Betting is one of the most lucrative verticals in affiliate marketing, where affiliates promote offers from bookmakers. There will always be gamblers who place bets on sporting events, and bookmakers will continue to seek new audiences.
We are confident that betting vertical in media buying is a direction that will remain relevant no matter what, and you can certainly make money from it. If you want to learn how to drive traffic to betting, where to find offers and new players, and what challenges and opportunities await you in this vertical – we’ve got a complete review for you.
What is betting in affiliate marketing?
Earning on betting has been thriving for a long time and brings good income to all market participants. By the way, people started to make the first bets on sports back in the 17th century.
Now it is difficult to say where the betting theme originated – in England or France, but until the 2000s, only betting on horse races was popular. Then, bookmakers began to appear in European countries, and betting became regulated by legislation. Now, players bet online, bookmakers actively attract desktop and mobile betting traffic with the help of affiliate marketing, and affiliates earn good money on it. By the way, online betting is not limited to just sporting events – you can make money on any competition, including presidential elections.
This is what landing pages for popular betting affiliate networks look like:
Most often financial bets are placed on the results of the Olympics and events in the world of basketball, soccer, tennis, hockey, boxing and other sports. The betting vertical also includes betting on cyber sports – these are single and team competitions on computer games and video games. A huge advantage of this direction – thanks to streaming (Twitch, YouTube, etc.), you can play and watch the game anywhere in the world.
Payment models in betting media buying
Earnings on betting are formed by such payment models:
- CPL – the webmaster receives remuneration for SOI or DOI-registration of a user. This model doesn’t guarantee a deposit, so offers with payment for registration are uncommon.
- CPS is a pricing model, according to which payments are accrued for the first deposit of the referred player. This is a popular payment model in betting vertical, convenient for the advertiser and the affiliate.
- CPI is a relevant payment format for those offers where the target action is the installation of the app. Sometimes installation is not enough for an advertiser – a lead is counted only after the first launch of the app. This is an important nuance that should be clarified in the KPI of the offerer before driving betting traffic.
- Revenue Share is another common payment model, where the webmaster receives a commission not only for the first deposit of a new player, but also for all his subsequent deposits. For a webmaster, this is an opportunity to earn passive income over the long term.
Hybrid pricing models allow webmasters to receive commissions for:
- registration and first deposit (CPL+CPS);
- registration and the amount lost by the user for the whole time (CPL+RevShare);
- registration, first account replenishment and all subsequent ones (CPL+CPS+RevShare).
At first glance, the hybrid form of payment is the most favorable. But note that in this case, the average rate for each model will be significantly lower.
During the campaign, the payout terms for a betting offer may be revised by the advertiser or affiliate network. For example, a webmaster brings large volumes of traffic, but users do not make a deposit, but only register. In such a case, the CPA network may change the CPL model (for example, to revshare) and share the potential risks with the webmaster.
Gambling and betting – how betting differs from gambling
For a long time, betting was perceived as a subvertical of gambling, and today many people consider sports betting and online casinos to be one destination. The key to success from online betting is directly related to excitement and the thirst for easy money.
This is also the basis for making money from online casinos. Similar pricing models and promotional methods also contribute to the perception of betting and gambling as a single direction.
There are actually many more factors by which gambling and betting can be differentiated.
- Betting offers concern sports, cybersports and near-sports events, in particular expert predictions, while gambling is exclusively related to betting in online casinos, slots, online poker, card games.
- Gambling is more strictly regulated by law and has many more restrictions in terms of channels and ways of promotion, while bookmakers in most countries exist legally and have licenses. It is a little easier for affiliates to promote betting offers.
- Betting traffic is most often paid on a revshare basis, while in the gambling vertical a hybrid model or Cost Per Lead (CPL) is more popular.
- Different informational triggers – betting is linked to games, competitions, Olympics, championships, and events, whereas gambling is not tied to specific events and is considered a separate type of leisure. Seasonality makes betting not the most stable vertical, but in the period of the most “hot” events webmasters are quite good at making money on betting.
The majority of betting traffic comes from advertising campaigns tied to events such as:
- Olympics.
- Wimbledon tournament.
