Mobile, Mobile, Mobile… just about everything seems to have a Mobile-component these days.
This agile Mobile market has transformed our lives and changed the way we do business on all fronts.
Remember when our Mobile phones were just used for calling?
Well, if you can, it’s almost hard to believe just how much power these magical devices with a capital “M” now harness.
Not only can they be used for the consumption of adult entertainment anywhere in the world, but they changed the landscape in which one can purchase and pay for said entertainment.
We’re of course talking about Mobile Carrier Billing — the purchase of services or goods & having the cost added on to a monthly phone bill rather than paying in the moment.
This has been huge for many industries—and adult is no exception.
Today, let’s take a deeper look at Carrier Billing and see why it’s picking up so much steam!
No Surprise Here: The Porn Watching Mobile User is on the Rise
According to Pornhub’s 2016 Year in Review, 61% of Pornhub’s traffic consisted of visits from a smartphone, a 9% increase from the year before in 2015.
Fortunately, none of us need to be Statisticians to know that the digital, Mobile-smartphone user is on the rise, and that this number is almost guaranteed to grow.
And one thing's certain: increased mobility, leisure and convenience aside, the rapid growth of the Mobile user has ripple-like effects in numerous aspects of the Adult industry, especially billing operations — how payments are made and processed.
So… What is Mobile Carrier Billing Anyway?
Indeed, in many countries and territories, including Europe, Asia, and South America, the Adult “Billing process” is a whole different ball game with respect to how payments can be made for users on Mobile vs non-Mobile devices.
In these countries, Mobile operators are more than willing to give consumers the option to add purchases directly to his or her monthly Mobile bill.
This simple option, in many ways, streamlines the whole client-to-provider, consumer-to-business relationship since the Mobile operator already has the consumer’s Billing Information on file, resulting in a smooth and sleek transaction for all parties.
And that’s Mobile Carrier Billing... in a nutshell.
More people have Mobile phones than bank accounts and credit cards, if you can believe that. (Check out this awesome infographic!)
That’s what makes Carrier Billing so highly effective and appealing in many cases.
However, if the Mobile user is not connected to the Internet through his or her Mobile plan but instead primarily uses local WiFi, it’s important to note that the Billing Process protocol would follow the typical steps a Desktop user would follow (by entering one’s credit card # information and so on…).
When it comes to mobile traffic, this is considered WiFi traffic and can only be optimized by showing a responsive landing page.
Benefits of Carrier Billing
Carrier Billing didn’t come into existence by accident. Not at all. The sheer ease in which a payment can be made and the convenience it provides for both merchants and web marketers alike should not be overlooked.
Some notable perks to this popular form of Mobile payment...
- We've found that a higher EPC can be obtained (by 2x as much) through offers that utilize this type of Billing than offers that don’t.
- It’s more secure since no personal data (e.g., credit card number) needs transmitting during a transaction.
- The simplicity of the overall “Billing Process” can lead to 10x more conversions.
- It takes the banking institutions out of the equation and eliminates chargebacks due to added security often aided by two-factor-authentication.
- In some countries—like South America for example—there are more Mobile devices around than credit cards which improves your chances of scoring conversions!
Now do you get it?!
What you should look for & getting started with Carrier Billing
OK, now that you’re convinced of the vast lucrative potential here, we bet you’re chompin’ at the bit to switch over to this oh-so-sweet payment alternative wherever applicable…
It should be easy, right? Well, not so fast!
Like everything in this world, the precise rewards of Carrier Billing come after a lot of work.
Here’s what you’ll need to be on your way to Carrier Billing success!
Access to a Vast Portfolio of Experienced Advertisers
Looking to get the most out of all those sweet Mobile Carrier perks we outlined earlier?
If so, the first step is finding compatible Advertisers. You’ll want to make sure you’re working with Advertisers that—you guessed it—are open to this method of payment processing & billing and those that even have some experience on these fronts.
Indeed, Carrier Billing is only made possible through a contractual agreement between the merchant and the Mobile carrier.
A Plethora Carriers
A provider can work simultaneously with a bunch of carriers… but not all of them.
Therefore, if you really want to cover the most ground with the largest Mobile audience possible, you’re going to want to promote different products & offers, from different merchants privileged to be working with different carriers.
Restrictions by Geo
Let’s say that you do manage to find enough offers to promote to cover all the different carriers of one geographic — well, a well done is in order!
Now, you’ll just have to make sure to build your campaigns around the different guidelines and/or restrictions for each respective Merchant and/or Mobile carrier.
For example:
Using hardcore creatives and banners as part of one’s promotional strategy is prohibited by just about all French Mobile carriers. That’s something to keep in mind.
Campaign optimization… at last!
If you adhered to all the advice mentioned above, it looks like you may finally be ready to start optimizing your campaigns. It’s about time, eh?
This means that you’ll be able to begin A/B testing your campaigns and checking to see which offer is the most profitable in the long term.
To ensure an efficient A/B test with regard to your campaigns -- you’ll want to base your testing on offers available for both Carrier & WiFi traffic.
Indeed, an offer that converts decently well with Mobile carrier traffic may not perform as great with traffic not from that origin: offers accepting carrier traffic typically don't accept WiFI traffic.
Don’t bite off more than you can chew!
In the end, Mobile Carrier Billing optimization can easily become a nightmare if you don’t take all these variables into account.
People have been known to concentrate their efforts on one particular geo (and/or Carrier) specifically.
There’s little doubt that converting the world through Mobile Carrier alone takes a tremendous amount of contacts and work.
That’s why using one smartlink such as CrakRevenue’s Geomatik is a popular choice among affiliate marketers.
The Geomatik Revshare Mobile Optimizer has proven to be a lucrative solution on both Android & iOS — for both carrier & WiFi traffic.
But the benefits don’t stop there with our:
- Customizable iframes
- High CTR banners
- Consistent traffic analysis & in-house optimization…
It’s really a set & forget tool that we consistently tweak in-house on our end, on a daily basis.
After all, it’s the same tool that our very own Media Buying team uses to convert Mobile traffic to not leave any $$$ on the table — so why should you??!
By the way, heads up: As of right now, our Geomatik remains Adult-focused. But we’re proud to announce — we’re currently hard at work behind-the-scenes working on a Geomatik Mainstream solution (which we can’t wait to tell you more about later!). Stay tuned!
