30+ TOP Casino Affiliate Networks — Best Gambling Affiliate Networks and Offers of 2024 For Money Making
There's nothing you can't find on the internet. That includes online casinos and betting games. And as the demand for online gambling games grows, affiliate marketers follow. Gambling and casino affiliate programs offer marketers many opportunities to enjoy profits from this ever-growing industry.
However, each affiliate niche requires its own individual approach. There are many sub-verticals in the gambling niche. If you want to know more about them, you've come to the right place. This comprehensive guide will cover everything you need to know to start promoting gambling and casino affiliate programs.
What Is the Gambling Niche in Affiliate Marketing
Gambling is one of the verticals that stands out most prominently in affiliate marketing. There is an excessively high demand for it, yet there are few ways to openly promote it. Consequently, online casinos depend on affiliate marketers to market their services. Affiliate marketing in the gambling or casino niche includes promoting poker rooms, sports betting, fantasy sports, slot machines, lotteries, card games, and more. When dealing with the gambling industry, it is essential to be familiar with a few different strategies. Take, for instance, the importance of timing as an illustration. In the year's final three months, the gambling industry experiences a decline, in contrast to the expansion of e-commerce and many other industries.
This is because most customers save their money for the sales that occur on Black Friday and for their holiday shopping. However, there is also a spike in gambling during the first quarter, when most of the sporting events occur. Assuming the targeting is done correctly, there should not be much difficulty persuading the visitors to provide contact information such as their email addresses or phone numbers. Most people who gamble do so consistently, which comes from the activity's addictive nature.
As a result, you won't have to spend time introducing the industry to your visitors; instead, you can zero in on the offer itself. These gamblers are only looking for a chance to win a large sum of money on a modest wager, an easy and quick way to make money online, or simply the excitement of it all.
How to Avoid the Legal Complications Associated with Gambling Offers
The marketing of any product comes with the obligation to behave in a manner consistent with the target country's laws. Every nation on earth has enacted regulations that restrict the marketing of gambling. However, some of these regulations are more stringent than others. The question now is: what can you do to prevent your campaign from being turned down before you even get the chance to buy traffic?
Choosing offers from reputable networks or qualified programs is the most effective way to ensure that you are not crossing any ethical or legal boundaries when engaging in affiliate marketing. You can be confident that they have the authorization to run gambling operations this way.
You should be provided by the network with a list of GEOs that are either acceptable or prohibited. The following step is to determine whether the selected traffic source will accept the target geographic area and the offer. Contacting the support team is the quickest and easiest way to guarantee this.
Even if this isn't your first time running campaigns for gambling or casinos, you should still double-check with the support team of the traffic source to ensure that the information you are receiving is as current as possible. This is because such regulations tend to undergo frequent revisions.
Why Running Gambling Campaigns Is Worth it in 2022
The results of a 2016 survey show that 90% of merchants and advertisers say that they consider affiliate marketing an essential part of their marketing strategy. Of the respondents polled, more than 80% run an affiliate marketing program to improve website traffic and increase sales.
These recent trends prove why affiliate marketing is a win-win situation for the advertiser, the customer, and the online business owner. And the online gambling business is on its path to steadily grow larger and larger.
Through primary research, it was established that the Online Gambling & Betting market was valued at approximately USD 61.5 billion in 2021. It is projected to grow at a CAGR of around 10.9 and reach roughly USD 114.4 billion by 2028.
The findings of this research are not the only ones that confirm the anticipated expansion of the online gambling industry. It should be no surprise that the COVID-19 pandemic affected this economic sector, as it did virtually every other aspect of daily life.
However, the most recent research considers the pandemic's consequences and still demonstrates that the market is expanding. The growth of people playing online gambling games on their mobile phones and from the comfort of their homes rather than the public is the primary factor behind the booming success of the online gambling industry.
Knowing the Audience
No matter the vertical, a vital component of a successful affiliate marketing campaign is having a solid understanding of your audience. Although you can never be entirely sure which demographic will produce the best results before launching a campaign, it shouldn't be too difficult to single out gamblers. Since so much research has been conducted on the psychology and behavior of gamblers, we have a pretty good idea of the types of people who are more likely to convert.
The results of these studies tell us about many things, such as age, gender, race, marital status, and income. Don't count entirely on these factors. You can optimize your targeting once the campaign data rolls in.
Gender
Throughout most of gambling history, men have made up the majority of players. The number of female gamblers, on the other hand, continues to rise as gender stereotypes and taboos regarding the activity fade. Therefore, even though your primary attention is directed toward men, you cannot ignore women. Make room in your campaign for some advertisements that focus on them.
