Making Money from Mobile Affiliate Marketing in 2024

Nowadays, mobile technology has reached an extraordinary level of development, and today it is difficult to imagine a person without a smartphone or tablet. The number of those who literally cannot do without mobile gadgets continues to grow, and in 2024 it may reach 7 billion people around the world. Moreover, the latest statistics show that about 60% of modern Internet users prefer to use mobile devices instead of desktop PCs to interact with online services.

 

All these figures indicate the exponential growth of mobile traffic that digital marketers can not ignore. And if you are a webmaster wanting to find out how to make money from smartphones in 2024, you are in the right place. We have written this article to tell you about such a promising area as mobile affiliate marketing, how it works, and all the important things you need to know about to make good profits from mobile traffic.

 

What Is Affiliate Mobile Marketing?

Mobile traffic is growing rapidly, which is why many affiliate marketers have turned their attention to mobile users. The mobile industry today includes a huge number of users, connected devices as well as app marketplaces, and this speaks in favour of the fact that the mobile trend will not lose its strength shortly. However, before we delve into how to make money mobile with mobile affiliate marketing strategies, it is worthwhile to find out what affiliate marketing is in general.

 

Imagine that you have recently found a new restaurant with delicious Mexican dishes. You decided to recommend this restaurant to your foodie friend who also loves Mexican food. As a token of appreciation, the restaurant representatives gave you a discount on your next visit. So, what you have just read is the basic idea of affiliate marketing. Here are the essential elements of affiliate marketing to better understand this marketing scheme:

• Merchant. This is a company selling products or services online. For example, it could be an ebook store, a food delivery service, or an online sportsbook.
• Affiliate. This is you promoting the offers (goods and services) of the Merchant using various marketing channels, for example, social media.
• Customers. These are users who came to the promoted online platform on your recommendation and made a targeted action, most often, buying a product.

 

The good news is that the merchant will pay you a reward for each targeted action made by a customer referred by you. In marketing terms, you will be paid a commission for every sale or lead generated by you. Although you can work on your own (solo affiliate), most often this scheme involves affiliate programs and/or affiliate networks acting as an intermediary between affiliates and merchants. Affiliate programs provide affiliates with all the necessary tools to increase their productivity.

 

So, affiliates working in the times when affiliate marketing was in its infancy, focused on desktop devices as mobile technology was very underdeveloped back then. Over the last 20 years, the world has changed significantly, and most people prefer to use mobile devices for a variety of online activities: from watching videos and chatting with friends to shopping online, ordering food delivery and entertainment (online gaming and gambling).

 

Today’s traffic consists of 55% mobile users, and this number will continue to grow soon. This doesn’t mean that affiliate marketers should focus solely on mobile users. However, there comes a point when you simply cannot ignore mobile traffic anymore, especially when you are operating in verticals like dating, iGaming (casino affiliate or betting affiliate), education, finance and several others.

 

Although affiliate marketing mobile uses the same scheme (Merchant-Affiliate-Customers), it works a lot differently than more traditional affiliate marketing aimed at desktop users. And now is the time to learn about all the important aspects of mobile affiliate marketing so that you can finally choose a good mobile affiliate program and start making good money from driving mobile traffic.

 

Types of Mobile Affiliate Marketing Offers

Mobile affiliate marketing today comes in several different forms, each with its own benefits and target audience. Although modern mobile devices – with their multi-factor authentication systems and advanced security based on users’ biometric data – are much safer than some desktop devices, mobile users still prefer to make small purchases, and you as a mobile affiliate need to take this into account.

 

Therefore, mobile affiliate marketing often uses short offers that are either free, low-cost or on a paid subscription basis. So, let’s take a look at the most common types of mobile offers today:

• Paid subscription service model. Many applications today use the SaaS (Software as a Service) model where users pay a fixed fee for the service they use at certain intervals, for example, once a month. For example, as a gambling affiliate, you may need a tracking solution. The best option for you may be cloud-based mobile affiliate tracking software provided on a paid subscription basis.
• Purchasing a product or service. Although mobile users are not inclined to make expensive purchases, this mobile affiliate marketing offer is gradually gaining momentum. To attract potential customers, you can include some exclusive deals, such as discounts, in your offer.
• App installs. One of the popular activities of mobile affiliate marketers is to incentivize potential customers to install apps, for example, mobile clients of online casinos or betting platforms.

