GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 28 - April 2014

Jumping into the BigData revolution Workingsmarterwith iGaming’sanalytics tools ByAllanPetrilli T he American Advertising Federation (AAF) held its 65th Annual Adver- tising Hall of Fame induction ceremony inApril. The inductees haveworkedwith legendary brands such as Coca-Cola and Nike, are tied to landmark advertising concepts such as using Brad Pitt to sell Levi’s jeans, and have contributed to the founding of important organizations such asEssenceCommunications. What does it take to be a future “hall of fame” brand in 2014? And how can aff- iliate marketing help you get there? One of the most important answers is data. Datacanbe immenseinvolumeandvaried in meaning as well as interpretation. Numbers can provide a sense of order andclarity, butgetting to thatpoint canbe messy.As a result, you could be forgiven for trying to push data analysis to the backburner of amarketing strategy. Advancements in digital marketing are creating an environment that better sup- ports ROI tracking alongside marketing spend, something that the traditional offline marketing industry has had difficulties tackling. Fortunately, this envi- ronment also supports the development of technology that facilitatesROI tracking for those sameoffline campaigns. Affiliate marketing is specifically aided by a process of evaluation that allows af- filiates and affiliatemanagers to bemore strategic in the way they relate to each other and perform their respective jobs. Relationshipbuilding It’s easy to get boggeddown in the num- bers when it comes to data. One way to get out of theweeds is to start by looking at how data can contribute to the more human qualities of the profession and in- dustry as a whole. Relationships are im- portant in any industry and the iGaming community isno exception. Data allows for more informed conver- sations that carry an added element of transparency for all parties involved. No one is going towant data to outright replace creativity or forward thinking. Those are two traits that make the iGaming industry so engaging–wenever knowwhat’s next or where it’s going to come from. But if operators can review segmented data using a more intelligent approach, it will allow them to reach out to affiliates with more qualitative feedback, strengthening the relationship through collaborative success. Newsegmentation Further strengthening the relationship between affiliates and affiliate managers willbemorestrategicsegmentationon the part of operators based on their analysis of data. This isn’t to say that current segmentation strategies (i.e., geographic, legislative, etc.) would become null and void. Rather, the potential will exist to group affiliates by conversion pathways andpositioning in themarketing funnel. This change in approach could be man- aged by operators with limited to no affiliate input.However, thiswouldmean missing out on another potential benefit of more detailed data segmentation and analysis. Providing affiliates with substantive information regarding their current influence in the conversion pro- cess, as well as how their value is per- ceived by the operator and how it might be increased, will only serve to benefit an organization’s larger strategy. Furthermore, this opens a line of com- munication tomeasure the interest of af- filiates in having access to smarter data that has been drilled to its core and then translates that information into more profitable online marketing campaigns. Formany affiliatemanagers, it is encour- aging to see affiliates requesting a thor- ough evaluation of data to develop new tactics that aremutuallybeneficial. In a recent article for Forbes, Gary Drenik, the CEO of Prosper Insights and Analytics, calls into question the true value of big data in general terms ( http://gpwa.org/371 ). He cites a Gartner survey suggesting that fromnow to 2015, 85 percent of Fortune 500 companies will “fail to exploit big data for com- petitive advantage.” This highlights the importance of data as a “building block” in developing a more complete market- ing strategy. 10 Jumping into theBigData revolution