We recently spoke with Sydney Ifergan, a successful binary options affiliate and SEO consultant on the top ways to convert casino players to binary options traders and why the binary business is about to boom.
Tell us about how you landed in iGaming. What led you to this business?
Back in 2002, I was working as a systems admin at 888.com. I did not even know what affiliates or affiliate marketing was until some of colleagues asked if I knew what affiliates were. I could not answer them so I went onto Google and did some research. After a few minutes or reading, I was hooked and realized that this is a great way to make money. That night I went home and bought my first domain and started building a site. SEO was still pretty easy back then and within a few short weeks my site was ranking and I was bringing in my first players. As they say, “The rest is history.”
You’re currently working in binary options. Can you talk a bit about that niche, its opportunities and its challenges?
Binary Options is becoming another industry giant such, much like gambling and forex. About two years ago, one of the only traffic sources you could send to binary option sites was purely “make money” traffic. As the binary industry is evolving and developing and people are becoming more educated, the demand and search volume is growing exponentially.
For casino affiliates looking to expanding into binary options, what sort of tips can you recommend for converting casino players into options traders?
Casino traffic isn’t that different from binary options. In both instances, these are people who are prepared to take risks in order to make a profit. What is working really well are video mails that explain how to trade and most importantly how to profit from binary options. As with any online marketing quality landing and squeeze pages make all the difference.
Based on your experience, what types of traffic produces the best quality binary options traders?
There are various types of traffic that convert, but the two main ones that everyone is looking at, is “make money” and “trading.” The “make money” traffic is typically much larger volumes and easier converting however the values are lower, so bear this in mind even if you on a CPA, because medium to long term you will end up getting much lower CPA’s from the network. Nobody wants cheap, low value customers. On the other end of the scale is the “trading” traffic and this is much lower volume but much higher values. If you looking to build a long term, sustainable, rev-share business then I would recommend this route.
In your professional opinion, which operators are the best at retaining their binary options traders and maximizing lifetime values and why?
There are plenty of good operators out there and often it depends on where your traffic is from who will convert and retain it the best. I work with just a handful of operators as it also gives me bargaining power on my CPA’s and rev-share deals by driving more traffic to less brands.
iOption is doing pretty great so far with my traffic especially on the English/Arabic/Spanish and French. 24option is great and have a powerful sales team.
Whoever you choose to work with, do a little homework and see that they are here for the long run.
What types of promotions do binary options traders react best to?
It all depends on where you want to focus but “make money,” “get a bonus,” “generate extra revenue,” “work from home” all work but as I said if you want quality, high value traders then stick to the “trading” terms.
As an affiliate, how can I rank the retention efforts of the operators I send traffic to?
First try focus your attention on who converts better through their sales team. Binary works different to gambling in that the binary operators have outbound call centers with sales people who follow up each and every lead. I get on average about a 25% conversion.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever tested that’s worked?
I’ve told my mum about affiliation, and I succeeded in turning my retired mum into a successful gambling affiliate.
What is your advice to an affiliate looking to enter the binary options niche today?
Take your time looking around and learn about binary options. Most of the affiliates know that to create a website doesn’t take more than 10 minutes, but a converting site takes time, testing and perseverance.
The key difference between a gambler and a binary option trader is that binary traders read content and follow advice so making sure your content is relevant and useful is extra important.
Where do you see the binary options niche in the next 5 years?
The market will mature and as regulation comes into place there will be huge opportunities and massive markets to target. I’m pretty sure that in 5 years from now binary will be one of the big players.
About Sydney Ifergan
Sydney Ifergan has been part of the casino and binary option affiliate game for close to 10 years, operating his own network of affiliate websites reaching out to hundreds of thousands of clients and traders per year. Sydney also is a leading consultant in the industry, helping build brands and traffic. He has launched numerous projects and developed specialized funnels and processes to increase traffic and conversion numbers. Sydney in his spare time, plays with electronic and computer devices which he eventually fits into his websites or uses to enhance traffic. Sydney offers lectures, classes and support information for affiliates to develop and grow their business. Sydney is a true leader in the affiliate game.