Affiliate Industry

Open the door

Published

5 years ago

June 20, 2019

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Mike Murphy, founder of OnlineBettingSites.com, says that affiliates can help operators enter new markets and build brand equity quickly, but that publishers must be responsible to succeed in the long-term

Online gaming affiliates play a critical role in the industry as marketing specialists. While a major operator may find success advertising its wares through mass media, the shotgun approach is expensive and interaction with customers is kept to a bare minimum.

Affiliate marketing can also be expensive, but those costs only materialize after affiliates have delivered new customers. Those costs can also be managed to a great degree; the operator chooses how much to pay per player delivered and therefore has near-total control over the average cost per customer acquisition made through affiliate channels.

Additionally, affiliates interact with potential customers on a deeper, more personal level than any 30-second ad on TV could ever hope. The value of affiliate marketing is perhaps best realized when it comes to operators who want to build rapport with potential customers, break into new markets and better explain new offerings.

Of course, affiliates also have certain obligations on their side of the deal. Affiliates need to promote online gambling in a responsible manner not just for ethical reasons, but also out of pure self-interest. Regulators around the world have begun enforcing stricter advertising standards – even to the point of holding operators responsible for the actions of affiliates in some cases.

Thus, it is more important now than ever before that affiliates provide value to operators. Otherwise, affiliates run the risk of tipping the risk-vs-reward balance too far in in the wrong direction for operators.

How Quality Affiliates Provide Value to Operators

Affiliate programs provide value to operators in more ways than the obvious benefit of sending qualified players. A strong affiliate program builds brand name trust, is very handy for entering new markets, sending qualified traffic, spreading brand awareness and even boosting search engine rankings.

Managing an effective affiliate program does come with its challenges, but overall the affiliate model is so popular because it just works. A quality affiliate program led by a competent affiliate manager will pay for itself many times over in terms of direct financial benefits and general brand awareness.

Building Brand Name Trust

Quality affiliates are trusted affiliates and trusted affiliates create brand name trust

To parse that in plain English, high quality affiliates build rapport with their readers, viewers and followers. Affiliates who operate in an ethical manner and who are honest with gamblers despite any financial incentives to the contrary are going to earn the trust of readers over the long term.

It just so happens these are usually (although not always) the most effective and successful affiliates in general. However, operators should be careful not to overlook smaller and newer affiliates either if those affiliates are ethical and motivated.

Keep in mind a certain percentage of smaller affiliates either a) will become big affiliates in the future or b) already are big affiliates and you just don’t know it yet.

These high-quality affiliates build brand name trust for operators because their readers believe what they say. If an affiliate tells his substantial viewership that a certain sportsbook is an excellent place to bet online because of reasons X, Y and Z, that information has a way of seeping into the wider consciousness of the online gambling community.

Operators who invest the time and money in maintaining relationships with quality affiliates will reap the fruits of those rewards for years to come. They will receive favorable mentions, build brand recognition and receive new customers – all without paying a thing until results are delivered.

Affiliates Are an Effective Tool for Breaking into New Markets

Nobody knows the lay of the land like a local affiliate

A UK-based operator will have little trouble expanding into other English-speaking countries, but things can go wrong in a hurry if expansions into a country with a significantly different culture are not managed very carefully.

Translations errors, cultural norm violations and even a simple misunderstanding of what customers in a new market value can all be expensive mistakes for operators, both in terms of advertising costs and any negative hits to the brand name.

Even if major mistakes are avoided, expanding into a new market can be done quite efficiently through the use of affiliates who understand local values, preferences and lesser-known advertising methods that happen to be particularly effective in that region.

In other words, local affiliates have their finger on the pulse of the local market. And again, they take on the risk upfront while the operator only pays advertising commissions after results have been delivered.

Affiliates Deliver Qualified Customers

Quality affiliates deliver qualified customers

High quality affiliates specialize in delivering qualified traffic to gambling operators, primarily through a deep understanding of SEO and content marketing. Skilled affiliates are experts at capturing traffic from search engines and converting that traffic into visits to operator websites.

