{"id":1983,"date":"2024-06-24T07:13:25","date_gmt":"2024-06-24T07:13:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ihsansoloads.com\/blog\/?p=1983"},"modified":"2024-06-24T07:21:46","modified_gmt":"2024-06-24T07:21:46","slug":"what-are-solo-ads-and-are-they-right-for-your-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ihsansoloads.com\/blog\/what-are-solo-ads-and-are-they-right-for-your-business\/","title":{"rendered":"What Are Solo Ads? And Are They Right For Your Business?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-rank-math-toc-block\" id=\"rank-math-toc\"><h2>Table of Contents<\/h2><nav><ul><li><a href=\"#whats-a-solo-ads\">What\u2019s a solo ads?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#who-solo-ads-would-work-best-for\">Who solo ads would work best for<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#a-big-fat-warning\">A big, fat warning<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#where-to-find-solo-ad-lists\">Where to find solo ad lists<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#how-to-do-the-math-on-whether-a-solo-ad-will-be-worth-it-to-you\">How to do the math on whether a solo ad will be worth it to you<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#an-alternative-to-solo-ads\">An alternative to solo ads<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#conclusion\">Conclusion<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"whats-a-solo-ads\">What\u2019s a solo ads?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"650\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/ihsansoloads.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/what-are-solo-ads.webp\" alt=\"ihsan solo ads\" class=\"wp-image-1985\" style=\"width:840px;height:auto\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ihsansoloads.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/what-are-solo-ads.webp 650w, https:\/\/ihsansoloads.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/what-are-solo-ads-300x138.webp 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ihsansoloads.com\/blog\/ultimate-guide-to-maximizing-your-marketing-with-ihsansoload\/\">Solo ads<\/a> are a form of email-based advertisements where you essentially \u2018rent\u2019 another person\u2019s email list to promote your offer. Instead of embedding your ad within a regular newsletter, the entire email promotes only your offer, making solo ads especially effective. Although various businesses explore solo ads, affiliates and information marketers benefit from them the most. Here\u2019s an example of a solo ad. Notice how the whole email talks about one offer only.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And here\u2019s an example of a regular sponsored newsletter discussing multiple topics and including an ad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s how solo ads work:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Research and Selection:<\/strong>&nbsp;You start by identifying a reputable solo ad seller with a list that aligns with your target audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Engagement:<\/strong>&nbsp;\u00adThen, you have to reach out to the list owner or directly purchase access through their platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Payment Structure:<\/strong>&nbsp;Most sellers offer two pricing models \u2013 you either pay based on the number of subscribers your email reaches or the number of clicks your ad receives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Conversion:<\/strong>&nbsp;If all goes well, those subscribers will click, and those clicks will convert well. Ideally, you\u2019ll end up with solo ad conversions that cost less than other types of advertising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In theory, solo ads seem like the perfect way to grow your online business and make money from other people\u2019s email lists. But in all honesty, solo ads have a hazy reputation, and many businesses won\u2019t touch them. We\u2019ll explain why in a moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That said, there are also a lot of marketers who say they owe their business to solo ads and that solo ads were how they got their start. So it\u2019s worth your time to at least know how they work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"who-solo-ads-would-work-best-for\">Who solo ads would work best for<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s now talk about who can benefit from solo ads:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Marketers who have a bit of budget.<\/strong>&nbsp;Got a couple of hundred dollars? That\u2019s enough to do some basic testing with solo ads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>If you\u2019re in a niche where pay-per-click prices are through the roof.<\/strong>&nbsp;In this case, your cost per click from solo ads may be so much less than what you\u2019d get on AdWords or Bing that solo ads are worth a test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>If you\u2019re in a niche that\u2019s completely oversaturated with content (like affiliate marketing or weight loss).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>If you\u2019re in a niche with intense competition for search engine traffic<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>If you\u2019re about to launch a product, or if you need traffic sent to a page quickly.<\/strong>&nbsp;You\u2019ve got no time to write guest posts, build an audience, or do anything that takes more than a few days to see results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"a-big-fat-warning\">A big, fat warning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>While solo ads aren\u2019t illegal, there are several problems that make them a risky investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First, solo ads are typically offered by one-guy (or one-gal) sellers. In other words, you\u2019re dealing with the list owner directly. Because of this, there\u2019s some risk involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s even more risk involved because some solo ad lists were&nbsp;<strong>built with less-than-ideal methods.