PEERCLICK : What is a Tier of Traffic and Why Geo-targeting Matters?
No matter what your location is — affiliate marketing allows advertisers to target ads at people all over the world. Just like it does not matter whether you have any relation to this or that country or not — you can earn money being HERE and showing your ads OUT THERE SOMEWHERE. The most important thing is to pay close attention to WHERE you show your ads.
That is why we are here to tell you all about different tiers of traffic in affiliate marketing, and why geo-targeting matters. Get ready to scale your business!
What are country tiers in affiliate marketing?
For our convenience, all countries of the world have been divided into three groups. They are called ‘tiers’ and each country falls into one of the three tiers — Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3 — depending on a number of factors, like:
geographical location,
financial status,
legal regulations,
languages,
technological advancements,
society and ethnicity.
In some sources, you can also find mentions of Tier 4. It’s a non-traditional classification, so we don’t want things to get more complicated for you. But just know, those who set aside Tier 4 as a separate category, mean the worst-performing GEOs coming from Tier 3, or simply countries with unstable political situations. In its simplest terms, these are those countries where advertising is in question as well as your chance of making money.
So what countries belong to each group? See the list below.
After a quick view, it is possible to draw a conclusion that:
Tier 1 consists of mostly English speaking countries plus rich Western European ones.
Tier 2 is a mix of countries around the world that can be characterized as medium level countries.
Tier 3 includes all remaining countries. Put bluntly, the poorest, the least developed countries, or simply the least attractive for affiliate advertising. And despite such an unpromising introduction — don’t be too hasty in taking them away, there’s a huge potential in Tier 3 countries. But first things first. I will come back to this point later on.
Why is geo-targeting essential for digital advertising?
Geo-targeting is a vital aspect of any digital advertising strategy. The aim of it is to help advertisers optimize the efficiency of their campaigns. In what way, you may ask. It’s very simple — by showing ads only where relevant, without spending time, efforts, and money on those countries and regions where people wouldn’t be interested or… simply couldn’t understand the ad’s message.
The logic is simple. To earn money, you have to deliver the message to your potential customers only where it matters, which in turn is often based on your target audience’s geographical location. That’s why geo-targeting is a key component of any successful marketing strategy and you have to put as much effort as possible into precise targeting and careful optimization.
And if you think that the only thing you can know about your audience thanks to geo-targeting is where their IP addresses are from, you’re sadly mistaken. Geo-targeting allows you to learn more about your ads recipients, including such information as to their:
language,
financial status,
interest in your offer,
tech-adoption,
latest trends and hypes.
How? Google Trends is to help out. Check the most frequently used keywords or search phrases per country or language, what ads are already shown and which receive the most traffic. And don’t forget that spy tools are your partner in crime here.
Tiers characteristics
As we have already discussed the importance of geo-targeting, we’re ready to proceed further — let’s have a look at each tier or where exactly you have to invest your advertising budget.
Tier 1 GEOs
United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada plus France, Germany, and Italy… The bee’s knees! What else can I say?
As can be seen and as I’ve already mentioned, Tier 1 consists of the English speaking countries plus the three Western European ones. Long story short, these are definitely rich countries, with a huge spending potential, high technological advancement, and broad mobile devices adoption. These are exactly these countries, each affiliate seeks to work with.
Yes, such a presentation sounds sweet but… remember, all medals have two faces. In this case, it means that the market in Tier 1 GEOs is highly saturated, the competition is tight, bids are higher than with other tiers, people are more conscious of your ads, and often know how to avoid them or simply tend to block them completely.
Tier 2 GEOs
This tier is a mixture of the remaining European countries, Asian countries, and the better-developed countries from the African continent. In short, these are less affluent countries, but still pretty good for living. Nevertheless, it’s clear that compared to Tier 1 countries, countries from Tier 2 are less prosperous — they have a smaller spending potential. However, much depends on the exact country. That’s why despite the whole tier characteristics, it makes sense to check how a particular country performs — some of them might surprise you a lot.
