Affiliate marketing w/ some of the best paying and most famous online gambling sites. Casino, sports betting and poker paying up to $200 CPA. Affiliates deliver referral traffic to online casinos by placing links and banners on their own websites. Sometimes they use banners that call for direct action, e.g. To register or make a deposit in a particular casino.

Affiliate marketing has long been a vessel to reach financial freedom and passive income from just about anywhere in the world.

All you need is a laptop, an internet connection, minimal investment and a little bit of knowledge and you’re well on your way to becoming a self-made millionaire without even selling your own product. It’s a dream come true, well at least it would be if it were all that simple.

But the truth is that the world of affiliate marketing is a very difficult and very competitive place to pitch up and the very top of the food chain lies the casino affiliate businesses. It makes sense, the higher the reward, the more people that set out on the journey to reach it, but not everyone will find success at the end.

95 percent of all those that try will get bored, distracted or give-up on the casino-affiliate dream and with several months before any sort of gratification, it’s not hard to see why. It’s not a place for the light-hearted to reside and it’s certainly not for the lazy – but if you’re aware of the fact and still hungry for more – you might just be in the right place.

So how do you get started in the online casino affiliate business, what are the rules and regulations and just how long do you have to wait before you’re starting to see a little profit for your efforts?

How big is the online casino market?

The first step into any new industry should always involve market research and when it comes to affiliate marketing, it’s no different.

If you shop around the forums, groups, and blogs surrounding the topic of online gambling affiliation, you’ll often notice a sense that the so-called ‘golden age’ of affiliate marketing is long-gone with the buzz ending around 2010. But take a closer look at the statistics and you’ll see that you’ve not missed the boat, it is well and truly still in the harbor.

The online gambling market was measured at a market size of $45.8 billion in 2017, making it one of the biggest digital industries available to invest in, but it’s not the current size that’s the most impressive. There’s a predicted 2024 value of over double, sat at an estimation of$94.4 billion. It’s some boat to double in value in just 7 years, and you’ve got a first-class ticket – if you want it…

How much potential is there for affiliates?

Although the statistics surrounding the market value of online casino affiliates, we can look into the larger affiliate companies for a reference as to how much the pros are making.

Cantena Media Plc

Perhaps the best example of an online gambling affiliate business comes from Cantena Media Plc, a gambling affiliate launched in 2012 by a pair of childhood friends.

The pair grew the company to the self-proclaimed ‘#1 provider of high-value iGaming leads’ with over 250 employees spanning over 30 countries in 6 locations around the world. By developing organic growth, entering new markets and building the company via acquisitions, the firm reached a market capitalization of $5.5 billion.

With acquisitions of such award-winning gambling-based companies including Bettingpro.com (GBP 13.9 million) and AskGamblers.com (EUR 15 million), it’s no secret that there’s some serious power behind the simple casino affiliate.

XLMedia Plc

Another well-documented super affiliate comes from the 2008-formed company XLMedia Plc, an iGaming affiliate with a market capitalization of approximately GBP 325 million.

The company boasts the credentials of a market-leading digital marketing service provider, developing four main lines of business across the web including the affiliate marketing program with over 300 sub-affiliates.

The company, similar to Cantena, is no stranger to acquisitions with noteworthy purchases including ExciteAd (USD 19 million), GreedyRates.ca (USD 9.3 million) and Money Under 30 (USD 7 million).

Although some affiliates will only make a few dollars per month, there are other ‘super affiliates’ that rake in the big bucks, capitalizing on over $1,000,000 per month in commission. But nobody starts with that sort of revenue, they start small and grow into giants.

What’s in it for the casinos?

You may be wondering why casinos are so fond of affiliate marketing schemes and you’d be right to be doubtful of their involvement when it comes to third party associations.

However, it’s undeniable that utilizing affiliate marketing programs work and they’re actually among the top forms of advertising and promotion that online gambling companies can use to boost revenue.

Measurable progress

One of the biggest benefits associated with affiliate marketing comes the ability to measure the progress generated on an affiliate-to-affiliate level.

