Hello, community! We’re back with another article that will enhance your knowledge in Affiliate Marketing. Today, we’re going to talk about the concept of hold in Affiliate Marketing, which you’ve likely encountered in other articles, affiliate networks, or discussions with affiliate, etc. If you’re not quite clear on it or haven’t delved into this topic yet, it’s worth getting a better understanding. Here we come to help — the Geek team eager to spread Affiliate Marketing topics among the progressive and goal-oriented cogs (read this phrase in the voice of you-know-who) of the affiliate marketing sphere.
By the way, we have many more interesting materials with useful information, news, forecasts, analytics. We strongly recommend clicking on this link and checking out the topics we’ve already covered in our articles. There’s content about how affiliate networks treat newcomers, changes in gambling in 2024, a guide to GEOs, and a review of the adult vertical.
But now, let’s return to the topic of our article. So what is a hold in Affiliate Marketing? How does its duration affect and can it be changed? Let’s dig into this a bit more. Let’s go!
WHAT IS A HOLD (HOLD)?
As expected, this term has English origins. “Hold” translates to “keep, retain”. In Affiliate Marketing, a hold means a delay in payment for work done.
During the hold, the CPA network checks the quality of traffic and leads provided by the affiliate. It’s to ensure there are no bots and all offer conditions are met.
As you know, affiliate networks act as intermediaries between the affiliate and the advertiser. The latter pays for the traffic, but the money remains in the affiliate network’s account until the end of the check. As a result, the affiliate either gets paid for the work done or not.
Everything depends on whether any violations of the conditions were found. When choosing an offer, it’s essential to carefully read the entire description, as it specifies the advertisers’ requirements regarding traffic sources, GEOs, info about payments, and processing duration.
Usually, funds are credited to the webmaster immediately after traffic verification, but sometimes there are delays of one or two days. There are also affiliate networks that state they have no hold; they take responsibility for traffic quality themselves and make payments immediately.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
The main goal of the hold is to avoid low-quality traffic. This way, advertisers have a guarantee that their funds won’t be spent on fraud and void traffic.
Advertisers are interested in their products and services generating real profit. That’s why they turn to affiliate networks or directly to affiliate.
The affiliate brings in clients and buyers and receives their commission. However, not everyone can be trusted. And it’s not just about the dishonesty of webmasters, but also their abilities. If one intentionally drives bots and motivated traffic, another may do so out of ignorance of the specifics and lack of skills in traffic analysis. Therefore, newcomers always have a hold.
If you’ve been working as an affiliate for a long time, your value to affiliate networks increases. Steady traffic will lead to immediate payments. It’s not easy, but entirely possible. Moreover, affiliate networks often provide individual conditions for their partners.
Besides checking the quality of leads, hold gives time to close the deal. For example, if you receive a commission for each purchase, time is needed for the client to receive the product, and the warranty return period to end. Because the client may simply return the product to the seller within a few days, leaving them without profit. In such cases, the deal can’t be considered successful, and no one will pay for that lead.
HOW LONG DOES THE HOLD LAST?
To find out how long you’ll have to wait for payments, carefully read the hold conditions in the offer descriptions. The duration of the hold depends on the specifics of the offer, so there are no uniform timeframes.
Several factors influence the duration of the hold: the chosen vertical, type of conversion, your experience, KPIs.
If the niche is cheap, the hold takes less time (1-2 days). If the niche involves expensive offers, it can last even 40-45 days.
The type of conversion also plays a significant role. If you’re paid for simple clicks, the verification doesn’t require much time. But if the user needs to perform a more complex set of actions (purchase, apply for a loan), the hold will be longer. There are complex conversions where you have to wait up to 90 days for payments.
Experience is also crucial. As we’ve said, newcomers always have a hold. Their traffic is always scrutinized more thoroughly, so payment delays are longer than for experienced affiliate.
As for KPIs, like with experience, the better this indicator, the sooner the hold ends and payments are credited.
CAN YOU INFLUENCE THE DURATION OF THE HOLD?
The most important thing to remember: your experience, skills, and honesty matter.
Affiliate networks value proven webmasters and often either reduce the hold or cancel it altogether. This motivates more quality traffic pouring, directly affecting the profit of all involved parties. So, if you have a lot of experience and have been working with a certain affiliate network for a long time, you have the opportunity to receive unique conditions.
Of course, it’s not just about the duration of work with an affiliate network but also the quality of traffic. Avoid bots, motivated traffic, and fraud, and you’ll receive your honestly earned money faster. Abusing low-quality traffic will only lead to the blocking of your account and the loss of the ability to earn.
If you work with stores, it makes sense to pour into GEOs where the product can arrive the fastest. This way, you’ll reduce the duration of deal closure and logically, the duration of the hold. Consider that stores with a high flow of customers will take longer to check leads.
CONCLUSION
So, what do we have in conclusion? The hold in Affiliate Marketing is a reliable way to insure the advertiser’s funds. Only after the leads are checked, do you receive the payments stipulated in the offer conditions. This option shouldn’t scare you if you work honestly and diligently pour real traffic that brings profit to the advertiser.
The duration of the hold depends on several factors: the offer’s vertical, the type of conversion, the affiliate’s experience, and his KPIs. All these influence how long you have to wait for the commission to be credited.
There are niches where the hold is incredibly fast, just 1-2 days, and there are offers with complex conversions where you have to wait up to 90 days for payments. To choose a comfortable term, always read the conditions of each offer you decide to pour traffic into.
You can directly influence the duration of the hold with your skills, pouring quality traffic without fraud, bots, and motivated traffic. If the affiliate network you work with recognizes your expertise and professionalism, you will receive individual conditions. One of these conditions might be reducing the duration of the hold or even its complete cancellation.
We hope our article was useful to you. If you have any additions, important comments, or want to share your stories regarding the hold and other Affiliate Marketing topics, head over to our Telegram community. We love and value everyone who joins.
With respect, Your Geek!
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