Financial Status
According to the majority of research, and contrary to what you might initially guess based on your own assumptions, most gamblers are not wealthy. But whether they are wealthy or not, people gamble, intending to win. Therefore, the odds of winning have to be the primary focus of your advertisements.
Age
The age group varies based on which region your offer is from. You can find exciting statistics on Statista, such as the age demographics of online gamblers in Great Britain. Most people who gamble are between the ages of 25 and 64.
Top Traffic Sources
The best traffic source for you depends on several factors. The strictest of which are the rules of the offer and the network. The laws on gambling in the target area can also be an essential factor.
Pop Ads
Pop ads are a great traffic source, and gambling happens to be one of the verticals they work best with. If you are a beginner, we highly recommend using pop ads to drive traffic to your landing page. They are easy to set up as they need no creatives. They are also cheap and abundant to buy. With pop ads, you'll have much more time and money to spend on optimization.
Domain Redirect Traffic
Yet another classic affiliate marketing tool. Domain redirect traffic is more expensive and requires more skill and experience on the affiliate's side. But along with pop ads, they've been in the repertoire of every successful marketer for many years.
Domain redirect traffic allows for exact targeting when coupled with keyword matching. Check Google Trends, Semrush, or your traffic source for the top keywords related to your offer. When done right, domain redirect brings more conversions than pop ads or push notifications.
Push and In-page Push Ads
Push ads require more effort than pop ads and are more expensive. But they bring lots of conversions to the gambling niche. They are some of the least intrusive ad formats we have right now. With push ads, you can directly reach the devices of users who have opted in to receive them. The only major downside to push ads was the unavailability of iOS devices, and that's why we have in-page push.
The most critical factor in the success of a push campaign is the creative. It has to be simple yet attractive. You don't want many details in your icon. On mobile devices, the icon is the first thing most users see. Give them a sense of your offer without any distracting elements. 2-3 large objects with a clear message are best for the main image. A happy person holding a handful of cash with a slot machine in the background? It couldn’t be more clear what you’re selling.
We recommend using spy tools for inspiration if it's your first time buying push traffic. There are other factors that can also play to your advantage. For example, data shows that users who sign up for push notifications are more likely to interact with them in the first week.
Push and in-page push notifications also allow for precise targeting. You will need access to various targeting options for gambling affiliate programs. We will be discussing these at greater length shortly.
Targeting Options
After determining the traffic source and ad format you want for the campaign, it is time to consider the targeting settings. Additionally, it is beneficial to have an optimization strategy in mind before beginning, but we will discuss that in more detail later. First things first, you have to give some thought to your budget.
- Manage your budget and bidding
Manage your budget by splitting it into the testing budget, daily costs, and total budget. Check your offer's payouts. You can ask the affiliate network representatives if you need help calculating it. As for bidding, the platform suggests minimum amounts. But you should always check the average bid per source, category, keyword, etc. Remember to bid slightly higher than the average to increase your chance of winning.
- Run your campaign in the right place at the right time
The laws governing gambling can vary significantly from one region to the next. Therefore, making your target audience regional rather than national is more effective. Keep in mind that the GEO trends are constantly shifting in every vertical, including the gambling industry, so be prepared for this. Enquire with your network representative about the most recent information regarding the field. Alternatively, you could follow the established patterns in GEOs, which we will discuss in a little while.
Another aspect that should be optimized is the time of day you will run your advertisements. Evening hours are a prime time for businesses in the entertainment industry, such as casinos, to attract customers. The unemployed, who may not find gambling the most appealing activity, are the people you have the highest chance of connecting with in the morning.
If you are new to affiliate marketing, are experimenting with a new offer, or are running a broad campaign, it is recommended that you begin by not changing the dayparting settings from their defaults. After analyzing the data, you will be able to determine which time of the day is most successful in the later stages of the campaign. Taking a look at the stats corresponding to where and when people are more likely to participate in gambling can also be helpful.
Desktop users once held an overwhelming majority of the market share in the online industry. But the fast growth of technology and how it changed our culture enabled mobile traffic to quickly catch up. You may find many verticals where mobile traffic performs better, not just the obvious ones like the mobile apps vertical.
We recommend strategizing broadly and then deciding on device-splitting. Do not restrict the devices or operating systems people can use immediately; this will drive away potential customers. But device-splitting can be decided separately from the rest of your targeting options. Because of this, it is sometimes simple to determine whether mobile or desktop traffic is more beneficial to your business based solely on the offer itself.
Suppose the offer is for mobile gambling or an iGaming product. In that case, it is best to buy mobile traffic only from the beginning of the campaign. Again, most of our assumptions are derived from general industry trends and the information we have gained from previous campaigns. There is no single, unbreakable rule, with the possible exception of this one: always do your homework. This includes contacting the support team for your network and asking about the most recent data and trends.