 

In addition, affiliate marketing offers can involve potential customers calling and filling out a form to obtain valuable information that can later be used for marketing campaigns.

 

Common Payout Models

Since mobile affiliate marketing – due to the reasons mentioned above – has its own specifics, not all payout models are applicable here. Here are the 3 most common payout models that most mobile affiliate networks and programs will offer you:

• CPA. This is the payment of a commission for a targeted action performed by a user referred by you. An example of such a targeted action would be registering with an iGaming platform and making a deposit.
• CPI. This is a model according to which you will receive a commission every time a user – who clicks on your affiliate link – installs the promoted app on their device.
• CPL. Unlike the previous option, you will receive a commission from the merchant when the user not only installed the application but also performed a targeted action, for example, filling out a registration form.

 

Some affiliate programs and networks may also offer their affiliates a Revenue Share payment model with payments in the form of a percentage of the revenue brought to the merchant by referred users. However, the above 3 payment models are the most popular in mobile affiliate marketing.

 

Publishers

So, while merchants are the direct owners of online businesses, publishers are organizations looking to earn commissions by promoting merchants’ products and services. While mobile affiliates most often interact with advertising networks, they also collaborate with the following types of publishers:

• Mobile app owners who earn money by showing ads to their users.
• Mobile-friendly website owners who earn money by displaying ads to mobile users.
• Social media and influencers.

 

As for the latter type, it is a way of promoting products when influencers – bloggers who have established a trusted relationship with their audience – showcase products and talk about their benefits.

 

Mobile Ad Channels

Today, there are two main channels for displaying mobile ads: the mobile web itself and apps. Although most mobile users prefer apps, many still use browsers like Google Chrome or Safari to search the web. Going to mobile versions of websites, you may see ads optimized for mobile devices.

 

When it comes to mobile apps, they open up a wide range of possibilities for ad display. From gaming apps to social networks like Facebook or Instagram, today there are many options for in-app advertising. So, as a mobile affiliate marketer, you can target these two major advertising channels to promote offers.

 

The Most Effective Mobile Ad Variants

From search ads, native ads and social media options to email newsletters, traditional affiliate marketing utilizes many variations of advertising. When it comes to mobile affiliate marketing, your advertising options are somewhat limited because mobile devices have smaller screen sizes compared to desktop ones. Below, we have listed 4 mobile advertising options that work best in mobile affiliate marketing.

 

Banners

Available in various formats including static images and animated images, banners help to promote products and increase the number of app downloads. They are also used to display special offers enticing to potential customers. Being cost-effective, banners also allow you to track their performance which makes them ideal for affiliates working in the verticals of iGaming, dating, finances and others.

 

Video Clips

From the mobile version of YouTube to TikTok and Instagram, there are many mobile platforms today that are friendly to the video format. And they can be used to display video ads. Place calls to action in your videos to attract potential customers to your products.

 

Native Ads

Used to display ads in the most natural way possible, native ads are placed on mobile-friendly sites and social media pages. They are designed to look as authentic and relevant to the content on the site as possible, but at the same time attract the attention of potential customers and encourage them to take a targeted action.

 

Gamified Mobile Ads

From matching games, spin-to-win options and scratch-offs to titles offering AR experiences, there are many variations of gamified ads placed in mobile apps. While it is much more complex and expensive to develop, in most cases it pays off with much higher effectiveness than other types of mobile advertising. Due to higher user engagement and improved brand recall, gamified ads show higher conversion rates.

