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If you search ‘solo ads’ online, you will find the internet divided between two opposing opinions. Some rave about the quick and vast reach of solo ads, while others warn you of unscrupulous vendors with fake subscriber lists. Where does this leave you if you’re looking to incorporate solo ads to advertise your business? Is this a wise choice or not?

While there is a number of excellent solo ads vendors out there, they may not work for every business. This guide will tell you how. Every company does not have a one-size-fits-all marketing approach. They all require different advertising tactics based on the nature of the industry and how far along your business is established. Read on to find out all you need to know to answer the question; are solo ads right for my business?

Understanding How Solo Ads Work

Solo advertising is a form of email marketing that creates targeted traffic for your business. It follows a Cost-per-Click (CPC) model, so you’ll only pay when you get a ‘click,’ and your subscriber visits your website. 

Here’s what you need to do. You will find a reliable solo ad seller with a significant subscriber list. You will reach out to the vendor and decide whether you’ll pay for the number of subscribers the email will be sent to or the number of clicks you’ll get. After the payment has been decided, the vendor will send an email about your product, service, or business to their entire list of subscribers.

A reliable solo ad cost is generally between $0.05 and $0.95. The good news is that you’re not paying for this email advertising without getting anything in return! You’ll pay only when a subscriber clicks on your link. If you think about the anatomy of solo ads, it’s easy to be tempted to buy one. But is that always wise? It is an undeniable fact that there are several benefits of solo ads. But they also pose a huge risk, which could render your efforts useless. To help you understand, we’ll take you through the risks and profits of solo ads.  

Risks and Profits of Solo Ads

We go deeper into the pros and cons of solo ads in a prior article, but it’s worth summarizing before diving into briefly if you’re considering them. Solo ads give you access to a vast audience with minimal effort and cost. Most solo ad vendors have thousands of subscribers so you can get several clicks with a single solo ad. With solo ads, you pay for an order of clicks up front. If you pay 1000 clicks, you will only pay for those 1000 clicks, even if the email send over delivers a bit (it’s not an exact science). In our experience (with Udimi), many vendors over deliver 10%-20% of clients as a courtesy. This is in contrast to Pay-Per-Click (PPC). PPC platforms are not pay in advance; they are pay as you go. The cost per click for PPC is calculated by the platform itself using an algorithm.

With solo ads, you can evade the hassle of creating your own email list and let someone else do all this for you for a meager amount. All you’ll need to do is provide your company’s link and the text. In some cases, solo ad vendors will even write a text for you within the ad budget. What’s even greater is that you don’t have to wait long for results. As soon as the email goes out, recipients will click the link right then, unlike Google and Facebook ads that take time.

Unfortunately, it’s not all hunky-dory. Not all solo ad vendors are good. Some solo ad vendors might have subscriber lists filled with dead traffic, which will mean you might be paying for subscriber lists with bots that will click your product or service. You may see traffic and sign ups from these bots, but not garner any real results (e.g., sales) for you. Some solo ad vendors have been known to hire other people to respond to your email. Like bots, this traffic is useless.   

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Are Solo Ads Right For Every Business?

Now that we have analyzed the pros and cons of solo ads, we would like to add a disclaimer. Solo ads would work better for some businesses than others, depending on a number of factors:

• Nature of the industry
• How old your business is
• Your marketing budget

Solo ads are right for you if:

✔ You Have a Limited Budget

You should seriously consider solo ads if you have an online business with a limited marketing budget. Solo ads have been a popular choice for new marketers for years, and rightfully so. Marketing can be highly competitive, and there’s no way you can compete with the budgets of some big, established companies.

Let’s shed a quick look at advertising expenses. It would take approximately $3 to $10 to reach 1000 people via online advertising and a whopping $22 to reach 1000 people through traditional advertising. In online advertising, solo ads are at the lowest end of the spectrum, as seen in the table below.

