Pay Per Lead Affiliate Programs for the iGaming Crowd

Most affiliates take a strategic approach of referring players to online casinos in exchange for a CPA or revenue share payment, but did you know there are pay per lead affiliate programs as well? Affiliate profits from a lead might not be as large as they are for an actual conversion, but generating leads is often an easier process to achieve than generating conversions. Here’s what the iGaming crowd should know about pay per lead affiliate programs:
Alternate Payment Options
Since most iGaming commissions are cost-per-acquisition (CPA) or revenue share, thought isn’t often given to other affiliate payment models. But cost-per-lead (CPL) or pay per lead affiliate program options are an alternative way for affiliates to generate revenue for their business.
Other examples of infrequently used affiliate payment models in the iGaming industry include: cost-per-click (CPC) and slot advertising or “slotting” which works by selling predetermined advertising exposure on your website similar to how TV ads work.
Becoming a Pay Per Lead Affiliate
Interested in giving pay per lead affiliate marketing a try in the iGaming business? Well, get ready to get your hands dirty negotiating your own compensation models!
It’s important to note that virtually every iGaming affiliate program offers affiliates only two payment options: CPA and rev share. So affiliates hoping to land a pay per lead marketing deal will need to get creative. Contact affiliate managers at the program(s) you hope to work with to gauge the possibility that they will work with you to establish a CPL payment option. Hint: they’ll be more likely to work with you to meet this objective if you have impressive traffic levels to show off!
In the early days of casino affiliate marketing, online casinos were more likely to offer cost-per-lead payment models. Check out this antique CAP thread from 2005 where Casino Coins, a now defunct affiliate program, was offering a $3.00 CPL for casino leads. Apparently that offer wasn’t too enticing to affiliates; no one responded to the Casino Coins representative who created that thread!
Forex Focus
If you’re looking for a pay per lead affiliate program, consider becoming a casino affiliate turned forex affiliate. Currency exchange programs are typically more likely to offer a cost per lead incentive. Forex marketing offers a chance to diversify your target audience base as well as the commission model set-up for your business.
Risk vs. Reward
When diversifying your affiliate business by negotiating a CPL payment model, there are a few things you should brace yourself for. Most importantly, CPL deals will simply result in less money per player on average than a CPA or revenue share deal. A casino that offers a $100 CPA might only offer a $10 CPL. After all, you’re not providing them with a depositing player but merely personal information of a player who could turn into a real-money player for them.
The strength of your CPL deal will depend on the strength of your lead acquisition channel. Be prepared for online casinos to be reluctant to pay for more than just a few dozen of your leads initially. Since there are no guarantees of leads turning into conversions, they will want to test the value of the leads they are getting from you by only paying for a few dozen at a time.
However, if your leads are resulting in conversions for their marketing staff, you can expect they’ll come calling for more. It’s a simple ROI problem from their perspective so strong leads can result in strong profits from a pay per lead affiliate program.