Reports state that iGaming users will cross 290+ million by 2029. Currently, user penetration is 6.2% and will hit 7.7% before the end of this decade.
These figures highlight how competitive the iGaming industry is, and surviving in such a rapidly growing market is no easy feat.
You can’t afford to make instinct-based decisions—there’s no room for guesswork.
That’s where tracking the right performance indicators like GGR and NGR becomes crucial. These metrics can provide essential insights into your business performance and profitability, helping you make strategic decisions.
In this guide, we’ll break down what GGR and NGR mean, how to calculate GGR and NGR, insights on GGR vs. NGR, and state how these KPIs can shape your iGaming success.
What Is Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR)?
GGR full form is gross gaming revenue, which means the total amount of money players wager minus the winnings they take home. This metric highlights the revenue your platform is generating before any expenses, taxes, or fees are deducted.
Here’s how to calculate GGR –
Here’s a quick example reflecting how to calculate GGR-
If players wager $1 million on your platform and take home $800,000 in winnings, your GGR would be $200,000.
GGR calculation can help you understand the revenue you’re bringing in, reflecting the overall health of your iGaming business.
What Is Net Gaming Revenue (NGR)?
NGR full form is net gaming revenue, which refers to the total revenue that an iGaming operator keeps after deducting all gaming-related costs from gross gaming revenue.
These costs can include player bonuses, chargebacks, and operational expenses for running the platform.
NGR provides a clear view of your actual profit, reflecting what remains after all payouts and costs are accounted for.
Here’s how to calculate NGR –
Here’s a quick example of NGR calculation.
In this example, after deducting all relevant costs from the GGR of $300,000, the net gaming revenue (NGR) is $240,000.
This way, tracking NGR helps you understand your real business profit. Leveraging this data can help financial planning and growth.
Main Differences between GGR and NGR
Now that you’ve understood how to calculate GGR and NGR, let’s understand their key differences. Here’s a quick table reflecting GGR vs NGR.
The Importance of GGR and NGR in the iGaming Marketing Strategy
As mentioned, gross gaming revenue (GGR) shows the total money from player bets. It helps affiliate managers understand the initial revenue their efforts generate. On the other hand, NGR, meaning net gaming revenue, considers all costs, including bonuses, taxes, and fees, revealing how much profit is retained.
As an affiliate manager, monitoring these metrics can help you understand profitability.
Let’s understand this with a real-life use case –
If you notice that bonuses are eating up a massive chunk of your revenue, you could work on refining the bonus structure. Consider offering more targeted, lower-cost bonuses that can still engage players without draining the profit margins.
Similarly, if you observe high operational expenses, collaborate with the operator to streamline these costs or seek more cost-effective partnerships.
What’s more? Maximizing ROI can help you identify campaigns that yield the highest NGR.
For instance, if one campaign generates $300,000 GGR but only $50,000 NGR, and another brings in $200,000 GGR but has $100,000 NGR, the latter is the better performer despite lower overall revenue.
Leveraging such insights can help you prioritize marketing strategies and optimize your budget allocation.
Top Strategies for Increasing GGR in Affiliate Marketing
Here are a few crucial strategies that can help you increase GGR in affiliate marketing.
1. Target the Right Audience
This goes without saying – direct your efforts towards the right audience.
Leverage affiliate tracking tools to segment users based on demographics, betting habits, and iGaming preferences.
For instance, if your audience is made up of sports bettors, target them during major sporting events. This can improve audience engagement.
Furthermore, leverage data insights to identify high-value players and personalize your marketing campaigns to these segments. This can help optimize marketing spend and boost conversions.
2. Promote High-Converting Offers
Focus on offers that can convert.
Analyze past affiliate campaigns and identify offers with high conversion rates, such as exclusive deposit bonuses, free spins, or more.
Collaborate with your operators to customize these offers based on the target market’s preferences.
However, it’s not necessary what worked in the past would work today. That’s why you must be open to experimentation.
Run distinct offers and measure their impact to analyze what works best for your audience. This can help optimize promotional strategy and drive high GGR within no time.
3. Optimize Landing Pages
The landing pages can help convert visitors to active players, thus impacting GGR directly.
Ensure your affiliate landing pages provide an exemplary user experience. The pages should have fast load times, clutter-free design, clear brand messaging, and a compelling call-to-action (CTA).