 

Guide to Earning on Mobile Affiliate Marketing

While mobile affiliate marketing on paper looks similar to its more traditional counterpart, there are actually a lot of differences that we’ll cover below. This means that most of your tactics used in traditional affiliate marketing will not work properly for mobile traffic. For you to adjust your marketing campaigns to be suitable for mobile traffic, here’s some important information about mobile users:

• As more tech-savvy people, mobile users are wary of online services. They are more likely to avoid overly intrusive ads that don’t look organic to the surrounding content.
• Mobile users tend not to make major purchases online. To weigh the pros and cons, they are more likely to switch to a desktop device and make the final purchase decision behind it.
• Mobile users can’t focus on something for too long, as news feeds on social media have taught them to do. Therefore, your ads should be eye-catching, short and concise to grab the attention of rather spoiled mobile users.

 

So, as you can see, many old-school tricks and strategies may not work effectively for mobile users. Read the information below carefully to customize your mobile ad campaigns properly.

 

In-App Ads

Today, there are many mobile apps available for download from App Store and Google Play marketplaces. And mobile apps are good for placing ads in them. By taking into account things about your audience such as location and interests, you can attract the attention of potential customers and induce them to take a targeted action by utilizing mobile app affiliate marketing tactics. For this purpose, you can either use off-the-shelf apps or develop your own (more expensive but effective in the long run).

 

Targeting Options

Today’s smartphones are technologically more advanced devices than desktops and laptops. With multiple modules including GPS, they provide valuable data needed for precise ad targeting. As mentioned above, mobile users are impatient and spoiled in terms of digital marketers.

 

This means that they will not tolerate offers that they are not interested in. Using parameters such as user location, device type, OS version and mobile carrier, age and gender, purchasing behaviour and others, you can create targeted advertising campaigns that will bring you good profits.

 

Availability in Any Location

Mobile devices, with their ability to transmit and receive mobile data wirelessly, allow users to interact with online services and applications literally on the go. For you as a mobile affiliate marketer, this means you can use precise geo-targeting to provide users with the most relevant content possible. For example, you can target users near a physical store with ads featuring products sold there as well as information about current promotions and discounts. This will encourage potential customers to visit the store and check out the available offers in person.

 

Pros & Cons of Mobile Affiliate Marketing

Like regular affiliate marketing, affiliate marketing for apps is a viable idea for making money online. However, like any online venture, it has both advantages and disadvantages. Before you dive headfirst into mobile affiliate marketing, be sure to learn about the positives and negatives of this marketing area.

 

Advantages

 

• High prospects for further growth. Although the growth of mobile users is slowing down somewhat, the trend of using smartphones and tablets to interact with online services continues to gain momentum. This means you won’t have a problem with a lack of potential customers regardless of the vertical you choose.
• Lower level of competition. In mobile affiliate marketing, the rules of the game are much more complex due to the novelty and some technicalities. By gaining the necessary knowledge, you will ensure your competitive advantage in this niche.
• More precise targeting. With the ability to collect various mobile device data, you’ll be able to target the most relevant ads to users.
• A simpler way to reach potential customers. You don’t have to create elaborate videos and detailed images for banners to attract potential customers.
• The future is in mobile traffic. The trend towards mobile devices as a means of surfing the internet, socialising on social media and interacting with online services will continue for years to come.

 

Disadvantages

• You need to be a tech-savvy affiliate with experience in mobile app development or enough budget to order third-party development.
• There are still not too many ready-made tools for creating and customizing effective mobile affiliate marketing campaigns.
• Difficulty in developing banners and other types of ads that display well on the screens of various smartphones and tablets.
• Less space to place ads due to the smaller screen size of mobile devices.

 

Bottom Line

So, mobile affiliate marketing is still a new and very promising area that anyone who wants to make money by driving traffic to promoted products should learn. What’s important is that many of the more traditional marketing methods don’t work here, so you need to improve your skills and learn new things to get a successful start in this area. However, by choosing a good affiliate program, you will have access to many tools that will make your life as a mobile affiliate much easier.