Affiliate marketing is one of the longest standing marketing tools that operators have in their bag of tricks. Often far more cost effective than other paid advertising methods, the affiliate channel has the potential to deliver tailored traffic at a price negotiated by the operator and affiliate.
The setup is simple, an affiliate signs up to the affiliate platform belonging to the operator. Once an account has been approved, the affiliate will typically have access to a range of marketing tools including banners, which may be useful for promoting the operators site.
Within the affiliate platform, there will also be a reporting area which will show statistics about the affiliates traffic which will be useful to the affiliate and the operator in establishing how successful the marketing efforts are. There will also be a selection of promotional links which will allow the affiliate to offer specific deals to their visitors to claim on their first deposit, it’s important to match deals to the affiliate site traffic in order to maximise conversions.
Becoming an affiliate used to be very easy, one could simply click the ‘affiliate’ link which would typically be located in the footer of any operator site. This would then allow the new signup immediate access into the area described above, meaning they would be able to begin a marketing campaign straight away with no human intervention.
In 2022, the process is nowhere near as straightforward and affiliates have to go through a number of checks before they’re able to get approval from an operator to begin marketing, especially if their marketing will be in the UK region.
Affiliates should expect operators to want to carry out Know Your Customer (KYC) checks which will involve establishing important information about the affiliates business, including its location and structure. ID for key personnel will need to be provided and more often than not, proof of address will also need to be supplied.
In addition to the above, affiliates will have to ensure that their websites and marketing practices are compliant and up to date with various codes including those from the CAP and UKGC.
In terms of earning potential, the sky is the limit with affiliate marketing, in theory the more converting traffic you supply, the greater the amount you’ll earn.
Affiliates who work hard and establish a good marketing channel, i.e. a well established portal website, can build lucrative businesses, but it’s important to note that there tend to be significant overheads in terms of either time or staffing costs in meeting the responsibilities that affiliates are expected to keep up to.
At the heart of any affiliate deal are the commercials, the part of the affiliate agreement that details how an affiliate is to be paid for the players they send. There are three very common types of deal that may be agreed. These are revenue share, cost per acquisition (CPA) or hybrid.
A seasoned affiliate will most likely opt for a hybrid deal meaning that they benefit from both an initial lump sum when a new player meets certain deposit requirements and thereafter a flow of income from ongoing revenue share.
For those hoping to get into bingo or casino affiliation in the UK market, it would be a good idea to first become familiar with regulation and codes that will apply to their work.