According to iGaming Business Network, over 69% of iGaming companies were looking to increase their affiliate marketing budgets in 2023. As an affiliate manager, you can expect hectic times ahead with the management of multiple affiliate programs, partnerships with affiliates, and related attribution.
But the good news is that the entire process can be streamlined and simplified by choosing robust iGaming software providers.
Let’s start by getting a bit of background on the regulatory standards that help manage the iGaming domain.
The Regulatory Standards Governing the iGaming Domain
For an iGaming platform, designing affiliate marketing strategies to attract players from different parts of the world is not much of a challenge. What’s tricky is to be constantly updated and aligned with local regulations and policy frameworks governing this sector.
As an iGaming software company, failure to adhere to regulations and laws governing the sector can lead to significant financial or legal risks.
For example, the US iGaming regulations are pretty complicated. Different regulations and laws apply to casino games, sports betting, online lottery, and fantasy sports depending on the state.
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006 prohibits gambling entities from accepting money associated with unlawful online gambling. However, since the Act does not define what constitutes unlawful online gambling, every state defines it differently. Hence, iGaming operators need to tailor their marketing communications to align with state regulations.
When choosing from amongst several iGaming software providers, operators must ensure that the one they select has appropriate operating licenses. They should also possess the necessary AML and KYC tools to stay compliant with regulations.
The Emergence of iGaming Software Solutions
Before we delve deeper into how iGaming software providers have evolved over the years, let’s start with what they are.
The upward trajectory of the iGaming industry over the past few years forced companies to consider integrating technology and accessibility into their operations. And, as iGaming transitioned into becoming a multi-billion industry, the marketing strategies and campaigns became more competitive and grew in volume.
The term ‘iGaming software’ encompasses all kinds of software solutions designed to simplify and automate operations for the iGaming sector. These iGaming software solutions can range from a platform hosting the game itself to affiliate marketing tools to boost its popularity.
Evolution of the iGaming Industry
Over the years, iGaming platforms and affiliates have developed a symbiotic relationship. Marketers get more visibility for their platform and affiliates earn more commissions.
The iGaming industry constantly outpaces the traditional gaming industry in terms of growth. The biggest catalyst to this growth is the rise of the mobile gaming market which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 19.9% between 2021 and 2028.
Some of the key drivers for the market growth are — an increase in smartphone usage, modern regulatory frameworks and diversification of the iGaming sector, and advancements in cloud computing and cybersecurity.
The Rise of iGaming Affiliate Marketing Software
As competition in the iGaming industry increased, affiliate marketing emerged as one of the most popular and effective strategies for operators. Over recent years, affiliates have been pivotal in birthing key affiliate marketing trends, such as performance-based marketing and revenue-sharing models.
iGaming affiliate marketing software today is a critical resource amongst various types of iGaming software providers. It can help affiliate managers track and control every part of the affiliate marketing program.
When they were introduced, their goal was to primarily facilitate the management of certain operational aspects as iGaming companies focused on going global.
As technological innovations continue to rise and improve affiliate marketing strategies, so does the iGaming product software that is aimed at helping affiliate marketers implement them. That said, here are some of the key future trends associated with iGaming affiliate marketing:
- VR and AR Technologies: iGaming software operators are increasingly investing in VR and AR technologies that can help them create more immersive gaming experiences while giving them innovative ways to promote their games.
- AI and Machine Learning: AI can facilitate the creation of more personalized marketing strategies and let affiliate marketers unlock the power of predictive analytics and related insights.
- Blockchain and Cryptocurrency: As blockchain technology enters the marketing sector, cryptocurrency has increased transparency and trust in the transactions associated with affiliate programs.
- Enhanced Cybersecurity: Better and more sophisticated security measures are being adopted by iGaming operators to improve user safety and protect financial data within affiliate programs.
The Key Features of iGaming Solutions Driving Innovation
Now that you know the most influential trends shaping the iGaming affiliate marketing sphere, let’s look at some key features driving innovation for iGaming software providers.
Process Automation
Affiliate managers today look for tools that can automate some of the more repetitive and time-consuming parts of their affiliate marketing programs.
To address this pain point, robust affiliate marketing software are constantly innovating in this area, with new features. While some focus on automation that supplements their search for the right affiliates to promote their iGaming services, from a wide network, others offer customizable dashboards that can seamlessly manage multiple affiliate programs.
As a result, affiliate managers can free up valuable time and resources for other important tasks.
Better Data Security and Privacy Measures
Another area of innovation quickly becoming pivotal to iGaming affiliate programs is data security and privacy. iGaming affiliate marketing software solutions that offer sophisticated data privacy and security measures tend to outperform and gain more popularity than the ones that don’t.
Some of the key features offered include integrating AI-powered fraud detection tools, IP blocking, encryption, and multi-layered verification measures that enhance the experience of managing campaigns for iGaming affiliate managers.
Real-Time Tracking and Monitoring
One of the key challenges for iGaming affiliate managers and iGaming app developers is to track and monitor multiple affiliate campaigns in real-time.
The right iGaming affiliate software can help you track and monitor campaigns at a more granular level as they unfold, and unlock even more detailed insights that can inform your decisions on an immediate basis, and help you secure a good ROI.