Running an affiliate program is almost like running an AdWords campaign but without the upfront cost. Rather than bidding on expensive gambling-related keywords, an operator can rely on affiliates to rank for high-converting keywords and deliver traffic to the operator.

Another way to think of it is that with AdWords, you pay for clicks. With affiliates, you pay for results.

Even newer or less-effective affiliates cost the operator almost nothing to maintain. As long as those affiliates are representing the brand name in an ethical and responsible manner, operators should consider keeping them on board. Results are results wherever they come from.

Affiliates Spread Brand Awareness

Affiliates crowdsource brand awareness

An active and robust affiliate program can help operators expand the public’s awareness of the brand. Affiliates are driven to make money, and they do that by discussing the brands with which they have advertising relationships. Even if some affiliates are having a hard time driving traffic, all those affiliates out there are constantly spreading the word far and wide.

Affiliates are a diverse bunch with unique insights, different ways of doing things and all sorts of marketing methods. Running an affiliate program takes advantage of the crowdsourcing concept – rather than a single marketing team, the operator has hundreds (or thousands) of marketing people spread all around the world constantly striving to put the brand name in front of eyes.

Imagine all those many affiliates out there right now writing articles, producing videos, posting on social media and testing new marketing techniques all while promoting their partners’ brand names. Now consider the size of the in-house marketing team it would require to match those efforts. Managing affiliates can feel like herding cats sometimes, but it’s hard to beat the sheer volume affiliates provide when it comes to marketing material that increases brand awareness.

Affiliates Provide SEO Benefits

A side effect of affiliate marketing is better search engine rankings for operators

The majority of affiliates live and die by search engines. The higher they rank on Google, the more money they make. These affiliates do not just point links to operator websites, they also strive to get links pointed to their own websites – which in turn boosts the value of links they point to operators.

Although most affiliate links pointing to betting sites are cloaked, there’s still benefit there. Some affiliates use raw affiliate links; others occasionally point to internal marketing pages on operator websites. Even simple brand mentions (even if unlinked) make a difference in search rankings.

Additionally, the increased brand awareness leads to more people searching for operator-related terms. This in turn spreads awareness, generates discussion and ultimately does benefit operators in their search engine rankings.

Considering the Obligations of Affiliates
It is no secret the affiliate business model can provide a wonderful quality of life for affiliates who are smart and determined. Being able to work from anywhere in the world and potentially earning obscene amounts of money are just two of the lifestyle’s many perks.

However, affiliates should take care not to abuse the opportunity presented by operators. While affiliates have certain expectations of their partners, every affiliate has certain obligations to ensure the unique opportunities provided by this business remain open for many years to come.

The word “obligation” has a bit of a negative connotation, but it’s not that bad. There are really just two primary rules affiliates can follow to run a business that is successful, trusted and ethical: be responsible and always tell the truth.

Promote Gambling Responsibly

Responsible affiliates make life better for players and operators alike

Affiliates have a moral responsibility to promote gambling in a safe and ethical manner. This one really isn’t all that difficult, but a small percentage of affiliates have in the past decided it was worth burning a lot of relationships in an attempt to capture easy money.

For example, there was the affiliate who ran a series of fake news stories that detailed a depressed, down-on-his luck man who was able to pay for his sick wife’s medical treatment after winning a jackpot at an online casino.

The story was completely fake, of course, and written in a terribly irresponsible manner. The affiliate’s actions didn’t just cross a moral boundary; they also brought the wrath of the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) down on the operator. Affiliates have a moral duty and business obligation to run ethical advertising campaigns.

Always Tell the Truth

The truth makes life simpler for everyone

Affiliates: there is absolutely no need to lie or conveniently forget to tell your readers important things about the gambling sites you promote. You can make just as much money just as easily by always telling the truth.

In fact, the truth is a great way to build your reputation among visitors. People who trust you tend to listen to your recommendations – which of course means better conversion rates.

