Online gambling is very popular. This report from Grand View Marketing shows the exponential growth of the industry in the last few years. The convenience of online platforms over traditional brick and mortar outlets makes it an appealing experience for consumers who crave the thrill of victory. With high profit margins and an engaged customer base, it is no wonder gambling and betting companies are seeking to gain as much traffic as possible.
One of the most effective ways of generating traffic is affiliate marketing. In this article, we will review what affiliate marketing is, why it is advantageous, and how it works.
What is gambling and betting in affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is the process of earning a commission by promoting the products of another person or company. Essentially, find a product you like and earn money by finding people who are interested in it. A gambling and betting affiliate marketer will do this on behalf of online casinos and betting sites. Some of the most common types of promotion are:
- Slot machines and virtual simulations
- Online poker sites
- Betting on sports such as horse racing, soccer, NBA and NFL
Affiliate marketers will try to bring customers to the site and ensure they keep coming back. There are different types of ways that the marketer can earn a commission which is covered in more detail later.
The benefits of affiliate marketing in gambling and betting
Whilst affiliate marketing in all industries is a great way to make money, there are some specific perks within gambling and betting that don’t apply to others.
Firstly, gambling and betting affiliate marketing can create higher revenues than other industries. Many will offer commission models based on the lifetime of the customer rather than only one-off payments. As well as that, some casinos can offer as much as 75% of the profit gained from leads. This is generally because search engine optimization (SEO) is far harder with these sites given a lack of content that can be crawled.
Gambling sites also tend to report high conversion rates. Those who do click through will tend to at least register and deposit. Lifetime value can be a challenge given the vast amount of competition but if affiliates are careful about the offers they pick, loyal customers can be found.
The varied offers that gambling and betting sites provide for affiliates is also very appealing. It makes it far easier to generate traffic than in other industries.
Getting traffic sources for gambling and betting
To achieve a positive ROI, affiliates need to take care of the different traffic sources they utilize. You need high quality, cost-effective traffic to guarantee a decent revenue.
Social Media
With billions of people on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, the market opportunity is huge. The problem in 2020 is that promoting gambling sites via these platforms is very much frowned upon. In fact, Facebook has been known to ban accounts with such advertising on them. The workaround here tends to be in setting up multiple accounts and “playing the system” to ensure you get your advertising out there.
Affiliates on social media can point leads towards apps like Messenger and Telegram. They are a great way to force conversions without a need to leave the social media site.
Native Ads
Native advertising has become a popular way to promote products, mainly via social media. The advertising looks like it is part of the site content i.e. native to where it has been placed. The viewers don’t necessarily associate the ad as being advertising so tend to be more likely to click on it. Given native ads are not blocked, they can be a very profitable stream for traffic.
Websites and Blogs
Affiliates will sometimes create their own websites and promotions. This can take a lot of work to get right as it also needs separate SEO and backlinks which are time-consuming on their own. However, if an existing blog is already receiving substantial traffic, this could work well.
How to work with gambling and betting in affiliate marketing
There are two main ways to work in gambling and betting affiliate marketing. The first is to join existing platforms or networks and the second is to create your own affiliate network.
Joining an existing network means it is already established, giving you immediate access to the verticals you want to work with such as gambling and betting. Also, you don’t have to do any maintenance yourself or build a platform that sounds quite resource-heavy and technical. In the main, it is the most convenient option, but setup fees can be very high. Networks will take a commission for you using their service which can ramp up as you scale. Convenience isn’t necessarily a worthwhile compromise if you aren’t making money.
However, platforms like HOQU (http://www.hoqu.com) are now able to offer a more effective solution than ever before for affiliates and advertisers. With HOQU, advertisers can place their products on multiple networks simultaneously whilst attracting direct partners. Beyond that, instead of paying to join multiple networks and attempt to report on all of them, HOQU provides a unified account. Within the platform, you can track revenue through every network and affiliate in one place. HOQU is a recommended platform due to the recurring payment option available on the platform which we will talk about later in more detail.
