Interviews
Best ways to generate profit on iGaming with Affiliate Marketing
Reading Time: 6 minutes
There are many ways to get high income on iGaming products and actually earn a great deal of money. In the article we’re going to speak about making money specifically on affiliate marketing, our today’s expert is a Chief Commercial Officer at RichAds advertising network — Anastasiya Kazakova.
Our guest surely knows what she’s talking about — the RichAds network has recently been awarded as the best iGaming traffic source by SiGMA. We’ll discuss all the necessary starting points and cover everything from the definition of the industry to the real working tips that help to succeed in it.
Tell us more about affiliate marketing. What is it and how can it help to earn on iGaming?
Basically, affiliate marketing is a process of earning commission on selling specific goods or services. It’s profitable for online casinos as a way of additional monetization and for marketers as it’s quite an effortless way to increase their income.
It works the following way — there’s a CPA network or a direct publisher, for instance, who provide iGaming offers (online Betting and Gambling programs).
A marketer, also known as an affiliate, in his turn clarifies the conditions (payout, GEO, settings, and desired cost per lead or deposit) and goes to an ad network that provides traffic and promotes the offer.
He just needs to choose the best traffic type for the exact offer and set up a campaign. If you’re a newbie, the best way is to consult a manager or try some automated tools at first.
Can you share what are the best traffic channels for iGaming offers?
Sure, I’ll explain how each traffic channel works and why they’ll bring leads and deposits for iGaming offers. I’ve been working with Gambling and Betting vertical for about five years now and I see that the top traffic choices are push and pop ads as well as direct click format.
Let me start with push ads and the definition of them. To put it simply, a push ad looks like a personal notification from a website that appears on a user’s phone. It consists of a text, icon and banner (optional) and allows to cover those users who subscribed to such notifications.
There are many advantages of the format, the most crucial ones for iGaming are:
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- Personal approach. As I’ve mentioned, it addresses a user directly and creates a sense of privacy, so this way you can convince him to try a specific casino by providing a bonus or bet on the upcoming game.
- Proven efficiency. Such a format has been showing nice results since its boom — 2018, and the CR of such campaigns is really high. Even if we take the last FIFA Championship in 2018, the outcome for marketers was amazing. This year the results for the World Cup are already skyrocketing which proves its continuous success.
- Personal approach. As I’ve mentioned, it addresses a user directly and creates a sense of privacy, so this way you can convince him to try a specific casino by providing a bonus or bet on the upcoming game.
- Target audience segmentation. Due to the usage of creatives you can target different people and imply their interests with the help of different headlines and pictures. It allows testing several approaches at once, which is perfect for identifying your potential clients.
One more format is pop ads. This is basically an ad that opens in a new browser or window as soon as you click somewhere on the page you’re browsing.
They are impossible to miss, that’s why it’s a great way to attract Gambling and Betting audience, as they’re very impulsive. Moreover, the traffic amounts are really huge for the format, so you’ll always get enough clients on your landing page.
Last but not least is the direct click format. Those are the ads that drive users to your landing page if they make a small misprint. For example, they look for the “1xbet” website and type something like “1xbed” and get redirected to your site. Obviously, the main advantage is that users are already warm and interested in similar offers, which means they will be more loyal.
How to make eye-catching creatives for iGaming vertical? Any tips from you?
It depends on the time you can and want to spend on making creatives. If you don’t have time to spend on making them, just contact your manager. For instance, at RichAds you can get creatives for a specific offer and GEO for free.
Another way is to use spy tools and research what your competitors create. There are tools for different formats, pay attention which options they provide if you’ve chosen a particular traffic source.
If you’ve decided to make creatives yourself, I can advise several working approaches.
- For Gambling stick to gamification elements, use spin wheels or some loot boxes. This way you’ll create a sense of winning and huge luck.
- Make sure you use bonuses both for Gambling and Betting. Everyone loves gifts and prizes, why not take it to your advantage? You can specify exact sum and time limits, for instance.
