Do signature campaigns actually work? (for the operator, I mean)

[Bizmark13]

As I mentioned in an earlier thread, I'm considering launching a new Bitcoin-related service. Now, as a webmaster myself I know how hard it can be to get customers. One popular way to get new visitors is via signature campaigns. A typical signature campaign might have 30-300 members who are paid about 3-30 cents per post. Obviously, the number is higher for those with higher rank since their signatures tend to stand out more. In order for a signature campaign to be successful for the advertiser, each post should make over 3-30 cents in increased traffic and sales. Now, is this generally the case? I know PrimeDice canceled their campaign and a few others have ended theirs too (e.g. ActionCrypto) so I'd imagine it's not actually all that profitable?

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[opossum]

As I mentioned in an earlier thread, I'm considering launching a new Bitcoin-related service. Now, as a webmaster myself I know how hard it can be to get customers. One popular way to get new visitors is via signature campaigns. A typical signature campaign might have 30-300 members who are paid about 3-30 cents per post. Obviously, the number is higher for those with higher rank since their signatures tend to stand out more. In order for a signature campaign to be successful for the advertiser, each post should make over 3-30 cents in increased traffic and sales. Now, is this generally the case? I know PrimeDice canceled their campaign and a few others have ended theirs too (e.g. ActionCrypto) so I'd imagine it's not actually all that profitable?

You mention 2 that have stopped for whatever reason i have not actually looked at the reason they have stopped if i am honest, but we do know there are many others that are still going and have been going for quite some time. Surely the owners who pay for these campaigns must see the benefit of them or else they would not go on as long as they do, it would not make business sense. I see one campaign bit-x paid out 20btc this month, now does that exchange make that back straight away!? Probably not but that exchange has been placed in the subconscious minds of many and i am pretty sure they see profit maybe not short term but in the long run that advertisement will pay off. Good luck with your business an with whatever way you decide to market.

[Blazed]

I did a signature campaign for Silver Wallets and it did generate some business for us. I would guess overall we probably broke even. Since we sell physical items I think the advertising is a little less effective. I would also be curious how well it works for gaming sites though.

[LordOfCoin]

It's probably best to ask this forum if you could allow people to have image banners, and you as the advertiser might need to pay to unlock this possible feature for users. It would be great if you were just allowed to take over signatures directly, so you could change things on your whim. This could be another source of income for the forum, just don't know how well it works with their current banner ads. Also consider that the one with the sig should have some experience in your product/service and like it. To me it seems some want cheaper marketing, but they don't know how to get results.

[OROBTC]

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Bizmark13

I have not been around long enough (nor studied the whole Signature Ad issue enough) to really say other than offer up one comment:

"Longevity of a Signature Campaign might indicate success to the advertiser."

Re bitmixer.io, I had used their mixing service many times before I figured out how to get into their campaign.  That may make my case different than many others: I USE the service whose ad I carry.  Perhaps some of the other members here at bitcointalk who carry ads for bitmixer have used the service...?

I have not used exchanges nor casinos (inc. dice games) so I can offer no worthwhile comment.

So, it may be that long-standing advertisers see it as a good investment.  Maybe in a year, if you/we see most of the same advertisers, well that would be a good clue...

[finnile]

They definitely do, but they require more targetted adveritising, like gambling sites in forums which are view by gamblers.

[Icardi09]

It works for advertisers if they include some rules / restrictions. Like post on off-topic / altcoin / games & rounds not count as paid posts.
Also they should targeted where the campaign user must post, like gambling advertiser in gambling section, altcoin exchanger in altcoin section, etc
There are new campaign every week, so this kind if advertising actually works.

[Bizmark13]

Thanks for the responses. So the general consensus here seems that they are effective for the most part, since otherwise they wouldn't continue.

That makes sense however I find it quite interesting that MultiDice's sig campaign (link) had competitive but neither particularly high nor particularly low rates comparable to current sig campaigns that are still going strong (e.g. BIT-X, Bitmixer, 777coin, LuckyBit, and Coin-Sweeper - the last three being gambling sites very similar to MultiDice) and yet, MultiDice discontinued their campaign while the others didn't. And it seems that they did everything right and implemented strict rules and yet it was unprofitable. And they're not the only ones to close their sig campaigns either. Very strange.

