CPA Influencer Marketing: Tools and Tips to Help

CPA influencer marketing is a low-risk way for brands to promote their product or service. By working with influencers, you can boost exposure and push followers to take action, whether purchasing a product or downloading an e-book. If you want to launch a CPA influencer marketing campaign, read on to learn tips and best practices. 

CPA influencer marketing rewards influencers for encouraging their followers to take a certain action, like downloading an e-book, registering for a webinar, or making a purchase. CPA stands for “cost per action,” and the influencers who partner with brands on these campaigns earn a commission on each action. 

How does CPA differ from other models?

CPA influencer marketing is a type of affiliate marketing where influencers earn a commission. 

However, affiliate marketing is usually driven by sales. With affiliate marketing, an influencer encourages a follower to buy something, and he or she earns a percentage of the profit. 

With CPA influencer marketing, the “action” might be a sale, but it might not be. It could be an action that generates a lead, like asking a follower to fill out a form for a demo, clicking a link to visit a site, or signing up for the brand’s weekly newsletter. So, the action might not lead to an immediate sale. 

What are the advantages of CPA influencer marketing?

The benefits of this type of marketing are vast. Advantages include: 

You only pay for results

With CPA marketing, an influencer is only paid when an action is taken. For marketers on a budget, this is a low-risk concept worth trying. 

Influencers are incentivized

An influencer only earns money when an action is taken, which means they’re motivated to promote your offer. 

Increase brand visibility

You’ll drive brand awareness as CPA influencers promote your offer or product. The more people are introduced to your brand, the more likely they will recall it later. 

Authentic advertising

Consumers see influencers as friends, so followers listen when a creator shares a new offer or discusses their experience with a product. Consumers prefer this kind of authentic, word-of-mouth advertising over direct advertising methods. 

Implementing CPA influencer marketing

How do you find the right CPA influencer?

The best way to identify a CPA influencer is to use an influencer marketing  platform to search for creators in your niche, narrow your results, and review data-based profiles. 

Reach out to two or three influencers to work with and see which ones fit best. You’ll need an influencer contract, which will explain the terms of the agreement and provide specific details on compensation and content ownership.  

Which offers work best in the CPA model?

CPA offers vary. If the campaign aims to sell a product, a code for a percentage discount or free shipping is common. However, if you’re using the CPA model to encourage a different kind of action, like lead generation, these offers, in exchange for contact information, are popular:

• Free samples
• Free trial
• Schedule a demo
• Giveaways

How do you communicate with an influencer?

After an influencer agrees to work with you and you have a signed contract, you’ll move on to a campaign brief. 

Campaign brief

The brief provides details about the company, product, and campaign. It provides specifics like content type, deadlines, and content examples for inspiration. A tracking link is needed to track traffic driven by the creator.

Regular check-ins

Beyond the brief, check in regularly with influencers. Ask if they have any questions or need clarification on any point. 

Deadline reminder

Send a reminder email a few days before the content is due. 

Provide feedback quickly

Once content is delivered, provide immediate feedback. If you need revisions, point out the positives first, then list revisions. 

Tracking and measuring CPA influencer campaigns

As with any marketing campaign, you need to identify KPIs that you’ll use to gauge success. Most brands measure conversions, which are defined as a completed action. If, for example, the desired action was to fill out a form to receive a free sample, each form fill counts as a conversion. 

KPIs might include: 

• Conversions
• Sales revenue
• Clicks
• Downloads
• Leads (or form fills)

Why is it essential to track KPIs?

Every campaign, no matter the budget, should be monitored. While CPA marketing is low-risk and can be accomplished with a small budget, there is also a time investment to consider. You should evaluate KPIs to ensure you’ve spent your budget and time wisely.

How do we accurately track campaigns?

While you can identify KPIs you can monitor via social media or Google Analytics, having a dedicated platform to manage influencer campaigns is ideal. With a platform like IZEA Flex, you can find influencers, communicate, collect content, pay creators, use tracking links, and access a robust metrics system that provides valuable stats like ROI and ROI per influencer.

Overcoming challenges with CPA influencer marketing

Common challenges and solutions

Challenge 1: Finding the right influencer

You need an influencer who’s persuasive and unafraid to push followers to take action. The influencer should align with your brand, have experience with CPA campaigns, and communicate often. Finding the right influencer to work with is not always easy.

Solution: Use an influencer platform

Rather than searching social media channels and sifting through profiles, use an influencer marketing platform that gives you the power to search a database full of influencers. 

Challenge 2: Defining the influencer-generated content

What should the influencer create to entice people to take action? Would a product demo work? Would an unboxing video or an Instagram snap work better? You need to think through the campaign to define what type of content the influencer should create. 

Solution: Consider your audience 

Where does your target audience hang out? Let that dictate the platform you’ll use. The platform might dictate the content type. For example, video is the obvious choice if you’ve selected YouTube. 

Now, think about the content that resonates with your target audience. What’s worked in the past? Let that data guide you. 

Remember, personalization is helpful too. Ask the influencer to share their opinion or testimonial to make a connection with the audience. 

Challenge 3: Your campaign doesn’t meet your goals

Sometimes, campaigns miss the mark. It happens. What’s important is how you react.  

Solution: Review and adjust

Review your KPIs and identify possible issues. If your campaign fell short of your goals, you were on the right track. Next time, tweak the content and promotional offer. 

If your campaign missed the mark, reevaluate the influencer’s target audience. If you’re not talking to the right group of followers, you may need to find a new influencer. 

Tips to optimize your CPA influencer campaign

To ensure your CPA campaign is a hit, consider these tips: 

• Always set a campaign goal and KPIs to monitor.
• Consider working with more than one influencer to maximize your efforts.
• Don’t overlook smaller influencers; they often have solid engagement rates.
• Ask influencers what kind of CPA campaigns/offers they’ve succeeded with.
• Use AI tools to generate example images from which influencers can draw.
• Don’t overlook influencer contracts or briefs.
• Make the offer enticing enough to take action.
• Offer fair compensation to influencers.
• Communicate often.
• Evaluate metrics at the end of each campaign.

CPA influencer marketing can elevate your brand and be done on a budget. It’s an ideal marketing tactic for any brand to maximize its efforts and minimize wasteful (or risky) spending.

Influencers:

Looking to partner with industry-leading brands? Create your free profile today. 

Marketers:

The world’s biggest brands trust IZEA’s influencer marketing software and managed solutions. Find out which solution is right for you.