- Keep track of current events. This is the most amazing approach for Betting, if you stick to the hyping events. As for now it’s football, but don’t forget about other sports as well — tennis, cricket and basketball are popular all over the world.
- Last but not least, use both men and women on your creatives. Don’t limit your target audience by gender, anything can convert — the key is testing, so both beautiful women and handsome men can work out.
If I’m a newbie in this industry, what’s the most effective way not to waste money?
Undoubtedly, I’d say that the Performance Mode algorithm is the hack that can help newbies. The thing is that it does all the work for you — just create a usual campaign, and the algorithm will update the best sources daily for you and check if they actually work. What’s more it’ll update blocklist daily as well.
Furthermore, no tracker is required to use the function. So anyone can launch profitable campaigns with it, basically no efforts or prior knowledge are required.
Not to be unfounded, our clients have been testing it for a couple of months already and it works like a clock. If we turn to statistics, it shows that the amount of conversions can increase by 253% while CPA decreases by 79%.
As far as we know there are countries that are a must to test for iGaming. Which ones would you recommend?
I’d advise to start with Asian and African countries, such traffic is not very expensive, and the demand for online casinos is huge. For such regions Gambling and Betting can be considered as an income source, not only entertainment, try to play on it.
What concerns current top GEOs at RichAds for iGaming, they are Brazil, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, and South Africa. If you want to target European countries, try Poland, Germany and Switzerland.
Of course, you can test Tier 1 countries as well, but it requires certain experience to become successful. Though, profits can be bigger as well.
Here I also want to point out that the hottest GEOs change from month to month and it’s important to keep track of it.
You can always consult managers for the best countries for exact verticals and offers. Don’t hesitate to ask for whitelists (list of best traffic sources) for your GEO and traffic channel, this is also free!
Ok, let’s imagine we’ve chosen a GEO and made creatives. How to actually make your campaign work?
The first answer that comes to my mind is optimization. No one wants to waste money and time, that’s why it’s vital to keep track of the campaign results. You need to check the cost of your conversions and source efficiency quite often to achieve a good conversion rate.
In order to speed up the process I’d advise to set up Automated rules. This is the quickest way to cut off traffic sources that are too expensive or don’t bring any results. You just need to write a simple rule in your settings, for example, if the cost of a conversion is twice as big as the desired one, the source will be blocked. Same with the amount of money spent, if a source spent twice as much money and didn’t bring any leads, it’ll be turned off. This is a great way to avoid overspending and is done automatically!
One more way to succeed is to test a Target CPA algorithm. This is also quite simple, you just choose all the necessary settings, write your desired price per conversion, and the algorithm does all the rest for you. It adds the most converting sources to your campaign while blocking not working ones. Though you need to set up a tracker, it’s crucial for the algorithm to work.
If we speak about overall settings, I’d highly recommend to focus on the following ones:
- Choose only premium group of sources. Those are tested sources that show highest results and guarantee to bring conversions.
- Set frequency cap. This is the advice for push ads, frequency cap is the amount of ads a user sees per day. Usually we recommend to set one per user a day, but for some event betting offers you can increase the amount to 2-3 a day.
- Test New Subscribers only. Again, a tip for push ads is to have two campaigns at the same time — one for the usual subscribers base, the other one for new ones. Those are users who subscribed to push notifications 7 days ago or less and haven’t seen much of them, so they’re more loyal. If you target two user bases at once, the amount of traffic will be huge and diverse, so the amount of leads will also increase.
- Use at least 5-10 creatives. This also applies to pop ads, try different landing pages at once! This way you’ll be able to test multiple approaches and segment your target audience.
In the vibrant gaming industry in Chile, Francisco Leiva’s figure emerges as a key reference. A trained industrial civil engineer, his professional journey spans 35 years, from his beginnings in the public sector to his prominent role as Superintendent of Casinos, and more recently as Corporate Manager of Strategic Development at Marina del Sol. His entry into this industry, marked by challenges and significant achievements, reflects his commitment to progress and innovation. In this interview, Francisco shares his vision, experience, and accumulated wisdom over the years.
