Galaxy Brain Strategy with Mobidea Expert: One‑Tap mVAS Offers for 50% ROI!

We tell you how to successfully launch MVAs offers using the example of a case study. We have collected the most important things: how such offers work, their main advantages, and recommendations for working with them in practice. Mobidea and HilltopAds experts also shared their experiences and unique insights that will definitely help you in your work.

Key Points

Offer: Non-Mainstream mVAS
GEO: ES
Traffic: Non‑mainstream High & Medium
Ad Format: Popunder mobile
Ad campaign period: 1 April – 8 April (8 days)
ROI: 50%

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At their core, they’re simpler and faster than traditional campaigns: instead of installing apps or entering credit‑card details, users simply confirm a subscription on their phone number — and the carrier bills their mobile account directly. This creates a unique ecosystem with its own rules: non‑mainstream mVAS offers rely on carrier services and on‑bill payments rather than third‑party payment systems. When a user taps your ad or the “Subscribe” button, a carrier dialog pops up (1‑click, 2‑click, or PIN flow), and with a tap or two they’re subscribed.

Even with daily or monthly content access limits imposed by some services, mVAS campaigns remain highly effective at converting users swiftly and in full compliance with carrier requirements.

In fact, they can reach and convert even the most “hard‑to‑reach” audiences seamlessly — all while staying aligned with carrier guidelines and technical constraints.

To see where these campaigns are thriving, here’s Mobidea’s Expert Take on mVAS Trends for 2025:

Daria

As an Account Manager at Mobidea, I work closely with publishers to help them scale their offers and maximize performance. I provide tailored support by recommending high-converting offers, sharing traffic optimization strategies, and helping partners grow sustainably. I also host podcasts and webinars to share market insights, industry trends, and actionable tips that drive results.
website: mobidea.com

We’re seeing explosive growth across several key regions:

— Africa Dominates. Nigeria (NG) holds steady as a top location by volume and performance for the second year running, and Ghana (GH) is skyrocketing with high‑payout offers flooding the market.

— South Africa’s Comeback. Over 10 major advertisers have re‑entered ZA with refreshed, high‑payout campaigns.

— Rising LATAM & Asia. Colombia (CO) and Mexico (MX) in LATAM—and Bangladesh (BD) and Pakistan (PK) in Asia—are booming markets where traffic costs remain low and conversion rates continue to impress.

In Europe, Spain (ES) stands out as a key mVAS market thanks to its high smartphone penetration and growing affinity for direct carrier billing. These factors made Spain an ideal GEO for this case study.

Recent data show that smartphone adoption in Spain has become nearly ubiquitous. As of 2024, there were about 42.3 million smartphone users in Spain – roughly 90% of the population – up from 77% in 2019. This nearly universal smartphone base underpins strong demand for mobile payment solutions. Orange Spain has responded by upgrading its mobile network and payment infrastructure: for example, it offers a “Pay with Orange Bill” API that lets customers charge digital purchases directly to their Orange mobile account.

Orange’s network covers over 99% of Spain’s population with 4G service, ensuring reliable connectivity and smooth carrier-billing transactions. These factors – very high smartphone penetration and robust Orange network coverage – build consumer trust and drive growth in the mVAS market. As more Spaniards carry smartphones, carrier billing is poised to expand further, with increasingly mobile-first purchases for apps and content.

Mobile Value‑Added Services (mVAS) have rapidly become a go-to vertical in affiliate marketing, thanks to their simplicity and speed. By leveraging direct carrier billing, mVAS lets users subscribe with just one or two taps — no apps to install, no credit‑card details to enter — delivering access almost instantly.

Daria

Account Manager at Mobidea

mVAS is one of the most profitable and stable verticals, particularly with pop and redirect traffic. Its real power lies in generating high ROI from low‑cost mobile traffic — thanks to carrier billing, you get near‑instant conversions without any card input.

WAP‑based mVAS spans dozens of categories — games, videos, non‑mainstream content, files, horoscopes, music, dating, and more — so you’re never stuck chasing a tiny niche. And while edgy verticals get all the buzz, you’d be surprised how well even family‑friendly offers can perform.

Daria

Account Manager at Mobidea

— Longevity of Funnels: A strong mVAS funnel can run for years. Once you’ve nailed the creative and flow, it continues to generate stable revenue without constant updates.

— Freedom from Strict KPIs: Unlike app installs or nutra subscriptions, mVAS imposes almost no rigid performance thresholds — ideal for both newbies and affiliates operating in more aggressive markets.

