the CPL model, PPC generates ad sales based on visitors placing phone calls. Each call equates to a sale, or click. Once the phones are buzzing, advertisers choose to pick their profits up through the Revshare model or a flat rate per call.
CPI (cost per install)
CPI earns you a commission every time a user installs the app. Naturally, this applies mainly to mobile devices and tablets. The aim is to promote the app so that users add it to their app roster.
Which is The One For You? 🧐
There is no one size to fit all when it comes to dating offers because each one has its own purpose. Like many things, it depends on your business, and what you are trying to achieve. For instance, if your goal is to generate new leads, then CPL is the best option. Conversely, PPS is the most pragmatic choice if you need more sales.
To newcomers, we recommend testing new offers and GEOs with lead generation models such as SOI and DOI. This means that you can save your budget and time.
In Adsdoom you can choose the CPA model and pay for conversions. We start with a ‘test period’, wherein our algorithm determines the spots and countries that bring the most conversions. Read the link above to know everything about that!
Best Dating Affiliate Programs of 2023
There are many affiliate programs out there, and some of these focus on more than dating verticals, but the ones we’ve chosen have some of the best features out there.
For that purpose, don’t just skim this article and make a snap decision. Investigate each option fully and make an informed decision. Woo, with that disclaimer out of the way, let’s take a look!
Dating Smartlink
There are many platforms that use the Dating Smartlink as an interface by which their users can track their affiliate marketing campaigns.
A SmartLink is an innovative piece of kit that individualizes each and every click for the best conversions, without the hassle of creating multiple campaigns. Let’s take a look at its mechanics.
Step 1
Your SmartLink is in place and a user clicks on it. Your chosen system then gets data about the user, such as their location, device, language, and traffic type.
Step 2
SmartLink displays them with an optimal offer. So, based upon the information above, it guides the user to the offer most likely to incite a conversion.
Step 3
Get statistics and real-time reports, that are accessible via an all-in-one platform. Then you can compare your campaigns, see what works best, and design future campaigns based on the conclusions.
The Benefits
SmartLinks saves time, and money, and offer a great amount of flexibility for your AI and human conversion processes. They even have a solid track record of increasing affiliate ROIs by 25%.
Best ad Formats To Run Dating Offers
That covers the programs, models, and SmartLink benefits, but which ad formats are the best for your dating offers?
Native ads
Native ads blend in with the publication’s house style and blend snugly. They are non-intrusive and fit the editorial style without being deceptive. They work particularly well in the dating vertical, as is proven by this case study.
Banner ads
The best way to think of banner ads is in two words: prominent placement. Often, they are at the top of the screen, and in a big (wait for it) banner format. They require a bit more creativity than dating native ads due to this. Typically, banner ads need to be unique, provocative, and have clear CTAs.
Banner ads come in 6 sizes and have many potential placements, but advertisers tend to focus on these two: 300×250 and 300×100. We would recommend this as well. In contrast to native ads, advertisers can animate and implement videos into their banners, which is great for CTR (click-through rate).
Classic Push Ads
Push ads are a form of native advertising. It means presenting ads to users’ desktop or mobile devices in a non-intrusive and user-friendly fashion. They contain a push title, a push message, and a push image. The most familiar form of this ad is seen below. It is a widely used form of ad, as it has such a low chance of bot traffic, high global reach, and a higher click-through rate than other ad mediums (even if just because the user’s thumb slipped).
In-Page Push ads
These are notifications that pop up while users are surfing the website. Users don’t have to subscribe to see them, and they are usually presented in messaging formats with snazzy imagery. They aim to establish a personal connection, and so are very on-brand in the dating vertical.
Dating ad Creatives: Best Practices
Intrigue users
Come up with compelling text and images that make them crave for more info about your offer.
✉️ New Message. Amy: New audio (00:19)
💬 Hi, I’m Ava. Let’s chat?
Keep It Positive
It is important to avoid negative tones and lexicology. For instance, don’t use terms such as “worst”, “mistake”, or “never”. These words connote negativity and won’t interest your target audience. Instead, use terms such as “surprising”, “secret”, “unbelievable” etc.
Incorporate numbers
Numbers are a powerful tool for capturing attention. Ads that use statistics, and figures, and generally present themselves as reliable sources of information.
📍 We have found 31 singles in your area
💕 19 single women within 3 km of your location
Research
Spend some time doing research and google the beauty standards of the country you’ll be targeting. Take into consideration that what can be successful in one country, it can totally be the opposite in another one. Research a little bit about the culture of the target GEO and your campaign will be splendid! For example, ad creatives with older women convert better in European countries.
Use macroses and emojis
You can use macroses with Push and Native ad formats. For example, enter {country},{city}, or {state} to replace the user’s location name. But if you mention something about the location, then include it on the pre-landing page, otherwise, it misleads users.
Consider using emojis, since they convey emotion and clarify the intention behind them.
Use images that match the landing page and the offer.
If the information on the creative does not match the landing page, then the chance of losing a user will greatly increase.
Split testing
Split testing or A/B testing is an essential part of media buying processes. What works for one person may not necessarily work for another person. So you need to understand which ads are performing better. Use at least 10 ad creatives in each ad campaign and keep them refreshed once a week.
Bidding & Optimization Tips
In general, we would highly recommend launching separate ad campaigns for different devices. This means a separate campaign for mobile, desktop, and tablets. Also, for each campaign, make use of the different traffic types as described below:
RON
RON stands for Running On Network, and it is a budget-friendly way to test the vastness of everything that is available at your disposal. You can get RON traffic at the minimum bid. So, it is essentially a cheap way to test the waters, and a great way to test-run your campaigns.
Prime
Prime provides exclusive, in-demand traffic at a premium price. This method has proven itself time and time again as a reliable traffic type.
Members Area
The member’s area traffic type targets spots of online platforms with registered users. This way, you gain precise control of your price. You can also set a higher bid for the member’s area and a lower bid for RON traffic.
Optimizer
You can even use our Optimizer, an extremely handy tool. It blacklists traffic sources that underperform and adjusts the bids according to rules that you set. This not only saves time, but analyzes each ad spot on its own merits and makes the best of your ads on your chosen stipulations.
Retargeting
Like other platforms, we have a retargeting tool. Retargeting (or remarketing) is the ability to show ads to users who have already been on your website. Usually, visitors interact with your ad and then leave your site. But with the retargeting tool, the ad appears to them again on another website, reinforcing the message. Its aim is to remind them of your offer and convert them into customers.
It is recommended that you join a platform that has a retargeting tool, specifically because they have a direct positive impact on the clicks your ads get. Retargeted display ads, for instance, get 2.5x the number of clicks as a regular campaign ad.
Conclusion
The dating vertical is a popular and effective medium for affiliate marketers to present their campaigns, and it could improve your visibility and brand affinity to a massive degree. As with all other verticals, there are a lot of different angles to consider for running it. But study your USP and your target audience, make one effective marketing decision after another, and pretty soon your campaign for the dating vertical will start to take shape.
Ready to develop a new strategy? Let’s do it 🚀