To succeed in the global gaming business as an affiliate, you’ll need to value tight working relationships with your affiliate managers. Knowing how to work effectively with gaming operators can open doors in the business and even land you a gaming consulting gig.
Here are some tips worth thinking about for getting the most out of your affiliate-operator relationship:
Be On the Ball
The gaming market requires organized affiliates who can relay timely information to their players and coordinate an editorial schedule designed to keep readers coming back. When it comes to running an affiliate site, content is king. Affiliate managers can be a huge asset to helping affiliates maintain their relevancy within the industry.
However, operators are reluctant to waste their time working with someone who doesn’t clearly demonstrate to be on the ball. No one likes to waste time and affiliate managers are no different. They prefer to work with eager, responsive affiliates who will engage in conversations about how to create conversions for the betterment of both parties.
In short, prioritize your affiliate business and gain a reputation among operators as someone who is truly there for them.
Always Accommodating
Gaming and hospitality go hand in hand. A crucial mistake made by inexperienced affiliates is to mistake the remote working nature of the affiliate business as a hall pass to be sloppy and unaccommodating with operators.
While there is a leisurely aspect to the business, professionalism is still important. Additionally, it’s important to remember that the faceless affiliates managers you’re corresponding with are people too. They have goals and objectives of their own. The affiliate-operator relationship needs to remain on quid pro quo terms wherein each party is seeking to accommodate the other’s operation.
The global gaming business can be great if you treat it as just that – a business. While some enter the field due to its lure as a potential way to make money quickly, the real iGaming success stories come from players who grow their operation slowly and methodically. Treat operators with the respect they deserve.
High-Stakes Honesty
Honesty is important in any form of business, but especially so in the gaming market. This is due to the fragmented nature of the business. Affiliate manager turnover rates are high. There’s no serious vetting process required to become an affiliate. And unfortunately, shady operations do exist.
For these reasons, the ability to be honest about your affiliate operation and capabilities is crucial to healthy relations with operators. Gaming operators require realistic depictions of your traffic levels and value as an affiliate.
Grossly overestimating your expected value to their outfit in order to receive a preferred affiliate payment option is an anti-cooperative tactic that worsens the industry for everyone involved. Stay honest and trustworthy and eventually you’ll earn those preferential commission deals.