Get your PhD in CPL.

Digital advertising doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, we’re here to prove it can be simple, easy and effective. Most doctorate degrees take years to obtain, but you can get your PhD in CPL in around ten minutes.
Start learning below.

• What is CPL?   

  CPL stands for Cost-Per-Lead, a pricing model in which advertisers only pay when they get a lead. A lead is any person who voluntarily submits their contact info.

  Sales leads vs. marketing leads

  You may have heard of sales leads, which are usually found in the mortgage, finance, and insurance industries. They capture generic demographic info such as credit score, age and income. That info is sold and resold to multiple advertisers.

  We don’t do sales leads. Instead, we offer marketing leads, which are specific to your brand, not an entire industry. Marketing leads help advertisers connect with people who want to hear from them. And unlike sales leads, marketing leads are never resold.

  Still confused? Check out the chart:

  • Marketing Leads

    • Can be applied to any industry
    • Advertisers get brand-specific leads
    • Can only be sold once
    • What a lead looks like:
      joe@gmail.com, Joe Blogg, 11231

  • Sales Leads

    • Limited to industries such as mortgage, debt & insurance
    • Leads are generic and not specific to advertiser
    • Can be sold to anyone, more than once
    • What a lead looks like:
      HHI $80K, FICO 705, zip 10005

• CPA vs. CPL   

  Pontiflex is a CPL marketplace, not a CPA or affiliate network. CPA and CPL are often mistaken for each other, but there are some important differences. Let’s break it down:

  CPA defined

  With CPA, or Cost-per-Action, advertisers typically pay for a completed sale involving a credit card transaction. CPA campaigns are about the “now” — they drive people to buy at that moment. And if people don't buy, there's no easy way to build a relationship through remarketing.

  CPL defined

  In Cost-per-Lead campaigns, advertisers only pay when people sign up and share their contact info. CPL campaigns are perfect for brand and direct response marketers looking to continue the discussion through newsletters, community sites, Twitter groups and reward programs.

  CPA and affiliate marketing campaigns are all about the publisher

  Advertisers have little control over where their ads appear because publishers pick which offers to run. Advertisers generally do not know where their ads are placed.

  CPL campaigns are all about the advertiser

  Advertisers remain in control of their brand because they can select trusted and relevant publishers for their ads.

  CPA campaigns are usually low volume and complex

  People typically have to submit credit card info and other personal details.

  CPL campaigns are usually high volume and lightweight

  People submit only contact information, and oftentimes just an email address.

• White Papers   

  We’ve got a lot to say about CPL. Download our white papers to read our thoughts on the digital advertising industry and learn best practices.

  For Advertisers

  • The Pontiflex CPL Report — 2H 2009

    Download the second edition of the Pontiflex CPL Report

  • Strategies for Retail Marketers

    How to Connect with Shoppers and Increase Revenue During the Holiday Season

  • Travel Marketers: How to Connect with Travelers Online

    How Ruf Strategic Solutions uses performance advertising to help clients like the Nevada Commission on Tourism build a powerful marketing database.

  • Best Practices for Building Responsive Email Lists with Performance Advertising

    Direct Response Marketers: Learn how to build responsive databases to increase revenue. Brand Marketers: Find out how to build strong lists and engage consumers through community sites, loyalty programs, social marketing, and more.

  • The Pontiflex CPL Report

    CPL Benchmarks and Uses of Marketing Leads Across Industry Verticals.

  • How Obama Used CPL Advertising to Connect with Voters (and Win and Election)

    Learn how the Obama Presidential campaign ran a revolutionary performance marketing campaign.

  • Strategies for Nonprofit Advertising in a Recession

    See how the Barack Obama Presidential Campaign, Care2, EDF and wecansolveit.org increased advocacy and improved fundraising with CPL.

  • How HUGGIES Used CPL Advertising to an Effective Branding Campaign

    Learn how a big consumer brand engaged moms in an innovative way.

  • Dialectics of CPC Advertising

    Similar to Karl Marx’s theory on unconstrained capitalism, find out why CPC advertising might contain the seeds of its own destruction.

  • Marketing Leads 101

    Learn about the power of marketing leads and see how you can buy display banners on a CPL pricing model.

  • Three Ways to Maximize ROI

    Find out how to set up a high-performing CPL campaign and drive business.

  For Partners

  • How PlanningFamily.com Increased Online Revenue by 50%

    Find out how PlanningFamily.com implemented CPL advertising to connect with performance advertisers, monetize untapped revenue, increase revenue, and improve user experience.

  • Five Steps for Publishers to Add CPL

    Incorporate CPL into your advertising mix in less than 15 minutes.

• Webinars   

  Stop reading for a moment. Instead, sit back, click play and let us teach you the ins and outs of CPL advertising.

  • Maximizing ROI in a Recession

• Resources   

  Learn more about Pontiflex and CPL advertising by downloading the resources below. All files are PDFs, and we promise they᾿ll make you look smart if you print them out take them to a meeting.

  • Guide for Advertisers
  • Guide for Publishers

• ROI Calculator   

  We keep saying that CPL advertising provides a better return on investment than CPM or CPC. How much better? Use our ROI Calculator to do the math.

  Select your industry. The ROI Calculator has been pre-populated with CPM and CPC values based on industry standards. However, you can enter your own values, if you’d prefer. Enter the number of leads you want to generate and click “Calculate”.

  Select Industry B2B Consumer Electronics Entertainment Family Finance Healthy Living Home Loyalty Programs Market Research Non-Profit Outdoor Pharmaceutical Retail Samples Social Networks Technology Travel

  CPM $ CPC $ CPL $ Leads Goal 

  	Your Leads Goal	CPL	Clicks	CPC	Impressions	CPM	Budget
  CPM Campaign
  CPC Campaign
  CPL Campaign

  % Savings: CPL vs CPM: %

  % Savings: CPL vs CPC: %

  *Assumes 0.1% click-through rate and 7% conversion rate on landing page.