The betting vertical in affiliate marketing is one of the most profitable verticals. During the Сovid-19, the niche started to decline, but luckily for the dedicated webmasters of this vertical, in 2022, big sport has picked up again, which means that the punters are back. In this article, let’s understand what’s happening with the sports betting market, how bettors make money from betting, how to drive traffic and increase their income by working with the event vertical.
Statista’s data states that the sports betting market is growing at $218 billion a year. That, in turn, is an impressive jump for any vertical.
Looking at the latest statistics, Polaris research shows that by 2030, the total revenue of the betting market will grow to $178 billion, making it a particularly interesting vertical for any webmaster.
Don’t forget to check the sports calendar
It is important not to forget that betting is an event-driven activity. Unlike online casinos, betting activity fluctuates due to seasonal changes, with the most activity occurring during major sporting events, such as soccer/hockey/boxing world championships. To optimize results, affiliates need to be aware of the sports calendar.
Making money on betting
After the law on regulating betting shops was signed in 2020, the number of domestic offers decreased a lot. Many people started trying different GEOs. This doesn’t mean that everyone went to Tier-1 countries (although the conversion rate there is good, but the traffic is very expensive), it means that you should pay attention to what is “under the side” – the same Belarus. In any case, bets will always be relevant.
Beginners in betting should start with Tier-3,4 – you will gain experience and save part of your budget. More about GEO: in case of a major sporting event, look at the schedule in advance and prepare several products for yourself at once.
Offers in betting are bookmakers, and the affiliate needs to attract the attention of players to the event and bet. This is what he gets paid for.
A webmaster can earn from betting on the following payment models:
- CPA – pay per targeted action. In the betting vertical, the target action is usually understood as registration and first deposit. This model is great for those who want to make a quick buck and pour a lot of traffic. There are also “in-app” offers where payment is made for installing the application (CPI);
- Revenue Share – revenue sharing with the bookmaker, i.e. the bookmaker will share with the affiliate the profit from the player brought in. On Revshare, usually the brought players are fixed for the whole time of cooperation of the webmaster with the affiliate. The interest rate is calculated according to the formula. This model should be chosen if you plan to pour on betting in the long term;
- Hybrid (CPA+Revshare) – CPA pays for the first deposit or registration, and Revshare shares the rest of the income. Most often, the rates in the hybrid model are slightly lower than in the others;
- CPL – a fixed fee for registration on the site.
How can a webmaster increase his income?
The topic of increasing conversions and, of course, income will always be relevant in any vertical. Therefore, let’s understand what to pay attention to in order to increase earnings in betting.
First of all, it’s worth testing and using different traffic sources. As everyone knows, Facebook* was for quite a long time the leader among the sources of traffic to drain on betting. After it was blocked – you can’t survive without a whole package of spare accounts, especially for beginners. The social network “VKontakte” does not allow you to run BC ads without cloaking (by the way, we have an article about cloaking). In social networks you can pour in not only through targeted advertising, but also, for example, through native advertising from bloggers/influencers, but here, of course, who will agree to take risks. Among other sources of traffic:
- Contextual advertising (not easy, advertising of some BC is prohibited. It is important on the creo to indicate the license and the prohibition of betting to persons under 18 years of age);
- YouTube advertising (create a channel yourself or buy advertising from a blogger with a suitable target audience);
- Scheme traffic (communities with “schemes to beat bookmakers”);
- Push and Pop traffic (advertisements that are placed on websites and redirect users to the page with the offerer when they click on the advertisement).
The leaders in 2023 are Telegram, Instagram*, Twitch and Tik Tok. Twitch is a streaming service that affiliates have long looked out for betting advertising. Streamers often have different integrations of bookmakers.
In Tik Tok most often pour through native advertising in videos and messages in chat rooms. For note – direct screenshots of bets calculate the algorithms of the platform and ban the account or video, be careful.
Tik Tok’s audience matches the target audience of bookmakers:
Second, optimize your affiliate blog, if you have one. If betting traffic is coming from your website, don’t treat it as a one-time promotion. Optimized websites can bring traffic for a very long time. Especially in the betting and gambling verticals.
Third, creatives. High-profile names and photos of famous people attract a wide audience. This approach is especially cool during the playoffs, as celebrities meet each other. As with any advertising campaign – the more creatives you test, the better.
This also includes emotionality, because any excitement – emotions and adrenaline. This is what the user expects from the bet on the event. Creatives should use tense moments, goals, victories, joy, everything that would cause emotions and hooked. Video creatives that are built on such emotionality have high ROIs, especially in sporting events.
The time frame will also provide good ROI for affiliates. You can play on the fact that guessing a bet is easy, but the match starts in a couple of hours/days and the user may not have time. There is no time to make a decision and a person gives in to his emotions and excitement, and the lead is practically in your pocket.
In creatives you can press on the user’s self-esteem: “Make a bet and win can only you”, “you know how to win, so the victory is already yours”.
Fourthly, interface testing. Do not forget that most Internet users sit from mobile devices. Not optimizing your site or ads for mobile versions is a gross mistake, which will cause an incredible loss of traffic and your budget, respectively.
Fifth, mention bonuses on your ads. Mark relevant bonuses on your creatives, texts, or landing pages. Most importantly, make sure they are still relevant to the platform you are promoting. Bonuses should not mislead users or give them empty promises.
Conclusion
The prospects of the niche are very high. Betting is a vertical that is growing every year and does not lose its ability to generate good income for webmasters.
The LTV (life cycle) of betting customers is quite high – many players have been betting at the same betting shop for years. Thus, bringing a few dozen stable players, affiliates can reach passive income, and earn normal money from them.
It is important to competently choose the source of traffic and approach in the drain of traffic to betting – this is halfway to success. Do not hesitate to ask managers of affiliate brokers to consult. You can come up with hundreds of non-standard, converting bundles that will bring huge profits, it’s all a matter of practice. We wish you success and high ROI! Especially for affiliates in the betting vertical CPA#1 is preparing a calendar of sporting events for 2024, follow the updates on the blog and our social networks!
*Related to Meta and banned in the Russian Federation.
