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.