How to promote Antivirus and Utilities offers: Beginners guide for affiliates

With the global Antivirus software market size of 4.7 billion in 2024 and projected growth of 8.40% in 2030, the vertical is more than promising for marketers, including utilities.

The question is how to advertise antivirus and utilities this year and boost revenue even if you’re a newbie.

In the article you’ll find a step-by-step guide by RichAds ad network team on Utilities and Antivirus promotion, from product choice to actual setup tips.

Why choose Utilities and Antivirus vertical for a beginner?

First a brief definition of Utilities and Antivirus vertical — it includes products for mobile and PCs assisting in protecting devices from viruses, blocking ads, providing access to any info via VPN or helping in files organization. 

Let’s see the overall pros of Antivirus and Utilities products advertising for newbies before getting down to actual setup tips.

  • High interest.
    People will always care about data protection, no matter which country they live in and what level of cybersecurity they have. For instance, 1 in 3 Americans that don’t use antivirus software consider its adoption, while every fifth user has experienced a virus attack.
  • Wide audience.
    Even when it comes to expensive premium software the number of users on any GEO is wide, in the USA the amount of clients who have paid for premium subscriptions is 50 million approximately, according to Umbel. In terms of worldwide users it’s about 900 million people as of now.
  • Great products and providers range.
    There’s a possibility to choose any product from antivirus to VPN or browser extension, taking into account desired payouts and conditions. The vertical is also a great opportunity to start working with well-known brands such as Norton or McAfee directly.
Cybersecurity market revenue growth, source: Statista

So, if you wish to promote utilities offers after considering the pros, let’s look at which products and brands can be advertised.

Which products and brands can be advertised for Utilities vertical?

Now that you’ve chosen to run Antivirus and Utilities offers, it’s high time to select the exact product and brand.

Top Utilities and Antivirus products for promotion:

  • Antivirus software
  • VPNs
  • PC and mobile cleaners
  • Browser extensions
  • App installs
  • Adblockers
  • File managers

There are also most popular brands that have an affiliate program and can be advertised, including antivirus and utilities products.

Most popular Antivirus brands:

  • Avira
  • McAfee
  • Norton
  • Bitdefender
  • Kaspersky
  • ESET Antivirus
  • Avast

Let’s dive deeper into Antivirus and Utilities advertising trends for newbies, with a step-by-step instruction.

What is RichAds?
🔝 High quality push and pop ads,
🔼 domain redirect and native traffic source,
🔝 buy push ads at $0.005 (CPC), pop ads at $0.5 (CPM),
⏫ domain ads costs start from $1.5 (CPM), native ads — from $0.001 (CPC),
⏫ ad network offers large volumes of traffic in more than 200 geos from Tier 3 to Tier 1.

Step#1. Choose the right offer for Utilities vertical

There are many offers in the Antivirus and Utilities niche and it can be hard to define which one suits you best.

First, decide if you wish to work directly with an affiliate program or take an offer from a CPA network. The main difference is the payout size — for affiliate programs it’s higher, yet requirements can also be stricter. If you choose a CPA net, managers will help you with a strategy and advertising materials.

Then, choose a GEO and research users’ behavior in the region. When selecting a country, look for those that have either higher cybersecurity risk or higher awareness of virus attacks. It’s mostly Tier 3 countries that are more likely to be threatened by Trojans and other attacks, like Bolivia, Honduras, Venezuela, Algeria and Ecuador.

Finally, check out the offers requirements and restrictions, like traffic sources and creatives choice, then apply a proven affiliate marketing strategy, we’ll share more detailed recommendations below!

Source: ETCIO.com

Step#2. Select a GEO for your Antivirus&Utilities offer

Choosing a GEO for promoting Antivirus and Utilities offers is one of the most crucial steps as it determines your creative strategy and target audience as well as CPA and payout.

When it comes to RichAds expertise we’ve analyzed the best regions for Antivirus promotion that bring leads to our customers and are ready to provide the list below!

Top GEOs for Antivirus&Utilities vertical at RichAds

  • the USA
  • Japan
  • Canada
  • Australia
  • Germany
  • the UK

The ransomware attacks by country in 2023 also proves that such countries as the USA, Germany, UK, Canada and Australia were prone to ransomware attacks more than other, make sure to test these GEOs in your campaigns!

Source: SOCRadar.io

Step#3. Set up a tracker and postback

This is a crucial thing to do for any successful marketer, especially for the Utilities vertical.

Any tracker helps to see where the leads come from, analyze the efficiency of a traffic source and disable non-converting ones. Without postback setup it’s impossible to do proper optimization and results analysis!

Check out guides on trackers’ set up at RichAds

Step#4. Determine the best Antivirus traffic source

The next step for those who wonder how to promote Antivirus offers is to define which traffic source to choose.

Globally, there are two traffic sources that are ideal for newbies promoting Antivirus offers, according to RichAds expertise — push and pop ads.

Push ads: personal and notification-like

Push notification ads have one of the highest click-through rates (CTR), making them an ideal option for promoting Antivirus products. They work particularly well for the Utilities vertical, leading to impressive conversion rates.

One of the main benefits of push notifications for Antivirus advertising is the flexible content policy, which allows freedom in wording and visuals without any bans. Additionally, these ads are affordable in pricing and users subscribe voluntarily to receive them, so the loyalty of TA is high.

