If you don't understand the importance of high-quality creative, you can go to work at the factory, - an interview with Andrew Radchenko

Today, at AFFHUB, we decided to talk about both creatives and media in the affiliate sphere. We invited our good friend Andrew Radchenko, the owner of the YouTube channel of the same name and founder of Creative Studio. 

What is the real recipe for “tasty” creativity? How to become an affiliate blogger? Are there any alternatives to gambling and should newcomers enter the field in 2025? Andrew told about these and other issues in an exclusive interview with AFFHUB Media. Let’s go! 

“I don’t do anything half-heartedly”

Tell us a little bit about yourself for those who don’t know you. What did you do before arbitration? When did you enter the industry and how was it? 

Hello! My name is Andrew. I develop creatives to arbitrate traffic and run my own YouTube channel. Before arbitrage, I worked in a variety of areas – mostly in PR or sales. As for sales, I went through almost all the stages related to this area: from an active sales manager working in the field to the head of a large department with more than 20 employees.

But the main lesson I learned from this experience is that the highest level and art in sales is to create a quality brand that sells itself. That is, you no longer need people to persuade you to buy something – everyone wants to do it anyway, because the brand is incredibly attractive. 

My story of getting into arbitration began with a life crisis. I was working abroad, came to Ukraine to extend my work visa, and the war broke out.The question of what to do arose. I had no idea what arbitration was, not even approximately. But I had an acquaintance who was actively studying this area at the time. I also began to take an interest, studying information on YouTube and various sources, planning to become a buyer. It was 2022.

One day, while flipping through one of the chats, I saw that a person was looking for someone to create advertising banners. I wasn’t very good at it, but I decided to write in and we’ll figure it out from there. We agreed, and in a day or so, I made him five simple banners in Photoshop for selling car disks. He liked the results and ordered more. That’s how my work as a creative began.

At that time, my plan was to raise a budget and try to get solo experience as a banner maker. But word-of-mouth started to work, plus I was constantly looking for new ways to get orders and cooperation, so in a short time I reached quite good volumes

What do you do in arbitrage now? 

At the moment, I produce creatives for outsourced arbitration teams. I also run a YouTube channel. I have ambitions and plans for further growth, but I’m not going to tell you what they are yet, because I think it’s better to do something and then talk about it. In general, I would really like to prove myself in the field of PR and creativity, because it is the creation of projects in these areas that makes my heart beat faster.

Do you drive traffic yourself or have you ever tried it?

Not at the moment. I tried once, but I’m the kind of person who tries not to do anything “half-assed.” If I set a goal to drive traffic or build a team, the first thing I would do is get a job to gain experience both in driving traffic and in the internal work of the team.

Even though I understand how the arbitrage theme works in theory, theory is one thing, and practice is quite another. I don’t believe in solo arbitration. It may exist, but it is the exception rather than the rule. The world is arranged in such a way that without a powerful team, contacts, and communication, you will not go far. But this is a subjective opinion of one person, and it does not mean that it is the truth.

“Creative is not a wedding video, it doesn’t have to be pretty”

What is the difference between a designer and a creative? 

The difference between a designer and a creative is that a designer works according to a technical task (TT) and coordinates every step with the customer. A creative, on the contrary, creates an idea and provides a person with a finished product that they can use. That is, the value of a creative is that they can come up with something unusual that will work – something that the buyer will not think of.

However, a creative and a designer are very similar professions, and in any case, both depend on the one who pays the money – the customer. If the client wants creativity, they will get it. If he wants strict adherence to the technical specifications, he will also get it. The main thing is that the client is satisfied with the result.

Why do buyers turn to you? 

It’s better to ask them 🙂 I try to do my job well. Some people like it, some don’t. I’m not claiming to be the best or the most talented at the moment. I’m sure there are people who can do things that I can’t do, and there are also things that I can do that they can’t.

But whatever one may say, I believe that I have achieved good growth in my field in three years: from a person who sat at an old computer and did not fully understand how Photoshop works to a level where I can close tasks of any complexity, in any volume, for both teams and solo buyers.

Why is this so? First of all, desire. I really wanted to work. Secondly, it was a necessity: when I started, I had large debts, no source of income, and I realized that I had to do everything I could to get out of it. And thirdly, I have never had and do not have the idea that I cannot do something.