In this day and age, information and data are everything and the more that we have, the more we can use to benefit marketing techniques. When it comes to affiliate marketing, there’s no limit to the amount of information casinos can collect and use to optimize their strategies.

They’ll see what offers are attracting the most players and which affiliates are worth their weight in gold so they can act accordingly. It’s better than selling hats and hoping to generate conversions, that’s for sure.

Payments based on performance

Another key benefit for the casino that makes affiliate marketing so popular is how they pay for their coverage.

In traditional marketing, such as running television advertisements, we see payment before finding out the conversions which isn’t the best when looking towards the ROI. However, with affiliate marketing, casinos only pay once they’ve already got the conversion, not before.

That means you’ve got 100% relevant traffic converted into real sales, which is good in anyone’s book. There are no wonder casinos are keen to bulk up the commission on high-flying affiliates.

Improved reputation and online presence

When it comes to the marketing of an online casino, it’s the reputation and exposure that builds trust in a consumer that stands as the most difficult component.

Instead of playing a waiting game and opting for organic testimonials and reviews from players venturing into the unknown, it’s a great idea to go to the middleman and piggyback their credibility to promote your casino. That’s exactly what we see with plenty of casinos that approach affiliate marketers to build brand exposure and it comes with a price.

After all, 50% of something is better than 100% of nothing. Without online gambling affiliates, new online casinos would find serious difficulty when opening.

How does affiliate marketing work?

Defining affiliate marketing is probably the best place to start when looking to dive into the industry and you’ll be happy to know that it’s a pretty simple concept.

We broadly define the term as an arrangement in which an online business pays a pre-agreed commission (see the different forms below), to a third party site for generating traffic, leads or sales on its behalf. Think of it as companies giving out thanks in the form of funds to individuals for selling products on their behalf.

The same is true for a gambling affiliate, but rather than passing customers on to purchase a physical product, as is popular with Amazon affiliate programs, customers are passed onto online casinos. These online casinos will make money off of the players at their sites when they deposit and inevitably lose money, if you’ve passed the casino that player, you’ll earn a chunk of change in the form of commission as a thank-you.

The players that you pass on are ‘tracked’ via cookies that new players receive from visiting the links posted on your site, whether that’s from banners, images, buttons or embedded links, so it’s important to get your links in. You’ll get your trackable links after signing up for each specific affiliate program and the more registrations and deposits you generate, the more money you’ll make.

Different forms of commission

When it comes to the different forms of commission, there’s three main forms known as revenue-share, cost per action (CPA) and mixed models that can be opted for:

Revenue-share

A revenue-share model is the most common affiliate strategy that we see used in the majority of programs, characterized by a percentage of casino net revenue generated by referred players.

The method works for affiliates, as they’ll receive payment long-term (often for life) from referred players, and for operators as they’ll be able to target affiliates that are willing to target long-term customers for the casinos. It’s a win-win for both parties.

Percentages paid to the affiliate will range from 20-30% for new-to-industry affiliates but can reach huge chunks of between 50-60% for those with the traffic values that stack up.

Cost per action (CPA)

The direct alternative to a revenue-share option is a CPA in which the casino offers a fixed rate for each player referred via the affiliate.

Casino operators are often flexible surrounding the rate, depending on reputation and value-added to the casino, but often won’t be as lucrative as the revenue-share in the long run. For affiliates to receive payment, players are usually required to deposit and wager, ensuring that the casino will have received a ‘real’ player.

Mixed models

If you’re making waves as a high-profile affiliate, you may find it possible to create customized approaches and deals with casinos to reach a compromise that works best for you.

By negotiating a mixed model, affiliates are often able to receive a combination of a revenue-share and CPA payment plan, as well as up-front payments for long-term partnerships with casinos. These are particularly popular with those companies relying on employees and cash-flow to ensure wages are paid on-time.

The more flexible that the relationship develops, the better the network and the profitability of the win-win partnerships we see.

How do I get started?

You’ve sized up the market, done your research, understand the concept and want in – so now you’ve only got one question remaining – how do I get started?