- Formula 1.
- Australian Open Tennis Championship.
- UEFA Champions League.
- Royal Ascot horse racing.
- French Open Tennis Championship.
- FIFA World and European Football Championship.
- Stanley Cup.
- World Extreme Games.
In betting, players can increase their chances of success by maximizing their analytical skills and deepening their knowledge of a particular type of competition.
Best GEOs for betting vertical
You can drive betting traffic from both the “expensive” Tier-1,2 geos and the least competitive Tier-3,4 geos. The most important thing when choosing a bundle in the betting is to be aware of upcoming events, keep track of game schedules and be interested in popular sports in different countries. For example, the people of Latin America are passionate about soccer, and there are regular local matches.
The right strategy is to choose a couple of countries and keep track of the nearest events. In 2023, the following geos performed well in betting media buying:
- Brazil
- Bangladesh
- Panama
- Chile
- Costa Rica
- Egypt
- Vietnam
- Bolivia
For successful betting traffic campaigns from these countries, it’s essential to choose popular bookmakers, as smaller brands with low recognition convert poorly.
When selecting countries from Tier 3 and Tier 4, make sure that an online payment system is available to users. Ideally, if there are local payment systems and the advertiser provides a local payment option.
If you are willing to invest significantly in traffic and are confident in your approach, consider targeting betting from the United States.
If you are ready to pay dearly for traffic and are confident in your approach, consider targeting a betting audience from the United States. Different sports are developed in the states and the audience loves such entertainment. Here, people who bet have an above average income and for them betting is a form of leisure, not a way to earn money.
By the way, betting (as well as gambling) is regulated differently in each state. Recently, the vertical was legalized in Kansas, Maine and Massachusetts, and the same will soon await a number of other states – Texas, Minnesota, Alabama, South Carolina, etc. Sports Handle predicts that in 2023-2024 betting in the United States will reach a new level. It would be a sin not to take such a chance and not to skim the cream off the top.
How to drive traffic to betting
For beginners in the betting vertical, we recommend starting with CPA-offers and only with experience try hybrid payment format and RevShare. The reason is that on RevShare betting media buying begins to bring income after months (and the budget of a beginner is usually limited) and this nuance does not allow a novice webmaster to effectively optimize the advertising campaign. In order to make money on betting start successfully, we will give you a few recommendations.
Choosing an affiliate program
Before you start driving traffic to betting offers, you should go through the user journey yourself and assess the flow – how many steps a potential lead needs to take, whether they are clear and possible. It is important to look at the payment terms and make sure that the user will be able to make a deposit. We recommend that you start by testing two or three offers, and then leave the most promising one.
The most popular betting affiliate networks: 22Bet, LeonBet, MegaPari, BET365, OlimpBet, etc. Well-known brands in cyber sports: League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, Starcraft.
Target audience analysis
Betting on sporting events is mainly done by men aged 25-45 with a stable average and high income. Betting on cybersports is enjoyed by a male audience with a wider age range – from 20 to 45 years old.
It is better to request a portrait of the target user from the advertiser. The owner of a betting offer is interested in those who will make a deposit, not just register.
Knowing the basic parameters of the target audience, compare them with the characteristics of the population of the geo you intend to target with your betting offer. For example, soccer is more “respected” in Europe, baseball in Japan, cricket in India, and hockey is more interesting to people in Northern countries.
Creating effective creatives
The following approaches work well in advertising campaigns:
- WOW images and icons that show the emotion of winning. They can be backed up with a pre-lending page with the same emotional storytelling or news about a big win within that particular betting affiliate network.
- Bonuses, promo codes, gifts and super deals.
- Logos of popular sports brands, clubs, photos of famous players.
- Announcement of upcoming events with provocative headlines like “Already Know Who Will Win?”.
Before diving into betting, test different push notifications (at least 5-7 pieces within one advertising campaign) and continue working with those that show the best results.
Choosing betting traffic sources
There are numerous traffic sources available for driving traffic to online betting offers, but let’s look at the most effective ones:
Social media
Facebook remains the top choice for promoting betting offers, despite restrictions and stricter rules for advertisers. You don’t necessarily have to promote bookmaker offers with targeted ads. You can utilize native reviews from influencers, although in most cases, the cost may be higher. Another way is to start your own account with forecasts, announcements, “schemes” and other thematic publications.
