case Traffic Monetization dating offers dating traffic casestudy Driving traffic with a minimal budget in dating with 221% ROI, — Damien Belak’s case with HilltopAds & Affmy

Damien Belak achieved a 221% ROI in dating niche advertising with a minimal budget using the HilltopAds platform and Affmy offserts, thanks to fine-tuned campaigns, effective creatives, flexible bid management and constant data analysis.
Affiliate Valley Affiliate Valley 1 week ago 0 3818 7 min

The dating vertical is an excellent starting point for those looking to dive into affiliate marketing. Today, we’ll talk about how to optimize ad campaigns to achieve maximum revenue. Our partner Damien will share his tips, ideas, and recommendations. Additionally, we’ll delve deeper into the topic and introduce new approaches to help you succeed in dating campaigns. Let’s get started!

Key Details

  • Offer: Non-mainstream dating
  • GEO: USA
  • Traffic: Non-mainstream with high and medium activity
  • Ad Format: Mobile Popunder
  • Operating System: Android
  • Device Brands: Genericphone, Huawei, Xiaomi
  • Campaign Period: August 15 – August 17
  • Revenue: $144
  • ROI: 221%

Affmy is an international CPA network registered in Cyprus, boasting a global team and more than 300 exclusive dating offers with worldwide coverage. This focused attention on the dating vertical ensures extensive reach. Affmy is also known for its client-oriented approach, offering personalized conditions and continuously developing new high-converting funnels. Unique solutions are tailored for each partner, addressing specific traffic needs.  

Additionally, if you’re feeling lazy or lack inspiration, you can always use ready-made creatives from Affmy. After all, why reinvent the wheel when you can simply hop on and ride?  

Our partner Damien Belak is a well-known blogger who actively shares his expertise in affiliate marketing. He gained popularity by offering educational materials and courses on earning online. Damien has been experimenting with traffic from HilltopAds and offers from Affmy.  

Damien continues to push boundaries and try new strategies, and we eagerly look forward to seeing what ideas he brings to the table next!

Approach to Running Dating Campaigns

In today’s case, the ad campaign was not only launched for Android-based mobile devices, as in the first example, but also targeted specific brands: Genericphone, Huawei, and Xiaomi. This decision was driven by the popularity of these brands among users in the United States, enabling more effective audience targeting and better control over bid performance.

The campaign was run in English for the US market. While we cannot disclose the exact creatives used, we can share some important tips:

  • Use engaging visuals. Images depicting love, joy, and intimacy are the most effective. Website or app logos are less common and can distract from the core message.
  • Pay attention to the appearance of people in photos. Their look should align with the GEO characteristics to resonate with the target audience.
  • Include catchy headlines with calls to action. Examples: “I’ve sent you a photo, waiting in your DMs right now” or “I want to chat, message me.” Headlines should include a clear call to action that encourages users to interact and respond.

Now, let’s move on to the campaign settings.

HilltopAds Campaign Settings

Before launching an advertising campaign on HilltopAds, you need to register as an advertiser. You can do this via the provided link.

To create an advertising campaign, follow these steps:

  1. Go to the "Create Campaign" section.
  2. Click the "Add Campaign" button.
  3. Select the ad format "Mobile Popunder".
  4. In the "Traffic Channels" section, choose "Non-mainstream" with High and Medium activity.

Next, you need to set up a postback to track results. For a detailed description of working with postbacks and available placeholders, refer to our guide.

Simply put, to get the final offer URL, you need to insert parameters for passing conversions and the source ID. The parameter for passing conversions is click_id, and the source identifier is zone_id.

As a result, the URL should look like this:
https://my_offer.net/?&click_id={{ctoken}}&s1={{zoneid}}
{{ctoken}} — HilltopAds parameter for passing conversions.
{{zoneid}} — HilltopAds parameter for passing the source identifier.

You can add any parameter from the available options necessary for further campaign analysis. However, remember that to pass conversions, you must include the click_id parameter in the final link.

Next, set the required targeting settings:

    • GEO: USA
    • Device: Mobile
    • OS: Android
    • OS Version: Android 10, 11, 12
    • Language: English
    • Browser: Chrome
    • Mobile Device Brands: Genericphone, Huawei, Xiaomi.


    You can also configure campaign filters to allow or block Proxy and WebView traffic. In our case, for the Non-Mainstream Dating offer, we disabled Proxy traffic to reduce the likelihood of receiving irrelevant user clicks:

    • Proxy: Block
    • WebView: Allow

    WebView is software that opens the offer's landing page within a mobile application. In other words, when the app is opened, users are redirected to a single-page website with the offer.


