Affiliates rely on data, as they need to know what efforts bring the expected results. While impressions and conversions are still crucial for any publisher, it also helps to know the actual return from users who view your ads.
EPC (Earnings Per Click) helps measure the monetary efficiency of your traffic when it comes to clicks – how much you earn when a user clicks on your affiliate link – unlike commissions, which are a broader concept and may not only be tied to clicks but also the leads and sales you generate, depending on the type of affiliate program.
Read on to find out how to measure and read EPC to make your affiliate marketing campaigns more effective.
EPC in Affiliate Marketing
In affiliate marketing, EPC reflects how much you earn per click on your affiliate link, and you can use this metric for several purposes:
- Determine what campaigns and ads are bringing the highest revenue per click
- Identify what campaigns might have the highest earning potential
- Optimize traffic sources by identifying where the most valuable clicks come from
- Forecast earnings while scaling campaigns and testing creatives
In other words, EPC helps you measure how effectively your links are. Obviously, you need to strive for the highest possible EPC, as it shows you’re attracting purchase-ready traffic.
One of the most common ways to achieve high EPC rates is to choose a high-ticket niche with high commissions and create high-quality, conversion-oriented content that resonates with your audience.
| EPC (Earnings Per Click) | Affiliate Commission | |
| Definition | Measures the average earnings per click on your affiliate links | Fixed or percentage-based payment for a generated lead or sale |
| Formula | Total Earnings ÷ Total Clicks | Commission Rate × Number of Conversions |
| Used for | Optimizing pay-per-lick, comparing affiliate programs, and forecasting earnings | Calculating potential income |
| Example | 1,000 clicks → 20 sales → $200 total → EPC = $0.20 | $10 per sale → 20 sales = $200 in commissions |
Basically, commission rates tell you “how much you’ll get paid”, while EPC tells you “how well your strategy performs.”
How to Calculate EPC
Here’s the formula to calculate EPC:
EPC = Total Earnings from ClicksNumber of clicks on your links
For example, imagine you’ve made $200 in commissions within your PPC campaign, which accounted for 1,000 clicks. To determine EPC, you need to divide total earnings by total clicks:
EPC =2001,000=$0,20 per click
The higher this EPC, the more efficiently you are converting traffic into actual revenue. In other words, it’s better to have fewer clicks and a higher EPC than lots of clicks with a low EPC.
Making the Most of Your EPC Data
By analyzing EPC data, you can optimize your campaigns and also choose the best affiliate marketing programs.
Let’s examine three ways to make the most of your EPC insights:
Identify Top-Performing Content
By knowing your earnings per click, you can determine which content can generate the most profits. Then you can scale it up to the required volume. For instance, you can target paid ads to similar buyer personas or focus on blog and post topics that deeply resonate with the current audience. In email marketing campaigns, you can send follow-up emails with offers similar to those that previously drove a high EPC.
Compare Affiliate Programs
EPC is one of the most useful metrics for choosing an affiliate program. While commission rates show what you’ll earn per sale, EPC reflects the actual performance of a program, including how well its offer converts with a specific audience.
By comparing the EPCs of different affiliate programs, you can identify which one brings the highest return per click, not just the biggest commission rates. For example, a program with high payouts but conversion rates may generate fewer overall earnings.
Adjust Your Promotional Strategy
A low EPC may show that your current marketing strategy doesn’t resonate with the audience. So you can use EPC as an opportunity to grow, including A/B testing creatives or targeting a different buyer persona.
In some cases, small tweaks are enough to boost performance, while in other cases you need to make bold changes. That’s why most affiliates prefer to gradually enroll changes by running several tests and comparing the results to see which actions deliver the highest EPC.
The Future of EPC in Affiliate Marketing
EPC has already become crucial both for affiliates and advertisers. Modern marketers use it in behavioral analytics to understand their target audience’s intentions and pain points.
Advanced AI analytics platforms also allow marketers to predict EPC for new campaigns, identifying whether a chosen promo will perform well with a specific audience and sets of variables.
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- The biggest pool of insurance and solar advertisers to sell your leads
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Join Profitise as an affiliate to grow your bottom line.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is EPC in Affiliate Marketing?
EPC is a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) that measures the average amount of money a publisher earns for every click on an affiliate link.
Does EPC work only with pay-per-click programs?
No, it works with any affiliate program. EPC measures how much commission you earn on average per visitor click, whether you’re paid for leads, sales, etc. For example, if you’ve gotten 100 clicks that resulted in $100 in profits, your EPC is $1.
How to increase your EPC in affiliate marketing
To increase your EPC, choose programs with a high EPC and focus on making data-driven decisions, split-testing your content and ads, and creating resonating content.