Could you tell us a bit about your career, professional trajectory, and path to where you are today; What motivated you to enter the Gaming industry?
I am an industrial civil engineer, and my career started in the public sector 35 years ago. Initially, I worked at the Ministry of Health and then at the Ministry of Finance, where I was involved in the drafting and legislative processing of various bills, such as the anti-money laundering law and the gaming casinos law.
Given my work in the legislative process of the gaming casinos bill, after its enactment in February 2005, President Ricardo Lagos appointed me as the first Superintendent of Casinos to implement the law. It was a significant professional and personal challenge as it involved bringing an industry that was far behind similar developed countries as Chile up to date.
During your time as Superintendent of Casinos in Chile, what were the most challenging tasks you undertook, and what would you say was your legacy in the gaming industry?
The main challenge was implementing the new gaming casinos law, which involved setting up the Superintendency, hiring staff, and preparing all conditions for private investors to apply for new casino operation permits. This led to 52 projects being submitted for the 18 available casino permits, with investments exceeding US$ 755 million at the time. Foreign investment accounted for 55%, and national investment for 45%.
The result was the construction of 18 new casinos along with complementary facilities such as hotels, convention centers, restaurants, and other leisure facilities that turned these areas into tourist attractions in the cities where they were built.
Undoubtedly, the main challenge was meeting the tender requirements within a tight timeframe. We managed to have a competitive process with operators from around the world, radically changing Chile’s gaming casinos industry.
The legacy was transforming the gaming casinos industry from seven municipal casinos to a modern industry with 24 top-level casinos and facilities.
What significant lessons have you learned throughout your career? And what message would you like to leave for future generations?
One lesson is that ambitious goals can only be achieved through dedication and by building motivated teams with clear objectives. It’s impossible to do it alone in tasks like these.
I believe the message is to work with honesty, dedication, and without losing sight of the task entrusted to you.
Knowing you personally, not just professionally, what activity inspires you or helps you achieve balance in your life?
Since I was a child, I have been passionate about playing tennis, and I have tried to maintain this passion even as a senior player. In this sense, I think engaging in sports helps maintain a healthy mind and body, which is essential to counter the stress that comes with demanding and complex work.
Similarly, one cannot neglect family life, as they are the ones who will ultimately support you in difficult times.
In summary, the only way, although not easy, is to harmonize work demands with a balanced life.
Finally, what is your opinion on hosting such an important international event in your country? And in a way, being one of the hosts to such important international personalities.
It is very important for the country to host such events that allow interaction among different actors in the gaming industry. It facilitates the exchange of experiences and networking, allowing the industry to continue developing. It is also important for public authorities, especially regulatory ones, to participate so they can understand the industry’s reality and see where the industry is heading given technological and cultural changes.
Francisco Leiva’s story in the gaming industry in Chile is an inspiring testimony of determination and success. From his crucial role in implementing the gaming casinos law to his contribution to the industry’s growth and modernization, his legacy endures as a beacon of positive change. Beyond his professional achievements, Francisco reminds us of the importance of balancing work and personal life, as well as the need to stay focused on values such as honesty and dedication. His optimism and commitment to the future of the gaming industry in Chile are a reminder that success is achieved through effort, teamwork, and a clear vision.
With the iGaming industry currently experiencing a perfect storm of evolving technology, progressive regulation and increased internet penetration, we sat down with BETBAZAR’s Chief Operating Officer, Max Sevostianov, to get his take on the latest emerging trends for operators to keep an eye on and how they could potentially alter the gambling landscape in the next few years.
You’ve previously spoken about the increased adoption of AI being one of the most notable recent developments in iGaming, but outside of this technology are there any other notable emerging trends that you think will play a major role in shaping the future of the industry?
