Ronaldo, Bitcoin & the LIFT Model

What digital marketers can learn from even the spammiest of affiliate adverts

Most weeks I concentrate on SEO, a digital marketing strategy which requires patience, a slow building of trust between your site, your visitors and Google, and a focus on quality over quantity.

This time around we will look at an affiliate marketing strategy that is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT in approach.

It basically involves finding a digital offer available on affiliate networks like Advidi or Clickbank, and then using advertising networks like Google Display Ads or Revcontent to find potential customers.

You act as the middle man between the advertising network and the vendor, just like in the traditional affiliate model.

However, there is a difference here. Instead of creating websites and trying to get them to rank on Google organic search, this strategy only requires your website to host landing pages which act as a conversion funnel between the display advert and the vendor site.

I stumbled across a perfect example of this strategy last week while I was browsing the web.

While some aspects of this conversion funnel are spammy at best and illegal at worst, other aspects are brilliant.

The landing page itself is also is a prime example of the LIFT model of conversion. If you aren’t familiar with the LIFT model yet, don’t worry, we will use this advert to illustrate it.

Let’s have a look at how the process works.

STEP 1: While browsing TimesofMalta.com I saw an eye-catching banner advert presented by Google Ads, talking about the footballer Ronaldo being suspended for 18 months.

I am sure I would have heard of this happening, and to be honest, I know this is going to be some ludicrous spam advert, but…I just can’t control my curiosity, even if it is just to see how ludicrous it is.

I also want to see how much Google will let you get away with these days.

I am simply compelled to click the “read more” button.

So I click on the button and get taken to step 2….

STEP 2: I get taken to a landing page on the URL: https://ccnnmedia.com/ronaldo_18month2/ (this URL may well get taken down, or blacklisted on the Chrome browser, so I have taken screenshots).

The landing page has two variants (the affiliate is split-testing – very wise), but the first one I see starts like this:

I see a logo with Sky News – I know that’s against Google’s rules and copyright rules in general, but I guess that will increase the immediate sense of authority for some people.

The headline talks about Ronaldo getting a 2-year jail sentence for tax evasion. I think I had heard about that sometime in the past. Anyway, the story has me curious to scroll below the fold. On the side of my eye I see a related story about somebody becoming a millionaire thanks to Bitcoin. I think I am starting to get an idea of what this page is going to try to sell me….

Anyway, I scroll down and pass some social media buttons. If this story is good, I am going to try to share this!

Then there is a wall of text describing how rich Ronaldo is, and how he got into some tax problems in Spain because of his investing in Bitcoin. The article suggests this may be behind his recent move to Juventus. Interesting. The sidebar has more stories about Bitcoin making people rich, and some people crying about the shrinking economy.

Next up is an image of a Bitcoin and some stats telling me how much richer I would be if I had bought some in 2010. Damn it! Now I am jealous, and ready to take action. I notice for the first time there is some countdown ribbon that is following me down the screen. I feel a sense of urgency….so I scroll on….

Now I see a quote from “Mr Ronaldo” (from a Bloomberg interview) explaining how he wants everyone to profit from the rise in Bitcoin. What a nice, caring guy Mr Ronaldo is.

Next up is a photo of “Gordon Matterhorn”, the CEO of Bitcoin Mogul who is talking about some kind of “Britcoin Trader” software. Sounds interesting, so I scroll on….

Now I find out that the software generates daily earnings for around 5000 users. But Mr Ronaldo wants to open the system up to the general public soon. My sense of urgency just went up.

Then there is some talk about having to keep the algorithm secure. I guess that’s important so that it keeps working. Sounds sensible. My interest makes me scroll on.

Next up there is some special offer available to those who sign up before midnight, then there is a description of the sign-up process, as performed by the new user Matthew Fordham. He sounds like a normal person, so I wonder how easy it was for him to sign up.

