ROI or ROAS is the name of the game in advertising. How much did you invest and what was the return on your ad spend or the return on your investment.
Often times, there are campaigns, ads, targeting segments or opportunities that are borderline profitable. If you could only squeeze a few extra dollars out of the results, you can scale your advertising and your growth much more.
Most digital advertisers focus on the available levers within their ad accounts, optimizing bids based on audiences, or time of day or geography, or improving ad copy, etc…
While optimizing campaigns is crucial, there is actually another shortcut to better ROI.
And no, it doesn’t involve copywriting, split-testing, or other time-consuming activities. You can increase ROI simply by paying for your ads with the right credit card.
You can be making an extra 2-10% back in credit card rewards each month, simply by paying for your Google ads, Facebook ads, and YouTube ads with the right card. (This also works for Tiktok ads, snapchat ads, and many other ad networks too.)
So how does it work? And what are the best credit cards for advertisers?
Why You Need to Be Using Rewards Credit Cards to Advertise
Most people are aware that there are credit cards from certain banks that offer cash back on every purchase, simply by using that card. A lot of people also know that you can get travel rewards credit cards that earn points and miles to redeem for free or discounted travel, such as airfare, lodging, and more.
Not only do you earn 1-2 points or miles for each dollar you spend with your card, but many cards have bonus spending categories that earn 3, 4, 5, or more rewards points for each dollar you spend.
But did you know that there are certain credit cards that exist solely for small business owners and online advertisers? There are credit cards that will earn you anywhere from 2-10 points for every dollar that you spend on digital advertising, and some even offer cashback.
That’s right; you will earn points or cashback simply by advertising your business.
Not only that, but many cards offer lucrative sign-up bonuses of thousands of points just to get started.
Here’s how points and sign-up bonuses work to boost your ROI on advertising.
Credit Card Sign-Up Bonuses
This will be the most lucrative way to save on your advertising, but will also be the least scalable. You don’t want to be applying for too many cards, and there are often special deals that come up. So, I would use sign up bonuses sparingly – but you can easily get 10% back in value on your ad dollars with signup bonuses.
Many of the top credit cards offer exciting sign-up bonuses to entice new customers. To receive these bonuses, you’ll need to apply, and get approved for, the credit card.
You then typically have 3 months to meet a minimum spending requirement. This might be $3,000 in 3 months, $5,000 in 3 months, or more. Once you meet this requirement, you will receive the promised bonus, which could range from 20,000 points to 100,000 and beyond.
Credit Card Rewards Points
Points are earned by spending money on qualified credit cards. For every dollar that you spend, you earn at least a point, sometimes more. This goes on forever, or as long as you use your card.
Using your card on bonus categories earns you additional points per dollar. Most of the cards listed below have a bonus category for online advertising.
The Best Credit Cards for Advertisers
Now that you know why you need to be using the right credit card to buy advertising for your business, it’s time to pick the right card to get. Here are the best credit cards for advertising.
Amex Business Gold
I would recommend starting with the Amex Gold card. I would value amex points as worth around $0.0135 each, as there are strategies to actually turn them into cash, but you can probably get 2-4 cents of value or more if you use them for travel. The signup bonuses aren’t great for Amex Gold, (35,000 point sign-up bonus after spending $5,000 on qualifying purchases.)
However, this card earns 4 points for every dollar spent on Online advertising. The bonus points are limited to the first $150,000 you spend in a year. After that, you will earn 1 point for every dollar. The card also has a $295 annual fee.
Let’s crunch this math. The first $5,000 in ad spend, earns a 35,000 Membership Rewards point bonus, but also 4x on spend, so an additional 20,000 points. A total of 55,000 points is worth around $742.50 in cash value and as much as $3,000 in travel if you are a seasoned travel hacker. Lets stick to the $0.0135 value and what you have is $5,000 in ads that are only costing you $4257.50 out of pocket. If you only break even on the $5,000 in adspend, you have roughly an 18% ROI on your cost of $4257.50.)
Now, the remaining $145,000 in adspend earns 4x points, which is 580,000 MR points, and roughly $7,830 in cashback (or nearly $30k in free travel.)
Again, this 4x points is essentially a 5.4% discount on your advertising.
Remember, you are competing with other advertisers, but they are paying the full price and you are only paying 94.6 cents on every dollar. Pretty sweet. This can literally open up scalable opportunities on otherwise borderline campaigns.
Once you max out on the $150,000 in ad spend, it pays to move on to the next card. It may make sense to meet the signup threshold, than sign up for the next card, and than come back to this card after meeting the spend threshholds for the other cards.
