GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 17 - September 2011

By Sinead Lambert Get your mind out of the gutter, people! I’m talking about statistics. Trying to find information on industry stats is nearly impossible. We affiliates are a secretive bunch. I think it’s high time we started sharing more information with each other. The more we share, the more we can learn and become stronger as an industry. I’ll get the ball rolling by sharing some stats from OLBG.com. The industry is changing at a phenomenal rate and we need to change with it. Part of this change, I think, should be more transparency. We need to work collec- tively, not independently. We’re not ask- ing you to disclose your family secrets, just some insight on conversion rates. OLBG.com is a sportsbetting commu- nity site and has been in the sportsbook affiliate marketing industry for quite some time. From day one (way before I was on the scene) they started to collect data and information on their traffic and bookmaker stats. Based on this informa- tion, they could make calculated moves on how they should grow and whom they should promote. This helped them become one of the largest sportsbook af- filiates in the U.K., with over 15 people working for them. If you don’t know your data, you’re taking a big risk. You’re flying in the dark. Table source: OLBG.com Statistics We Track Visits 1,716,000 Bookie Clicks 56,000 Page Impressions 9,346,000 Uniques 697,000 Registrations 3,688 Funded A/Cs 2,633 First Bets 2,501 EPC £2.96 Lifetime Value £205 These are just a sample of stats we track. How many of these do you track? Do you know your players’ lifetime value by oper- ator? Your earnings per click? Registra- tion to deposit percent, by operator? It’s important that you know these stats. These will shape how you’ll promote and whom you’ll promote. You’ll know what you can afford to spend on advertising, you’ll know when your marketing has been successful and you’ll know which bookmakers to cut as they’re wasting your referral traffic by not converting it. You’ll know what you need to work on and which areas you need to improve. Most Important Stats Click to Registration Registration to Deposit Deposit to First Bet What happens to the traffic after it leaves your site? You’ve invested a lot of money and time in referring traffic to the bookmakers, but what happens to it then? Did they hold up their end up of the bargain? You should have access to these stats. If you don’t, you need to talk to your af- filiate managers. It is essential to your business that you have access to this in- formation. They have access to it, and so should you. • • • I’ll show you mine if you show me yours! 34 I’ll show you mine if you show me yours!