1. Set realistic goals and expectations

The first thing we would suggest when getting into affiliate marketing is to set realistic goals and expectations.

This article talks about that in more detail as so many times – affiliates simply go way overboard in thinking they will be profitable in their second or third month when in reality it can take way more than that.

First off – affiliates who are going into either gaming or forex need to realize that to make a profit or even a revenue they need to set up a good deal for themselves. However, in both casinos and forex – these deals will not be given without proof of traffic in both volume and value.

Simply put – affiliates need to work hard like in any other industry to provide a value add that an affiliate manager will look at and approve a deal that will bring in a profit, especially in two high-risk verticals like forex and casino. For the purpose of this article to be clearer, we will break down each one separately.

2. Create a plan

Two of the most popular online gambling methods Forex and Casino are good to have an understanding of as part of your marketing plan.

Forex – Most of the time, forex brokers will offer you a CPA deal and the CPA is usually broken down according to geography based on the tier level, which are usually tier 1 tier 2 and tier 3 with tier 1 being Western Europe, Canada and Australia.

A good solid regulated broker will probably be willing to offer around $700 to $80 CPA with some spread requirement and a minimum deposit of around $250. This is assuming that you are bringing traffic already and can prove it with a ranked website, some previous stats and any other proof you can provide.

Casino – with Casino being the highest value vertical among the gambling verticals, we will use this one as the best example to go with as this is also the most in demand.

Unlike Forex, casino traffic tends to require a $20 or $50 min deposit. That, in turn, means that most of the time – a revenue share is where you’ll begin if you have no traffic. Usually by default – most casino brands offer around 25 or 30% revenue share. One thing to keep in mind is that you need to read the terms and conditions and ask specific questions as to how exactly this 30% is calculated.

If the casino is reputable and pays decent, they will outline to you exactly how their net gaming is calculated and the admin fee and additional reductions should either be non-existent or minimal.

Another thing to keep in mind is – many brands do realistically shave your traffic. Shaving is a term that is unfortunately used too often where casinos purposely remove major players from the list of players you send resulting in your overall earnings being lower than they should be. Unfortunately – most of the time there is no way to prove this and most affiliates go along with it.

3. Be realistic about timeframes

Another important point about managing expectations is – the time spent getting to your first conversions is the most difficult point and you will have a lot of false starts and stops.

So many times – you see affiliates setting a launch date for their ‘new’ site which they almost treat like a shiny new toy where they expect to start seeing things move on September 1st for example, but with so many challenges along the way – that is likely to be delayed usually at least by two weeks to as much as several months. Unfortunately – both forex and gambling do have a lot of regulations involved which are constantly being added and there is not always a way to predict that.

As a result – many affiliates simply have no choice but to delay their launch date which avoids the risk of being fined or shut down by doing something that is no longer allowed.

One example of this is Ontario. Ontario, being a major province in Canada – decided to pass a law on April 4th, 2022 making it legal to advertise gambling online. However, with that law now passed, it also must comply with the rules of the AGCO. That means therefore that anyone who sends traffic to Canada previously and wants to start promoting their site in the province of Ontario has to either completely separate their site between Ontario and to rest of Canada, as well as follow very strict guidelines provided by the AGCO that includes – no mention of bonuses, and provisions that warn players about the dangers of gambling addiction.

If you have a plan to become an affiliate in either forex or gambling at a high level – a strong recommendation is to look at getting a lawyer who has experience in the gaming world. Otherwise – you may find yourself falling into a lot of pitfalls that result in fines, account shutdowns, and much more.

Conclusion

Overall – knowing the challenges and managing the expectations of your results is a very important part and hopefully something you take seriously so you can maximize your earnings and do so over a long period of time for as long as you want.

We are happy to help guide you through this and each step of the process – feel free to schedule a call with us at a time to suit you or drop us a message if you have any questions.