GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 19 - February 2012

Euro 2012 (June 8 – July 1) Europe is on its knees and desperately needs a distraction from the never-ending debt crisis and bank bailouts. A football tournament is exactly what’s needed to revive national pride. Euro 2012 kicks off in Warsaw on June 8 and finishes a month later on July 1 in Kiev. Unlike Cheltenham and the Grand Na- tional, Euro 2012 is a month-long event. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. With daily football matches, it would be impossible to cover every single match, but make sure you cover the top coun- tries’ games – Spain, Germany, France, England, Italy and Holland. They’ll be the most watched games and the most searched for online for highlights, pre- views, reviews and tips. So make sure you’re ranking well for all the top key- words related to those countries. As always, it’s going to be very competitive to get traffic to your site, so once you get that traffic you have to make sure you have the right content to retain it and convert it to active betting accounts. Simply plaster- ing your site with free bet banners is not going to cut the mustard. Match previews, links to where the match is available on- line, bookmaker offers, free bets and the latest odds are all essential tools to help you convert your traffic. Once again, it is important to choose whom you’re going to work with care- fully. You want to choose bookmakers who are recognized brands across Eu- rope, who offer competitive prices across a range of markets and who live stream a range of matches. Choosing which opera- tor to promote is important as you want to choose a partner who will maximize your referral traffic and convert and re- tain it for you. Olympics (July 27 – August 12) Whether the Olympics will be a big betting event or not is hard to say. Some book- makers believe it won’t be, while others are making it a big part of their strategy for this year. Some bookmakers are using it as an opportunity to change people’s perceptions and show the public there is more to bookies than racing and football. Some are saying it will be the most bet- upon Olympics in history, but that’s not really saying much. The online gambling industry was completely different dur- ing the last Summer Games in 2008, so I don’t believe that is a fair comparison. While it likely won’t garner as much ac- tion as the other three events, make sure you keep it on your radar. Always remember, the most important thing you can do to get ahead is to plan. Give your affiliate managers a shout and get to work! Sinead Lambert is the affiliate marketing manager for Valuechecker Affiliates. Instead of promoting every bookmaker under the sun, just promote a select few. Go with the bookmakers with the strong, reputable brands.” “ 9 What’s big in 2012