Don’t underestimate the average consumer; they’ll catch on pretty quickly if you’re willing to say whatever you think it takes to get a sale. While you can get conversions with unethical marketing tactics, you’ll build a longer-term business by building a relationship with your readers and establishing yourself as a reliable place to get the real deal on online gambling.

The truth will also keep you on the right side of operators and regulators around the world. Running an honest and ethical business is actually easier over the long term as you won’t find yourself dealing with banned advertising accounts and stern regulators. Honestly just makes sense whether you look the business from a financial or moral point of view.

Affiliate Industry

Gentoo Media reports Q3 2024

Published

3 days ago

November 13, 2024

George Miller

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Gentoo Media Inc., now solely an affiliate-focused business, reports record high revenues for the 15th consecutive quarter

Gentoo Media Inc. presents its Q3 2024 financial report, with record-high revenue of EUR 30.4 million, up 35% year-over-year, marking the 15th consecutive quarter of growth. During the quarter, the company completed the spin-off of its Platform & Sportsbook division and formally rebranded from Gaming Innovation Group Inc. to Gentoo Media.

Q3 highlights

Gentoo Media reported all-time high revenues of € 30.4m, up 35% YoY, of which 12% organic growth.
EBITDA before special items reached €14.6m, with an EBITDA margin of 48%.
EBITDA after special items increased by 36% to €14.0m, with an EBITDA margin of 46% (46%).
EBIT reached €10.0m, with a margin of 33% (32%).
Focus on higher-value markets continued in Q3. Value of deposits increased 36% for the player base, while player intake reached 112,000, down 2% YoY.
Gentoo Media is now purely an affiliate-focused business after distribution of the Platform & Sportsbook division to shareholders on 30 September 2024.
Cash flow from operations will improve post-split, expanding capital allocation options moving forward
Gentoo Media is now better positioned to deliver meaningful returns and create substantial value for our investors.

Investor presentation and webcast

CEO of Gentoo Media, Jonas Warrer, will host a presentation of the Q3 2024 results via livestream at 09:00 CET today.

The presentation will be followed by a Q&A-session, and investors, analysts and journalists are welcome to participate. The presentation will be given in English.

Affiliate Industry

Flying high: How RavenTrack is helping operators unlock the true potential of their affiliate programs

Published

4 days ago

November 12, 2024

George Miller

Flying high: How RavenTrack is helping operators unlock the true potential of their affiliate programs

Reading Time: 3 minutes

We sit down with Adam Rowley, Managing Director at RavenTrack, to understand why data, tracking and optimisation are key to a successful affiliate program

Your tagline is “win at performance marketing”. Tell us more about how you help operators maximise their partnerships with affiliates.

It is indeed. RavenTrack is a powerful affiliate tracking solution that allows operators to track, optimise and grow through their affiliate programs. Our proprietary solution offers an advanced affiliate tracking platform built by iGaming experts – this ensures it meets the unique demands of the industry, including the need to withstand the pace and complexity of affiliate marketing in the online sports betting and casino space. RavenTrack has also been designed to be flexible and customisable so that it can be adapted to individual client requirements. This combination of qualities has seen us become the go-to affiliate software tracking provider for more than 150 brands across the world, brands that are winning at performance marketing with the support of RavenTrack.

Why is tracking so important to the ultimate success of an affiliate program?

Tracking is the glue that holds marketing and sales together in the online arena. But effective tracking requires a platform that delivers reliability, accuracy and a seamless UX so that users can easily dig into the data and generate valuable insights. Speed and reliability are crucial so that operators don’t miss a single click or conversion. To track data effectively, operators (and their affiliate partners) need tools such as pixel and postback capabilities and geo-targeting. The former allows affiliates to track customer activity in real time which helps them maximise the revenue of the brands they work with. When it comes to intelligent geo-tracking, it allows users to identify and aim to funnel traffic through specific locations.

But tracking is just one part of the process and success of an affiliate program– online sportsbook and casino operators must be able to take the data they have tracked and use it to optimise campaigns, both internally and those being run by their affiliate partners.