— Effortless Scaling: Automated 1‑click and 2‑click subscription flows make it easy to ramp up campaigns across multiple GEOs with minimal overhead.

Now that you know why mVAS is such a powerhouse, let’s dive into the audience that makes it tick.

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mVAS campaigns hit differently depending on your audience. To shed light on who’s converting, here’s HilltopAds manager Elm’s expert breakdown:

Elm

HilltopAds bizdev

I see three core user segments primed for non‑mainstream mVAS:

1. Loyal Subscribers
   These folks are veteran consumers of premium non‑mainstream services. They value instant access and total privacy — billing through the carrier is their go‑to. They respond best to retargeting, personalized “insider” deals, and exclusive bonuses. They often auto‑renew subscriptions and delight in surprise “drops” via push notifications.
2. Spontaneous Scrollers
   These are your “casual” viewers — not actively hunting adult content, but easily intrigued by a cheeky teaser in their feed or a bold pop‑under ad. In Spain, where everyone’s glued to their phones and loves to scroll through social media and news sites, a snappy one‑click subscription flow paired with a promise of complete anonymity is all it takes to reel them in.
3. Non‑Mainstream Enthusiasts
   These users know exactly what they want — exclusive, off‑beat content — yet they’re fed up with card details and app installs. You’ll find them chatting about “secret” offers in Telegram groups, forums, and niche communities. A two‑click or PIN‑flow adds a layer of trust, signaling quality and security. Pair native ad placements emphasizing “VIP Access” with pop‑unders to capture their attention.

Non‑mainstream mVAS is all about triggering an instant, emotional response — and your creatives need to embody that mindset: bold, unapologetic, and impossible to ignore. Before you dive in, spend a few minutes researching your offer — understanding its unique angle will help you craft ads that are not just attention‑grabbing, but also perfectly relevant.

Daria

Account Manager at Mobidea

When it comes to non‑mainstream mVAS, aggression reigns supreme. The harder you hit, the higher your CTR.

– Exclusivity & Privacy: These USPs shine in white‑hat channels like social and native, where audiences expect a more discreet, VIP experience.

– Clickbait & Explicit CTAs: For pop‑under and redirect traffic, nothing beats a provocative hook — think ‘Your Girlfriend’s Next Door…and Ready’ paired with an unapologetic visual.

– Simplicity Wins: Sometimes a clean, no‑frills banner with a direct CTA can deliver a surprisingly strong CR.

Lean in — here’s an exclusive tip straight from the Mobidea labs: these aren’t run‑of‑the‑mill examples, but the exact formulas that crushed their tests. Sure, you might think these hooks are overplayed — but the data doesn’t lie:

“You Online? This Girl in Your Area Is Ready to Meet 🔥”

“18+ Men Only: Watch Free Now”

“Secret Video Unlocked — Watch Instantly”

GIF banners with pseudo‑animation and a bold ‘Play’ arrow — we’ve seen these push mobile CTRs up to 20–30%.

Ultimately, the strongest USP is the one that matches your traffic source — so take these insider formulas, test them aggressively, double down on the winners, and keep your creatives razor‑sharp.

Once you’ve honed in on the perfect USP and crafted razor‑sharp creatives, the next step is rigorous A/B testing to lock in those gains and ensure your approach scales.

Daria

Account Manager at Mobidea

Effective A/B testing in mVAS hinges on discipline and sufficient scale. Always test on a single traffic source at a time — mixing sources only muddies your stats. Choose offers vetted by your account manager to avoid wasting budget on dead GEOs or outdated landing pages. Plan for at least 5–10 K clicks per split to achieve statistical significance, and test only one variable at a time — be it your landing page, pre‑lander, banner, or angle — so you know exactly what moved the needle. Integrate postback tracking (via your tracker or direct integration) to accurately capture conversions and filter out bot traffic. And don’t forget: save any funnels that deliver strong CTR and conversion rates — good mVAS setups can stay profitable for years.

Elm

HilltopAds bizdev

I’d also recommend experimenting with different prelanders and granular targeting — whether it’s by mobile operator or specific IP ranges — to further refine your audience and boost performance.

The mVAS landscape is riddled with pitfalls that can derail even the most promising campaigns. Constantly shifting regulations and carrier policies demand unwavering attention, while the very nature of non‑mainstream verticals leaves affiliates exposed to heightened compliance checks and restrictions. On top of that, sourcing traffic outside mainstream channels often means bypassing major ad platforms — driving up launch costs and the risk of bans. Without a robust risk management strategy, affiliates face delayed rollouts, sudden suspensions, and wasted budgets.