[avw1982]

Don't know but if I see how many Bitmixer-sigs I see, the operator must make a lot of traffic for break-even I guess.

[hilariousandco]

In order for a signature campaign to be successful for the advertiser, each post should make over 3-30 cents in increased traffic and sales. Now, is this generally the case? I know PrimeDice canceled their campaign and a few others have ended theirs too (e.g. ActionCrypto) so I'd imagine it's not actually all that profitable?

How successful they are or what sort of ROI is hard to gauge but I personally feel that they're worthwhile but on a budget. PD was paying out over 30+btc a month at one point but whether they were getting that directly back in revenue is hard to tell though Stunna/PD obviously thought it was worth it. Most of the other fixed rate campaigns seem to pay out between 2-4 btc and I think those will definitly get their money's worth in exposure at least. As has already been mentioned, PrimeDice are very likely going to relaunch it at some point and I don't think they really closed their campaign due to ineffectiveness but it could have been a factor. I think they were paying too much out personally but I'm sure you or they can find a balance.

I see one campaign bit-x paid out 20btc this month, now does that exchange make that back straight away!? Probably not but that exchange has been placed in the subconscious minds of many and i am pretty sure they see profit maybe not short term but in the long run that advertisement will pay off. Good luck with your business an with whatever way you decide to market.

Agreed. This forum is probably the best exposure for a bitcoin business and it can get your brand out there very quickly. One of the first things I noticed about this forum when I joined was the PrimeDice sigs and it definitely piqued my interest and I think their campaign was instrumental in making them the biggest and most respected dice site out there.

I did a signature campaign for Silver Wallets and it did generate some business for us. I would guess overall we probably broke even. Since we sell physical items I think the advertising is a little less effective. I would also be curious how well it works for gaming sites though.

Gambling sites and exchanges to somewhat of a lesser degree will do much better than businesses selling physical goods, though again it's still good for getting your name out there. I don't think I was aware of Silver Wallets until your campaign.

It's probably best to ask this forum if you could allow people to have image banners

You can't, though you can have them in your Announcement thread. You can also buy forum ads.

I think it actually works.
Last time when i allowed to put my refferal link on my signature, I got about 30 refferals is a month only

If it's not works, signature campaings already gone by now

You could test the effectiveness of the campaign by doing a trial run and putting a ref link into your signature designs. What business are you actually wanting to promote?

[celebreze32]

Don't know but if I see how many Bitmixer-sigs I see, the operator must make a lot of traffic for break-even I guess.

Two thirds of the posts in this thread have Bitmixer-sigs. I have never used a mixer and didn't know the names of any until they started their sig campaign. Now I would instantly think of them if I wanted to use a mixer. I'm certain they are making money out of their sig campaign.

[marcotheminer]

I would say so.

[Chemistry1988]

Don't know but if I see how many Bitmixer-sigs I see, the operator must make a lot of traffic for break-even I guess.

Two thirds of the posts in this thread have Bitmixer-sigs. I have never used a mixer and didn't know the names of any until they started their sig campaign. Now I would instantly think of them if I wanted to use a mixer. I'm certain they are making money out of their sig campaign.

The following was posted in Jan, and it seems the campaign doesn't bring them many customers yet.

Current stats:

• Number of registered users: 365
• Last 7 days total payouts: 2.47512917 BTC

The campaign doesn't bring too much customers. I hope it works to brand awareness.

[Mikestang]

If signature campaigns didn't work, I doubt they would be so popular.  Speaking of, be sure to visit the site in my signature.

[marcotheminer]

If signature campaigns didn't work, I doubt they would be so popular.  Speaking of, be sure to visit the site in my signature.

They are popular as they allow a user to earn large amounts of bitcoin doing small, easy tasks.

[crazyearner]

Yes they work based on getting their name out. I was even thinking to do one for my own business when it is in full swing. The amount of exposure you get compared to traffic sites and it is related traffic you get so you get a much better exposure rate and quality of traffic that is targeted around the same business. Going to some traffic exchange and other sites and exposing it that way you do indeed get the hits but the quality of it is bad and maybe get one or 2 sign ups for a 100k hits or so maybe a few more. Using places like on here is targeted traffic and gets you noticed more because it is related around BTC or crypto currency.

