Affiliate marketing is a complex niche that attracts newcomers with the promise of big payouts. However, achieving high profits isn’t as easy as the advertisements at the bus stop might lead you to believe. Especially if it’s an ad at the bus stop.

But nothing is impossible. Understandably, all the mastodons of affiliate marketing started somewhere. Some might begin with our article on the topic of whether it’s possible to achieve financial stability in Affiliate Marketing Is it really possible to achieve financial stability in Affiliate Marketing?.

Others might start earning after reading this article. So, we’ll try to explain as simply as possible how to choose your first vertical and GEO to create a profitable connection and earn your first 2-3 hryvnias.

Why is it important to smartly choose GEO and vertical?

Today, every affiliate network offers thousands of products across various verticals: from commodities to adult niches with a focus on gay and trans. And GEOs cover everything; advertisers often don’t care where the traffic comes from (as long as it’s not from Russia, obviously). It seems like you should just get to work! But in reality, a newcomer might get lost among all this and not manage to put everything together to create a truly working connection.

However, it’s crucial to understand that the GEO+offer combination is the foundation of affiliate marketing. And you should immediately realize that you’ll have to study each country extensively: from the standard of living to the habits of its citizens. Without this understanding, it’s impossible to choose a vertical and offer that will bring any profit, and there’s a very real risk of blowing your entire budget.

What is GEO, and how to choose it

GEO, strictly speaking, is a country, or even a continent. In affiliate marketing, GEO refers to the region from which traffic is generated. Countries are divided into levels: Tier-1, Tier-2, Tier-3, and even Tier-4. Read more about this in our article WHAT EXACTLY ARE TIERS 1, 2, 3, 4?. In short, each level is a combination of metrics: the country’s standard of living, conversion percentage, political situation. Accordingly, Tier-1 includes the most economically attractive countries, and Tier-4 the least.

One might ask, if we have Tier-1 countries, why look at the others at all? And because many think this way, there’s often less competition in lower tiers, yet they still offer significant profit potential. Despite certain difficulties and issues when working with Tier-3 and Tier-4 countries, it’s not a reason to ignore them.

Some GEOs work better with specific verticals. For example, if you want to pour traffic into crypto, it’s better to choose countries with a high standard of living, where people have spare funds that could potentially be invested in your offer. We wrote more about this here – CRYPTO IN 2023: TOP GEOS.

We would recommend newcomers to focus exclusively on Tier-1 countries. It allows you to gain experience without losing everything, as conversions in such GEOs are traditionally higher. However, the cost of advertising in these countries is also higher, which should be considered when planning your budget. But at the same time, keep an eye on the news from other countries. It will help you avoid stagnation and start developing your own connections.

Let’s give a specific example. If you follow statistics services, for instance, through social network X, you might encounter a metric about balding men, let’s call it that. The Czech Republic tops the list. So, the most optimal connection you might think of is to promote a nutra offer, specifically – hair loss treatment, targeting the Czech Republic GEO.

There are countless examples like this. Even newcomers can create their cases with such seemingly non-obvious input data.

Which vertical to choose?

Although GEO is often chosen based on the offer, we believe it’s more logical to choose your market first. Then, look for what sells best in the GEO you’ve chosen.

As for the vertical that’s best for a newcomer, we believe every beginner should pay attention to offers such as:

  • Commodity offers, if the newcomer works alone, without a team;
  • Finance, especially for such GEOs as Mexico, Asia, and also Ukraine;
  • Essay for GEOs like the United States, Canada.

Regarding the last option, note that it’s not cheap to start, and there’s a risk of getting banned by FB. But there are certain connections that can save money and secure your campaigns. So, despite the seasonality of essays, where key products are various courses, essays, etc., the potential profit covers all inconveniences. To earn, you just need to be a bit more careful than when working with commodities, for example.

Most common mistakes of a beginner affiliate

Why step on a rake when it’s much more pleasant to watch your neighbor do it across the yard? Finally, we want to list the most common mistakes newcomers make, which you should avoid to start earning respectably in affiliate marketing:

  • Lack of motivation. If you’re tired – rest, and then continue with new strength. But if you’ve taken on the challenge… Well, you understand;
  • Don’t expect millions from your first campaign. Of course, you should always strive for more profit, but stay realistic and forecast your income, not fantasize it;
  • Don’t pour everything into a campaign you haven’t properly tested. Launching each connection should be cautious, as if you’re slowly entering a muddy river. Do it step by step, test different GEOs, even individual creatives, and then go full start;
  • Avoid old cases, most likely – they no longer work;
  • Manage your finances wisely, there’s no need to buy thousands of accounts you won’t need for work.

But the biggest mistake a newcomer can make is not subscribing to our Telegram community, where we talk about all the news and trends in Affiliate Marketing marketing in Ukrainian. Avoid potential fiasco and join our corner right away!

With respect, Your Geek!

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