What does optimisation look like? How does RavenTrack help its customers do this?

Traffic source provides a lot of spoke for optimisation, especially when it comes to things like which affiliate is performing best, changes to traffic, ROI and conversion rate optimisation. With RavenTrack, operators have the insight they need to do this. They can also give their affiliates access to data via their own internal reporting systems – this is done via our two-way API – to help determine which campaigns and creatives are delivering the best results. Operators also need to optimise the commercial agreements they have in place with their affiliate partners, and this means being able to offer them a range of options including CPA, revenue share, CPL, CPM and hybrid.

As operators – and their affiliates – get more experienced at using data and tracking, they will want to customise reports to a pretty granular level so that they can optimise to a much deeper and greater extent. Customisable reports (we have more than 20 reports available), marketplace and dashboards are just a few of the tools we provide to help operators and affiliates optimise campaigns and work to the commercials that deliver for both parties.

And how does all of this come together to help both operators and affiliates scale at pace?

Our fixed-cost model means operators can create as many campaigns for their brands as they like without the worry of additional costs. This in turn makes growing their program pretty straightforward. With a long list of commission structures available (which can be customised by the client) for their affiliate partners, operators can ensure the growth of the program is reflected in the growth of the wider business, ultimately allowing them to maximise profitability from affiliate marketing activity while at the same time ensuring their partners are fairly compensated for the quality traffic they send.

Migrating to a new affiliate tracking platform can cause major upheaval. How do you help operators through the process?

We know that moving to a new platform can be a big decision and a significant undertaking, but we have plenty of options to make it a seamless process from start to finish. This includes working with the affiliate program team to run their old and new program side by side to ensure there is absolutely no drop-off in traffic or lost data. Our UK-based account and customer support team is always on hand to assist during the migration process, and once operators are up and running with RavenTrack – this includes helping them get the most out of our platform and tools.

RavenTrack has only been around for a handful of years but has already achieved great things. What can we expect in the months ahead?

We hit the market in 2018 and haven’t looked back. Today, we work with 150 brands, processing more than one billion clicks per month and £2billion in deposits to date. The operators using RavenTrack to run their affiliate programs have generated more than £500 million in revenue and counting. Our numbers speak for themselves and no matter the size of brand or affiliate program, our solution is the key to unlocking the true potential of affiliate marketing. As for the months ahead, expect more platform updates, new tools and some big-name partnership announcements.

Affiliate Industry

Affiliates in Stricter Gambling Advertising Landscape

Published

1 week ago

November 7, 2024

Zoltan Tundik

On July 1st, 2023, King Philippe signed a Royal Decree that sharply restricted all forms of gambling advertising in the country, which still stands today.

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Belgium’s regulation on gambling has extended to the advertising landscape, although it’s not slowing the industry down. This is due to the help of affiliates. Learn how they influence people to play casino games in Belgium, and how these affiliates have adapted to the regulations.

When counting European countries that are very strict on gambling, Belgium is sure to make the list due to the regulations the industry has to work with. Following a decree by the government, gambling advertising is no longer allowed across multiple platforms in the “Battle Field of Europe”. However, this has also given affiliates a chance to regain their momentum in the industry. Let’s explore how they help gambling companies reach their target audience amidst the regulations that restrict their reach.

Exploring Belgium’s Ban on Gambling Advertising

On July 1st, 2023, King Philippe signed a Royal Decree that sharply restricted all forms of gambling advertising in the country, which still stands today. Due to the decree, it’s no longer legal for gambling companies to advertise their brands on TV, radio, cinemas, print, digital media, and public spaces. But there’s more to come, as the industry may also witness a ban on advertising in stadiums, starting from January 1st, 2025. Furthermore, January 1st, 2028 would mark the end of gambling companies sponsoring professional sports clubs in games like soccer.

