In the iGaming industry or in any mobile app that requires the registered users to make a deposit, First Time Deposit or FTD is an important metric. FTD in iGaming is similar to the first time deposits in any gaming or financial brokerage service application. However, the significance of FTD in iGaming holds even greater weight due to one, the competitive nature of the industry and two, because the payout models of affiliates in iGaming affiliate marketing platform relies on iGaming FTD as one of the commission models.
If you’re new in the industry or want to understand iGaming FTD better, this glossary will help you break down the definition, importance, and calculation of First Time Deposit better. Let’s dive straight into it.
Definition of FTD (First Time Deposit in iGaming)
FTD in iGaming or First Time Deposit in iGaming is the initial deposit of money by an onboarded player as they make their account on the iGaming platform. The money is used to wager or bet on the platform on the real money games like casinos, betting, fantasy sports, etc. The FTD marks a critical step in an iGaming user journey as it is the measure of real success of user acquisition in any iGaming marketing campaign. A player might create an account but never make a deposit, which is a missed conversion.
An FTD in iGaming also marks the first step of converting a free user into a paying customer. This is the reason why most of the iGaming affiliate managers prefer the FTD-based commission model instead of registration-based.
Why Is FTD Important for iGaming Brands and Operators?
FTD in iGaming is an important metric for brands and operators due to many reasons, ranging from conversion point to setting benchmark for affiliate commissions. Let’s break it down one by one.
- Conversion Point: For the iGaming industry, a real conversion point is when a user marks a transition from being a free user to a paying customer. This initial deposit also signifies the player’s actual user journey starting on an online casino or betting platform and revenue generation for the brand. FTD is also a crucial step in the iGaming user acquisition funnel, which translates to acquiring more paying customers for sustainable growth.
- Customer Loyalty: According to the statistics, players who have made First Time Deposit are more likely to become loyal, regular, and high-value customers in the long run. Also, the players who have a smaller window between their onboarding and FTD are more likely to turn into high LTV customers with a longer engagement period with the platform.
- FTD As Commission Parameter for Affiliates: iGaming brands and operators who invest in affiliate marketing for user acquisition pay their affiliates on the basis of FTDs made by the players brought through them. This is done to ensure that the affiliate marketing budget of iGaming businesses aren’t being drained on vanity metrics like registration and secondly, to measure KPIs that are bringing monetary value to the business. Commission based on FTD instead of registrations encourage affiliates to target players that are more likely to make monetary transactions on the iGaming platform. It also reduces the likelihood of fraud committed by partners and sub-affiliates by getting dummy users to register on the platform.
How to Calculate iGaming FTD?
There are two ways to calculate your iGaming FTD – one is to manually calculate them using the data points like total number of players registered and total deposit. However, this is not the suggested and accurate way to calculate your player’s FTD or total FTDs received by your iGaming platform.
The ideal way to keep a track of your iGaming FTD is to subscribe to an iGaming affiliate marketing platform like Affnook. The platform automatically generates reports of the players onboarded, how many and which among them have made an FTD on your platform. Using Affnook, you can also calculate which campaign or affiliate is bringing the highest number of FTDs to optimize your user acquisition strategy.
Optimizing FTD First Time Deposit in iGaming
To ensure a sustainable iGaming business, it’s important to keep an eye on FTDs/registered users ratio. This lets you oversee if your affiliate marketing campaigns are bringing paying customers or not. Also, in iGaming affiliate marketing, it is important to optimize FTD conversion rates to make sure that you’re not wasting your budget on metrics that don’t matter. Here’s a brief overview of FTD Conversion Optimization Strategies you can adopt in your iGaming marketing strategy:
- Lucrative FTD Bonus Structures: One reason behind a registered user not making an FTD on your platform is the friction in the payment method. Another major reason is the lack of value in your offer. To give a gentle nudge to your registered users into becoming paying customers, introduce joining bonuses like match bonuses, free spins, cashback on 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and so on transactions, etc. This will incentivize your customers to take the next step. Carefully space the bonuses throughout the deposits, not just limited to FTDs to increase a user’s LTV.
- Targeted Affiliate Marketing Campaigns: If you’ve been into iGaming affiliate marketing, you’d know that certain demographics or geographies bring more value to your business than others. Therefore, carefully segment your campaigns into geographies, demographics and interests and personalize your verbiage as per their preferences to ensure maximum conversion.
- Streamline Deposit Process: Ensure that there’s no friction or exhausting steps in making FTDs on your platform. Offer multiple payment options that include legacy options as well cryptocurrencies to pique the interest of both traditional and contemporary kind of gamblers.
- Tier Your Commission Models: Not every FTD should be rewarded in the same manner. Tier your commission models on the size of FTD to ensure that affiliates bringing higher value to your business don’t go unnoticed and unrewarded. For example, if you set an affiliate commission of $20 on every FTD, an affiliate bringing $100 of FTD will earn $20 and so will an affiliate bringing $200 FTD. It will demotivate the higher FTD affiliates and strain your relationship with them.
If you’re seeking to optimize, improve, and scale your iGaming affiliate marketing strategies, you’re at the right place. Sign up for our newsletter or follow our blog to navigate the iGaming maze with better insights in your arsenal so that you’re prepared for the dynamicity of the industry.