[fildza]

I think if you want talk abiut profit or not that depend on what type of your site. There are exchange, gambling etc that make different profit

[shulio]

Thanks for the responses. So the general consensus here seems that they are effective for the most part, since otherwise they wouldn't continue.

That makes sense however I find it quite interesting that MultiDice's sig campaign (link) had competitive but neither particularly high nor particularly low rates comparable to current sig campaigns that are still going strong (e.g. BIT-X, Bitmixer, 777coin, LuckyBit, and Coin-Sweeper - the last three being gambling sites very similar to MultiDice) and yet, MultiDice discontinued their campaign while the others didn't. And it seems that they did everything right and implemented strict rules and yet it was unprofitable. And they're not the only ones to close their sig campaigns either. Very strange.

including what you are advertising actually, if you advertising a bitcoin-fiat exchanger for examples but mostly your participants posted in altcoin sections that it will not profitable, so you should know what your target of customer is, that is why a gambling sites encourage to post at gambling boards

[Lorenzo]

As I mentioned in an earlier thread, I'm considering launching a new Bitcoin-related service. Now, as a webmaster myself I know how hard it can be to get customers. One popular way to get new visitors is via signature campaigns. A typical signature campaign might have 30-300 members who are paid about 3-30 cents per post. Obviously, the number is higher for those with higher rank since their signatures tend to stand out more. In order for a signature campaign to be successful for the advertiser, each post should make over 3-30 cents in increased traffic and sales. Now, is this generally the case? I know PrimeDice canceled their campaign and a few others have ended theirs too (e.g. ActionCrypto) so I'd imagine it's not actually all that profitable?

ActionCrypto probably closed their campaign because they shut their site down. Their pay rates were on the lower end of the scale so it was probably quite profitable for them.

Some pay as much as 50 cents for a post at current prices. For example coinroyale https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=947043.0 (0.04BTC for 20 posts). Stunna said he's considering a new PD campaign and let's not forget the giveaways he's making, so the coins are still being distributed just in a different way.

Stunna has been talking about reopening his program for a while now but sadly, it always seems to be delayed. Just like PD3 was.

They do have an affiliate program running although it doesn't seem to be very popular. And the original sig campaign is still open for staff members too. In the immediate days to weeks after the campaign was cancelled, I remember there was talk of creating a sig campaign out of the affiliate program via a referral pool but I'm not sure what happened to that idea.

And wow, 50 cents per post... That's extremely high.

Don't know but if I see how many Bitmixer-sigs I see, the operator must make a lot of traffic for break-even I guess.

Two thirds of the posts in this thread have Bitmixer-sigs. I have never used a mixer and didn't know the names of any until they started their sig campaign. Now I would instantly think of them if I wanted to use a mixer. I'm certain they are making money out of their sig campaign.

The following was posted in Jan, and it seems the campaign doesn't bring them many customers yet.

Current stats:

• Number of registered users: 365
• Last 7 days total payouts: 2.47512917 BTC

The campaign doesn't bring too much customers. I hope it works to brand awareness.

In the case of Bitmixer.io, it's definitely more about brand awareness it seems. People usually don't have an immediate need to mix their coins but if the need ever arises, then Bitmixer.io is probably where they'll go to first. Had they never started a sig campaign, those who are interested in mixing their coins would have searched Google or asked here on the forums instead. In that sense, their sig campaign was extremely successful. And because of their brand awareness, most people on the forums would struggle to name any other mixing service.

PrimeDice had a similar thing going on too throughout most of 2014. The PD sigs were everywhere which created brand awareness compared to smaller sites which were advertised less often. Eventually the site became completely saturated with PD sigs so after he was satisfied, that was when he pulled the plug.

[CrackedLogic]

It's usually small unique signature campaigns that do well. Since the signatures haven't been seen often or looks unique there should be a few people clicking away at it. With bit-x and bitmixer, it has become part of the forum. There are lots of people wearing it and we get so used to it we don't notice it.