Thankfully, the online gambling affiliate industry is relatively easy to get going in, providing that you either know, or you’ve got a team in place that knows exactly what they’re doing and it starts with a website.

It all starts with a site

It might not be 100% necessary, but it’s by far the best foundation to get started on when it comes to launching a casino affiliate business.

You’re going to want to get yourself a domain to start with, something that screams ‘trustworthy’ and that can be brandable ideally. This is the starting point to your whole business, so it pays to dish out the dosh and go for one that sets you apart from the next casino affiliate marketer on the block.

There’s plenty of places to buy, from the standard options such as GoDaddy and Heart Internet to private sellers that you’ll find on forums around the web. I tend to recommend the latter as, for the right price, you can kickstart your affiliate marketing journey with an established site that’ll come with some pre-written articles, domain authority and backlinks, if you shop around that is.

Once you’ve got your www. it’s time to develop the website itself. If you’re not particularly good with the digital space, it’s best to invest in the professionals to get you up and running. You need an SEO focused, mobile-first site with a good theme that leads to plenty of conversions – it may sound simple but there’s a decent chunk of work that goes into it!

Get with the times and get social

When first entering the casino affiliate business, I was most surprised at the sheer neglect surrounding the use of social media to generate traffic to affiliate sites.

If you’re planning on building a brand, which you should be, in these modern times you must have the appropriate social media accounts on the go in parallel. By sharing posts, linking content and building a following, you can gain unrivaled access to customers all over the web.

It may be a little challenging, especially when it comes to navigating the tight rules and regulations that Facebook and Instagram are famous for when promoting gambling, but it’ll be more than worth it at the end.

Content is king

Once you’ve got a site and social accounts set up, all that’s left to do is to fill them all to the brim with content.

By researching and targeting keywords (I like to use Ahrefs), you can build a strong series of posts that aim for your target audience. Use low-competition, long-tail keywords for the best chance of reaching the first page in the search engines and you’ll be in good standing for sign-ups in the near future.

It’s often recommended that reviews are created for each of the casino affiliate programs signed-up for. This way visitors to your site can see what an independent third party thinks of the games, infrastructure and customer support of the casinos they’re most interested in. Get them to click one of your links and you’ve got yourself a lead.

It’s not uncommon to outsource articles and if you’re just starting out, you can usually find freelancers that’ll jump at the chance to write articles providing you’re paying a fair wage. Just bear in mind that you do get what you pay for, so don’t expect the world for a $5 1000-word blog post…

Build backlinks and authority

There’s a huge number of sites out there all trying to do the same thing and as much as it helps to build with a niche in mind, it’s equally as important to build backlinks and, by extension, site authority.

There are many ways to build backlinks, but the most recommended as dictated by Google is to focus on high-quality, useful, shareable content that is organically spread around the web. Of course, alternative forms of link-building do exist and it’s a good idea to get creative to become featured on various sites that give exposure to your own.

Create guest posts for other affiliates, work on viral videos or even try and make the local news – all in the name of links back to your site. This is the part that separates the successful affiliates from the dreamers – remember, your network is your net worth so it pays to stay friendly and fish for links.

Know the rules and adhere to them

Last but not least comes the rules and regulations that surround the online gambling industry and depending on where in the world you live, there can be a shed load of them.

By looking up the respective authorities’ rules surrounding the promotion of online gambling by affiliates you can make sure that you’re not crossing any boundaries that you shouldn’t be. No casino will be willing to work with affiliates that aren’t abiding by the rules, especially with the heavy fines that you can both be hit by.

Make sure you’re fully up to date with the rules and regulations for the corner of the world you’re aiming for and you won’t have any problems.

We all know why online gambling is so popular. This is a very convenient and quick way to try your luck while giving freedom to your passion. Gambling gives people a chance to experience the unique thrill of victory.

Today we will talk about such an area of promotion for this industry that most successfully solves the issue of attracting new players to online gambling. Ladies and gentlemen, we are talking about affiliate marketing.