Only 3 steps! That sounds awesome. I hate long sign-up processes. And even Matthew Fordham could do it, so it must be easy. Where do I start? I scroll

Matthew Fordham tells us about his ￡1400 profit in one hour. That sounds great. Then Mr Ronaldo leaves us with a special message, about how 99.9% of the world’s population does not know about this new economy. And how anyone can take advantage of this without risks.  LOL.

Then a couple of sentences increase my sense of urgency even more, because they tell me that the system capacity is almost filled, and then there is something about EU citizens being stopped from signing up REALLY SOON.

I am an EU citizen. I need to sign up now!

Finally, there is a big Orange CTA to click to sign up. Thank god for that. I thought I was going to miss out.

I click the big orange CTA and get taken to the Vendor page (actually there are two, as they seem to be split-testing the offer):

https://secureoffer.org/bitcoinrevolution/

https://britcoinsystemapp.com

At this point I can either sign up and become a Bitcoin millionaire like Mr Ronaldo or continue analysing the conversion funnel a bit more, for research purposes.

I choose option 2.

I play around with the landing page a bit more and see that all the links (even the social media buttons) go to the vendor offer. That’s an interesting tactic. I remember I have seen previous offers supply social proof in the form of Facebook comments, which are actually just an image of fake comments saying how great the offer is. But if someone is in a hurry, probably they won’t notice.

I click the initial display advert again and manage to see the second variant of the landing page. It’s basically the same story but this time it involves a sub-plot about Leo Messi. Maybe they are split-testing Barcelona and Real Madrid/Juventus/Man Utd. fans in some way? Who knows.

OK, so now we have had a good look at the affiliate funnel, let’s evaluate it for what it does right and what it does wrong.

 What this offer does wrong

The major problem with this affiliate offer is that they break so many advertising rules in such an obvious way that the advert will surely get pulled from Google Ads very soon. In fact, I stopped seeing this offer later that day, so maybe Google have already had enough.

Apart from breaking Google rules, the advert breaks copyright laws by using the Sky logo, and also by using the social icons as buttons which go to the offer page and not to the social networks.

The operators of the ad are surely asking for a lawsuit from Cristiano Ronaldo for the fake quotes and the pictures. If they tried these tactics using a certain Swedish footballer (who shall not be named), then they would likely already be in court.

It uses very misleading info about guaranteed gains with no risk, which is asking for trouble.

Finally, I have seen these kinds of Bitcoin Strategy and Binary Options offers last a lot longer on Native Content advertising networks, so if they stuck to those platforms instead of Google, probably they would last longer than a few hours.

 What this offer does right

Despite its disregard for any kind of rules and regulations, this offer does so much right.

The best way to analyse what it does well is to compare it to the LIFT model.

The LIFT model was developed by Chris Goward of Youshouldtestthat.com and describes what a landing page needs to do to maximize conversions.

There are six factors involved:

To increase conversions, the LIFT framework requires you to:

1)    Have a great value proposition (in most cases, the product or service, but it could be just signing up for a newsletter)

2)    increase the urgency of the user to take action

3)    match the relevance of the user’s goals when they enter the landing page

4)    communicate clearly how well the product will satisfy the user’s goals

5)    avoid any distractions

6)    reduce user anxiety about proceeding with the purchase (or the next required action)

Let’s evaluate this advert using the LIFT model

How good is the value proposition here?

On a rational level, this Bitcoin trading system has a very poor value proposition, as it is yet another ‘get-rich-quick’ scheme, like binary options or Multi-level marketing.

But on an emotional level, the offer has a VERY GOOD value proposition, precisely because it IS a ‘get-rich-quick’ scheme, and these never seem to go out of fashion.

A certain section of the population loves the thought that there is some secret algorithm lying around which can lead to easy riches. If you can get as many of those people to this landing page, and then frame the product or service in the right way, then they will be potential customers for sure.

 Does the landing page increase the urgency of the user to take action?

Yes, I think we can say the landing page does increase urgency in several places. Most obviously it does this through the sticky countdown ribbon which follows the user as they scroll down.