Several iGaming software providers also offer the possibility of boosting functionality through integration with niche tools. By using these add-ons, operators and brands can further streamline and enhance output.
Why Choose an iGaming Software Provider for Your Business
Let’s look at some of the primary features and benefits you can enjoy by choosing the right affiliate marketing software:
1. Efficient Affiliate Management
Dealing with multiple affiliates in each campaign isn’t an easy job. A good iGaming affiliate marketing software should accomplish its core objective before anything else – facilitate affiliate marketing management.
You can see the contribution that each affiliate makes towards the success of your marketing campaign and manage their commission payments. A good software will help you manage multiple bids, and payment models so you can generate more ROI from your campaigns.
2. Fostering Profitable Affiliate Partnerships
Affiliate marketing software improves the quality of affiliate partnerships. Selecting the right affiliate marketing software ensures seamless integrations and is powered with features that help you strengthen and build long-term business relationships with affiliates.
By bringing more transparency into performance and earnings, you can enhance your relationship with your affiliates and motivate them to give their best.
3. Easy and Swift Invoices and Payment Processing
A robust iGaming affiliate marketing software should offer features that will help you streamline and manage your payments and invoices based on your chosen payment models. The iGaming affiliate marketing software will be able to track all the affiliates associated with your company in real-time and calculate the payouts to be issued to them based on it.
With all your data safely stored by the affiliate software, you can generate and process invoices swiftly. What’s more, you can make the process of managing and processing payments easier too.
Partnering with payments-related iGaming software providers will add an additional layer of ease in disbursing payments to global affiliates.
4. Accurate Calculation of ROAS and Affiliate Marketing Spend
Without an accurate budget for your campaigns, you will find yourself drowning in a sea of expenses and invoices without any means to distinguish the ones that have produced results for your business. But with an iGaming affiliate marketing software, you can control your ad spend and optimize your ROAS.
5. Identify Opportunities and Gaps in Your Affiliate Marketing Strategy
As your affiliate marketing strategy evolves you need ways to scale and generate more revenue. An affiliate marketing software analyzes data-related analytics to identify important opportunities to capitalize on and gaps to fill in your strategy.
6. Identify High-Value Affiliates
With affiliate marketing software, an affiliate manager and the iGaming platform developer can easily identify affiliates that bring the most value to you.
How Affnook Fits the Bill
Here’s why your search for an ideal affiliate marketing software stops at Affnook.
1. Campaign and Affiliate Management
For iGaming operators and affiliate managers targeting a global audience, Affnook can level up your affiliate marketing efforts since it accepts payments in 50+ currencies. You can also manage multiple iGaming affiliate programs and campaigns from a single dashboard and leverage collaboration features that will help you keep all the stakeholders on the same page.
You can also manage your affiliate programs seamlessly on Affnook and grow your partner network through the master referral program. Additionally, you can create unique tracking links for each partner and establish easy communication with partners and affiliates through automated emails and messages.
2. Detailed Analytics and Reports
With Affnook, you can enable omnichannel tracking for affiliate marketing campaigns, thus enabling smarter and more data-driven decisions. You can also leverage real-time reporting so that you can always be on top of your campaign performance.
Besides, Affnook offers a highly detailed and intuitive dashboard that can give you an overview of all your affiliate programs, and track customer journeys with the help of S2S postbacks.
Lastly, you can conduct a granular analysis with the help of advanced segmentation and filtering techniques to find data most relevant to your business goals.
3. Anti-Fraud Mechanisms
Affnook can help you get rid of fraud traffic by providing an anti-fraud tool. It will help you reject fraud traffic coming in from data centers, and even blacklist repeat offenders.
To add an extra layer of safety against fraud, you can choose to allow traffic only from known devices by customizing or white labeling your tracking links. What’s more? You can also block proxy traffic with the help of fraud shields that can be enabled for campaigns, affiliates or brands, as per requirement.
4. Compliance with the iGaming Regulations
iGaming is a heavily regulated sector that has to adhere to regulations from multiple regions depending on where you operate. While some countries prohibit iGaming entirely, some heavily regulate the sector and only allow certain types of games.
Affnook also adheres to the most stringent regulations of GDPR and CCPA ensuring the highest levels of data privacy and security for users.
5. Invoicing and Payout Management
One of the best features Affnook offers is the capability to calculate and manage affiliate commissions based on their performance. You can associate the most profitable and appropriate payout models to drive results out of your affiliates and designate proper variables.
You can also accept payments globally with support for multiple currencies and features that will help you manage campaigns with chargeback visibility.
Summing Up
As an iGaming affiliate manager, you need to wear multiple hats. This includes managing multiple campaigns, ensuring revenue growth, or maintaining relationships with affiliates. With suitable affiliate marketing software, you can automate these tasks and effectively monitor the campaign and affiliate performance.
Affnook is an iGaming affiliate marketing platform that effortlessly partners with you as you create and manage your affiliate programs. Equipped with granular insights, you can focus on improving your affiliate marketing program performance and generate more revenue.
Book a free demo to explore the myriad features Affnook has to offer and get started.