Most importantly, ensure the design is mobile-friendly, as most iGaming traffic comes from mobile devices.
For instance, if you promote a new online casino, ensure the landing page loads within three seconds. It should feature an enticing welcome bonus, like a 100% match on the first deposit.
Besides, add CTA buttons like “Here’s Your Bonus” or “Join the Game.” Leverage A/B testing to understand what prompts drive conversions.
These tactics can increase quality traffic to your operator websites and boost GGR.
4. Implement Retargeting Campaigns
Don’t let the potential players slip away. Re-engaging them can increase conversions without much effort.
Here’s how to do it –
Set up retargeting ads for users who have visited your website or clicked on the affiliate links but didn’t convert.
Remind them of the offers they viewed or shoot new promotions.
Say a user showed interest in a casino game offer but didn’t complete the registration.
A follow-up ad featuring a customized bonus offer, such as “Do Your Registration and Get 20 Free Spins!” can bring them back.
Key Strategies for Maximizing NGR in Affiliate Marketing
Now that you know what NGR means and how to calculate it, let’s discuss the key strategies you can leverage to maximize NGR in affiliate marketing.
1. Focus on Quality Traffic
Quality traffic comprises a genuinely invested audience in iGaming services.
So, focus on attracting high-value players that are likely to engage long-term and generate higher lifetime value (LTV).
Leverage precise targeting. Identify users with a solid history of consistent gameplay or betting habits. This can lead to sustainable profits, which directly impacts your NGR.
2. Build Strong Relationships with Operators
Strong relationships with operators allow you to negotiate better commission rates.
Moreover, you can gain valuable insights into promotions that drive the best results.
So, ensure you maintain mutual trust and work in alignment with the operator’s goals. This can help create strategies that maximize NGR in the long term.
3. Optimize Player Retention
The math is pretty simple – the more loyal and engaged the player, the greater the NGR.
And old players contribute more consistently to revenue without the added acquisition cost.
So, build long-term engagement by promoting offers that encourage players to return to the platform. For instance, create loyalty programs or personalized bonuses for highly engaged players.
Similarly, incentivize high-value actions like re-deposits or increased wagering.
For instance, offer personalized bonuses like $40 for every five deposits. This encourages players to return and continue wagering, thereby ensuring revenue flow and NGR.
Leverage Affnook to Maximize GGR and NGR
Affnook is a robust iGaming affiliate software designed for affiliate managers and operators aiming to establish and optimize their affiliate programs. Leveraging its state-of-the-art features can help businesses of all sizes to monitor their performance metrics.
Here’s how our platform can contribute to increasing GGR and NGR –
1.Intuitive Reporting Dashboard: It provides a clear overview of your campaign’s key metrics. If you see a specific game is underperforming, adjust promotions or bonuses to drive more player activity. This helps optimize your campaigns for higher GGR and NGR.
2. Real-Time Reports: Our platform provides detailed real-time reports that can help you monitor campaign performance regularly. Leveraging the reports can help you make informed decisions.
3. Advanced Segmentation: This feature allows you to filter reports by GGR, NGR, and other metrics, pinpointing high-value players for targeted campaigns. For instance, you can segment players based on their spending habits and create tailored offers.
4. Fraud Detection Capabilities: Our iGaming affiliate software blocks fraudulent traffic and clicks. Leveraging fraud detection can help identify and minimize fraudulent sign-ups, ensuring NGR reflects true player engagement.
5. Customizable Payout Models: Affnook allows you to tailor commission structures. Leverage it to create flexible payouts aligned with GGR and NGR objectives. For instance, if an affiliate consistently brings high-value players, incentivize them to promote more actively. This can help increase GGR.
Connect with our team to learn more about Affnook and how it can help increase your GGR and NGR.
Summing Up
Tracking any random KPIs won’t help you achieve business goals.
Focus on key metrics like GGR and NGR that directly impact your bottom line. Understanding how to calculate GGR and NGR will help you determine the total revenue generated and provide insight into the actual profit retained after accounting for various costs.
This can help you make informed decisions that drive profitability and optimize your marketing strategies.
Implementing the strategies shared in this post can help you get started. Furthermore, our iGaming affiliate software, Affnook, can simplify your journey.
Its features provide a comprehensive view of your campaigns, thus allowing you to assess your strategies in detail. As a result, you can attract high-quality traffic that converts.
Learn how to create strategies that convert. Book your free demo now!