If a person gives me a task, I solve it by any means necessary, even if I have never encountered it before. The main thing is the desire and a clear understanding that you have to deliver results!

What approaches to creos are currently relevant? 

There is no such thing as “current approaches” – these are all fantasies of people who want to believe that now they will press two buttons on the spay, see 10 identical creos and do something similar because it is “relevant”. It’s not. This is the road to laziness and draining the budget into milk.

A clear system is always relevant!

First, you study your geo, understand who the people are who you will be advertising to. Next, you contact two or three creatives, and you sketch out some ideas for implementation.

Then, when you have prepared five or six different approaches (it can be emotion, diplomatic, news story, cultural references, selfies – if the partner allows it, time jump, rhino, etc.), you start testing and analyzing.

This is the most important stage, because as soon as a certain creo proves to be good, it needs to be scaled up to different variations. And if the tests confirm this, you need to invest in a serious budget. Because no one knows how long the bundle will live: maybe a year, maybe a day. That’s why everything has to be done quickly and efficiently.

Powerful analytics, constant testing, and an understanding of your target audience are the recipe for a “relevant” approach.

If I have to single out one specific approach, I would trust classic motion when it comes to gambling. It may not give super-profits, but it will give something one way or another – if a person does everything right at the stage of the pour.

Do static creatives work in 2025? 

Yes, they do, but usually worse than video, and it all depends on the offer and geo. Sometimes static can show a very good result, but again, it should be a test of different approaches and a search for the “recipe” that works in a particular area. Static doesn’t work for those who ordered three banners, uploaded them to 20 accounts, and saw nothing. But if you test different variations of certain approaches on a minimal budget, sooner or later they will work.

“What works best is something that differs from the usual picture of the human world”

How can a person who has just entered the industry start making high-quality crepes? 

Just like a person who first went into a lake to learn to swim – just take it and do it. Only the results of the batch can tell whether they are of high quality or not. Because if someone comes and says that your creosote is of poor quality, you don’t have to listen to them anymore. Because only tests will tell the truth. And one person’s opinion is just one person’s opinion.

That is, creativity is an element that should make a person interact with your offer! This is not a video from a wedding or birthday party – it should not be “beautiful” or “tender”, it should work. If a banner or video looks like an ugly duckling but brings in a huge profit, it’s a high-quality creative.

I’ve often seen that something that at first glance “doesn’t look good” works the best. Because people’s attention is drawn to something that differs from their usual picture of the world.

For example: you walk down the street and see a lot of beautiful signs – aesthetically pleasing, each offering something, with beautiful girls, etc. And then you see a pig’s leg that has just been chopped off and is hanging on a hook, and on top of it is a beach panama and an arrow pointing somewhere. What will attract your attention more – high-quality creative that everyone likes, or some fierce dagger you’ve never seen before?

Answer yourself 😉

What are the most common mistakes people make when creating creative? 

The most common mistake is to rely on your own taste. Especially if a person makes a creo for a geo that is mentally alien to them. For example, a creative or a bayer live in Ukraine and decide together what they like best. Have they forgotten about the Indians for whom they make creos? Maybe they should think about what they like 🙂

Also, standard mistakes are to indicate explicit promises, missives, triggering elements, and because of this, the creo does not pass moderation, etc. But all this is in the Facebook rules. And if a person is not a complete beginner, they should know this at least at a basic level.

“You can’t take an old format, an uninteresting person, and try to squeeze something out of it”

Six months ago, your first video was released on your YouTube channel. Tell us a little bit about the channel – why did you decide to work in this particular area? 

I’ve been doing YouTube since 2016, and it’s something I’ve always enjoyed. I love the camera, and I think it’s mutual. When I started working in arbitration, there were also a lot of shootings with actors for creos, or without actors, but this is not the same. 

When you are in the frame and live it, it is a completely different feeling.

Watching the media activities in the field of arbitration, I didn’t like almost anything, and I thought I could do better. So I decided to restore the channel and try to shoot something. I think it’s working out pretty well so far, but I see a lot of opportunities for growth in this direction.

