Do you want to generate more traffic and revenue for your business? We’ve put together a handy list of 20 paid traffic sources that will boost your clicks, conversions, and sales FAST!
Read on for more information about the best paid traffic opportunities – and how to use them.
The Value of Paid Traffic Sources
In 2018, 72% of marketers vowed to increase their marketing budgets to invest more in paid traffic sources, particularly pay-per-click (PPC). It’s easy to understand why: paid traffic sources can help you generate a LOT of web traffic to your offer or website!
However, picking one at random probably won’t help you. Also, going with the most popular might not be your best bet either. (Sure, everyone’s using Facebook Ads, but is it right for your brand?)
Is Paid Traffic Right for Your Business?
There are a few things you need to consider before you begin investing in paid traffic. For one, who’s your target audience? For another, on what platform are you most likely to find them? What devices do they use? Investigate your audience before you find yourself a source.
After familiarizing yourself with all that marketing terminology, you’ll come to realize just how vast the concept of digital advertising is and how hard it is to get traffic, generate leads, and make money!
That being said, there are tons of great sources out there with the potential to grow your traffic and revenue. The odds are in your favor, and whatever your niche, there’s a platform for you. You just need to figure out what you’re willing to spend your money on.
Here are picks for 20 great sources of paid traffic and advertising that are actually worth the investment!
1. Google Ads
Google is the most popular search engine in the world. So yes, Google Ads was an incredibly obvious choice, but it has to be said anyway. When you consider the devices and sites your audience uses, you know that Google has its finger in almost every metaphorical pie out there.
You’ve also got a ton of advertising options to choose from with Google Ads, as well as a relatively low cost per click (CPC) rate.
2. YouTube Ads
When you talk about YouTube, you’re talking about a whole new audience! These are people who genuinely care about the quality of your content: specifically, video-based content.
With banners, videos, and text, you get a decent range of ad formats to choose from. Additionally, since YouTube is available in more than 70 countries, you can bet that you’ll get in front of an international audience, targeting your advertisements to various demographics around the world.
3. Facebook Ads
Whether you’re a newbie or a seasoned marketer, Facebook is a fantastic place to source your traffic. The thing with Facebook is that it’s incredibly easy to use, so even if you know absolutely nothing about advertising, you’ll still be able to find your way around.
Some people do have negative opinions about Facebook’s current situation and believe that the site’s popularity has died down in recent times (particularly after Apple’s iOS 14 update). However, as things stand now, it still remains a good place to invest – though you will want to explore other avenues as well.
4. Instagram Ads
Instagram is where you’ll find the largest concentration of “millennials.” All your targeted campaigns will be run through Facebook, and as a bonus, you’re not required to have an Instagram account to run a campaign on Instagram.
One of the cons of this kind of advertising is limited formats. Given that Instagram is a visual-based platform, you can only use videos or images to get your message across.
5. LinkedIn Ads
LinkedIn is a fantastic source of traffic for any B2B campaign. The targeting is also noteworthy, with options that include industry, position, role, and more.
You can get your content sponsored and also send sponsored messages that reach directly into the user’s inbox!
6. Pinterest Ads
Here’s a fun fact: Women make up 81% of Pinterest users. With its own unique interface, Pinterest definitely has built quite the niche for arts and crafts enthusiasts, home decor, and the DIY fanbase.
However, while you can reap long term benefits on Pinterest, it also requires some consistent work to get there. Just keep Pinterest affiliate marketing in mind if you’re looking to promote any ClickBank offers that are predominantly for women, such as the popular exercise program Yogaburn.
7. Baidu
Does your target demographic include a lot of Asian countries? If yes, Baidu should be your go-to! It allows you to serve your ads in markets that Western ad platforms generally can’t reach.
Just keep in mind, in order to start with Baidu ads, you’ll have to contact them and get approved.
8. Spotify Ad Studio
Spotify is yet another site that can be used to target a wide range of niches. A huge percentage of Spotify users have free accounts, which means that your reach is well worth the investment.
Being a relatively newer platform means a limited range of formats – however, given the popularity of the platform, it is safe to say that Spotify ads will likely increase in the very near future.
9. Snapchat
If your brand caters to a younger demographic, then your brand will do well on Snapchat. With over 200 million users a DAY, this is a one-stop shop for anyone looking to market to a global network of users!
Keep in mind that since Snapchat is a mobile app, you wouldn’t be able to target users on devices other than smartphones and tablets.
10. Twitter Advertising
Twitter often sees users that generate a comparatively larger income than most social media sites. As an added plus, it also has a decent CTR rate compared to other traffic sources, as well as less competition.
