Antivirus & VPNs — Hot Vertical For Coronavirus Times!

Kinga Gawron
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Crisis breeds opportunity… Antivirus & VPN vertical breeds profit. How convenient is that? Regardless of the controversies regarding such an approach, the global economy does not sleep. That’s why, if there’s a chance on the affiliate horizon, you’d better seize it before others do. Antivirus & VPN campaigns are exactly that chance right now. 

Read on to learn everything you need to know about the Antivirus & VPN vertical and how to make the most of it. 

What’s the Antivirus & VPN vertical? 

Antivirus, VPN, App Utilities — whatever the name, these categories refer to a similar angle. This angle includes offers promoting utility applications and software, designed to help analyze, configure and optimize device performance. But most of all, to protect both mobile and desktop devices. All products related to VPN and online privacy protection also fall into this category. Typically, such offers aim to convince users to download apps and software offering antivirus protection for mobile and desktop devices.

Should I use a VPN & Antivirus protection? 

Yes. Unless you’re stranded on a deserted island with no Internet connection, and sadly you’re unable to read this article, you should definitely get yourself an Antivirus & VPN service for both mobile and desktop devices. Luckily, more and more people are aware of this and start using such utilities on a daily basis. Most of the time, people use VPN & Antivirus services for security purposes. Let’s be honest, though, and openly admit that it also allows us to sneakily browse through sites we don’t necessarily want to share information on. 

SOME BENEFITS OF USING A VPN & ANTIVIRUS SERVICES ARE:

  • Private and secure online activity.
  • Safe access to a business or home network while traveling.
  • Secure usage of public wi-fi.
  • Accessing geo-blocked websites.
  • Bypassing Internet censorship and restrictions.
  • Securely and/or anonymously downloading files.
  • Saving money shopping online, e.g. when buying flight tickets.
  • Improving online gaming speed.

Why are we listing all that information here? Naturally, you do know what VPNs are and how important the right antivirus program is. As an affiliate marketer, you cannot imagine running a business without them. Well, just keep reading and you’ll know why. 

Why is this vertical working so well right now?

This vertical has been long known to affiliate marketers, not only because it’s an evergreen niche, but also because VPNs are indispensable for affiliate advertisers themselves. If you use VPNs on a daily basis and can’t really imagine running your online business without them, so do other people. And with a huge increase in the number of people who adopted the work-from-home business model due to the COVID-19 outbreak, there’s a huge increase in the Antivirus & VPN demand, too. 

The coronavirus pandemic has triggered the most unexpected turns in the global economy. A sudden surge in VPN usage is one of them. As has been observed since the beginning of March, which is when most countries experienced a jump in the number of people infected with covid-19, VPN adoption more than doubled in some of the countries. 

Have a look at the below statistics by Atlas, one of the most popular VPN services, showing how the current VPN vs. COVID-19 trends:

According to Atlas VPN user data, VPN usage in the US increased by 124% during the last two weeks. VPN usage in the country increased by 71% in the last 7 days alone.

Atlan Graphic VPN Surge

A similar scenario can be observed for antivirus software, too. Naturally, such a turn of events may be attributed to billions of people staying and working from home as a result of lockdowns and mandatory quarantines. We’ve already discussed how various safety measurements influenced a shift in online user-behavior and its effects on affiliate marketing, and the Antivirus & VPN surge is yet another example of that. 

Due to the coronavirus lockdown, people use Antivirus & VPN services for:

  • work-from-home purposes, eg. accessing work-related data and remote communication.
  • home education, e.g. accessing online materials and remote communication.
  • online entertainment, e.g. streaming, downloading, gaming, dating, communicating.
  • remotely dealing with legalities and formalities, e.g online banking, healthcare, insurances. 
  • device and data protection due to increased online fraud and phishing attempts during the covid-19 lockdown.

All that means one thing for affiliate marketing — a chance for hitting a high-converting niche with tried and tested solutions. 

Antivirus & VPN offers that convert

Whatever vertical you’re promoting, finding offers that convert should always start with thorough market research. No campaign can be successful if you don’t know the product you’re promoting, and the audience you’re promoting the said product to. That’s why below you’ll find a list of top VPNs & Antivirus services to promote right now.

Such insights will definitely help you in the later stages of creating your ads and launching campaigns. For a given program and offer details, click on the attached affiliate program links as offer terms and payouts vary depending on the advertiser’s experience and campaign duration. We advise you to thoroughly check them out as these are the best paying offers on the market right now, with more than 100% payouts! 

Top VPN Providers & Affiliate Programs

Top Antivirus Providers & Affiliate Programs

Top Antivirus & VPN Offers

For those who prefer to work with affiliate networks, here’s where to get such offers from. This way is a solution tried and tested by a number of advertisers in our industry and might even seem like a much safer and reliable option, especially for less experienced advertisers. 

If you’re already familiar with them and able to run their offers on the spot, then you’re good to go! If not, we’re pretty sure they’ll be happy to get into the business with you guys. 

Have a look at some of the top Antivirus & VPN offer networks, sign up and check their offers!

The best ad format for Antivirus & VPN offers

As Zeropak’s historical data shows, push and in-page push traffic perform best with the Antivirus & VPN vertical. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, especially given the huge popularity of push traffic in the last year. It rocked the Black Friday and the Holiday Season sales with the e-commerce angle and now it’s making its way with what people need most right now — online protection and security. 

