GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 11 - January 2010

There are also competitive promotions offered by operators to affiliates, where the top-performing affiliates earn cash bonuses or trips. These can become quite rewarding, with stories of one operator goingso faras togiveawayanewcar to its topaffiliate for apromotional period. Most operators will offer promotions to affiliates based on different commission structures. Just because a promotion is being offered doesn’t mean that all affili- ateswhoarepart of that programwill feel that it’s something that’s going to fit their strategy. Either they don’t think it will be popular based on theirmarketingmodel, or the commission structures don’t fit theirneeds. Quite often you’ll see something like, “Sign up for Affiliate Program X and re- ceive 35% lifetime revenue for everyplay- er you refer.”However, this ismost likely based on a tiered program requiring that you achieve a certain amount of revenue share, basedonhowmanyplayers you re- ferred.So, ifyouonlyreferred fiveplayers, thenyouactuallygetasmallerpercentage. To achieve those kinds of percentages, you’ll most likely have to refer thousands of players. However, there are promotions where the boundaries are loosened and it’s possible to get in on some revenue share deals at high percentages for lower referral rates. Thesepromotionsare frequentlyoffered in conjunctionwithpromotionsbeingoffered toplayers, so they tend toworkwell. Many times, tieredCPA (cost per acquisi- tion) models will be available as promo- tions. These are often the best idea for those who are involved in PPC market- ing, as statistics show thatwithmost PPC acquisitions, the retention rate is lower than that forWeb site promotions. These promotions give PPC marketers the op- portunity toget a fast turnaroundon their investment, which is often what is most desiredby thesemarketers. Thebottom line is thatany timeanoperator is offeringaffiliates a chance to takeadvan- tage of promotions andbonuses it canbe a greatway toget a revenueboost.One thing tobeawareof,however, is tomakesurenot to neglect the campaigns that are running, which have been proven to earn income. Promotions can often be used as a means of gettingnewplayers, so choose those that work best for a particular business model, soasnot tomiss out onhigherpercentages andmoreprofitableacquisitions. RyanDrew RyanDrew ispartof theaffiliate management teamat IncomeAccess, whereheworks toalignoperators with the right affiliates,and then assistsbothparties toachieve their desiredoutcomes:brandexposure, increased trafficandmaximized conversionsandprofitability. 45