So, Tier 2 GEOs are definitely worth giving a go as they convert well, their technological development is quite strong and most importantly, the bid prices and competition are much smaller than with Tier 1 GEOs. This altogether then makes Tier 2 a prosperous segment of the affiliate advertising market.
The interesting thing about Tier 2 countries as well, though — they tend to travel up and down the list. Thus, the list is not fixed — Tier 2 GEOs can approach closely to Tier 1 and vice versa — to Tier 3. It’s a fickle world, my friend, don’t forget!
Tier 3 GEOs
For some affiliates, the Tier 3countries is undiscovered land. Undiscovered and underrated. Although its characteristics are really appealing — little rules, lots of traffic for very occasional prices, much smaller competition. Moreover, many campaigns that wouldn’t even be accepted in other GEOs are scoring it big in Tier 3.
Though not everyone understands it, there’s a huge potential in Tier 3 GEOs and more and more offers actually make sense to be run here. The technology, mobile adoption, online payments — all these have moved forward significantly in the last few years and continue to grow.
And most importantly, there’s no other Tier that can offer you that much traffic for such low prices. And despite it’s volatile and fluctuates a lot, you have a chance to test your campaigns for peanuts! Doesn’t everything look wonderful?
Well, I see that trying to figure this stuff out on the spot is hard, so have a look at our table of tiers characteristics.
So, to sum up, Tier 1 countries require a lot of experience, dedication, proper budget, and a killing offer, people actually want to see. Tier 2 countries are a perfect choice for both — more experienced and newbies. Tier 3 countries are promising but not everyone sees it this way.
Geo-targeting and optimization tips for successful campaigns
You have to be careful when choosing what tiers and countries to target, so here is a list of top industry tips on geo-targeting and deciding for a tier of traffic made for you:
1. Target it all — not the very best idea — your soul purpose is to choose a special audience with some specific characteristics and give them your full attention.
2. Forget about limiting yourself — leave behind all limits and run your campaigns in different GEOs.
3. Keep apart your campaigns per country to make correct decisions.
4. Of course, this doesn’t concern cases of multi-geo campaigns. But even there separation of different GEOs before starting a campaign is not so dusty ;)
5. Cheap traffic — is your friend — don’t hesitate to test all your campaigns with cheap traffic.
6. Use our tables (above) to understand correctly your abilities. If you are going to spend less than 1000$ for testing — it’s better to start with Tier 3. In case of higher sums, you can try higher Tiers.
7. Think big! You should have enough space for significant growth! If volumes in your GEOs are low — all your work will be ineffective.
8. Who owns the information, owns the world! You should collect as much information and data as you can!
9. Small restriction can ruin a big campaign. Learn carefully all offer restrictions.
10. You have a cool offer, but there are limitations in a given tier? Try another region!
11. Tier 1 countries are quite restrictive, while Tier 3 is up for grabs.
12. Think of market saturation and creative fatigue — it’s always easier to last longer if the competition is smaller.
13. Don’t forget to adjust your creatives to match the target audience and tap into current/local demand even if you run the same offer in various GEOs.
14. Your ad visuals have to comply with the audience’s likings.
15. Research is everything. You have to know as much as possible about the countries and regions you want to target. Check what’s legal and what isn’t here.
16. Localization matters! If you want to be understood (and you exactly do!), translate your ad’s and lander’s copy.
17. Personalized content rules! Ad local buzz-words, sayings, or slang to your ad copy.
18. Currency and date formats are also important!
19. Focusing on creating high-quality ads is paramount. If you do think it’s okay to copycat ads from spy tools, you’re terribly wrong.
20. Test, test, test! Testing your campaigns with tracker PeerClick is a key to success in affiliate marketing.
Well, I gave you something to think about. Now it’s your turn to reevaluate all options and choose the best tier to run your ad. And fortunately, you won’t have any problems choosing the best ad tracker — you have already know who to turn to!
