INSIGHT
THE AFFILIATE VIEW
IN 2017
In conjunction with iGB Affiliate, Lee-Ann Johnstone of Best Odds Marketing recently surveyed the affiliate
industry and here presents her findings on the sector’s thoughts, concerns, hopes and opportunities
RECENTLY, TOGETHER WITH IGB
AFFILIATE, we completed an industry
survey to gauge affiliates’ reaction to the
upcoming challenges of the industry ahead
of AffiliateFEST 2017. The results were
interesting and so I thought I’d share these
in my column this month.
There’s no doubt it has been a period of
flux for the industry and with the ever-
changing affiliate landscape, it can be tricky
to keep up with it all. The following topics
are the ones that affiliates reported back
to us, giving much-needed insight into our
industry and where the mood is headed.
affiliates, this means that one fine or
slap on the wrist could essentially make
them persona non grata in the world of
operators. The affiliate space is maturing.
No more the spotty, rebellious teenager to
other digital channels — the market has
forced the channel to grow up and mature
into a diligent source of business. These
actions shouldn’t end in an ‘us and them’
scenario. Instead, it should mean that
operators and affiliates work more closely
with one another, with an emphasis on
clear communication, open collaboration
and a desire to continue to do good
business together.
An approval-based system with a more
vigilant affiliate management style, including
knowing each affiliate before working
together, is what seems to be most feasible.
This requires a stronger active management
style and better monitoring tactics of
the tracking tools used for programme
management. Ongoing training and skill
development for affiliate managers will be
a major part of this change. This will allow
the affiliate manager to be much more
aware of what their affiliates are d oing
and, in turn, help the affiliate to stay within
the bounds laid out by the gambling and
advertising authorities.
The regulatory heat is on
In terms of regulation, everyone within the
gambling industry seems to have started to
tighten their belts. Affiliates are now feeling
the heat more than operators, especially
when they can often be given conflicting
advice from the news, inexperienced affiliate
managers and operator programme terms
that are subject to change at a moment’s
notice. Responses to the survey have shown
that the second biggest challenge faced by
affiliates, after finding new sources of traffic,
was indeed keeping up with regulatory
changes (see Figure 1).
Having a clear marketing policy and
ensuring better relationship management in
affiliate programmes will help to solve this
problem in the short term as well as ensure
due diligence is brought into better practice.
With regulatory bodies and operators
constantly moving the goalposts, it’s
understandable that affiliates can feel at a
loss. With the closure of the Sky Bet affiliate
programme and the new one-strike rule for
Paddy Power and Betfair affiliates, it’s clear
that some operators are distancing themselves
from this traffic source prematurely. The
Gambling Commission has made it quite
clear that operators are responsible for the
actions of their affiliates, which has many
running scared unnecessarily.
From an operator standpoint, this simply
means an increased emphasis on knowing
and vetting who you are working with. For
Figure 1: Affiliates’ biggest challenges in 20170s
iGB Affiliate Issue 65 OCT/NOV 2017
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