But it also makes a special bonus offer available if you sign up in the next 24 hours, as well as announcing that there is a limit to the number of places available.

And the information that the EU will not allow its citizens to take part after the 15 minutes is up is a great bit of urgency. Total bullshit, yes, but it works.

Increasing urgency is probably important here, as the affiliate wouldn’t want the user to spend too much time searching the web for Bitcoin scams.

Is the landing page relevant to what the user expects after they click on the advert?

It is kind of relevant, but the landing page has a natural disadvantage.

Visitors coming from the advert clicked on it because of Ronaldo, but by the end, the landing page is trying to sell a Bitcoin system. However, the landing page does a good job of linking these two subjects in a seamless way.

A better way would have been to make the advert more obviously about Bitcoin, so users would already have been primed to expect a Bitcoin landing page. That would also avoid the risk of lawsuits from famous footballers.

To do that, they couldn’t use Google Ads as the advertising network, since Bitcoin was banned from this network in March. That’s one criticism I would make of the strategy here. There are plenty of advertising networks which are Bitcoin-friendly (as well as Binary Options and Casino). Why choose an unfriendly one?

Does the landing page deliver on clarity?

I think so. It made me keep on scrolling, and at the end I got a nice big orange CTA to click. The text was a bit heavy in places. It could have used some bullet points to spell out the advantages of investing in Bitcoin. But overall, it’s quite clear what the page wants me to do.

Does the landing page avoid any distractions?

Yes. There is a sidebar with some ‘supporting stories’, but even these reinforce the ‘Get rich with Bitcoin’ theme.

A more focused landing page would need a lot less text, but because they are using Google Ads, they have to use a story about a footballer as a hook, and then they need to turn the story into a Bitcoin theme. And that needs some text. It’s about as clear as they could do.

The second variant involves a subplot about Leo Messi. I think that’s too much of a different topic.  

Does the landing page reduce user anxiety?

Yes, it does a good job of this. The user story about how easy it is to sign up reduces the anxiety about it being a long process. They could have used testimonials from users, or the social proof of fake Facebook comments. But overall it made me lose all worries about signing up. Although obviously I didn’t.

What DO’s and DONT’s can we take from this example?

DON’T breach copyright or commit slander to sell products - it’s risky and unethical, and Google and other networks will pull your advert before you even get enough data to evaluate its performance.

DO try to use social proof to boost the confidence of the customer and reduce their anxiety. But don’t be sneaky about it by using the names and pictures of celebrities. You can mention testimonials from previous users, names of companies who work with you (if you are running a B2B) or show awards your company or product has won. If you are an affiliate, why not mention how fast it is to sign up with each provider and claim the bonus?

DO try to increase the urgency of the customer to buy. The example above uses a countdown ribbon and some other tricks to persuade the visitor to click the CTA. But if you are a sportsbook or online casino, you could use time-sensitive bonus sign-up offers.

DON’T clutter your page with more information than is necessary. This can distract the user from performing the action you want them to do. At the same time, you need to make sure the user has enough information available to make that decision.

DO know that the amount of information you should present all depends on how the user just entered your landing page. If they clicked on a banner or PPC ad clearly mentioning Bitcoin, or casino, then probably they will know the topic already, so you can keep things short and simple. If they click on a picture of Ronaldo, then you will need to explain what Bitcoin is and somehow link it to Ronaldo. This will take a lot more information to achieve.

DO consider taking advantage of this method to enter a new vertical like Bitcoin or Binary Options in a fast and cheap way, without having to invest heavily in content and then wait for SEO to kick in.

DO choose your advertising network wisely. Some of them are happy to promote Bitcoin, casino and most other things, and you should only use such networks. There’s two reasons why you should use networks which are happy to promote your product. Firstly, because you won’t have to worry about cloaking your adverts and losing your account when you get detected. Secondly, you can then show a relevant advert to the user, which means you won’t have to spend 1000 words explaining what your super product is. One network which you might want to consider is the MGID network which covers native advertising networks and is casino friendly.

Good luck!