Chase Ink Business Preferred
The Ink Business Preferred Card from Chase Bank is one of the most popular business credit cards for small and online businesses. It offers an incredible sign-up bonus of 100,000 bonus points after spending $15,000 in the first 3 months following your account opening.
Online advertisers will earn 3 Chase Ultimate Rewards points for every dollar they spend on advertising with social media platforms and search engines. They will also earn 3 points per dollar spent on travel, shipping, internet, and phone services.
The 3x earnings rate is limited to the first $150,000 spent in a year. The card also has a $95 annual fee.
Let’s break down this math as well. I value chase points at around $0.0125 each, especially because you get hotels for 25% less when booking with Chase. I’ve flown business class and stayed at 5 star resorts for free (i.e. transfering chase points into United, and than booking theDavid Citadel hotel in Jerusalem using Chase Points.)
Let’s look at the $15,000 initial spend. You earn 3x points, so 45,000 points on that ad spend, plus 100,000 bonus points, for a total of 145,000 Chase UR points on $15,000 in ad spend on search engines like Google & Microsoft ads, or Social media sites like Facebook ads, Twitter Ads, Tiktok ads, Snapchat ads, and I’ m sure some others. At a value of $0.0125 per point, you end up with $1812.50 cashback value on $15,000 of ad spend. In other words, you only paid $13,187.50 when your competitors paid $15,000 for the same ads. This is roughly a 14% ROI before seeing any performance. Pretty sweet.
On the remaining $135,000 you will be earning 3x points, at 1.25 cents value per point, and you are only paying 96.25 cents for every dollar your competitors spend on the same ads.
So far, we have $300,000 a year in ad spend where you are earning between 3.75% – 18% ROI before your ads, website, or optimization even need to lift a finger to drive results for you.
If you are really clever, you can take advantage of how the $150,000 limit is calculated. For Amex Gold cards, it’s a calendar year, that resets January 1st. for Chase, it’s a cardholder anniversary, so the math resets one year from when you got the card. In other words, if you are playing this game starting in January, you should start with the Chase card, and signup to the Amex card closer to the middle of the year. This way, you have enough time to spend the full $150,000 but can actually get $300,000 a year worth of 4x points.
If your ads are doing great, and you exceed this $300,000 or perhaps $450,000 a year, there are other cards you can use as well. Again, signup bonuses will fetch the best deals, but the Fidelity cashback card offers unlimited 2% cashback on ad spend, which basically means you are always working a 2% edge over your competitors in the same ad auctions.
AdCard from FunnelDash
There is a new card built specifically for advertisers that is being offered through agencies and partners who can give you up to 7.5% cashback via perks, like ad account audits, free ad design, special tools and reporting, and private masterminds.
Brex Rewards
There are also special coupons from Brex, which is a startup business card. Brex has a $1500 Snapchat ads coupon, a $150 Google Ads Coupon and $100 Microsoft ads coupon. Plus it has bonuses up to 100,000 points, which are worth a penny each. If you connect your payroll service to Brex, there is an additional 30,000 points you can earn. So, while I wouldn’t recommend this card for all your advertising – it can give you several thousand dollars in free ad spend if you are interested. This card also comes with a $250 gift card reward if you signup via my link here.
Adcard
The AdCard from Funneldash is a credit card specifically built for online advertisers. You can earn up to 7.5% cashback on online advertising spend. Plus, there is no annual fee for this card.
They include a number of other perks including free copywriting and design services, free ad audits from experts, and AdAdvisor savings, helping you not waste money on poorly performing ads. For those who rely on online advertising, this might be the card for you.
Brex
The Brex Business card is aimed at startups. They don’t require an owner to personally guarantee the debt of the business, like most credit card companies.
On top of that, it’s a charge card, not a credit card. This means you must pay the balance off in full each billing cycle, rather than accrue debt from month to month.
But even though it’s a charge card, it offers the following bonus rewards points;
7 points for every dollar spent on rideshares, such as Uber, Lyft, or Taxis
3 points for every dollar on dining and travel expenses
2 points for every dollar on recurring digital software expenses
1 point for every dollar on everything else
So it’s not a normal credit card, nor does it reward online advertising, but it may still be a good option for your business.
Boost Your ROI With the Best Credit Cards
Sure, there are other ways of growing your business, such as focusing on SEO. But ads are an integral strategy for almost every business. And using credit cards that reward you for purchases that you are already making is one of the easiest ways to increase ROI.
There is no reason your business shouldn’t be using one of the best credit cards for advertisers listed above. And if you are looking for other ways to increase the effectiveness of your online ad campaigns, be sure to check out this helpful post.
About David Melamed
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