When I shot my first YouTube video in Odesa in 2016, it was an incomparable feeling. 10 years have passed, and I still feel it when I make a new video. It’s just a thrill! If I were sent to a desert island, I would only ask for a camera, a huge generator to charge it, and the Internet – it would be nice to be able to publish vlogs 🙂

“I don’t aim to gain subscribers, my goal is to get high”

In six months, your channel has already reached the mark of more than 1.6 thousand subscribers. Some videos have tens of thousands of views, which is a top result for the industry. What are your future plans for the blog? Do you plan to expand? 

It’s not entirely objective to say so, because I’ve been running my channel for a long time. There are about 50 videos on it through closed links, and I purposefully didn’t touch it for a year so that the algorithms could be updated and it wouldn’t be fumbling with topics that were filmed before, but would be tailored to our field. That’s why there was already a certain number of subscribers, and some came later. That is, 1.6 thousand is not in six months.

In fact, there was a time when I would tell any person I met about my YouTube and wouldn’t let go until they subscribed 🙂 It happened.

My goal is not to gain subscribers or views. My goal is to enjoy what I do. YouTube gives me this, and I believe that if you do what you love, people will like it too. Views and monetization are bonuses that come from the love of what you do.

Yes, we have plans to grow and develop the channel. There is no clear strategy, it’s all about creativity. I can wake up tomorrow morning and come up with something new and cool that we will shoot, although yesterday I didn’t think in this direction. Creative people will understand me 🙂

“The problem of Ukrainian affiliate YouTube is people”

What is the biggest problem of Ukrainian affiliate YouTube? What does the Ukrainian YouTube affiliate market lack right now? 

That’s a good question. I think the first thing is formats, the second is people. You can take an old format, but a charismatic person, and it will be interesting. But you can’t take an old format and an uninteresting person and try to squeeze something out of it.

Ukrainian affiliate YouTube, as well as non-affiliate YouTube, always relies on the charisma of the host, or on insights, or on some super-unconventional formats. But even there, charismatic, talented hosts are needed.

A trite example: if you take a bad movie script and cast DiCaprio or Al Pacino in the lead role, they will bring it to the level of a great movie with their performance, because they are cool. It’s the same here – it all depends on the person in the frame.

And now I’m going to answer you with a question: how many people do you know in YouTube affiliates who can pull off a bad script or no script at all with their charisma and work in the frame?

The problem is always in people. The second problem is that many people put money and monetization at the forefront. You can’t do that with a camera – it feels everything. If you don’t love it and don’t enjoy working with it, it will definitely tell the viewer.

You always have to start with love for your work. But I believe that everything will come later)

Blitz

FB or any other source of traffic?

Everyone works with the traffic source that they are good at, a lot depends on the vertical, if we are talking about gambling, then FB

What vertical can compete with gambling in all parameters?

In terms of payouts, only crypto is bigger, but not everyone wants to work with this vertical for one reason or another.

What was the biggest failure while working in the industry?

It’s hard to say, I don’t quite understand what exactly is considered a fkup. If you’ve done something and the client doesn’t like it, we always redo it. I’ve never seen anything that didn’t work out at all. I don’t drink alcohol, so I’ve never had any faux pas at the confabs. Perhaps, fkups are all about deadlines. When we don’t make it on time and the deadline is missed, you realize that the client is waiting – it’s always unpleasant. But in such cases, we give them either a voucher for free creos or a 50% discount for a deadline fix.

Media or anonymity in the industry?

That’s also a good question. It all depends on what you do and at what level. Media is the gold of the 21st century. If you develop a personal brand, you will always have more orders, contacts, and opportunities. But if you’ve earned a million dollars or more, you shouldn’t brag about it on social media.

Does it make sense to break into affiliate marketing in 2025?

Of course, just like in any other field. But the important thing is to feel in your place and not try to get into something just because there is money or it is fashionable. I have never set a goal to “break into arbitration”, I just feel great here. I like the people who work here, the vibe. When a confab is held, I often feel as if I’m going to a corporate event of some big company. This is a super-sphere, but it doesn’t suit everyone, and that’s okay.

Success and happiness are not always the same thing. So if you feel that this is yours and you want to be there, you should definitely try it. And then, if it’s really yours, it will work out. Maybe not like clockwork, but you will intuitively understand where the wind is blowing. And then – work hard 24/7, if you are not ready, then you are definitely not here 🙂