    Instead of setting daily budget limits, we optimized the campaign using a tracker from day one. This approach allowed for more effective tracking and management, ensuring more precise ad delivery. We’ll discuss this strategy in greater detail later.

    If needed, you can also set a campaign schedule. Our campaign will run 24/7. If, after initial tests, we notice significant changes in conversions throughout the day, we will adjust targeting to specific days and times.

    The final step before launching a dating campaign is to set the cost per thousand impressions (CPM). Here, it’s essential to pay attention to the traffic volume chart in the top-left corner, which calculates premium, minimum, and recommended CPM rates.

    Tip from Damien: If you have the budget and are confident in the offer and traffic source, consider increasing your bids. While this may lead to higher expenses, you’ll also receive more traffic. In this case, I chose a more conservative approach, starting with a bid of $0.90 and gradually increasing it based on initial results. In the future, I’ll stop increasing the bid once I’m satisfied with the traffic speed and may slightly raise it again if strong conversions start coming in.

    For beginners or those with limited budgets, this strategy can be especially helpful for high-volume traffic sources. It allows you to extend your campaign’s duration without quickly exhausting your budget. Additionally, you can sort traffic using blacklists and whitelists in the "Tracking and Optimization" section.

    Tip from HilltopAds:
    To test a new offer, start with the recommended CPM. This will help determine whether the offer is effective and whether the campaign needs further optimization.

    Optimization and Tracker
    For the integration of HilltopAds and Affmy, as well as for more detailed tracking of campaign statistics, the Voluum tracker was used.

    To get started with it, you need to add the traffic source and the offers you plan to promote. Refer to the setup guide for Voluum and HilltopAds for detailed instructions.

    The collected data will help you break down the campaign's performance, allowing you to quickly disable non-performing sources. In our case, we manually disabled sources that received more than 2,500 impressions without any conversions, as well as sources that generated conversions with an effective CPA exceeding $4. These sources were added to the blacklist to optimize the overall campaign.

    Tip: If your current traffic volume is low, it’s recommended to exclude all sources with an ROI below -40%. Such a low ROI suggests that these sources are unlikely to convert in the future, even considering possible conversion overflow.

    This optimization strategy ensured the campaign’s profitability. Detailed statistics can be seen in the provided screenshot:

    We are excited to offer you a special promo code: DATINGAV.
    Use it when making your first deposit of $100 or more on HilltopAds, and you’ll receive an additional 20% bonus on your deposit amount!
    Statistics
    During the 3-day test period of the ad campaign with an offer from Affmy, the results were positive:
    • ROI: 221%
    • Spent: $44.86
    • Earned: $144
    We invite you to review the detailed statistics from the HilltopAds advertiser dashboard, clearly illustrating Damien's campaign results:

    Below is a screenshot showcasing comprehensive data from the CPA network, highlighting the earnings generated during Damien's campaign:

    These results demonstrate the high efficiency of the campaign and represent an excellent outcome for the testing phase. Starting with a minimal bid, Damien was able to evaluate the offer’s profitability and plans to gradually increase the CPM, allowing him to control the budget and maximize ROI in the future.
    Conclusion
    This case with an offer from Affmy highlights several key factors necessary for success in affiliate marketing within the dating vertical:
    • Thorough Campaign Setup: Success depends on properly configuring parameters such as geolocation, device, and operating system. For example, targeting mobile devices with Android OS and popular brands like Huawei and Xiaomi ensured precise targeting.
    • Effective Creatives: Visuals and headlines that evoke emotions and prompt action play a crucial role in capturing the attention of the target audience.
    • Continuous Data Analysis: Monitoring campaign performance with a tracker allows for the quick identification and disabling of ineffective traffic sources, which is essential for cost optimization.
    • Flexible Bid Management: Starting with minimal bids, Damien was able to adapt his strategy based on results, allowing for efficient budget management and improved ROI.
    This case serves as a valuable lesson for anyone aiming for success in the dating vertical. Careful setup, testing, and constant data analysis are key factors that help achieve outstanding results in affiliate marketing.

    "I hope my strategy will be helpful for those just starting out and working with a limited budget. Remember, even the smallest step can lead to big results — as they say, 'Even a turtle can win the race if it doesn’t rush!' I wish everyone success on our marketing journey! I’ll definitely continue working with HilltopAds because the traffic here converts like hotcakes!" — Damien.
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