Today, we share the second and final part of our iGaming Business article on marketing tools for affiliate success. In part one, we provided an overview of the results from our 2020 affiliate survey that explored trends, expectations and preferences. We also discussed the insight provided by two different affiliates on how they tailor their own approach and outlook regarding marketing strategies. In the second part, presented below, we will explore the importance of targeting landing pages and banners.
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Targeted landing pages and banners
With regards to marketing materials, Torzel is aligned with the large number of affiliates that had bonus codes and targeted landing pages ranked as their top two selections. “The best landing pages tend to have generous offers and are constantly updating those offers to help with conversions,” he said. “Even better are personalised landing pages with responsive updates, based on current events, as well as clearly stated information so they convert better. This is important, as I think over 90% of users check the T&Cs.”
Meeuwsen views targeted landing pages in a similarly favourable light. “Generalised marketing does not work for a small affiliate like me. To be noticed, we must laser focus our efforts on more specific topics than ever before,” he explained. “At a minimum, affiliates should be able to send visitors to those main categories so they can get exactly what they want quicker. If a person did a Google search for apples they would not be sent to oranges, so why should a slot player be directed to poker, sports, bingo, lotteries, etc.?”
One marketing material that Torzel and Meeuwsen had ranked similarly was targeted banners, which Meeuwsen sees as potentially beneficial, provided they are managed properly. “Give me a 300×250 banner that displays the current promotion. Don’t ask me to update the banner – they should do it automatically. Don’t kill the link – they can redirect it to a new page. Also, give me another 300×250 banner that shows at least the general type of game I want.”
Torzel, who ranked text links as his third favourite marketing material, explained why he expects banners to gradually lose popularity in favour of other options, supporting Meeuwsen’s point about not wanting to have to manually update banners. “The biggest problem with banners is that they tend to be heavy and, in many cases, don’t auto-update. Also, we see that people don’t click as much on banners compared to text links.”
Reviews & conclusion
When looking at alternatives to banners, Torzel sees online reviews as one of the potential usurpers. “Users tend to read reviews more and trust more comments from other users,” he said. Although reviews only ranked as the sixth most popular marketing material in our survey, 45% of respondents did have it as one of their top four selections.
Meeuwsen also sees the potential of reviews, as long as they are sufficiently informative. “Unless my website has in-depth information, it will be considered fluff. This should include an overview of the casino with all the details like types of games, deposit methods, security, organisation information, etc.,” he said. “I would rather spend the time to research a specific game or aspect of the casino which will actually be useful to my visitors and to the search engines.”
While only time will tell which marketing materials and promotional strategies rise or fall in popularity, Meeuwsen offered an insightful closing note when asked about the continued strength of bonus codes, highlighting the determination needed by smaller affiliates to achieve success. “If you are a small affiliate, I think your time would be better spent on creating more content that goes beyond bonuses. Game reviews and opinions are a good starting point but going further than that would be even better!”
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We thank you for taking the time to read our full article on marketing tools for affiliate success. We now invite you to get in touch with us and let us know what your thoughts are on this subject.
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