From my perspective the growing prevalence of mobile gaming continues to have a major impact on how the iGaming industry is evolving. Driven by the increased availability of smartphones/tablets and greater internet penetration, mobile gaming offers unparalleled accessibility and convenience, which in turn enables users to enjoy their favourite games anytime, anywhere. Somewhat related to that, I think we’re also seeing live streaming platforms become much more popular and channels like Twitch – which is now the go-to medium for esports coverage – are becoming an essential part of operators’ toolkits. Finally on a more personal note, I’m a big believer in the potential of VR and AR technology. With recent games like No Man’s Sky providing immersive VR experiences where players can really feel the emotion of what it might be like to command their own spaceship, I really think the entertainment they provide will be key to the future of iGaming.
Looking specifically at the changing gaming preferences of customers, it seems that player interaction and community involvement are becoming increasingly important to operators looking to generate sustained user engagement. Do you expect products like crash games and bet-behind slots that offer these social aspects to become even more popular in future?
Definitely. Whether it’s having multi-player compatibility or providing social aspects that allow users to engage with each other and share the betting experience, any product feature that promotes unity will play an important role in increasing audience engagement. You only need to look at recent high-quality titles like Helldivers 2 to see how effective these gameplay elements can be. Here, the developers have created a co-operative third-person shooter where players compete in teams, invite their friends and socialise with one another to create a more immersive experience. I think when analysing this type of game, you have to make a distinction between the gambling side of things and the entertainment aspect – and I’m a big believer in the value of the latter, as this is what will ultimately provide the user experience that keeps players coming back.
Likewise, when it comes to sportsbooks, live streaming and in-play betting – especially micro-betting – seem to be major focus areas for operators these days. Does the availability of better technology for higher-quality streams, more accurate live data and real time interaction now make it even easier for operators to provide a more immersive experience?
I believe at this moment in time, having the capability to supply fast gaming and fast betting is one of the biggest priorities for sportsbook operators. Advances in technology have made it possible to provide better quality live streams and more accurate live data feeds, which in turn enable bettors to make more informed decisions in real time. This of course goes hand-in-hand with live betting and micro betting, as having this up-to-the-second information available gives bettors more confidence in what they’re doing and empowers them to make quick bets on the fly. I think from the operators’ side of things, having access to official data providers has also made a big difference, as they are now able to work with reliable data that not only helps them provide a fairer and more enjoyable experience to users, but also assists them in analysing their business as well.
Finally, in terms of how new iGaming trends are formed, what is it that you think drives change in the industry? Is it shifting regulations, the emergence of new technologies or evolving player preferences/demographics that mainly informs how operators will respond?
The formation of new iGaming trends is driven by a combination of factors – and while in the long term I think the three you’ve mentioned are pretty much parallel, at this precise moment in time I’d put regulation in first place. All countries are trying to provide a healthy environment in which iGaming businesses can grow while also ensuring that player safety remains a key consideration. This is great, because it means that in regulated markets there are clear and understandable rules about what businesses can and can’t do, so they’re all starting from a level playing field. This obviously has a knock-on effect on how technology develops, as once these parameters have been set, your aim is to provide the best product you can within the constraints of that framework. Of course, player preferences also play an big part and regulators are often slow to cotton on to things like the popularity of esports, but over time they’re usually able to adapt to public demand.
The post Riding the winds of change appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Holly Fairweather Head of Account Management at House of Brands provider White Hat Studios
Women in iGaming Interview: White Hat Studios’ Holly Fairweather
Holly Fairweather, Head of Account Management at House of Brands provider White Hat Studios, sits down with Gaming Americas to discuss the growing influence of women in the iGaming industry, and highlights how more can be done to improve the overall gender imbalance
Gaming Americas: Since joining the industry in 2018, have you noticed a change in how women are represented within iGaming companies, as well as general attitudes?