Affiliates can set up their own specialized network for a small subscription with these platforms instead of having to pay to join multiple partners. Although setting up your own network sounds complicated, the platforms will provide 24/7 technical support that makes the process nice and easy. If you consider the cost of hiring a team of professionals to market your business or doing it all by yourself, creating a network is a more affordable way to generate traffic. Often, the platforms can be set up in as little as 3 days.
Setting up a network means that affiliates can generate traffic quickly whilst setting it up on a scheme that benefits all stakeholders. It is more cost-effective than separately joining multiple platforms and networks with disparate reporting and specializations.
The most popular conversion types
One of the main perks of gambling and betting affiliate marketing is the number of different commission models that are available. More specifically, they offer a model known as “RevShare” which is only applicable to a limited number of industries.
RevShare
RevShare is a combination of the terms revenue and sharing. In gambling and betting, companies will share a percentage of the lifetime value that each customer referred to them via that affiliate creates. For example, if a lead referred to the gambling company makes them $1,000 over a period of time, the marketer will receive a percentage of that total amount.
It is worth noting that with some casinos if your lead makes a loss for the company, you could end up with a negative statement. RevShare relies on the leads you sent to the gambling company being active.
Recurring Payment Option
In larger companies, it is common to create your own network rather than work with third parties. When creating a network, there are a number of options on the market but in gambling, making recurring payments is a key feature. This means that when an affiliate attracts a new casino client, they receive a percentage of the profits made from that client throughout their lifetime with the partner. Very few platforms offer that service and the most attractive option is HOQU due to the low start-up cost ($99 per month).
CPL (Cost per Lead)
This type of model pays for leads who register on the gambling site. The lead doesn’t need to make a deposit or spend any money. There could be rules around the quality of traffic that need to be provided, else it doesn’t work out to be a profitable scheme for a business to run.
CPA (Cost per Acquisition)
Typically, a CPA commission model will pay out for every sale you achieve. In gambling and betting, this is most commonly related to the lead making a deposit on the site. Some advertisers might have terms and conditions surrounding that deposit. For example, they might say that the lead needs to remain active for 30 days in order for the marketer to receive their commission.
CPA and RevShare Hybrid Model
A hybrid version of CPA and RevShare will offer a conditional amount to the marketer when the lead makes a deposit. As payment are made by the player, certain amounts are distributed out. As more players are sent to the casino, the amount of commission for each deposit tends to increase. It is a little like a loyalty scheme for generating traffic.
What does a good offer look like?
All the commission models have a place in affiliate marketing, and each can be profitable. Therefore, there are other attributes to look for before determining what a good offer looks like.
Keeping it simple
First are foremost, just like in retail, users of gambling sites what the process to be as fast and simple as possible. When visiting a website, they want to make a deposit and start playing games as soon as they can. When thinking about offers, pick partnerships where users are presented with an easy registration process. For example, ones that connect with social media work perfectly as the user is often already signed in, so it is minimal effort to register.
The digital revolution
Consumers are browsing and buying via mobile in the 21st century. Any offer that you choose should have a fully optimized mobile site that seamlessly integrates with other channels like social media. If they see an advertisement on Facebook, they should be able to click straight through and start playing.
Does the site work well?
Most importantly, to generate revenue, you want to be directing leads to a site that does not have glitches, navigates well, and is very user friendly. Check it out yourself before creating promotions and inform the advertiser if there are any issues. You will only generate commission from sites that work as the consumer expects.
Bonuses and offers
A gambling site that has different offers and bonuses can be more appealing to customers. It is worth looking for offers with niches and unique selling points to make the best of your own promotions. Some sites don’t like affiliates to rely too heavily on bonuses as ultimately, it loses them money but a varied advertising strategy helps to generate traffic.
Summary
Affiliate marketing in gambling and betting has several advantages over other industries. The varied commission models and growing market make it ideal for marketers to make revenue quickly. Affiliate platforms such as HOQU now make it easier than ever before. With multiple networks unified in one place and the ability to create your own, the potential to generate traffic is enormous. HOQU can even offer recurring payment schemes that fit the gambling and betting model perfectly.
