Performance Advertising: Drive Measurable Growth with TrafficStars

Performance advertising has become the default mindset for brands and affiliates who want predictable, scalable results. Instead of paying mainly for exposure, you optimise campaigns around actions that matter: purchases, leads, registrations, deposits, or app installs. In other words, you pay attention to outcomes, not noise, and you improve those outcomes through testing, targeting, and data.

In this guide, you will learn what is performance advertising, how to measure advertising performance, and how to apply performance based advertising principles using TrafficStars formats such as pre-roll video, video banners, native, and video-native.

What is performance advertising?

If you are asking what is performance advertising, it is advertising built around measurable conversions. The core idea is simple: every campaign has a defined goal and a set of metrics that prove whether the spend is producing value.

Performance advertising is often used interchangeably with performance-based advertising. Both point to the same approach: track conversions, assign value to them, and optimise until your costs and returns make sense.

Typical conversion goals include:

• Registrations and subscriptions

• Purchases and deposits

• Leads (forms, calls, chats)

• App installs and in-app events

Clicks can be useful, but clicks alone do not pay bills. Strong advertising performance is about efficiency and scale: how reliably you can turn spend into profit.

The most common metrics used in performance advertising are:

• CPA (cost per acquisition/action)

• CPL (cost per lead)

• ROAS (return on ad spend)

• Conversion rate (click-to-action efficiency)

• AOV and LTV (value per customer, now and over time)

A campaign can look “good” on CTR and still fail if the landing page, offer, or funnel cannot convert.

Performance based advertising in practice: the optimisation loop

High-performing campaigns follow an iterative loop:

1. Choose one primary goal (for example, registrations under a target CPA).

2. Track the right event (registration, deposit, purchase, install).

3. Launch with clear hypotheses (audience, creative angle, offer).

4. Read the data fast (placements, devices, geos, creatives).

5. Optimise ruthlessly (cut losers, scale winners, refresh creatives).

This is the working reality of performance based advertising: decisions are driven by numbers, not opinions.

Where TrafficStars fits into performance advertising

TrafficStars is built for advertisers who care about measurable results. The platform supports performance-focused media buying with formats that can be tested, compared, and scaled based on real outcomes.

For performance advertising on TrafficStars, the main advantage is flexibility: you can match formats to funnel stage (awareness, consideration, conversion) and to user behaviour (scrolling, browsing, watching content, clicking through).

Key formats commonly used for performance campaigns include:

• Pre-roll video for fast reach with strong message delivery

• Video banners for high visibility without relying on sound

• Dynamic native ads to blend into content environments while retaining strong CTR potential

• Video-native for a hybrid approach that combines motion with a native feel

Mobile performance advertising is not just “desktop, but smaller”. Mobile users behave differently: shorter attention windows, faster scrolling, more impulsive actions, and a heavier reliance on creative clarity.

If you run mobile performance advertising campaigns, prioritise:

• Fast-loading landers (or pre-landers)

• Clear, single-action flows (register, install, deposit)

• Creative built for vertical screens and quick comprehension

• Frequent creative refresh to prevent fatigue

Mobile is also where video formats often outperform, particularly when you communicate the offer within the first seconds.

Below are practical performance advertising examples you can adapt, depending on your vertical and funnel.

Example 1: Dating offer