RichAds Team

Moreover, push notifications resemble system alerts, so you can use the similarity to capture users’ attention, especially with urgent wording!

Pop Ads: affordable and impossible to miss

Pop ads are another effective strategy for Antivirus and Utilities offers promotion. They appear as a new page beneath the current one, grabbing users’ attention and enhancing conversion rates. 

 Apart from it, popunders are among the most budget-friendly options for antivirus traffic.

With pop ads, advertisers benefit from campaign flexibility in terms of landers. Some affiliates even use fear-based tactics to encourage downloads and subscriptions, suggesting that a device may be infected, VPN or browser update is needed, or that the user’s privacy is under threat.

Step#5. Find the best creatives and landing pages for Antivirus products

The key factor to successful CTRs for push and pop ads is the usage of different approaches, minimum 5 to 10 creatives for push ads and several landing pages for pop ads.

This way you’ll cover the most suitable audience and check out which is the best approach for your exact GEO and targeting.

Top 3 ideas for Antivirus&Utilities push ads creatives

  1. System notification.
    Urge potential clients that there may be viruses on his PC or mobile device, make sure the text is convincing yet not too scary, also such ads need to remind of real system notifications.
  1. Discount on a monthly plan.
    Antiviruses or VPNs can be quite expensive, especially when it comes to well-known brands, so offering a time-limited discount can be a great way to attract hesitant users — everybody loves discounts.
  1. Browser or workspace update.
    You can specify that the instruments a user applies most frequently require an update, and provide him a solution like a browser extension or an update, just make sure to specify the browser in your targeting.

What is RichAds?
🔝 High quality push and pop ads,
🔼 domain redirect and native traffic source,
🔝 buy push ads at $0.005 (CPC), pop ads at $0.5 (CPM),
⏫ domain ads costs start from $1.5 (CPM), native ads — from $0.001 (CPC),
⏫ ad network offers large volumes of traffic in more than 200 geos from Tier 3 to Tier 1.

In terms of landers, there are two approaches that will convert 100%. The first one is a free download or a discount. All the special conditions need to be specified on a lander clearly and obviously together with a download button a visible space in the site. 

Another idea is to show “scary” info on your landing or even pre-landing page. Write that a PC or a phone was infected and requires an antimalware program or an update, you can even show a countdown to be more persuasive. Button also needs to be obvious and noticeable!

Lifehack: ask your RichAds manager for free creatives for your exact GEO and offer, he’ll localize and customize them specifically for you.

Step#6. Specify your budget and bid

Antivirus and Utilities offers may require a bit larger budgets as the CPAs and payouts are higher, check this out in advance.

Optimal budget for any vertical is at least 10 conversion prices before optimization of a campaign. Make sure you set “ASAP” budget type to start getting traffic as soon as your bid wins the auction.

In terms of bids, you can ask your manager for the most lucrative one in the exact region or use Predictor feature at RichAds and see how much volume per bid you’ll get!

Step#7. Use Premium sources

Premium sublists at RichAds represent the so-called elite segment of push and pop traffic, featuring only those sources that deliver exceptional CRs across a diverse array of offers. 

To qualify for this prestigious group, sources must meet three essential standards: outstanding conversion rates in comparison with other groups, enough data analyzed, as well as consistent results over time, with no negative feedback from affiliates.

Incorporating these premium sources into Antivirus campaigns can greatly enhance their effectiveness, leading to improved engagement and higher conversion rates.

Lifehack: ask your manager for a free whitelist on Premium group, RichAds team makes fresh whitelists for different Antivirus offers regularly!

Step#8. Optimize your campaign

Optimization can for sure be called the most vital factor to high CR and results, yet it can be done via different tools and features to speed up the whole process.

  • Performance Mode.
    This algorithm is designed to automatically create and refresh whitelists for your targeting, helping affiliates achieve the best possible profits. There’s no need for a tracking tool, as the algorithm manages all optimization based on location and additional targeting features.

    Yet, if you have a tracker, the algorithm can get to your desired conversion price!
  • Automated Rules.
    This is a feature that allows creating custom rules on turning off inefficient sources that do not bring leads at all or provide too expensive conversions. The algorithm does this work automatically without any effort from a marketer.

Conclusion

All the simple steps will help any affiliate in launching prosperous Antivirus and Utilities campaigns, no matter what level of expertise they possess.

Take an offer and launch it on RichAds HQ traffic now!

What is RichAds?
🔝 High quality push and pop ads,
🔼 domain redirect and native traffic source,
🔝 buy push ads at $0.005 (CPC), pop ads at $0.5 (CPM),
⏫ domain ads costs start from $1.5 (CPM), native ads — from $0.001 (CPC),
⏫ ad network offers large volumes of traffic in more than 200 geos from Tier 3 to Tier 1.

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Victoria Hubkina
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Starting off as an account manager at RichAds, Victoria Hubkina has been immersed in affiliate marketing as a content writer for over three years. Her expertise spans all the possible verticals from Gambling to Nutra and various types of traffic. By now, Victoria has written over 100 articles on marketing topics and crafted scripts for RichAds YouTube channel. Beyond work, she indulges in esotericism, film photography, and vintage fashion.
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