What Are The Top GEOs for Running Gambling Offers
A good country for running gambling campaigns should at least fulfill these two conditions: it should have easygoing laws and regulations regarding the promotion of gambling and a population of avid gamblers.
The UK is an example of a favorable country. The Gaming Act of 2005, created by the UK Gaming Commission (UKGC), enables businesses to promote their online gambling platforms in Great Britain. This facilitates the expansion of the gambling industry in the region.
Other countries you may want to consider are the English-speaking countries like the US and Australia (albeit with stricter rules), Canada, and New Zealand. After which comes the Asian countries such as the Philippines, Japan, and Singapore. Mexico, Peru, Brazil, and Columbia are top choices in South America. And of course, you can't forget Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, and Ukraine in Europe.
Optimization
Your affiliate marketing strategy should include the following components: traffic, content, a landing page, and an offer. For a campaign to be successful, all of its components must function harmoniously together. There are times when the various aspects do not work well together. Once you see this happening, you won't throw in the towel or give up. You are getting closer to the final stage of the journey, which also happens to be one of the most crucial ones: optimization.
At this point, you need to examine each component to identify the one that is the source of the problem. It's possible that the visitors to your website aren't the kind of people you're hoping to attract. It's also possible that your offer isn't communicated to people in a clear enough manner. Your data will prove extremely helpful at this point.
Buy traffic quickly to complete the testing phase in less time. The more quickly and thoroughly you can collect data, the sooner you'll be able to begin optimizing your system.
You can choose RON traffic from a particular nation depending on how broad you want the testing phase of the campaign to be. In this manner, you will be able to direct all of the traffic to your offer and save a significant amount of time. Suppose you want to maximize the return on investment for your spending and run multiple campaigns. In that case, you can combine RON traffic with smartlinks. If you are lacking traffic, you should try targeting a wider audience.
You will be able to determine what aspects require improvement after conducting an in-depth analysis. After you have determined the cause of the issue, you can modify that component of your campaign to achieve more successful outcomes. To save money, you should eliminate sources that aren't performing well and invest more in the best ones.
Tips on Ad Creatives and Landing Pages
Regardless of the affiliate niche or traffic type, the campaign's success is directly proportional to the ads' quality and landing pages' quality. Even though every offer is unique and calls for its own strategy, there are a few things that you should keep in mind regardless.
Landing and Pre-Landing page
One of affiliate marketers' most frequently asked questions is whether pre-landers are a necessary item in the funnel. The answer is no, you don't need a pre-lander. However, you might want one. The pre-landing page's purpose is to prepare the visitor for the offer. They are designed to both inform and encourage visitors to purchase the product you are selling. They've also proven to be formidable in exercise. A well-executed pre-lander almost guarantees a higher conversion rate.
In terms of the landing page, a high-quality landing page may have the highest conversion rate when compared to other funnels. After all, the whole point of landing pages is to increase conversion rates. A landing page is a standalone webpage designed with a specific goal. They are less challenging to create and maintain than a website or a blog. Aside from the cost of hosting, creating a landing page is entirely free.
- Explain the rules, regulations, and legal information regarding the offer.
- Use credible creatives. People are quick to recognize shady landers in 2022.
- While on credibility, hint at the chance of winning but don't guarantee it.
- Comply with policy guidelines.
- The items in your funnel should match, from the creatives to the pre-lander and landing page. Avoid confusing the visitor while increasing their confidence and engagement with your offer.
- Buy hosting near the target GEO to increase loading speed. Keeping the lander below 200 KB is also a good practice.
- Use attractive but clutter-free visual aids. Images of people and pleased winners convert better than animations or cartoon-like creatives.
- Try spy tools if you need inspiration. You can filter the results based on the newest or most CTR. Avoid being a copycat.
- FOMO (fear of missing out) and ROMO (regret of missing out) are potent drives.
- Rotate and test creatives to find the best-performing ones and avoid creative fatigue. For starters, try five creatives for five landing pages.
- Add the element of the game to your landing page. Gambling is pretty much gaming. You have a better chance of converting gamblers and casino users if you get them interested immediately on your pre-lander or landing page. Roulettes, quizzes, countdowns, and spin-wheels are great additions to your landing page.
Conclusion
Affiliate marketers are aware of a growing demand for online gambling games. They also understand that affiliate programs for casinos and gambling offer numerous opportunities to profit from the rapidly expanding gambling industry.
So, in this guide, we covered everything you need to know to get started, from choosing offers from reputable networks or qualified programs to the top traffic sources and targeting/optimization tips.