Contextual advertising
It is forbidden to advertise betting in search engines as well as in social networks. Contextual advertising is not cheap, but if you want to run ads on Google – cloaking will help you.
YouTube
There are several ways to promote betting offers on YouTube – for example, you can create and promote your own channel with forecasts, reviews of competitions, etc.; make a simple advertising insert in the video or a full review of the bookmaker; natively promote the advertiser with the help of bloggers with a male audience (sports, cars, weapons and other “male” themed channels).
Messengers
Telegram is ideal for so-called “scheme” traffic. In TG, they create a channel with a “working” and “proven” scheme that will supposedly help “beat” the bookmakers. Many webmasters consider this approach burned out, but, as practice shows, it does bring new players. The main thing is to imitate activity, expertise, post fresh reviews and attract an audience.
Push notifications
The ideal source for promoting betting offers – inexpensive and effective. You can set up push ads quickly, and you don’t need to bypass moderation. For example, in TacoLoco you can buy quality push traffic from 200+ countries from $0.001 per click. If you want to work with a good ROI, choose a decent affiliate network with favorable conditions, its own anti-fraud system and optimal bids.
SEO-traffic of your own resource.
Landing, dorway or a full-fledged “white” site can be dedicated to bookmaker reviews or a single brand. Most often they create a “mirror” under a popular bookmaker. Such a source allows you to receive organic traffic for a betting advertiser.
Best betting affiliate networks – where to drive betting traffic
For newcomers, it’s not easy to choose a promising betting offer.Blindly selecting an affiliate program is a path to losses. So, let’s highlight the best betting affiliate networks worth your attention.
- PIN-UP Partners is an affiliate program with direct offers under 10+ geos of Asia and South America. Players are offered more than 4 thousand slots and cashback for deposits, partners – loyalty program. Payouts in PIN-UP Partners can be received every two weeks or upon request (RevShare) to cryptocurrency wallet or payment systems Visa, WebMoney, Qiwi, and also by Bank Wire transfer.
- Liga Partners is the official partner of the Liga Betting betting company, working on a CPA model, offering webmasters up to 45% revshare. In this affiliate network betting media buying is possible with a hybrid payment model – the webmaster receives payments for the first deposit of a unique player and a percentage of the advertiser’s income from it (CPA+RevShare).
- 3Snet is one of the largest platforms with competitive payouts on CPA, CPL, RevShare and hybrid model. The platform has 1000+ offers for any geo, among which the most popular brands are 4RABET, BetBoom, Mostbet, Leon and others. Betting-partner gives webmasters access to detailed statistics and offers from 2-7% within the referral program.
- Pari Affiliates is a direct advertiser from the famous PARI brand. Affiliates are offered 4 offers under RF, withdrawal of funds from 100$ and different price models (CPA, RevShare, Hybrid).
- Alfaleads is a multi-vertical international CPA-network with 2000+ active offers (including from betting companies), payment for targeted action, simple analytics system and bonuses for partners.
- UFFILIATES is a gambling, finance and betting affiliate, works on CPA and RevShare models, cooperates with more than 300 advertisers and accepts traffic from Tier-2.
- MegaPari Partners is an affiliate program with two offeers: MegaSlot and MegaPari. The latter is from a betting company with a separate focus on cybersport and good welcome bonuses for players. For webmasters, the affiliate offers CPA, Revenue Share and a hybrid payment model, accepting traffic from all geos with a Curacao license.
Conclusion
Now, you not only know what betting is, but you can launch your first advertising campaign right now. You’ve probably guessed that betting is not the easiest vertical to promote, but such a game is worth the candle, which is why many media buyers have focused on betting topics for years.
When choosing a source for offers from this niche, pay attention to advertising networks – betting traffic is easier to get here than anywhere else. For example, TacoLoco offers high-quality live traffic for betting verticals in the most effective formats – Push, In-Page Push, and Direct Click from more than 200 countries. If you want to profitably drive traffic to betting offers, start with quality traffic.