Essentially, an online casino is a website that contains any form of gambling. In turn, affiliate marketing promotes online gambling and attracts traffic to the casino website. In return, an affiliate receives monetary compensation that depends on the conditions of an offer.

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Who can be an affiliate? For example, bloggers, who are casino players themselves, act as affiliates who share tips with their audience and talk about online gambling platforms. Also, affiliates may be owners of thematic sites related to iGaming. They advertise partner online casinos and monetize interactions with ads. Also, affiliate networks can act as intermediaries between the casinos (advertisers) and affiliates to provide their services to both parties.

Referral links or banners posted by affiliates bring the most relevant traffic to the casino. Users who come to online casinos from affiliates will be much more likely to register and leave deposits because this is already a warm target audience. As a result, an alliance between online gambling and affiliate marketing, with the right approach, will always show a positive ROI.

There are three main ways affiliates get paid for the traffic they bring to online casinos and sports betting services.

Revenue Share, or RevShare, is a payment model in which an affiliate gets a percentage of a casino’s net revenue received from a referred player. This is a long-term model (often lifetime). An affiliate can earn from 5% to 50% of revenue during the active period of its lead playing in the online casino or using the sports betting service.

This method helps affiliates have an interest in bringing the highest quality customers to iGaming. However, this method also has a shadow side. The casino affiliate can receive not only a percentage of revenue but also incur losses after the referred player wins. So affiliates will have to evaluate the risks associated with this model. This also should be considered before choosing this payment method for the affiliate program in online gambling.

CPA stands for cost-per-action and cost-per-acquisition. The most common CPA method is to pay for a deposit. Sometimes such a model may come up with flexible payments for registrations or downloads. Yet more often, advertisers prefer to pay for new regular players; therefore, if the lead leaves after the first deposit, some online casinos do not pay affiliates.

As you can easily guess, the Hybrid model is a flexible combination of RevShare and CPA models. With this method, an affiliate receives a one-time payment for player deposits, as well as for each subsequent amount deposited. In addition, if the affiliate continues to bring new quality players in, its fee percentage may increase with the hybrid payment system in gambling.

Why is Online Gambling Affiliate Marketing Profitable?

So why does affiliate marketing stand out this favorably from other ways to promote online gambling? There are several good reasons that online casinos and online betting sites should cooperate with affiliates.

The times when advertising has to be paid only upfront stayed in the past. Today affiliate marketing is entirely focused on performance. Even in cases when the affiliate receives a high percentage commission, your ROI remains positive. This strategy also makes gambling traffic of much better quality, which brings you guaranteed sales.

Unlike attempts to calculate returns from an iGaming conference or promotion in a magazine, you can calculate profits up to every cent in affiliate marketing. In addition to this, you can use an affiliate platform that helps you track and manage your programs in real-time. For example, your online casino will be able to see which affiliate site banners or ads work better or worse, adjust payments to affiliates, and much more.

As we mentioned, in most cases, the affiliates who will be involved in your promotion are well known in the iGaming world. Thanks to this, they have their own trusted audience and strong status. Thanks to your partnership, they will also help increase the presence and reputation of your brand.

If you want to receive high-quality traffic for online gambling, you need to understand which traffic sources in affiliate marketing are the most demanded.

The leading social platforms for gaining traffic in gambling are Instagram and Facebook. Though, affiliate marketers must consider the right ways to work with these traffic sources. Facebook can ban an account with direct gambling advertising due to its rules, but there are several workarounds for that. Affiliates can lead traffic to special applications or messengers like Telegram, for example. Although it isn’t the easiest traffic source, social networks can bring you a large solvent audience.

Applications aren’t only a direct traffic source but also a useful tool to convert traffic from Facebook and Instagram. Besides, the app can be a mobile representation of an online casino that is always at hand. The ability to send players push notifications is another plus of applications as a traffic source. Push notifications don’t require many investments and can provide powerful results.

Some affiliate webmasters can develop their news and analytical gaming sites where they publish banners, native ads, or other promotional materials. Of course, the gambling affiliate doesn’t need to own such a site. He can just cooperate with a specific source that permits him to post promotions for online casinos or sports betting services.