Daria

Account Manager at Mobidea

— Creative Pre‑Approval: Manual moderation drags out launch timelines and limits testing flexibility.

— Aggression Threshold: Aggressive creatives perform best but frequently fail approval — requiring a delicate balance between impact and compliance.

— Carrier Fraud Filters: Sudden traffic spikes or low‑quality sources can trigger anti‑fraud systems and result in billing blocks.

— Channel Restrictions: Major platforms won’t accept non‑mainstream mVAS offers, forcing affiliates to rely on alternative networks or cloaking techniques.

Now that we’ve mapped out these risks, let’s move on to the practical side — setting up your non‑mainstream mVAS campaign on HilltopAds and navigating every nuance for optimal performance.

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Before you can start your advertising campaign on HilltopAds, you’ll need to sign up as an advertiser. You can register through this link.

Once you’re all set up, here’s how to create your campaign:

• Head over to the Manage Campaigns section.
• Hit the Add Campaign button.
• In the campaign creation area, choose the Popunder mobile ad format.
• In the Traffic Channels section, pick Non-Mainstream High and Medium.

To analyze ad campaign performance, we recommend you to set up Postback. To learn more, please check out our Full guide.

Next, we set the necessary targeting settings:

GEO —  ES
Device type — mobile/smartphone and tablet
Mobile carrier — Orange
Connection type — Mobile/3G

You can also configure campaign filters and allow/disallow Proxy and WebView traffic from the campaign. In this case, we enabled the WebView filter while disabling Proxy traffic. To learn more about WebView and Proxy traffic, please check out this guide. 

You can cap both your daily and total spend, but keep the daily limit above $20 — in our case, we set it at $150 per day to ensure steady data flow.

Next, choose your CPM. For this campaign, we went with the recommended $1.15 CPM, striking the right balance between reach and efficiency. Although the campaign has been live since May 2024, we zeroed in on the April 1–8, 2025 period for testing: at $1.15 CPM, we recorded 130 conversions over 960,868 impressions, giving us a reliable 8 day snapshot of performance.

Advice from HilltopAds: As a starting point to test a new offer, use the suggested CPM. This will indicate if the offer is performing and if the campaign should be optimized.

Right from the start, we turned on auto-optimization to cut out traffic sources that weren’t pulling their weight. This built-in feature quietly monitors performance and filters out zones that aren’t delivering, automatically adding them to your blacklist and keeping the campaign on track.

We set a 48-hour assessment period from day one, requiring at least 1,500 impressions and one conversion to keep a zone active. This window gives enough time to gather meaningful data, while the thresholds help avoid cutting potentially good sources due to random fluctuations. As a result, we quickly dropped underperforming placements and shifted the budget toward segments that reliably drove at least one conversion within two days.

To learn more about the capabilities of automatic optimization with HilltopAds, you can check out the article on the website.

Between April 1 and April 8, we ran an 8 day mobile popunder campaign on HilltopAds aimed at Orange 3G smartphone and tablet users in Spain. Zeroing in on high and medium non‑mainstream traffic, we fine‑tuned our settings and relied on the platform’s built-in optimization to prune out underperforming zones.

By the end of the test, we’d delivered roughly 960,868 impressions at a $1.15 CPM, spent $1,105 in total, and driven 130 conversions — lowering the eCPA to just $8.50. With a total revenue of $1,657.50 against a spend of $1,105, the campaign achieved a 50% ROI over those 8 days. Thanks to the subscription‑based model and automatic renewals, that ROI will continue compounding, turning a strong test into an ongoing revenue stream.

Key Campaign Metrics:

Impressions: 960,868
Conversions: 130
CPA: $8.50
CPA Payout: $12.75
Total Spend: $1,105
Profit: $1,657.50
Weekly ROI: 50% (confirmed by advertiser)

This case demonstrates that — with precise targeting, robust anti‑fraud safeguards, and ongoing optimization — popunder mobile traffic can deliver sustainable profitability even in the most compliance‑sensitive verticals.

In conclusion, focusing on the right GEO (in this case, Spain) was key to the campaign’s success. We built the whole approach around local mobile habits and carrier billing, and it paid off fast: 50% ROI in just 8 days. It’s a solid reminder that even small GEO-specific details can make a big difference.

By treating Spain as a strategic hub and scaling thoughtfully — with an eye on creative freshness, rigorous testing, and vigilant compliance — affiliates can replicate and even exceed these performance benchmarks across new GEOs, building a truly sustainable, global mVAS operation.