2021 will be no different. With the UK plunged into a Tier 5 total lockdown situation, and with the majority of people still stuck at home, and in many parts of the world, we must continue to grow and adapt accordingly. In addition to the global pandemic, we have seen tighter legislation over the last two years in different regions, meaning the role of an affiliate is not an easy one. There has been lots of talk about esports, Arabic markets and other geos such as India and LATAM during 2020, and I’m sure the development of these sectors and markets will continue to rise during 2021.
Esports
If you’re looking into esports, make sure you find some great writers for content. It’s a huge community so make sure you know what you’re talking about when attracting them. North America and China are two of the biggest territories; however the UK showed a growth from £50k ($67k) in March 2019 to £4.6m in May 2020. To ensure you understand the subject, don’t underestimateyour homework. The majority of esports players areskilled youngsters whose trust is hard and key to get.
Arabic
Given the legislation and language barrier, this is a hard one to target, yet the player value can be much higher than other geos. There are only a couple of great brands operating in this market that really know what they’re doing with theirplayers, so if you can find a native content translator and designer who can get you some specific branding pages ready, this could be a good one to try. The competition is still small, so there is space for someone to come and grab it by the horns.
India
India is unfortunately a numbers game. There are a vast number of bonus hunters, and the player values are low, but you can get a large volume from this region. I have a couple of brands really pushing into this geo, and my research shows there aren’t that many affiliates really doing so well here. So again, if you have the reach and knowledge, this could be a great year to target India.
Affiliate/operator relationships
Not only should we look at new opportunities for growth in 2021, but the way we do business between affiliatesand operators should be addressed also. Since there wereprobably 10% of the normal opportunities to meet face to face last year, my Skype was set alight with everyone communicating faster and more often. I even had some clients facetime me and add me on Whatsapp this year, which was usually only used around conference times or for my closest affiliate friends. Now more than ever is the need to build stronger relationships. There needs to be trust between both parties and transparency over results and expectations. Personally I hate working with a faceless affiliate program,a generic email address, not knowing whether the same people are answering your enquiries.
I know a long-burning issue is that affiliates want more transparency over their stats, to understand player journeys, and what works for the operator and what doesn’t. This would make the affiliate able to optimise their traffic and placements of the brand accordingly and both the affiliate and operator would see better bang for their buck. After all if an operator asks for placements on a specific page that aren’t relevant to their brand, they’re taking up real estate and will not convert the players. This will result in the affiliate removing them from the site and no one wins in this situation. Operators need to know their strengths and communicate this with the affiliates.
Affiliate partnerships should not be forgotten as a good marketing tool especially for newly launching brands. When done correctly, the boost of traffic can come fast on a lower cost compared to direct marketing. The strong partnership, transparency and trust certainly help the affiliate to push and build great PR for your brand in the long run.
Both sides should, however, keep in mind the meaning of partnership in terms of making money. It’s up to the brand to do the math on the overpriced deals considering the cost, profit and PR.
Future of land-based conferences
Here’s some food for thought. Land-based events, if they go ahead this year, will be different than we’re used to. Wouldn’t it be great to spend the money on education rather than the biggest and showiest booths? I would much rather listen to a 20-minute speech from the operators on what their plans are for the year, what they are doing with my traffic and how I can better work with them to increase my earnings. I want to know what geos work and don’t work for them, what casino games are working best for players. Don’t tell me to promote all 200 slot machines from X provider. Tell me what are your top 10 in the UK because that’s my area of expertise and traffic. I want operators to give affiliates honest data so they can better promote the brand to become more effective and efficient with their own work and traffic.
Legislation minefield
How many of you have received emails from numerous operators with updates on how to promote them? Is anyone confused? I know I am. What I would like to see is a centralised place that gives affiliates a place to go for central information. These are the areas I miss from conferences, and I rely heavily on newsletters and video interviews to get consistent information on this topic.
Final tips for 2021:
“Wouldn't it be great to spend the money on education rather than the biggest and showiest booths? I would much rather listen to a 20-minute speech from the operators on what their plans are for the year”
• Look at your social media engagement. See what works and what doesn’t; what isengaging your audience, what would you want to read about. If you don’t want to read it, why are you publishing it? Maybe there’s a specific time of day, day of the week, type of article that works best? Really nail this. There are millions of people using social media on a daily basis. Find what works for you and stick to it.
• Using TikTok or Twitch yet? Operators are always on the hunt for new streamers so check out your competitors, see what is or isn’t working and find your niche. There is plenty of room to dominate in these areas so get in there quick.
• An indudstry poll provided us with these stats recently of how affiliates are using social:
• YouTube (40%) rose to tie as the second-most popular, while Instagram (36%) also had its best showing when compared to previous surveys. Twitch finished with a 13% increase, while a somewhat surprising 19% said they do not use any social channels.
• When affiliates were asked to look ahead and consider what social media channels they are likely to focus on moving forward, Facebook was the top response (35%), followed by YouTube (31%), Twitter (27%), Instagram (25%) and Twitch (17%).
• If you’re looking to get into esports, make sure you nail the content. Those betting on esports are just as passionate as those sports bettors – they know their stuff and if you don’t, they’ll find someone who does. Maybe look to find a gamer who would love to be a contributor.
• Finally, build your relationships with the operators you trust; the operators who know what to do with the traffic you send them and look at this as a partnership not a one-way street.