Malan

Music and Marketing

3 Reasons Facebook Banning Dating Affiliates Doesn’t Matter

This is pretty much what FB dating ads looked like.

This is what most FB dating ads looked like.

If you haven’t heard about it yet – Facebook just banned all dating affiliates from advertising on their platform. If you’ve ever seen the ads, you can understand why the ban had to happen (cleavage, boobs and more cleavage).

For the average Facebook user who is sick of seeing annoying dating ads in their sidebar this is good news.

But if you’re an affiliate marketer and Facebook dating was your only source of income – you’re probably freaking out.

Here are three big reasons why you shouldn’t.

“We simply attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful.” – Warren Buffett

1. 99% of your competition is gone

Anyone with a hot dating campaign should be excited right now. Dating is one of the most competitive niches being advertised on Facebook and all of your competition was just wiped out.

Grab a cloaker (I don’t use them but they exist) and an offer that’s known to convert and RACE in with a new campaign today. Load it up with a new angle that could still lead to a dating offer and you’re in for a gold rush.

Think of a way to speak to a single person without saying “Are you Single? – Need a Date?” – “Meet Singles” or anything close to that. Try things that would relate to someone who is looking for a date without flat out saying it.

*I’m going to send out some ideas for new dating angles to my newsletter. They won’t be posted here. Click here to sign up.

2. The remaining 1% have lost their edge

There are just a handful of affiliates left that have been white-listed to advertise. They are being watched closely by the dating site owners and Facebook. Their ads are going to be very tame and their CTRs are going to be very low.

If you can find a way to make dating work without it looking like a dating ad you can dominate their CTRs and undercut their CPCs.

You can’t be lazy and just show cleavage anymore – but there are plenty of other things that have been proven by science to get men or women to click. (Google it)

 3. There are other traffic sources that want your money

I left Facebook ads a long time ago. It’s one of the top advertising platforms available – but I decided it was more trouble than it was worth.

Setting up a campaign, optimizing it for weeks and then getting banned with no explanation is too much of an emotional roller coaster ride for me. So I left.

The good news is there are 100s of other traffic sources out there that will be happy to take your money. They allow you to advertise freely. They’ll send gifts to your home to thank you for your patronage. That’s the kind of situation I look for when seeking out a traffic source now.

Here’s my checklist for new traffic sources:

  • They have lots of traffic
  • They want my money
  • I get an intelligent rep who can help me

If the source doesn’t fit that criteria, I don’t use them.

Since I made the change I’ve been able to run campaigns steadily, week after week, month after month without problems. It takes a bit of time to master new sources but it’s worth it.

In Conclusion:

If you feel like playing the game. Grab your cloaker and get creative, you’ll probably be more profitable than ever.

If you want to instantly improve your life and not suffer the emotional ups and downs of Facebook advertising, find a traffic source that wants your money, master it and enjoy the smooth ride.

What’s your opinion? Should affiliates hit the road or stick around for more punishment? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

 

  • No doubt people will still find a way to get their dating offers on Facebook. I won’t be one of them, but it’s always good to see opportunity in a “bad” situation. Someone will take advantage of it, while others give up.

    • Just makes me glad I don’t mess with Facebook as much any more. The ups and downs are heartbreaking.

      • FB will be the next Google Adwords. Many campaigns, businesses and people’s life will be affected. Good tips to us! The earlier we branch out to other traffic sources the better.

  • SX

    I agree with Malan 100%. Facebook is a bitch and not worth the emotional roller-coaster ride they take you on! One day your ads are running fine and everything is awesome, the other, all your ads are banned (in a good case scenario) and you have to start from scratch. Bad case scenario, your account gets banned and then you’re really f*cked… I lost several fan pages that way that had close to a million very passionate fans across them, so I said screw Facebook and went out to find another traffic source(s)… best decision I ever made! Found a few new great traffic sources/campaigns/offers on which I’m now netting close to $1,000 a day and growing…

    The moral of the story: There are lots more traffic sources outside Facebook where you can make a boatload of money without all the unpredictable bullsh*it that FB throws your way! Go out there and find them, you’ll be glad you did!!

    • Nice – congrats on finding the new traffic and profits. I’m doing the same thing and growing nicely. It takes time but worth it.

      This is how I’m building it over time: http://www.malandarras.com/50aweek/

      • SX

        Thanks man, and yes, it definitely is worth it! On some traffic sources you can run the same campaign for literally years and bank each and everyday, whereas on FB, no matter how good your campaign is, eventually banner-blindness will kick it and it will die-off, not to mention affiliates ripping off your creatives, LP’s, etc.

        These days I try to focus on low-maintenance long-term profit campaigns, as that way I can focus on working on my other projects such as creating my 2nd iPhone game, and not have to worry about accounts being banned, offers going down, etc. I absolutely love it.

        I did read your article about making $482,300 this year – great stuff man, keep it up!

        — Stan

        • yeah it’s the “run the same campaign for literally years and bank each and everyday” part I’m most interested in

  • KD

    Anyone willing to share the traffic sources that are successful? Looking to branch out to other sources as Facebook denied my most recent campaign, despite advertising with it for the past 2 years. Feeling a bit lost and could use a helping hand!

  • CommonCents210

    What about dating services that deal with events and matchmaking? We are blacklisted from FB as well but it would be hard to use other sites as we are the real deal and not an online dating site.