Platform	Cost-Per-Click (CPC)
Google Ads	$2.32
Facebook Ads	$1.72
Instagram Ads	$3.56
LinkedIn Ads	$5.26
Youtube Ads	$3.21
Solo Ads	$0.30

If you analyze the above options, solo ads have the lowest CPC. If you have just a few hundred dollars dedicated to your marketing budget, you can opt for a solo ad, which will cost you $.030 per click. If you’re worried about fake solo ad vendors at low prices, don’t worry! You can get high-quality Udimi solo ads at a minimum price of $0.50 per click and a maximum price of $2.00 per click.

The best part is that this isn’t a gamble. You will get real results. If a subscriber clicks your link, they do so with the intent to either find out more about your business or to make a purchase-and both go to your benefit!

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✔ You Are in a Niche Market (Affiliate Marketing)

If you’re in a niche, you might be experiencing two major issues. Firstly, the market is brimming with similar content, and secondly, the pay-per-click (PPC) prices are too damn high. One example of a niche is affiliate marketing. Another is multilevel marketing (MLM). Solo ads are arguably the best advertising method for affiliate marketing.

As an affiliate marketer, you will use a solo ad vendor’s email marketing list to bring in customers. The good news is that you will see results within hours or even minutes! It’s not an ad that a person might skip and lose while scrolling. Moreover, they might see many similar ads, so what’s different from yours? Solo ads send your link to buyers who have previously expressed an interest in a similar product/service. The email is right there in their inbox to see. It’s a sure-shot way for affiliate marketers to get some targeted traffic to the website and get rewarded by the business.

Moreover, the cost per lead is much lower for solo ads than other options like Google Ads. The CPC for popular keywords is quite high, usually $5 or more in the niche market. Since you’re targeting a niche, you might want to market in a specific region, gender, or age group. This would prove even more competitive, not to mention expensive. You can always opt for broader keywords to lower the price, but the traffic would also drop. As a result, you’re essentially paying more for a limited result.

If you are an affiliate marketer, check out our article on how to use solo ads for your affiliate business.

✔ Launching a Product

If you don’t have an established customer base or are looking to expand your business in a different industry, you can consider leveraging someone else’s subscriber list via solo ads. Solo ads work best for entrepreneurs who don’t have the time and energy to build an audience from scratch or spend hours drafting guest posts. You want to make people aware of your product launch, and solo ads are the way to do that.

Given today’s rapidly growing social media base, you might be tempted to try influencer marketing. Bloggers with a significant number of Instagram followers will post a story or post about your product launch. However, the costs can be high, flat fee without performance guarantees, and not without its risks. If you’re going this route, you should beware that some influencers have purchased their following to lure in businesses, which will mean a lot of bots that serve no purpose to your efforts. If your chosen influencer has an organic following, they would likely charge you between $10 and $100 for an Instagram post for 1-10k followers, $100 to $500 for 10k-100k followers, and these rates would continue to increase as the following increases.

In comparison, solo ads are a much more affordable option. You will pay for what you get, and that too, in just $0.50 per click. Emails are action-oriented, and the lists of solo vendors are curated to people who are interested in learning more and buying in specific product categories. Influencer marketing, in general, is better suited for top-of-funnel metrics like engagements or reach.

There’s also something to be said for how people check their email. A survey showed that 19% of respondents check their email as they arrive, 24% check their email several times a day, 20% check their emails a few times a day, 19% check their email once a day, and 19% check their emails less than once a day. Due to the frequency with which people check their emails, solo ad recipients will likely see your email before the product launch and find out what they need to know about it.

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Final Word

Solo ads have their share of benefits if you choose a reliable and renowned solo ad vendor. You will only put yourself at risk when you fall into a dishonest and fake solo ad vendor’s trap. The ultimate conclusion is that solo ads work better for some businesses than others. You might consider other, more effective options if you have a huge marketing budget. But if you are new in the market, are an affiliate marketer, have a limited budget, or are launching a product, you should consider solo ads.

Hey, if you want to sell your own solo ads, check out our beginner’s guide.