What could be the reason behind this development? According to Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne in a statement he made concerning the ban, the Belgian society was exposed to a huge amount of gambling advertising, and the government was concerned about the impact that came with it. According to him, the tsunami of gambling advertising would pose a challenge to those who want to overcome their gambling addiction. The Belgian government also argued that scientific research proved advertising promotes addiction and gambling-related debts. However, the ban could be in the favour of affiliates, which will be discussed in the next point.

How Affiliates are Bouncing Back After the Ban

Despite the limitations, Belgian players can still hear about online gambling platforms, especially on Betrouwbaar Casino, where they can get detailed reviews about online casinos to make informed decisions. This may serve as an example of affiliate programs bouncing back after having to deal with restricted marketing channels, higher compliance risks, and loss of revenue, especially those who earn commissions from driving traffic to these gambling sites. With this development, affiliates have proven that there are always opportunities in every situation, no matter how grim by being creative with how they promote gambling companies.

Increasing Shift Towards Content Marketing and SEO

Instead of conventional promotional methods, affiliates are now leaning towards content marketing and search engine optimization (SEO). These days, it’s easy to find gambling-related blogs, vlogs, articles, and guides that go beyond promoting a brand. Instead, they provide content that gives players more insight/information on gambling topics, such as game strategies, responsible gambling practices, and industry news.

Players can show their appreciation for the value offered by visiting site links embedded in the content, which in turn, promotes more organic search traffic for affiliates while being compliant with the regulations. Even better, affiliates use keywords that Belgian gambling enthusiasts use frequently in their content. This SEO strategy keeps affiliate websites’ search engine rankings higher, allowing the intended audience to find them easily.

Creative Use of Social Media

Direct social media advertising may be risky and attract legal consequences, but this hasn’t stopped affiliates from being more creative with these platforms. Now, they are all about organic social media strategies, as they do the promotional job effectively without legal hassles. With that being said, many affiliates choose to share game strategy tips, industry regulation updates, responsible gambling tips, and other helpful content on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and other social media platforms.

However, it doesn’t end here – they can even build a loyal fan or follower base of people who are interested in a particular gambling subject, niche, game, and the like by sharing exclusive game tips, insights, and news. This way, they can boost engagement among players and encourage them to gamble responsibly, which are things that a direct ad can do. The difference is that they’re not breaking the law.

Partnerships With Gambling Operators for Special Deals

Since both parties aren’t spared due to the ban, affiliates are now partnering with gambling operators to give their audience value that they may not get elsewhere. Now, they can sign agreements that allow affiliates to introduce exclusive gambling offers or promotions on their platforms. However, they are more like informative and value-giving content than in-your-face ads that could go against the gambling advertising ban.

Through this exclusive content with features from gambling operators, affiliates can quickly become trusted voices that help customers when they need to find and choose reputable operators in Belgium. Moreover, these symbiotic relation between both parties ensures that they remain relevant and generate good revenue, no matter how long the ban remains.

Personalized Experience Through Data Analytics

Personalized experiences keep customers or clients loyal to a brand, and affiliates are beginning to use this to their advantage by working with data analytics to figure out user behaviour and customizing their content to suit them. For instance, if their largest audience is into poker or roulette, they can create more content on tips to help them win games and win money. Or they can teach their audience how to manage their bankroll and tips on securing bonuses.

It’s important to note that data analytics can also tell affiliates what style or structure of content their audience likes. For instance, they may want more “how to” content instead of industry trends. With this being said, affiliates offering personalized experience via data analytics is a veritable tool for the Belgian gaming industry going forward in the heavily regulated Belgian gambling industry. Regardless of the preferences, affiliates can keep delivering what the people want, allowing them to drive more traffic and advertise gambling operators legally.

Belgium’s gambling advertising ban may have become stricter than ever in its bid to protect its citizens from irresponsible gambling and its impact. But affiliates are also rising up to the challenge by being creative with how they promote gambling companies. However, they are also interested in their audience’s well-being, as they provide valuable content that encourages responsible gambling practices. Although the ban may be around for a while, affiliates will still continue to thrive.