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Affiliate Marketing is a bit of a buzz phrase amongst people aiming to launch a new product or service or build sales for existing lines. While it can be a great way to partner with a business, some see it as some kind of shortcut. It can mean different things to different people, so we sat down with William Macmaster from Casino.org to talk to him about the subject.
McMaster is an Associate Gaming Expert who knows his way around online casinos and affiliate marketing programs.
The first question we had to ask him, just to be sure, was,
So, what exactly is affiliate marketing?
William explains as follows,
“Affiliate marketing is essentially about getting someone else to promote your product. In return, they earn a commission. In theory, the affiliate or influencer searches out products and services they enjoy and promotes them on their website or social media page to earn a profit every time a customer clicks through or uses their reference code to the third party’s site. The sales are tracked via affiliate links between the websites”.
“It is a great way to drive sales, and both parties should benefit from the relationship with significant sales revenue. This is particularly true if the person making the recommendation has a good, loyal follower base and is a trusted social media influencer. It can be incredibly beneficial to the affiliate marketers and the brand. While it is a less traditional marketing technique, it still fits within the legendary Four Ps of marketing theory. ”
Wait a minute, what are the Four Ps?
“The marketing mix Is also known as the four Ps of product, price, place and promotion. The theory was first introduced in the 1950s and has been the mantra of marketers ever since. The Four Ps have expanded in recent years and now also include people, process and physical evidence. The marketing mix provides a company with a framework to successfully bring a service or market a product to consumers. Affiliate marketing combines elements of this mix to create a new way of doing things. It is promoting the product at the right price in a new place to the right people through an affiliate process. The physical evidence is the click-through and sale”.
So, it’s new, but is affiliate marketing big business?
Macmaster, who is an affiliate marketing specialist in the world of online casino games, explains,
“This new push towards less traditional ways of doing things has certainly paid off. In the US alone, spending on affiliate marketing increased from $5.4 billion in 2017 to $8.2 billion in 2022.”
Who benefits?
“Well, clearly, the influencer promoting the service and the service provider are quids (or dollars) in. However, customers need to be aware that some unscrupulous affiliates might be tempted to promote a less-than-good service in return for an attractive commission. It is no different from any other age-old sales technique; if someone is paid to push a certain product, they might be tempted to make recommendations that benefit themselves rather than their followers.”
How should online customers avoid being taken for a ride?
“My experience is in online slots and casino gambling, but the principle is the same”, says William Macmaster
“The key thing is to check out who is recommending a particular site or game. You need to be able to trust the affiliate and be sure they are not just some random person who is not interested in your best interests at all. Sadly, plenty of so-called affiliates make recommendations simply based on where they can earn the biggest commission. Effectively, they lure in followers by pretending to be independent or expert, when they are nothing of the sort.”
“Because online casinos and slots can be lucrative, some affiliates making recommendations are not even into gambling; they just want to make money for themselves. An unscrupulous affiliate can basically turn their followers into their very own cash machine and gamble on them making all the money without actually making any effort at all.”
Why is Casino.org different?
“Casino.org has been around since 1995, and we have a very different business model. Our experts are genuinely independent of any of the online casinos or game developers. The reviewers love to play on the slots and other casino games and make recommendations based on genuine experience.”
“However, it is not just whim-based. Every reviewer goes through a 25-step review process that has been perfected over 20 years to ensure consistent recommendations. The evaluation process takes a 360 look at everything on offer. In addition, the reviewers never just take the casinos’ word for it. They test out every process element, play the games and then reach their conclusions. They are not swayed by an extra-tempting commission payment”.
How do you know who to trust?
“Casino.org guarantees that every review on their site is backed by data-driven research coupled with the reviewers’ expert knowledge. We present customers with up-to-date, honest and independent news. If a casino does not come up to muster, we call them out and actually have a “sites to avoid” section. We believe this is an essential element of demonstrating to our customers that they can trust us to make meaningful and honest recommendations”.
“If we give somewhere 5 out of 5, it is because it is exceptional for the player. Just having a great game selection is not enough. Every site has to be checked for legality, licensing, customer service, security, payment options and software suppliers. Players who want to have fun on online slots also need to understand how volatile a game is and the return to player payout percentages” says William Macmaster
“We also check out how quickly a customer can expect to receive their winnings and look at what bonuses are on offer. We check out the small print so that our readers do not get any nasty surprises”.
What makes for good affiliate marketing?
Macmaster claims,
“A good affiliate marketing company always has the customers’ best interests at heart. Great online casinos understand that they need to develop long-term relationships with their customers. The same is true of affiliate and influence marketing. No one will return if they do not feel they are being treated fairly.”
