Top Affiliate Marketing Mistakes to Avoid in the Dating Niche

While affiliate marketing remains one of the top channels for revenue generation, especially in the ever-green niche of online dating. Many factors affect the success of a dating vertical affiliate program. In theory, it all goes down to quality offers and high traffic. But in practice, several common mistakes can seriously affect your campaign ROI. Below are the top areas to watch out if you want to make the most of your advertising efforts.

Sloppy Targeting

Even the best dating offers will not stand a chance of converting if the targeting is not quite right. This one is supposed to be the self-explanatory axiom of any marketing campaign. Still, in practice, targeting is the area that leaves a lot of room for mistakes, especially in the dating niche. Besides demographic targeting, there are other important inputs to consider, for example:

• App-specific features aimed at user behavior and dating intent may differ even within the same demographic group. So, besides analyzing the market and the age parameters, it makes more sense to focus on specific app features. Because this is the primary factor that boosts conversions;
• GEO location parameters — very few online services are location-independent, and optimizing dating traffic sources. Often rests on background knowledge of cultural specifics in a given region. Even when operating within one ad region, i.e., Western Europe. It is important to keep in mind that dating specifics in Germany and Italy are very different. Despite the common border and general proximity.
• Device preferences — it should be clear by now that all content must be optimized for mobile; however, many marketers ignore user’s device and OS preferences (iOS vs Android is only the obvious start), which affects user experiences and results in lower ROI;

High-converting dating offers

• Inconsistent messaging — high-converting dating offers, especially the ones resulting in paying for a site membership, are generally the result of long-term advertising campaigns; very few people pay for a site membership after clicking on just one link. To boost the chances of conversion, it is very important to keep the message consistent —especially for younger, mobile-native generation of users who can spot branding inconsistencies a mile away;
• Failure to time the campaigns right — timing is the key when converting dating offers are concerned. With affiliate marketing, timing the messages right can be very tricky — after all, we are not sending out mass emails. But it is still possible to target the content and its message based on how far a specific user has gone down the decision-making funnel. Some are only looking around, while others are already thinking about which card to use to pay for a subscription — and you need different messages for both groups if you want that conversion to finally happen. Marketers can use different tools to understad lead’s conversion readiness, but the most functional analytics usually comes as part of pricey corporate business software only quality affiliate networks invest in. In other words – networks with exclusive direct and in-house offers, like AdsEmpire, stand better chance of converting leads via timely campaigns than networks than allocate little effort to proper lead segmentation.

Ignoring Offer Quality

Another surprisingly common mistake that affects ROI, the marketer’s reputation and, ironically, is directly related to sloppy targeting. There are hundreds of top dating offers for all ages and demographics, but what works for one group will never work for another. There is no universal guide on how to choose dating offers, but there are some key parameters to consider:

• Targeting parameters, described in more detail above;
• Traffic types for dating offers, that may be very different and yet must perfectly align with the offer and the intended demographics;
• Industry trends that may fluctuate and affect user understanding of what makes a quality dating offer in the first place;
• Affiliate monetization terms and conditions that are not created equal.

The last part is, perhaps, the most important one for anyone who wants to turn affiliate marketing into a regular income source. Generally, choosing direct dating offers is a wiser. More transparent strategy that allows advertisers a greater degree of control and monitoring. Here, choosing the right affiliate partners with direct dating offers is the primary thing to focus on.

AdsEmpire, for example, can offer a series of direct, 100% transparent dating offers.  And, what is even more important, the platform has a dedicated. Round-the-clock support team always ready to share the latest market insights and help choose the best combination of offers and geos. Some great example of available direct offers that can boost conversions and generate quality traffic include: 

Failure to Disclose Ads

No one likes ambush advertising these days, and failing to disclose affiliate links can seriously disrupt the success of your campaign. As already mentioned, even the best dating offers do not convert people on the spot. So if you plan to monetize your advertising efforts through subscriptions, transparency is the key. However, this same principle works even if you plan to monetize traffic. Your audience must know why they leave your site and what they can expect to see on affiliate pages.

Another thing to watch out for in your affiliate marketing efforts is the number of links per post. There is no universal formula on how much is too much, but a post overflowing with partner links kills the whole point of quality affiliate advertising — that is, discreet, valuable, and unobtrusive advertising. Overspamming posts with affiliate links can be even more dangerous than poor targeting or failing to disclose your partnerships. 

Poor Choice of Affiliate Platforms

All in all, the success of affiliate marketing largely depends on one’s choice of partners and products to represent. That much is as true for the dating vertical as it is for any other type of product or service. Besides the importance of aligning your traffic sources for dating offers in question, it mostly goes down to choosing the right partners with offers you can adequately promote. Choosing reliable advertisers with direct offers, transparent payouts, and — equally important — different location tiers is as important as figuring out your audience and your traffic types.

Another important and often overlooked parameter when choosing the right partners is the support quality — with affiliate marketing that can turn into a round-the-clock job. Support quality is one of the key factors to determine platform reliability. Registering with AdsEmpire can help you access hundreds of high-converting dating offers 24/7. The friendly support will also help you choose the best monetization plans that work for your traffic sources — so give it a try after you’ve figured out your audience’s needs!