<\/strong>&nbsp;In a best-case scenario, the list might have been built by converting traffic from a website that\u2019s in your niche. Or maybe the list owner bought advertising and converted it with a squeeze page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But it\u2019s also possible the email addresses on the list you\u2019re about to use were&nbsp;<strong>acquired with \u201cscraping\u201d software<\/strong>. That\u2019s a program that just goes from website to website or through social media platforms, gathering any email address it comes across. As you can guess, those email addresses tend to convert poorly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On top of that, some solo ad lists&nbsp;<strong>may be filled with bots<\/strong>&nbsp;that behave like regular email subscribers (they open and click your emails) but don\u2019t end up converting. After sending a solo ad campaign to such a bot-filled list, you may end up thinking that the problem lies with your squeeze page or your offer \u2013 not the list itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s likely the list you mail to will be somewhere between those two poles of good and awful. But consider yourself warned: There are a few shady people in the world of solo ads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fortunately, there are ways to tell if you\u2019re dealing with a good list owner and a good list:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is<\/strong>. Avoid solo ads vendors who make big promises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Use forums, friends, and any online resource you can find to verify that the list owner and their list are worth your money.&nbsp;<\/strong>Do a couple of careful searches for the list owner\u2019s name and website. Check out their social media accounts. Check forums to see if anyone\u2019s complained about them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Start small.&nbsp;<\/strong>DO NOT drop $1,000 on a list the first time out. Start smaller \u2013 preferably as small as the list owner will let you. Expect to test 3-5 lists in a limited way before you move ahead with a bigger investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Not every testimonial you read online is true.&nbsp;<\/strong>Sad to say, but some sites are still posting fake testimonials. Don\u2019t think everything\u2019s fine just because you read 10-20 glowing reports on somebody\u2019s site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ask the owner how their list was built.&nbsp;<\/strong>Of course, they may not tell you the truth, but at least you\u2019ve asked. And hopefully, you\u2019ll get a realistic answer back, like, \u201cI built this list by buying Facebook ads and sending them to a squeeze page.\u201d If that\u2019s the answer you get, consider asking to see the squeeze page. Try to hit the sweet spot between asking enough questions to be confident and asking so many questions that it becomes obvious you think they\u2019re a scammer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ask them how often they mail to that list.&nbsp;<\/strong>They may say every day. That\u2019s not a total red flag, as some lists are used to being mailed to that often. But if I were buying a solo ad, I\u2019d want to hear that they mail to that list no more than 2-3 times a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ask them which type of offers do well with their list.&nbsp;<\/strong>Is this a list that\u2019s great for capturing email addresses but not so great for high-ticket items? Is this a list that likes free trials or free ebooks? Do they tend to like video tutorials or text autoresponders? If you have time and the will to do it, consider crafting the email message you send so that it appeals to what this list responds to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ask them how they process hard bounces.&nbsp;<\/strong>Well-managed email lists remove subscribers after one hard bounce. Some will stretch that to two hard bounces. If you get an answer like \u201cWe don\u2019t track bounces,\u201d move on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ask them what their spam complaint rate is.&nbsp;<\/strong>Any more than 0.2%, and you\u2019ve got a red flag. An \u201caverage\u201d spam complaint rate is roughly 0.1%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>And finally \u2013 ask them what their list\u2019s average response rate is.&nbsp;<\/strong>You want to know what the average open rate is and what the average click-through rate is. If you can, try to find out what the typical conversion rate is for, say, an email opt-in squeeze page. They may say, \u201cHey \u2013 every landing page is different. Every email is different. I can\u2019t help it if yours is terrible.\u201d And that\u2019s true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some of the friendlier list owners might point you to landing pages that recent buyers have used and say, \u201cThis converted at 8%\u201d. They might even show you the email creative that was sent to their list. The more information you can get, the better\u2026 just don\u2019t go crazy trying to copy the email or the landing page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Editor\u2019s note:<\/strong>\u00a0Ihsan Solo Ad recently published an <a href=\"https:\/\/mailsapex.