iNTERGAMINGi talked to affiliate program Affiliate Republik about the state of the ever-changing – but seemingly always growing – affiliates sector.
iNTERGAMINGi: What trends are you seeing in the affiliates sector?
AR: In short, the rise of super affiliates. Content marketing is also now growing bigger over traditional SEO and we are also seeing more diversification.
A lot of affiliates were hit by the [recent] Google updates and have been rebuilding their traffic since January. Affiliates are making the most of their mobile traffic and some niche operations are even targeting mobile only.
Most affiliates seem to have their hands in several gaming verticals rather than just the one topic that they “love”. We also think that affiliates are either going big, e.g. 800 casino reviews, worldwide, or niche – the top 10 casinos in Sweden, say. Despite naysayers, some of our most successful campaigns have been with email - especially with opt-in communities (rather than spam). Email is not dead, it just has to be done right.
As a small legion of larger affiliates apparently increases its hold on the market, are super affiliates the future?
Super affiliates have been the past, the present and the future. The main difference now is that these super affiliates are becoming brands within their own rights, to rival their casino partners. That means the casino operators need to set their egos to one side and entertain the notion that, if casinos want access to that community, they will need to pitch in and treat these affiliates as partners. Regard them on a 50/50-basis rather than as just another media channel.
Read the full article in issue 3 of iNTERGAMINGi.