If you’re still not sure why push ads are rocking affiliate marketing since the day push traffic was introduced to the world, here’s a brief reminder. 

  • Both push and in-page push ads offer user-friendly format and have been in fact designed to resemble system notifications. 
  • This makes both push and in-page push ads appear credible to users, thus increasing the chances of user-engagement.
  • They’re non-intrusive and do not distract users from their online activities while displayed on mobile or desktop devices.
  • Push ads are delivered straight to users’ devices, even when they’re not actively engaging. 
  • This doesn’t apply to in-page push ads, which are displayed to users at the moment of actively browsing through a certain website.
  • In-page push ads allow for targeting iOS devices and thus reaching a fresh audience of users.

Now, what’s a better ad format for promoting software meant to protect your device rather than ads that are informative yet non-intrusive but most importantly, seem credible and trustworthy? 

Also, look at how the performance of Antivirus & VPN verticals has risen during the last month. Looks quite impressive and definitely worth giving it a go!

Antivirus & VPN March

Desktop or mobile? Which one converts better for this angle?

Naturally, this is the next question that should be asked whenever advertisers research verticals worth their time and money. This time we’re also able to give you quite a straightforward answer — go desktop!

Wait… push working better on desktop rather than mobile? Yes, that’s actually correct! Though push traffic has been generally attributed to mobile devices, the nature of the antivirus niche makes desktop a more obvious and apparently a way better-performing choice. 

Another thing that might be adding to the popularity of push traffic for this angle is the current coronavirus situation. Billions of people all over the world are forced into lockdown and confined to their homes for remote work, education or entertainment. Naturally, many users turn to desktop rather than mobile devices for such activities — especially work-related. Hence, antivirus or VPN protection has never been in greater demand, and notification-like ads are the best tool for promoting such services.

Push & In-Page Push Desktop vs Mobile Comparison

Where does it work best? List of GEOs

We know what’s the Antivirus & VPN vertical, we know why it’s gaining popularity right now, what’s the best ad format and device to promote it… so the next question we should be asking is where to promote it.

The latest insights prove the below countries as the top locations for the Antivirus & VPN vertical.

TOP 10 GEOs

  • Argentina
  • India
  • Turkey
  • Brazil
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
  • Romania
  • Spain
  • France
  • Colombia

What’s actually quite easy to observe is that the top ten lost consists of fours main focus groups:

  • Latin American countries (AR, BR, CO)
  • English speaking countries (US and UK)
  • India and Turkey
  • European countries (RO, ES, and FR)

This might actually be of help when trying to analyze and learn more about your target audience or preparing your ad creatives. In this case, the language distribution might be crucial with Spain falling into two categories (both LATAM and EU) as well as India also being responsive to English-translated advertising. As for Turkey, Romania, and once again India, adjusting your ad copy to match country-targeting is crucial here. 

Advertising ideas for Antivirus & VPN campaigns 

Now the last part that needs to be taken care of before launching an Antivirus & VPN ad campaign is preparing the right ad creatives for your audience to engage with. And as always, we have some great advertising tips and tricks!

#1 Keep it short! 

Remember that push ads are relatively small and meant to resemble system notifications so stick to the point and keep your message brief. Making your look as if they’re important reminders or alerts is a way to go, especially with the Antivirus & VPN angle. Less is more, remember?

#2 Intrigue the user! 

As trivial as it sounds, using a virus word in your ad’s copy will definitely catch anyone’s eye given the current circumstances. Also, hint at the possible danger and the chance of avoiding much trouble if actions are taken on time. 

#3 Understand the user! 

First, stress data and privacy protection. People are more and more aware of the importance of data security and seek solutions. If the demand is already there, just give people what they want and need. Also, do that in the language they understand. That’s also a part of stepping into your audience’s shoes for a bit so that you can personalize the ads to match users’ needs. 

#4 Trigger the user! 

Adding a little sense of urgency is always recommended. Prompt users into action by making them realize that’s the offer about to run out or that cyber-danger does not go to sleep. Keep it simple, though. One message at a time, only!

#5 Show the benefit! 

Showing the benefits of a product you’re trying to sell is the most basic yet effective technique. Nobody wants to buy things that aren’t proven to work. Every salesman or advertiser needs something that’s a total deal-breaker and makes the offered product unique. That’s why a thorough market and competition research is always recommended.

#6 Have a powerful CTA! 

People won’t convert unless you tell them to do so. Naturally, don’t tell them exactly that… at least not that straightforward. Tell people what to do next and they’ll follow. If you’ve got the promise part right they’ll naturally want to explore and learn more about the product’s benefits. Just help them a little and show them exactly where to click to do so.

Examples of the best-converting ads.

Where’s the theory, practice should follow. That’s why below you’ll find examples of the best converting Antivirus & VPN ad examples with copy and ad creatives ideas. 

Antivirus Push Ad Example 4

Antivirus Push Ad Example 3

Antivirus Push Ad Example 2

Antivirus Push Ad Example 1

Traffic Insights for Antivirus & VPN ad campaigns 

Nobody can tell how long the lockdown will last or for how long the Antivirus & VPN vertical will be on the roll. But with the numbers growing each day it’s definitely worth giving it a thought or two. Here’s a quick summary of everything you need to know about running Antivirus & VPN offers during the coronavirus times!

Antivirus & VPN all you need to know

What are you waiting for?

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#StaySafe

Kinga Gawron

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