In today’s blog post we have something a little different for you. Last week, we had an intriguing conversation with the head of affiliates at Prime Partners, Amir Gal.
Amir spoke to us about the nature of his work and his predictions for the future of iGaming affiliate operations and the industry as a whole.
A World of Possibilities
Amir has been working within the online gambling industry since 2003. He has seen the growth of the industry first-hand over the past 10-15 years and spoke of his excitement for the future of the industry.
He began at Prime Partners two years ago as a customer support agent, before stints as a VIP agent and head of Support & VIP. Nowadays, he runs things on the affiliate side of the business.
For Amir, his favourite part of the job is dealing with people and clients. He enjoys conversing with individuals around the world, who are interested in the benefits of affiliate marketing and forging fruitful relationships with Prime Partners.
Amir said that nothing excites him more than when a new brand is launched. He said it is both interesting and exciting watching the development and growth of new brands.
Amir is passionate about the benefits Prime Partners can bring:
“Whether you are running a gaming website, operate in direct marketing business or just looking for new ventures in your life – PrimePartners.com offers you the greatest partnership potential to find success in your business venture”.
The Challenges for Affiliate Businesses
Amir explained that transitioning from the operations side to the head of the affiliate side was a challenge. Affiliate operations are no easy task, requiring careful and diligent planning, execution and management.
Amir emphasised that Prime Partners have overcome each and every challenge that has been presented to the company over the past few years.
He believes that the General Data Protection Regulation – a regulation in European Union law on data protection and privacy for citizens of the EU and the European Economic Area – will make rules and regulations surrounding affiliate marketing stricter.
He predicts that these regulations will mean that regulated brands will remain at the top, whilst unregulated brands will decrease.
No Decrease in UK Applications
Perhaps surprisingly given all the recent news surrounding increasing regulation of online gambling in the UK, Amir said that Prime Partners “haven’t felt any decline in applications coming from the UK”.
However, he did note that Prime Partners have experienced a slight decrease in applications from Germany. He stated that this is because Prime Partner’s platform doesn’t offer PayPal to German users anymore.
Players Must Gamble Responsibly
The push towards more responsible gambling has been significant over the past 18 months or so, and the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) has been pushing for stricter regulation and controls in many different areas of the industry.
Many believe that operators are under a duty of care to help protect their players from gambling-related problems and should act in a manner which encourages responsible gambling.
One of the deepest concerns for the UKGC is reckless casino advertising, and there have already been moves towards stronger regulation of casino adverts.
Tom Watson, Deputy Leader of the UK Labour party recently said that he wants online casinos to reapply for casino licences, which will ensure that they comply with new regulations.
Interestingly, Amir has a slightly different view on the whole issue. He said that he doesn’t believe operators need to do more to encourage responsible gambling and that ultimately, the onus is on the player to ensure that they gamble responsibly, not the operator.
He also added that Prime Partners encourage responsible gambling as per UKGC requirements.
What It Takes to be Successful Affiliate Marketing Company
Also, Amir spoke of some key traits which anyone working in affiliate marketing needs if they hope to be successful.
He said that individuals need to be:
- Organised
- Self-motivated
- Have excellent personal relations skills
He also suggested that those with selling skills are at an advantage. To those taking those first steps in the field, Amir emphasises that companies must remain patient, thorough and consistent if they hope to succeed. Early disappointments do not mean failure.
The Future of Affiliate Marketing
Amir is very positive about the future of affiliate marketing and doesn’t envisage any major stumbling blocks. The fact that UK applications have remained steady over the past few months is good evidence that his optimism is warranted.
The UK online gambling industry is undoubtedly going to change over the coming years, this is pretty much a given at this point.
But in spite of these inevitable changes, Primer Partners are not concerned of any significant negative effects on affiliate marketing relationships within the iGaming industry.
Will There be a Negative Impact on Affiliate Marketing?
Well, some might say it is too quick to come to a judgement. At the end of the day, the full scale of the new rules regulations around online gambling is not clear.
With that being said, the affiliate marketing side of things is quite different to the relationship between operators and players.
The rules and regulations are primarily going to be focused on the nature of the online gambling services provided to players, and how they are advertised.
It seems unlikely that there will be any rulings implemented surrounding the affiliate marketing side of iGaming. Consequently, it is reasonable to assume that new rulings and regulations won’t have any significant effect on the iGaming affiliate model.
Who Are Prime Partners?
Prime Partners is an exclusive affiliate program which online casino brands and operators can apply to be a part of.
Operators have the chance to earn profits through their own marketing and advertising efforts. The overall objective for operators is to generate real-money players at Prime Partners platforms.
Prime Partners have a wide international team of marketing, analysis and affiliate experts. They use highly trusted and respected casino platforms such as SkillsOnNet which is the platform behind the likes of Mega Casino, Simba Games and LuckyMe Slots.
How Does it Work?
If a visitor to the operator site clicks on links which sends them to the merchant site and then makes a transaction on the merchant site, the operator will earn a percentage in the form of a commission.
