Affiliate marketing isn’t a new topic to casino articles as such type of gambling brand promotion is mainstream among operators.
Dennis Dyhr-Hansen, CEO of Matching Visions, has cleared up the risks, which affiliates are exposed to, difficulties connected with regulations, and named the most important types of data for this vertical.
Dennis, the first question to ask is about the regulatory hindrances that affiliates face while working with gambling companies. What are they? How do affiliate networks cope with this?
The main regulatory hindrance is in countries that start creating a licensing procedure. A great example is what’s happening in Germany now, where brands have to conform to regulations if they want to apply for a license. All the affiliates that promote the brands need to adhere to these rules and regulations as well.
What does this mean? It means quite a few different things depending on how the brands interpret the regulations to come. Some will change deals models from a revenue share to a very small CPA, which makes it very difficult for the affiliate to continue promotion with little income coming in. They will also need to follow strict rules such as disclaimers, adding various terms across their site, removing many words that the regulators don’t want, including terms like “casino” itself.
If the procedures are done slowly, carefully, and properly, most affiliates should be able to adjust to the regulations and adhere to the new rules. The main question is will the affiliate manage to survive financially during these periods, transitions, and changes?
Are affiliates the main channel for operators to promote their brands in 2021?
I think affiliates always have been the main channel for operators to promote their brands and will continue to be in many years to come. The main changes might be connected with the types of affiliates as we see shifts in the way people approach online casinos. This world has become far more visual, so seeing how other people are doing certain things promotes a brand as individuals want to do the same thing.
So far, we have seen a much bigger rise in traffic from affiliates focused on streaming platforms, social media platforms and unique types of promoting brands. So, the question is more how affiliates will continue being the main channel for operators instead.
Let’s talk about the risks that affiliates are exposed to. What are they? Is the trust between an operator and affiliate network important?
There are always going to be risks in any industry that works on services and not on physical products. You can have fully-fledged licensed brands or operators that can still do some things we might not agree with or not like.
The main risk for all affiliates is when a brand doesn’t want to pay or closes down before all payments and accounts are paid and closed off correctly. Those are the most challenging cases, and we as a network tackle them head-on. We have had such cases in the past, and I’m sure we will continue as all affiliates do. This is why it’s very crucial, and I recommend every affiliate out there to always have paperwork in place. It won’t stop the bad things from happening, but it helps you fight for what you have delivered.
The trust is extremely important. When we are working with casinos, we need to ensure they are as transparent as possible, so we can protect the affiliate and ensure that the affiliate knows what they are getting themselves into.
What types of data are the most important for affiliate networks?
Affiliate networks rely on knowing what works and what doesn’t for affiliates. If we don’t have the right data, we can’t help or suggest to affiliates what works and what doesn’t. So, what’s important for us is not only FTDs or income, but how a brand is converting and whether they are doing retention to ensure the affiliate’s sent traffic is being used properly.
Data from countries are also very important. Does this country work for our affiliates? Do we have enough affiliates promoting in this country? How are the conversions? What is their player value, and how can we improve?
What are the pros and cons for affiliates to work with iGaming businesses?
iGaming businesses are filled with so many pros but, in my opinion, what’s important is the relationships between operators and affiliates. If you build the right bonds and relationships, you can go a long way.
Of course, other pros are you can make very good amounts of money, if you have the right business plans in place, you can use many of your talents and trades from other avenues in your life into this industry to advance even faster. Overall, the iGaming industry is an incredible one, and anyone wanting to come into this world will be pleasantly surprised!
Cons would definitely be the world’s stigma around gambling. The world has always been focused negatively on gambling due to problem gamblers, etc. However, today, online gambling companies, authorities and organizations have done so much to ensure that players are fully protected when playing at online casinos. Regulations are put in place for all casinos to adhere to, to ensure fair and responsible gameplay.
What are the peculiarities of affiliate marketing for sportsbooks?
I wouldn’t use the word peculiarities per se, I would rather say the difference. The difference between promoting online casinos versus sportsbooks is very large. Sports betting is done completely differently from playing and betting at online casinos, therefore, your affiliate marketing is different, player values are different, deals are different, and overall ways of doing things are different.
Is obtaining betting traffic more challenging than casino traffic?
Sportsbooks became a lot harder to promote when the pandemic hit the world in 2020. Live games and sports events being cancelled changed a lot of the gambling world online and changed focuses more to things like esports, online tournaments and traditional online casinos.
As the pandemic changes, and vaccinations and more measures are taken to allow sports, we see the growth of sports coming back and the options coming back again as well.
Sports betting is not more challenging than casino traffic, it’s just different. As mentioned in the previous answer, the way you promote sports and handle sports is very different from casino, therefore, you need to have a different way of operating if you want to focus solely on sports or betting traffic.
Read more: Top Gambling Affiliate Programs
