iGaming affiliates recommend gambling products and services to others. From this, they take a slice of any generated revenue, making it a lucrative industry.
Advertising and marketing for gambling are getting harder. Google made 18 changes to its policies last year regarding the topic, and social media platforms also adjusted accordingly. Companies now use affiliate marketing for around 74% of their primary on boarding methods for new customers. This has made it a very profitable yet competitive field. With South Africa being one of the biggest markets on the continent, this is an opportunity waiting to be taken.
What is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is the process of recommending a product or service in a given niche. This can be done through education, website content, or social media. When a potential customer follows a link to the product or service, the affiliate marketer gains a flat fee or a small percentage of the sale.
When you become an iGaming affiliate, you take up the mantle of recommending gambling entertainment to players. These could be anything from sportsbooks to casinos and bingo sites. Yet this niche is very competitive, so iGaming affiliates can not just recommend the highest paying product. To gain customer loyalty and support, they must be thorough, investigative, and provide value to future players.
Many modern platforms that provide white-label or turnkey solutions will have iGaming affiliate software built into them. This allows operators to build a sound customer relationship with the marketer, tracking links and collating data on which ones are the most lucrative. This centralized data allows them to build a personalized experience even outside the confines of their website.
Revenue Models for iGaming Affiliates
When it comes to affiliate marketing, revenue works in several different ways. Overall, there are four model types.
- Cost per acquisition, also known as CPA, is a flat fee. This is paid when a user meets a certain criterion, often signing up and making a deposit.
- Cost per lead is similar, though it is usually higher if a potential customer performs a non-monetary action. This could be following a link, signing up for a marketing list, or playing a free game.
- Revenue sharing is a recurring percentage of user spending over a given amount of time. So if a user is depositing $200 a week, and the affiliate gets 10% of that, then they would gain $20 every seven days.
- Mixed revenue models may combine several of the above.
Each of these has a range of advantages and disadvantages. Cost per lead is more likely to generate income, but at a lower volume. Revenue sharing is the most lucrative, but it is extremely hard to attain, especially in such a competitive and crowded marketplace.
What to Understand
While the market is saturated, it is a good time to enter. Things are changing, and retention is becoming more important than acquiring new customers. Thus, long-term value is becoming more desired, meaning revenue shares are becoming more frequent.
Operators are also looking for those with smaller affiliate portfolios. They are working better than the larger ones, which handle large numbers of operators. This means as a small operator fresh to the market, you have an inroad that bigger, more established companies may not. This could involve you going down a niche subsection, such as affiliate marketing for specific table games.
Lastly, the realm of the internet is changing. SEO is giving way to generative engine optimization, which many affiliates have yet to catch up with. If you are savvy, you can use this pivot to your advantage, preparing for traffic that will be directed from large language models. This option won’t be around forever, though, so new affiliates must work quickly.
Knowing South Africa’s Gambling Laws
Staying in touch with the gambling laws of South Africa is essential. Currently, all forms of online gambling, including casinos, are illegal in the country. This means you can not market to South African players. Instead, you must take a more global approach, looking for those who are going offshore to gamble in other parts of Africa and the rest of the world.
The authorities are very serious about this. In March this year, the South African Police Service conducted a raid in which 17 computers were confiscated, five people were arrested, and two were convicted. The pair were given a choice of six months’ imprisonment or a R2 000 fine, then ordered to serve seven months. They were also presented with a deportation notice on completion of their sentences.
Thus, affiliate marketing is a great industry to work in. Yet you can’t just rack up and expect it to work. Many platforms have built a following through intensive scrutiny of gambling operators. On top of this, you need to understand the laws in the areas you are marketing to.