11. Reddit
Here’s an interesting statistic: 54% of Reddit users happen to be American. This popular platform allows you to target your advertising by device and it is quite flexible with its settings as well. You know that “there’s a subreddit for everything,” so no matter how obscure your niche is, you’ll be very likely to find enthusiasts for it on Reddit.
However, in compariosn to other traffic sources, Reddit does seem to attract more gamers and those that conventionally might be deemed to be of the “geek” variety – so make sure that’s a match for your audience.
12. Outbrain
Outbrain is one of the most popular native advertising platforms out there right now.
Some of the many perks to using Outbrain include high-quality traffic, header/image testing, and a trial period. One con worth mentioning is, during the last year, they redefined their policies to make them stricter.
13. Epom
An interesting feature with Epom is the collaborations with Millennial Media, AdMob, and InMobi that allow it to reach a wider network of users.
Additionally, it also allows you a 30-day trial period to advertise with them, giving you the opportunity to experiment before you invest.
14. Yandex
As an affiliate or seller, if your target demographic is Russia, why not go straight to them?
Yandex has surprisingly low competition and provides a much cheaper alternative to other paid advertising. And of course, there’s no better way to reach Russians if that’s who you’re targeting!
15. Vibrant Media
Vibrant Media is a great network that allows your content access to more than 6,000 publishing sites online. It offers real-time targeting, native ad placement, and a variety of advertising formats, including mosaic, storyboard, and lightbox.
One of its main focuses is placing your content within the right context to increase the likelihood of viewer engagement.
16. Airnow Media
As far as mobile traffic goes, Airnow Media is one of the top advertising networks and a great paid traffic source! It’s got a wide range of advertising formats, fantastic support, great tracking, and a good interface to work with.
17. Revcontent
Revcontent is by no means the biggest player in the native ads field, but it does seem to have incredible potential.
With its simple, user-friendly interface, Revcontent has been growing immensely in the past year and allows your content to access top-notch sites, including the likes of Forbes.
18. AdRoll
AdRoll specializes in a very specific type of paid advertising: retargeting. Their services are particularly useful for Facebook Ads, Twitter, and other social media platforms.
If you’re looking to improve your leads, this is definitely worth a shot.
19. Bing Ads
Okay, so the first thing you need to know is that Bing and Yahoo got together. If you advertise on Bing, you’re going to leverage the audiences of both these search engines. However, keep in mind that this is still just 1/10th of Google’s traffic.
That being said, if you’re looking to experiment with paid search, Bing Ads is definitely the best alternative to Google right now!
20. Tapjoy
Reaching well over 500 million users, Tapjoy’s coverage, flexibility, and range of functions make it a great option for mobile advertising.
This paid traffic sourceis an especially good site for affiliate marketers!
How to Manage Your Paid Strategy
So, we just threw 20 big names in paid advertising at you! The question is, what now?
My recommendation for managing a paid traffic source is twofold:
- Define your current overall strategy.
- Meet your audience where they are.
What do I mean?
First, you need to know what you’re trying to accomplish. Are you focused on maximizing sales today by routing traffic to an offer? Are you building a list via affiliate bridge page that you can put offers in front of later?
Are you retargeting traffic that’s visited your sales page without clicking through to the order form?
You can always change your strategy later, but it’s key that you START with one solid approach and see it through before jumping into a new one.
This may sound obvious, but media buyers sometimes need to be reminded: Different platforms will work better for different stages in the customer journey. Google Ads makes it easy for you to target buyer intent keywords for BOFU users, while many B2B lead gen campaigns on LinkedIn are best for TOFU users who may just be learning about your solution. (And then there’s native ads vs Facebook Ads.)
Similarly, your audience may not actually be on every paid ad platform out there! Remember how Pinterest is primarily female, and Reddit skews toward younger males? Or how Snapchat is a B2C platform while LinkedIn is B2B?
It’s important to think through the customer journey from the standpoint of your ideal audience. Only then can you really pinpoint the right paid ad platform(s) for your business.
Getting the Most Out of Your Paid Traffic Sources
In addition to choosing the right paid traffic sources to run your ad campaigns, you also need to focus on the mechanics of marketing.
Effective copy, solid ad creative (ie images and videos), and a great CTA all go a long way in getting the most out of your investment. If you’re using content to source traffic, then you have to ensure it’s top-quality material that has the ability to stand out amidst the clutter that prevails. If you don’t find success after experimenting with multiple sources, then it’s time to re-evaluate your strategy.
As the old saying goes – and I’m paraphrasing here – a media buyer’s work is never done!
If you found this helpful, you’re sure to love at some of our other posts. Have a gander at the rest of our blog for great tips on affiliate marketing – and don’t forget to check out ClickBank’s official affiliate marketing education platform, Spark! Our team of experts covers all sorts of important topics, including Facebook Ads