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">email marketing<\/a> study that analyzed over 7 billion emails. There, you can check both\u00a0the average email open and click-through rates\u00a0as well as the average\u00a0landing page conversions for different industries, including internet marketing. Use this data to compare the numbers provided by the solo ad providers you plan to collaborate with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"where-to-find-solo-ad-lists\">Where to find solo ad lists<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are quite a lot of sites that will sell you access to their lists. I am not going to recommend any of them to you specifically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because what works for one person is not going to work for another. Even if you\u2019re in the same niche \u2013 say weight loss \u2013 the people you\u2019re targeting and who\u2019s actually on the list may not be a match. In other words, it\u2019s entirely possible two competent marketers could both mail to the same list and get wildly different results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While I just can\u2019t recommend specific solo ad sources, I do recommend you check some of the larger forums in your niche. Post a thread and ask if anyone has had success with solo ads and who they used. If you\u2019re in&nbsp;affiliate marketing, the Warrior Forum is an ideal choice. Many participants there do sell solo ads, and some people have had good results with them. And because good forums are communities, if someone is scamming people with a terrible list, you\u2019ll know from the forum threads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, you can also just go on&nbsp;<strong>Fiverr<\/strong>&nbsp;or Google \u201c<strong>your niche + solo ads,<\/strong>\u201d and you\u2019ll get a slew of companies offering to sell you one. A few of them may be good. Just follow the suggestions above and start small.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As with any business investment \u2013 don\u2019t spend money you can\u2019t afford to lose. Advertising is always a risk. There are no refunds. Please don\u2019t drop a bunch of cash just because you\u2019re feeling impatient. There are other (slower, yes, but other) ways to get traffic, build an audience, and eventually start making sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019d like to learn about other effective ways of driving traffic and growing your online business, check out our guide \u2013\u00a09 Best Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Landing Pages. In this guide, we\u2019ve carefully reviewed each method, provided examples, and ranked them against each other based on our own experience running lead gen campaigns at Ihsan Solo Ad<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"how-to-do-the-math-on-whether-a-solo-ad-will-be-worth-it-to-you\">How to do the math on whether a solo ad will be worth it to you<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This is the crux of the decision about whether to use a solo ad or not. Here\u2019s how the math might look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>Channel<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Minimum buy<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Open rate<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Cost per click<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Conversion rate on the landing page<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Cost per conversion<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Pay per click ads keyword #1<\/td><td>\u2013<\/td><td>\u2013<\/td><td>$0.75<\/td><td>7% conversion rate<\/td><td>$10.71 per conversion<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Facebook ad #1 to audience A<\/td><td>\u2013<\/td><td>\u2013<\/td><td>$0.32<\/td><td>3.5% conversion rate<\/td><td>$9.14 per conversion<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Solo ad A \u2013 buying 500 clicks \u2013 BEST SCENARIO<\/td><td>500 clicks for $150<\/td><td>&nbsp;<\/td><td>$150\/500 = $0.30 per click &nbsp; &nbsp;<\/td><td>4% conversion rate &nbsp; &nbsp;<\/td><td>$7.50 per conversion<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Solo ad A \u2013 buying 500 clicks \u2013 WORST SCENARIO<\/td><td>500 clicks for $150<\/td><td>&nbsp;<\/td><td>$150\/500 = $0.30 per click &nbsp; &nbsp;<\/td><td>1% conversion rate &nbsp; &nbsp;<\/td><td>$30.00 per conversion<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Solo ad B \u2013 mailing to 1,000,000 subscribers \u2013 BEST SCENARIO<\/td><td>1,000,000 subscribers for $99.95<\/td><td>Unknown\u2026 they say 5% is realistic. Would be 50,000 opens<\/td><td>If one in 50 people who open the email clicks, that\u2019s 1000 clicks<\/td><td>3% conversion rate = 30 conversions<\/td><td>$3.30 per conversion<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Solo ad B \u2013 mailing to 1,000,000 subscribers \u2013 WORST SCENARIO<\/td><td>1,000,000 subscribers for $99.95<\/td><td>Unknown\u2026 they say 5% is realistic. Go with 3%. Would be 30,000 opens<\/td><td>If one in 50 people who open the email clicks, that\u2019s 600 clicks<\/td><td>1.5% conversion rate = 9 conversions<\/td><td>$11.11 per conversion<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ve included two scenarios for those solo ads. That\u2019s because you never know what results you\u2019re going to get. The best you can do is figure out a realistically decent result, and see how that compares to your current cost per conversion. Then run the numbers again with worst-case scenario results. If you can still get a cost per conversion that doesn\u2019t scare you, this might be a solo ad worth the test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Please be warned, though. The quality of some of these lists is mind-bendingly bad. I once sent a solo ad to 100,000 people. It got an okay click-through rate \u2013 2% \u2013&nbsp;but not one sale.&nbsp;Not one sale from 2,000 clicks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you want help calculating cost per conversion, check out this\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/theonlineadvertisingguide.com\/ad-calculators\/cpa-calculator\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CPA Calculator<\/a>\u00a0from InBeat. It does the job nicely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"an-alternative-to-solo-ads\">An alternative to solo ads<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If this all sounds really tempting, but you\u2019re too broke to test it, there is an alternative. Create a nice ebook or some tutorial series. Make it good enough to be worth $5-$10. Set up a landing page and write some email copy to sell it. Consider setting up a simple affiliate tracking system, too \u2013 you\u2019re going to need to verify the sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now reach out to a couple of list owners in your niche. Here\u2019s your pitch: You send my email to your list, and I\u2019ll