It seems as if it’s been a while since I talked about the wonder of zip submits, and after a couple of e-mails from people wanting a bit of clarification on the subject I’ve decided to post a quick guide to making around $120 a day with a popular zip-submit campaign (most zip submits pay between $1/lead and $1.20/lead). This guide isn’t a bible, so don’t e-mail me saying that you couldn’t make it work- as with anything, you need to bit of your own time and effort into it.
That being said, a campaign set up entirely for zip submits needs three things:
- The campaign - Copeac is great for having tons of zip-submits, so browse through them and pick whichever ones suit you the best.
- A landing page - Basic web design experience here is important. If you can’t design a basic landing page use a website builder. You know how to make a landing page, right?
- Traffic - Ahh yes, the thorn in so many marketers sides. You need traffic, and you want this traffic to be wanting to enter the ZIP or e-mail address. Hmmm…
Addressing each of these points effectively will be the difference between 1-2 leads a day and 100+ leads in a day. So, ready to learn?
One - The Campaign
Yes, your ZIP submit marketing needs an effective campaign. All of the major (reputable) affiliate marketing companies (Copeac, Azoogle, NeverBlue, etc.) have dozens of ZIP and e-mail submits (they are both effective) for you to choose, so pick the ones that you feel you will be able to target the most. Targeting the traffic to these ZIP/e-mail submits will be what will generate and maintain a decent conversion ratio, so make sure that the offers you choose you will be able to drive targeted traffic to.
Since I had a few websites about cars I decided on a ZIP submit that was car related. Its tag line was “Enter your ZIP for a chance to win a new Honda Civic!”.
Two - A Landing Page
Your landing page needs to be simple, to the point, and able to maintain a relatively decent quality score (if you are using AdWords to drive traffic to the landing page). You want a relatively attractive design that is bright and eye catching, and make sure that you offer some kind of incentive to get someone to actually submit their information. Remember, it’s just their ZIP/e-mail address- it won’t take much to get them to convert.
For my automotive themed ZIP submit I made a landing page that was intended to launch the user straight to the ZIP submit as soon as possible. My landing page posed the question “What do you like the most about the new Honda Civic?” and had two clickable options (”the engine”, and “its looks”). Both options took the user to the ZIP submit.
I experienced a 80% on-page conversion ratio, meaning that eight people out of every ten that I got to my landing page actually wound up submitting their information.
Three - Traffic
This can be difficult, but remember that you will always have a few staples to go by:
- PPC - Paid per click. If you have a decent conversion ratio, why not use it? Only Google’s AdWords, Yahoo!, and MSN AdCenter are worth your time (and money).
- E-mail - If you have an e-mail list and the rights to e-mail them, try sending out a ZIP submit and seeing how it does.
- Social bookmarking - Write up an article and have the ZIP submit right on top. You might be pleasantly surprised by the results.
- On-site - If you have a network of websites (or even just one website) that is pulling any amount of traffic you could always try throwing a link up on there.
Remember to use inexpensive traffic since your payout is so low (under $1.50/lead usually)- if it costs you $1.15 to make $1.20, is it really worth your time?