It can be YouTube, Twitch, or any other streaming platform that allows affiliates to play some of the games live and promote online gambling through referral links. Video content created on YouTube or another similar platform can be stored online after live streams and continue to bring new traffic. Also, you can always find famous video bloggers who have an audience relevant to online gambling.

How to Create a Successful Affiliate Program in Gambling

The main thing is that your program should stand out among the many other similar gambling affiliate programs. But before creating your affiliate program, you should determine the way to manage your program that will work best for you. Depending on this, your gambling program may be managed by an affiliate network, you can use an all-in-one cloud-based solution, or create an in-house management platform from scratch.

The best option would be an affiliate platform that already meets iGaming industry standards and your needs.

The next step for creating a gambling affiliate program is the choice of an effective payment method that can be flexibly configured for different affiliates. Next, you need to provide your affiliates with promo materials for your online gambling offer promotion. On the contrary, you can write a series of recommendations for affiliates to create their own creatives. It can also be beneficial for online gambling affiliate programs to set traffic restrictions, for example, by geolocation.

These are the basics that should be addressed before creating your own gambling affiliate program. Yet don’t forget that the reputation of your brand and recognition among the players will play the main role in the success of your program.

How to Find the Best Affiliates for Online Gambling

When your iGaming affiliate program is set up, it’s time to find affiliates to kickstart your marketing campaign. There are many ways of making long-lasting partnerships with gambling affiliates.

• You can just include a link or banner to your affiliate program landing page on your website’s main page. This is the typical place where affiliates look for affiliate program information.
• Don’t forget about your existing customers. Send an email series to motivate them to earn money by recommending their friends your iGaming service through referral links. You also can include in your email signature a short description with the link to the affiliate program landing page.
• Go to affiliate marketing forums or communities that discuss online gambling brands and their affiliate programs. List and promote your affiliate program there. Note that you can communicate with potential affiliates at these forums and communities and with existing partners.
• Outreach influencers and gambling bloggers to review your service. Introduce them to your affiliate program individually and try to build a long term relationship with such affiliates. Some media make listings of the most lucrative affiliate offerings, so place your affiliate program there and make it attractive to prospective affiliates.
• Take part in iGaming affiliate conferences. Affiliates and other online gambling advertisers attend affiliate events to communicate and to find new partnerships. Besides, you can learn about new marketing trends, strategies, and technologies out there.
• Last but not least, you can find the best online gambling affiliates through a partnership with affiliate networks that act as an intermediate between the advertiser and the affiliates.

It’s highly important to have a reliable technological solution for successful iGaming affiliate marketing. Perhaps the most effective option would be an affiliate platform that already meets industry standards and your needs.

An essential part of the online gambling affiliate program is a strong analytics capability of affiliate software. You must have the ability to analyze the effectiveness of the payment method, traffic sources, and many other stats of your affiliate program by having the complete data and smart statistics design.

Online gambling is an industry with its own specifics. A lot in iGaming depends on geo and various external factors, such as law regulations, different banking, and financial matters. In this regard, the software must provide operators with all the necessary tools to configure the gambling affiliate program for all these requests.

A ready-made affiliate platform must make the process of creating and managing affiliate programs much easier with automation tools, CPAPI, ad fraud control, etc.

Affiliate Marketing For Online Casinos Free

Your gambling business can reach a whole new level with the help of affiliate marketing. There are unique payment methods tailored specifically for the iGaming industry. The performance-based approach practically deprives you of any significant risks and, in return, brings you quality customers and guarantees a positive ROI. A wide range of traffic sources will increase recognition and trust in your online gambling brand. All that is required from you is to create an attractive affiliate program that will bring good affiliates. Then, subsequently, monitor and improve results using a reliable management platform.

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Edgar is a Content Marketer obsessed with analytics & performance statistics. Edgar loves leveling up professionally and search for new effective ways to deliver quality content. After that, he’ll take every opportunity to take on exciting adventures with his GF.

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