INSIGHT
NETWORK EVOLUTION
Having comprehensively surveyed the affiliate industry in our previous issue, Lee-Ann Johnstone of Best Odds Marketing here presents the pros and cons of using third-party affiliate networks in an ever-changing regulatory and commercial environment
Are networks still relevant in the affiliate ecosystem? The affiliate marketing channel is maturing. Regulation is playing an important part and it’ s also changing the way in which we need to run and strategise the growth of affiliate programmes.
The recent spate of advertising fines, and the fact that operators are now wholly responsible for what their affiliates advertise online, have led to a rapid move to implement stringent term updates and strike policies. In turn, this has forcibly changed the nature of the collaboration of the parties who make up the affiliate space’ s ecosystem. It seems logical to focus on more active policing of affiliate content as well as stronger training and development of the operator staff tasked with managing affiliate business models.
Recently, quite a few operators, such as BGO, William Hill, 888Ladies and Wink Bingo, have closed their long-tail affiliate programmes on third-party networks such as Affiliate Window. These closures have made me think about the consequences for long-tail programme growth strategies.
So why use a third-party affiliate network as a long-tail growth strategy? Before I answer this, let’ s recap the reasons why affiliate networks exist and how they are typically used in igaming.
i) Fast access to a pool of qualified traffic. If a programme is new to affiliate marketing, using a third-party affiliate network can provide instant access to a pool of active traffic-driving affiliates. This means you can launch a brand and hit the ground running with very few resources needed to find and acquire affiliates directly. ii) Brand promotion at a very low cost. An affiliate network such as Affiliate Window can help to expand brand reach into broader consumer sectors( not necessarily igaming-focused) as a long-tail traffic source. Because of how you pay an affiliate, the programme doesn’ t incur any upfront costs for the broad spectrum of promotion it receives within the network.
iii) To target potential customers in a variety of different places.
What are the main advantages of affiliate networks? You can access voucher code and other retail or offer-based traffic sites using a third-party affiliate network such as Affiliate Window, Trade Doubler or Commission Junction, so you can target a broad range of customers online who might not want to gamble but are still interested in playing online games. It also provides a platform to find or advertise to customers in multiple online spaces. Networks existed before we could pixel and target specifically on Facebook in great detail( and other programmatic buying channels where targeting differential client groups and interests already exist).
And what are the disadvantages? There are of course also downsides to using a third-party network that operates in a closed environment. You never really get to work with affiliates directly or outright own the relationships acquired to your programme. It was designed like that to prevent network clients from recruiting affiliates directly out of the network into their own programmes as they expand. If you leave its platform, the network also imposes strict exit policies that prevent you taking affiliates that you have engaged in their network.
What effect have regulatory and technological developments had on affiliates? It used to be acceptable to have a blanket network of affiliates promoting your brand, but now that the onus of advertising responsibly rests solely on operators, there is a greater need to know and to police affiliate partners.
What problems do these developments pose for working within a third-party network environment? A third-party affiliate network doesn’ t have a vertical focus, because it services multiple sectors and is specialist in none. Our industry is heavily regulated and there is a risk that the network staff who are recruiting and vetting affiliates into the network may not be aware of these requirements and may end up being responsible for large fines.
Having a blind affiliate programme( where you don’ t see the ID or origin of traffic) means there is a limit on how effectively you can police your brand content online. Media buying and programmatic bidding can be highly targeted to avoid mass advertising wastage, and Facebook can help you target specific interest groups, which means spending less money on a blanket programme.
“ Affiliate networks will continue to play an active role in developing programme growth and helping new programmes to launch, expand and scale”
iGB Affiliate Issue 66 DEC 2017 / JAN 2018
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