The Pitfalls of Affiliate Marketing: Why Motive and Mislead Are To Be Avoided
Every affiliate marketer wants maximum conversions at minimal cost. Some chase this goal by taking their time to come up with new creative and funnel strategies, while others turn to motive and mislead, often without realizing it.
Surprisingly, many webmasters are unfamiliar with these concepts, unable to distinguish motive/mislead in creatives, leading to rejections, payment denials, and offer closures.
So let’s learn these terms and remember once and for all how not to design creatives, so we don’t end up banned by the affiliate network.
What’s a motive?
A motive is when creatives promise a reward for taking a specific action. As a result, potential leads seeing the ad and clicking on it are solely interested in getting the promised bonus.
For example, when it comes to crypto offers, a lead coming from a motive-based creative might register on the platform, possibly make a deposit, claim their bonus, and try to withdraw it. They have no desire to trade, make further deposits, or risk their own money.
In short, a motive is when an arbitrator’s creative doesn’t genuinely make the user want the advertised product but motivates the lead to take minimal action in exchange for some perk.
But a motive can also take a different form. For example, when a user gets paid for registration/installation/targeted action, or if a webmaster asks their friends to do so. Such traffic doesn’t do anything for advertisers and can lead to sanctions or loss of offers.
Here are a few examples:
The difference is clear. The logic in the first two creatives is: “Sign up – get money/airdrop”. That’s a motive.
In the last creative, everything is done much better. It provides a clear description of the offer, like “You invest money, which will bring even more money over time”. It’s straightforward.
From this example, affiliates can learn how to avoid motives in creatives:
- Avoid promising rewards for targeted actions like sign-up/installation/deposit.
- If an arbitrator wants to mention an existing bonus, provide a clear description of the conditions. Describe it in a way that doesn’t give the user the feeling they’ll get a free gift.
What is a mislead?
Mislead is when creatives show something that doesn’t exist in the offer.
Let’s clarify:
- Showing a different app or website than the one the user lands on after clicking the link;
- Using a brand different from the advertiser’s brand (for example, the logo of a major exchange).
- Showing off features the advertiser’s platform doesn’t actually have (like auto-trading).
- Giving incorrect descriptions of the platform’s terms and conditions;
- Other examples that result in misunderstandings.
Using mislead is even simpler than using motives. Why bother with complex schemes and creative ideas when an arbitrator can just grab the user’s attention with a Binance logo? Sure thing, the person who sees such ads will be disappointed by reality and won’t take the targeted action. Does the advertiser need such a lead? No, they don’t.
If a mislead results in low conversion rates, it’s the arbitrator’s problem. The affiliate network doesn’t really mind if the creative doesn’t match reality, so there won’t be any complaints against the webmaster. But it’s still a waste of time and money.
Here are a couple tips on how to avoid mislead in your creatives:
- Always replace or even remove logos when promoting a new offer.
- If the target app/website isn’t eye-catching, it’s better not to show its interface in the creative at all than to show a different app.
- Before promising bonuses/advertising trading with a specific coin/pushing auto-trading functionality, make sure they’re available on the target site.
Motives and mislead aren’t your friends. While they might seem to bring in cheap leads, as a part of the offer you also get low conversion rates, disappointed users, and displeased affiliate network managers.
What’s more important, mislead and motives don’t bring profits to the advertiser, who will simply deny payment. It’s better to rethink such an approach and not to take an easy path. The real rewards go to those who work hard.