Approve rate in affiliate and how it is calculated

Approve rate is the most important indicator in affiliate marketing. With its help, you can calculate the profitability of offers and decide which one to use, and which one to throw to trash.

Let's see how to calculate the approve rate in CPA networks using a simple example:

1. Imagine that the affiliates direct traffic to the landing page, and it does not matter how many people have visited the site – we count only those who have left requests (leads).
2. Let's assume that we have 100 requests on the landing page. Then the call center managers called the people who left the requests, and only 33 of them confirmed the order.
3. The ratio of the number of confirmed requests (33) to the total number of requests (100) will be the approve rate. In the example considered, it is 33%.

It is important to know the approve rate, since it shows the profitability of investments in traffic. It also shows how much you can earn. Knowing the approve rate is also important in order to get rid of weak offers in time so that not to drain traffic in vain.

The level of the approve rate strongly depends on the subject and on the profitability of the product. Sometimes, even 10% may be a good indicator in case if the product is complex or expensive. With some products, the approve rate can reach 100%, but since these are often very cheap products, then the payments for such an offer will be small.

How payments for sales are calculated

The payout rate and conditions vary among partner networks. After the creatives have been played out to the end, and the requests have piled up, the next step is to wait for sales calls. During these calls, some of the leads be thrown to trash or rejected, if they were from garbage traffic or customers who refused the purchase. All other applications will be sent to the approve stage.

After everyone is called and the call center transmits the data to the affiliate network, you will need to wait for customers to pick up and pay for their orders. And then wait for the advertiser to pay off the affiliate network.

Some CPAs offer express payments for those who cannot wait for payments from the advertiser and want to withdraw money for all approves, but they charge a fee for this.

If the approve rate is calculated, and the result is disappointing, you'll have to fix it. However, not everything is in the hands of affiliates.

What causes of low approve rate the affiliates will not be able to influence

1. A weak call center that processes applications late or works with a bad sales script.
2. Aggressive sales: cross-selling and upselling, when salespeople impose additional products. For the advertiser, this may be a plus, but it may also scare the buyer away and make them refuse to buy.
3. Gray and black offers. When the buyer is misled, they may change their mind and refuse the purchase.
4. Deception from the advertiser (shaving). It also happens that the advertiser rejects leads in order not to pay partner fee. However, if shave is suspected, the affiliates can write to support of the affiliate program. The income from the interested buyers will not be returned, but they can exclude the dishonest advertiser.

How to influence your approve percentage

1. Follow the rules of the partner network and the terms of the offer to keep the number of rejected applications at the minimum. For example, some advertisers or platforms do not allow the use of famous people, competitors of the advertiser, newsbreaks or dicey topics in creatives. You can learn about the restrictions from the manager.
2. Good traffic is the key to success. If you are confident in your traffic, and yet the approve rate is low, it may be worth picking up another offer.
3. Disable idle sites. When a channel does not bring sales, you need to recheck the settings and creatives. If the channel still fails to bring sales, feel free to disable it.
4. Do not try to deceive the affiliate program. CPA networks use anti-fraud systems and monitor traffic. If they get suspicions, they can freeze or block the account.

Approve should be in the black, and it would be ideal if it is possible to scale it. If this cannot be done within one affiliate program, you can try to find additional ones.