INSIGHT
you create answers this question clearly, you’ re in a great position to begin building lasting relationships with Millennial players looking for an affiliate’ s new offers.
Educate your audience transparently Players strive to get better. You have the tools to make that happen. Taking what was mentioned earlier, focus a lot of your effort on education. One of the greatest assets of the world of online gambling is that the barriers are virtually non-existent for new players( with regards to playing a game, and not necessarily the logistics of signing up and restrictions and so forth). There is a certain level of intimidation when it comes to brick-andmortar operations. Think back to the first time you stepped foot in a casino: a craps table full of fast-moving, high-energy and knowledgeable players makes for a rather intense situation for virgin rollers. That doesn’ t exist online. Still, knowing the rules of the game makes playing it both more fun and inviting.
Keep in mind that, as an affiliate, you can be rooting for the player. Show them that they are your peers by sharing insights into betting strategies and advanced tactics for games that have them. As an added benefit to building trust with your audience, you can anchor links in these articles to special offers on these games. Tying your content to the objective of driving traffic to your operators is something you’ ll need to do on a regular basis. Creating this kind of content, the kind that might provide readers with a newfound excitement for a particular game, is a great place to store these links.
Entertain beyond the offer Although you’ ll want most if not every visit to your property to be a conversion, you’ re going to want to establish trust and authority through the strategic use of non-gaming entertainment. What does that mean, exactly? Perhaps the best way to understand this content strategy is by looking at Paddy Power’ s successes.
Paddy Power might be your( social media) neighbourhood jokester, but it is still, first and foremost, an operator. It has simply cultivated a unique experience with its clients by focusing much of its online content on the lighter side of the world of gambling and sports. Not everything needs to be about driving traffic. For an affiliate, that can sometimes be a tough reality to accept, but in today’ s communications landscape, relationships matter most.
You’ ll be able to build these relationships and drive engagement and clicks via the trust cultivated with the strategic use of this kind of content.
How does this create trust, you might ask? It’ s simple. This angle of your communications strategy, much like Paddy Power’ s, shows your audience that you’ re interested in more than the signup and deposit. Although that might be your end goal, it is not your only one. On top of that, it is a strategy that will lead your prospects to visit your social platforms and website regularly, and with every visit there’ s a greater chance that you drive the visitor to click on an ad or accept an offer you’ ve posted.
Don’ t be afraid of conversation Your content needs to be a two-way street. Social media is all about one thing: being social. If you’ re constantly pushing out content but rarely— if ever— engaging with your audience on an individual level, it will be virtually impossible to build up trust and therefore impossible to nurture relationships. Without those, you can never grow, only move from player to player without making your life any easier in terms of acquisition( from a decreased cost-per-acquisition angle).
Engagement of this kind also helps to build your referral business. Often, new players will turn to their friends to ask for a recommended operator or affiliate. Although it is true that the signup might be generated from the best new offer out there, the recommendation will almost certainly come from a brand advocate. Conversations build that advocacy group quickly, and they can help you drive new traffic without any additional investment from your end. That’ s the growth affiliates dream of.
“ Not everything needs to be about traffic. For an affiliate, that can be a tough reality to accept, but in today’ s communications landscape, relationships matter most”
What next? Rome wasn’ t built in a day, and an effective content strategy will take time, effort and patience to really begin taking effect. Those listed here are a great starting point, but you’ ll need to be creative. Authority and trust will generate brand advocates and help you build your business, but the right steps need to be taken in order to achieve this. Those steps almost certainly need to include the content strategies laid out here, and you need to be dedicated to implementing them properly to ensure the results are genuine and not simply fleeting.
COREY PADVEEN has an extensive background in econometrics and statistics, and is a partner at t2 Marketing International. He has worked on some of the most innovative Millennial-oriented campaigns for both online and brick-and-mortar operators, speaks on his work and research at events around the world, and is a member of a number of gambling and Millennial-facing advisory boards. He is also the author of Marketing to Millennials For Dummies, which is part of the renowned For Dummies series.
48 iGB Affiliate Issue 65 OCT / NOV 2017