Gambling Affiliate Marketing Dos and Donts from CasinoTopsOnline.com

CasinoTopsOnline is a leading name in the gambling affiliate sector, one that works with many of the biggest casino brands around the world. These guys know a thing or two about generating conversions. They have helped to set the trends that have driven this sector over the last few years, and they remain one of its biggest players.

We asked them for some of their expert advice on how to drive traffic and push conversions. So, from the guys over at https://www.casinotopsonline.com, these are the essential dos and donts of affiliate marketing in the gambling industry.

Don’t Ignore Your Competitors

Your competitors can tell you a lot about your business, especially if you’re just getting started. You have years of learning ahead of you, and much of that will be trial and error. But they’ve already been there. They’ve made their mistakes and found what works for them. You can learn from them, so analyze their traffic and conversions, discover what’s working for them, and see if you can emulate their success.

The goal is not to copy them. You still want to be original. Just figure out what works and what doesn’t, and then implement those discoveries in your own content marketing.

Do Analyze Your Traffic and Leads

Always pay close attention to your traffic and conversions. Measure every metric, use whatever tools you have at your disposal, and analyze metrics on a regular basis.

Assumptions are killer in this game. You assume that players will prefer a certain casino or bonus. You assume that one piece of content will work better than another. But even if you’re a casino player yourself, you can’t really know those things.

Once you find something that’s working for you, shift your focus toward that element. Dedicate more resources to the things that work, and don’t keep backing a losing horse.

If you’re not quite sure whether something is working, use A/B testing. It’s a form of testing that pits two ideas against one another. It can be as big as a video vs an article or as small as comparing an orange CTA to a green one on a landing page. Once you have a winner, put it against another option and keep going. You’ll refine your approach with every new test and should see your conversions increase as a result.

Don’t Be Generic

There are a lot of gambling affiliates out there, and they’re all offering a similar product. They review casinos and bonuses, guide players, and regularly update their content to meet changing trends. It’s a formula that works, but it means that your site can get lost in a sea of generic content. So, be unique, and try to stand out.

One of the easiest ways to do this is to provide actual insights into the latest casinos. Be honest with your customers. You don’t have to love every casino just because you have an affiliate relationship with them. It’s okay not to like a specific bonus or feature. You can also switch things up by making it easier for players to find their favorite casino games or their preferred bonuses.

Do Check the Payout Rates

Gambling affiliate programs are a little different from the rest of the affiliate industry. Some programs pay you for straight-up leads (when the player signs up) as well as clicks. But many pay you based on how much the casino earns from the player.

This can be problematic if the player loses a lot of money when they join the site but then wins it all back. It means your affiliate income could disappear, and this kind of instability is frustrating. The amount you earn also varies from program to program, as do other specifics of the deal.

If you have a big site and drive a lot of conversions, you may be able to negotiate a better deal. If not, just compare different programs and see which one works best for you.

Don’t Overlook Red Flags

Affiliates are an essential tool for online casino operators. They use them to announce bonuses and attract new players, and as they only pay them based on what they earn, they don’t need to worry about escalating CPMs and other marketing costs.

The relationship between affiliate and merchant isn’t always straightforward, though. Affiliate networks have been known to go rogue and not pay their clients. Fortunately, the gambling affiliate community is huge, and everyone keeps an eye out for one another. If an affiliate program suddenly stops paying its affiliates, it will be added to countless blacklists, and there will be warnings plastered across social media groups and forum threads.

So, do your research before joining one of these programs, and if there are any red flags, such as slow payments, disappearing leads, and non-responsive affiliate managers, reconsider your options. You don’t have to avoid them completely, but you should rein in your relationship and ensure you don’t have all of your eggs in a breakable basket.

Do Stay Responsible

As a gambling affiliate, you owe a duty of care to all of the players who use your site and sign up for online casinos. Not only is it your moral duty, but casino operators also demand that their affiliates adopt responsible gambling protocols. These include not telling anyone that they will win money, keeping responsible gambling disclaimers on your website, and always mentioning available problem gambling tools and resources.

Summary: Staying On Top as a Gambling Affiliate

There is a lot of money to be made in the gambling affiliate industry, but it’s also one of the most competitive industries around. You will be going up against some very experienced and knowledgeable affiliates, and as you’re all competing for the same leads, you need to find a way to stay ahead. So, keep all of the above tips in mind, implement as many as you can, and start collecting those leads.