give you all proceeds from the sales. But I get to keep the email address of anyone who orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s why this works:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You will be exposing your brand and your little $5 product to a new audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u2019ll be building your list \u2013 but not with just everyday subscribers. You\u2019ll be getting subscribers who are willing to put down money for what you sell. That\u2019s a much more valuable subscriber than someone who\u2019s never bought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your list partner stands to make a reasonable chunk of change. At least enough to make it worth their time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your list partner may want the landing page and shopping cart to be on their site. You may also have to play around with how much your product should cost. Maybe the list owner wants it to be $2. Or $10. Run the numbers and make as good a deal as you can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>How to build an email list for affiliate marketing<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Beginners guide to squeeze pages (+ examples)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How to create an effective affiliate marketing funnel<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"conclusion\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For some businesses, solo ads work great. They\u2019re an affordable way to build a list fast or to blast exposure for a product launch. But there are some sob stories of people getting burned. And there are other sob stories of marketers simply not doing their homework and thus getting really bad results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you don\u2019t screen a list carefully, and you haven\u2019t picked a list that\u2019s suited to your business, don\u2019t complain if you lose money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And please, start slow. You won\u2019t really know how your email\/landing page creative performs until you\u2019ve tried it across 3-5 lists. Just because your campaign doesn\u2019t perform on one list, it does not mean the solo ads provider is a scammer. It may just mean their list doesn\u2019t care for your offer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What\u2019s a solo ads? Solo ads are a form of email-based advertisements where you essentially \u2018rent\u2019 another person\u2019s email list to promote your offer. Instead of embedding your ad within a regular newsletter, the entire email promotes only your offer, making solo ads especially effective. Although various businesses explore solo ads, affiliates and information marketers [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1984,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[228,226,221,537,222],"class_list":["post-1983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-solo-ad","tag-facebook-ads","tag-facebook-marketing","tag-increase-sales-via-email","tag-solo-ad","tag-where-my-web-traffic-goes"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/ihsansoloads.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Orange-White-Playful-QA-Youtube-Thumbnails-scaled.png",2560,1440,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/ihsansoloads.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Orange-White-Playful-QA-Youtube-Thumbnails-scaled.png",2560,1440,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/ihsansoloads.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Orange-White-Playful-QA-Youtube-Thumbnails-scaled.png",2560,1440,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/ihsansoloads.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Orange-White-Playful-QA-Youtube-Thumbnails-150x84.png",150,84,true],"medium":["https:\/\/ihsansoloads.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Orange-White-Playful-QA-Youtube-Thumbnails-300x169.png",300,169,true],"large":["https:\/\/ihsansoloads.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Orange-White-Playful-QA-Youtube-Thumbnails-1024x576.png",640,360,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/ihsansoloads.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Orange-White-Playful-QA-Youtube-Thumbnails-1536x864.png",1536,864,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/ihsansoloads.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Orange-White-Playful-QA-Youtube-Thumbnails-2048x1152.png",2048,1152,true],"vw-kids-homepage-thumb":["https:\/\/ihsansoloads.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Orange-White-Playful-QA-Youtube-Thumbnails-240x145.png",240,145,true]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Ihsan Ullah","author_link":"https:\/\/ihsansoloads.com\/blog\/author\/ihsanullah44_j06kdud9\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/ihsansoloads.com\/blog\/category\/solo-ad\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Solo Ad<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"What\u2019s a solo ads? Solo ads are a form of email-based advertisements where you essentially \u2018rent\u2019 another person\u2019s email list to promote your offer. Instead of embedding your ad within a regular newsletter, the entire email promotes only your offer, making solo ads especially effective. Although various businesses explore solo ads, affiliates and information marketers&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ihsansoloads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ihsansoloads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ihsansoloads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ihsansoloads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ihsansoloads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ihsansoloads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1983\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ihsansoloads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ihsansoloads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ihsansoloads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ihsansoloads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}