What does it take to run a successful affiliate marketing program? To find out, we took a close look at Bet365, one of the top ranked programs on our affiliate program guide.
Along with the high rating, they’ve also racked up a pile of positive reviews from affiliate partners.That’s a bunch who aren’t a group known for holding back in Internet forums.
Here’s what we found about how Bet 365 keeps their affiliate partners happy over the long haul.
The Basics
On its face, there’s really not a lot that sets Bet 365 apart from their many competitors in the iGaming space. The core brands Casino at bet365, Poker at bet365, Sports at bet365, Bingo at bet365, Games at bet 365, bet 365. Between these six sites, they cover everything from cricket to scratch cards.
When it comes to dollars and cents, Bet365 keeps things pretty simple. They offer partners a straight 30% revenue share for the life of the customer, no strings attached or other gimmicks.
On the business end of things, Bet365 operates on a pretty massive scale with a 7 million player base. They employ more than employees and £501 million in revenues. Online betting is believed to account for around £97 million of that.
The company is run by Denise Coates, who built the business from the ground up and is considered one of the UK’s top entrepreneurs.
Despite bet365’s massive scale, they’ve still managed to retain a personal touch with their affiliate partners.
bet365’s Personal/Professional Touch
As front line company representatives, affiliate managers have tough gig. Thaey have to strike a balance between what’s right for their company and what’s right for their affiliate partners.
Doing the job correctly involves blending straight professionalism and a delicate, personal touch to some challenging situations. Judging by the reviews left by CAP readers, that’s one skill the affiliate mangers at bet365 have mastered.
This post from a reader called JonnyBennet is pretty typical of what affiliate partners had to say about the bet365 crew:
The Affiliate Management (Gavin) is first rate and unlike some other operators, bet365 will always listen to any concerns or promotional ideas you have in order to optimize each campaign and maximise the ROI for both parties.
landers85 adds:
The Affiliate management team is a joy to work with and Adam Webber has made us feel very comfortable, with no hesitation in helping us build our promotions and increase our portfolio of signups at bet365.
Treating partners like people is definitely a plus, but that’s not all they do. Bet365 is also praised for marketing tools, banner advertising and cutting edge gaming products that help with player conversions.
Affiliate Support and Gaming Products
Another theme that comes up over and over when affiliate partners discuss bet365 is that they give affiliates the tools they need to succeed.
AccessPicks especially likes the fact that players can log in once and play across all the bet365 brands:
I like the fact that I can chose to promote either online poker, cross market casino, sports betting, financial betting, and bingo with their amazing one wallet login system…I also see that Bet365 tries very hard to launch innovative new products that help to keep players coming back such as live casino dealers throughout Europe and Asia…
Making their affiliate back end, and statistics, transparent and easy-to-use goes a long way towards building goodwill with the affiliates who use them.
It’s something BetPreviews felt pretty strongly about:
We’ve signed up to a few different programs but 365 are the best in terms of having creative for every sport, live feeds and reporting software. We met Nigel and some of the guys in Dublin, was really impressed by them. Very forward thinking, creative and very responsive.
No matter how much fun you wind up having in the affiliate business, it’s still a business and getting paid matters. This is another subject that posters were in agreement about, including FreeBetOffers:
Bet365’s payments are always made within a few days of us submitting an invoice and not once have we had to chase a missing payment.
Bet365 actually treats their affiliate partners like partners and seems to realize the mutual benefit of their success. It’s a novel approach in an industry where the bottom line tends to trump everything else.
What kind of experiences have you had with bet365? Tell us about them in the comments section below this article.