Holly Fairweather (HF): When I reflect on the past six years, it feels great to say I have seen a lot of positive changes in our industry and more importantly, an ever-increasing drive to address gender diversity. There is still work to do, and I am reminded of this attending our industry events, where it’s very evident we still lack female presence in C-level roles and on expert panels. It’s also not hard to see walking around conferences the overall gender imbalance that exists. With that being said, I do feel it’s moving in the right direction and I am regularly inspired by women around me being promoted to senior management roles, providing great mentors and role models. Awareness of gender diversity and celebrating success is continually being pushed via various channels, and for me plays a big part in why we are seeing more women have the confidence to progress in their careers and more women enter the industry. It’s also important to say, and why I think change is happening more, that the want of women to succeed and to increase female presence in our industry, is indeed backed by a strong support network of women supporting women, but also of the men in our industry.
Gaming Americas: How important are groups like Global Gaming Women? What kind of initiatives have they offered to help your own career development?
HF: I’ll be honest, I’m still learning about all that Global Gaming Women offers. Working in the US market I see GGW as a substantial network which offers reams of support from training courses, lean in circles and mentorship and networking events just to name a few. I have taken part in a few of the industry wide networking events, and really enjoyed them, connecting with some amazing people, learning more about the industry. One of my objectives this year is to participate in more events, adding value where I can whether that’s within the GGW network or through other avenues.
Gaming Americas: What more can the industry do to make it more appealing to women and ensure they are better represented within organizations?
HF: It’s got to start within each individual company taking responsibility for equal representation. This is not a tick box exercise to achieve a target on a gender split % by x date but must be about promotions and roles being rewarded to the best candidate for the role, regardless of gender, ethnic background, or sexual orientation. We need to shout about the success stories of DEI within the industry, creating an inclusive work environment will attract not just more women but more candidates overall, increasing the talent pool.
There is also a piece around exposure and shining the light on the fantastic women we have leading the way. Sharing their career paths, the good, and the challenges, to provide relatable examples of success. To make women in gaming not about the stats or portray the headline as a negative but more around showcasing the women that are successful and why, helping more women relate and pursue a similar path if this is what they wish to do.
Gaming Americas: What advice would you give to the next generation of women that are looking to make a breakthrough in the industry?
HF: This is a good one! First and foremost, you lead your own progression. Be proactive in building your network, push yourself out of your comfort zone to attend networking events. Reach out to other women in the industry for support and mentorship. That is on you to drive.
Immerse yourself in a team with values that align with yours, a team that welcomes and promotes diversity of all types and supports and rewards on merit are key.
Build your knowledge, for me knowledge is confidence. Quickly realise it is ok not to know everything, ask the questions and find out. Be solution-oriented, supporting your superiors will get you noticed for going over and above and adding value to your team and company.
I was told ‘people do business with people,’ which I stand by and could not be truer in the igaming industry. Always treat everyone with respect, be kind, be yourself, but don’t forget to back yourself! Relationship building is so key in this industry and has helped me progress to where I am today.
Lastly, take risks. And by this, I mean sometimes you must step out your comfort zone and push yourself to try something different to progress to the next stage. So far, the most pivotable moment in my career and biggest risk I have taken, and I’m sure Andy Whitworth (CEO) and the White Hat Studios (WHS) team won’t mind me saying, was accepting the job at WHS. A brand-new supplier to the US, no content live alongside the fact I had never worked in the US market, so of course there was an element of risk. It was, however, a calculated risk as I was joining a team of experts, senior level management I had worked for previously, in an ever-growing US market. A no brainer now when I look back.
Gaming Americas: From a White Hat Studios perspective, what DEI initiatives does the company put in place?
HF: DEI of all types is something I believe increases the performance of a team, and is something we are extremely passionate about at WHS. As we grow and expand, maintaining a strong culture has never been more important. We recently held a WHS workshop in Prague, with one section of our day spent holistically agreeing and locking down our values as a team, ‘Who we are, what we stand for ‘and ‘treating everyone equally’ is now embedded in our company culture as one of our five core values.
I have been lucky in the fact I have never felt that my gender has held me back in my current role and previous igaming companies. Although I understand this has not been everyone’s experience, I truly believe the more we celebrate success, drive awareness, embed inclusion within our companies, and work together across DEI as a whole, we will continue to see women progress and take on careers in igaming.
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