Dmitry Sukmanov, Leadrock CEO, visited our office last week to record a podcast on white hat nutra offers. Leadrock is a direct advertiser and an international affiliate network focusing on white hat products, and therefore it’s no wonder that its CEO has first-hand knowledge of how to launch profitable white hat campaigns and what pitfalls you should bear in mind.
Although the podcast was recorded in Russian, we believe that our foreign readers will also derive lots of information from this podcast.
Roman: Hi, Dima!
Dmitry: Hi, Roma!
Roman: So, what is white hat nutra?
Dmitry: White hat nutra has been around for 20 years already. Its direct predecessor is the so-called armchair shopping. White hat products don’t get banned by ad networks because they have certain useful properties and do not promise miraculous results. As a rule, these are certified goods, which makes it easier to work with Google and Facebook: you don’t have to come up with anything, you just submit a certificate and that’s it.
Roman: What are these white hat products? Could you give me an example?
Dmitry: As regards Russia, shaping lingerie is extremely popular nowadays. Another thing I should mention is replica watches, but you should be careful here, as it’s important not to violate a brand’s policy.
Roman: Do you own these products?
Dmitry: Yes, we are a direct advertiser. We buy these goods and then take care of logistics and distribution.
Roman: That’s reasonable. Let’s raise this subject: what are the peculiarities of working with white hat products? I’d like to understand what’s the principal difference between white hat and grey nutra? No bans or..?
Dmitry: In my opinion, the principal difference is that you don’t have to resort to some technological subterfuge.
Roman: What should you bear in mind when launching a campaign? What difficulties you may come across?
Dmitry: You should take into account a network’s requirements and don’t use overaggressive creatives. You should always take due professional care.
Roman: Are white hat nutra offers converting just as well as grey ones?
Dmitry: As regards the conversion rate, it may be not so high for white hat nutra, but you don’t have to resort to cloaking to run campaigns. Moreover, the entry threshold is also relatively low.
Roman: What’s the average lifespan of a campaign? Are offers converting for a long time?
Dmitry: A white hat campaign’s lifespan is longer compared to grey offers, but you should update your landing pages and creatives lest the campaign burns out.
Roman: What’s the average ROI for white hat products?
Dmitry: If there’s no competition and you have an extensive GEO, then ROI may reach up to 300%. Of course, this is the exception rather than the rule, the average ROI of white hat campaigns is not as high as that of grey ones, but you can save up on account farming and cloaking.
Roman: What are the main barriers affiliates encounter when they start working with white hat products? Should they change their mindset somehow?
Dmitry: The first barrier is relatively low ROI and complicated testing. The thing is that you should use more creatives. People may be inclined to think that it’s very simple and you can work with the left hand, but it’s simply not true.
Roman: As far as I understand, you need to carry out more preliminary work and more tests and pay more attention to creatives? What should be your approach to testing?
Dmitry: You should choose three offers, determine how much money you can spend on tests, take more creatives, launch a campaign and just test everything carefully. You should think like a marketer and not like some blue-collar guy who has decided to invest a few dollars and make money on it.
Roman: Are video creatives performing well?
Dmitry: For the most part, yes. I can’t say with certainty that they are performing better than something else, but they account for 80% of all creatives.
Roman: How much do you need to start?
Dmitry: In my opinion, you need about $500. I would allocate $500 for tests. Top guys say that you need at least $1000, but I believe that if you’re smart enough, if you’ve done some research, if you have read up some information in Google or affiliate groups, then $500 will suffice.
Roman: What are the best products to start? What should one start with? What are the first three tests to carry out?
Dmitry: I always recommend testing three offers. Two top offers in terms of traffic volume, and one trending or seasonal offer.
Roman: Dima, I wanted to ask you this: if our audience members have some questions left, can I leave your contact information below, if you don’t mind, of course?
Dmitry: Yes, that’s ok with me. My conference experience has shown that even three days are not enough to discuss everything. So, I will be glad to answer all the questions.
Roman: So, now I’d like to say good-bye.
Dmitry: Bye-bye.
Dmitry Sukmanov: dmitry@leadrock.com
If you want to reach new GEOs and audiences, maybe it is all waiting for you on Telegram? We’ve prepared some material about Telegram audiences. What are the messenger’s users like this year? How old they are, what they do, and what they are interested in!
