In digital advertising, it is understandable that some countries might be more valuable to advertisers than others. You’ve probably been thinking about expanding your offers to new countries, and this can be challenging. But with some work and understanding, it’s possible!
It’s a categorization of world regions based on their economy and spending habits, as well as other considerations. It helps the marketer define which countries are best and more suitable for their target.
They ask their affiliate manager for an offer and then they are given the offer for specific countries (let’s say US, GB, DE). What happens sometimes is that these offers are meant to be run by marketers with at least some experience, with some proven funnels.
Let me explain to you why running traffic in Tier 1 countries is not the best choice if you’re new to the playground.
Top 3 Tier Countries
Tier-1 Countries
You can consider the following ones:
Pros of Tier 1 countries:
1. You can usually receive higher payouts
2. People usually have a greater GDP and therefore they’re more likely to spend money
3. In most of them english is a fluently spoken language
4. Citizens usually have credit cards
5. Very big audience and increasing, especially in mobile
Cons of Tier 1 countries:
1. Competition. A lot of competition. You don’t need it when you don’t have experience and don’t know all the dirty tricks that big media buyers use in their campaigns.
2. Expensive traffic. Take a look at the competition score and average CPC.
3. Strict regulations. For example, now it’s hard to run pin submits in tier 1 countries. It’s also harder with CC trial offers.
4. The market is saturated: it’s hard to find something new that catches people’s attention.
I think you already got my point now. If you’re unprepared, without good knowledge of how things work in media buying, it’s better for you to wait for the Tier 1 countries and focus on the other ones, at least until you gain some experience. Let’s take a look at them!
Tier-2 Countries
1. Less competition
2. Huge traffic volumes (especially in Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina)
3. Cheaper traffic, but be ready to pay more in European Tier 2 countries
4. Fewer law restrictions (especially not european Tier 2 countries)
1. Offers usually have lower payouts (especially outside of Europe)
2. Traffic quality decreases a little bit
3. Spending habits are different so people are less likely to spend money
4. Sometimes lack of good offers in the same GEO
5. In some countries, citizens might not have wide access to credit cards and their payment methods are limited. Instead, you can try COD (Cash on Delivery) offers
Lastly, let’s take a look at Tier 3 countries.
Tier-3 countries
1. Traffic is cheap, sometimes even $0.001 per click
2. Usually legal restrictions don’t exist
3. Competition is usually lower
4. Ad Blockers are not generally used
Cons of Tier 3 countries:
1. Payouts are usually very low
2. Traffic quality in average is not good - you’ll most likely make leads but it gets hard to convert them into sales
That’s it! If you’re a young media buyer with no experience, please start running your offers in Tier 2 countries. You’ll need smaller budgets than in Tier 1 GEOs and they will probably be easier to optimize.
- For some verticals (especially dating) you can use local slang. This will show your audience that you speak their language, which will lead to more trust from their side
- Before starting your campaigns, read and learn about manners, religion, culture, etc in a particular GEO.
- Don’t use Google Translate when preparing your creatives in non-english speaking countries!