One of the fastest moving industries in the digital era has undoubtedly been iGaming. Turbo-charged by growing interest in mobile gaming and the surge in mobile device advancement, open to embracing emerging technologies like blockchain, and front-and-centre of regulatory change… In the past decade or so, the iGaming (online casino and sports betting) sector hasn’t stood still for a second.
In 2025, the world of affiliate marketing circles iGaming closely and has become a huge part of day-today operations for any high-performing operator. Despite the industry moving as quick as ever, most in the field would agree there’s never been a better time to refine your iGaming affiliate strategy (or if you don’t have one yet – get started).
In this article we’ll guide you through ways to build and optimise an iGaming affiliate strategy that can take the market by storm. Read on for actionable tips based on data, tech and insights, and you’ll have a high-converting affiliate programme in no time.
What Makes iGaming Affiliate Marketing Unique in 2025?
Many B2B and B2C brands rely heavily on affiliate marketing, but iGaming affiliates work a little bit differently than others.
It’s more fast-paced, more tech-driven and most closely-regulated which means marketers have to be on their toes with content, and also with establishing ways to operate efficiently and adapt.
For example, an affiliate for a product listed on Amazon can pretty much create an affiliate link once and, if their content is solid, wait for the clicks to roll in. With gambling products it’s less straightforward. Take sporting events like Cheltenham Festival for example: every operator is vying for top spot on top affiliate sites which makes commission structures more competitive. Ad creative evolves year-on-year, with designers finding new ways to stand out and developers engineering better placements with more dynamic capabilities. New customer offers or bet boosts are leveraged as a key differential, often allowing smaller brands to stand out from the crowd but creating a risk of low-value one-time depositors. This list go could on and on.
This environment creates a lot of challenges but the by-product is that many opportunities also present themselves to those who are prepared for successful affiliate campaigns.
Optimising for Higher Conversions in iGaming Affiliate Marketing
So we understand that affiliate marketing in 2025 is super-competitive and fast-paced. What everyone is trying to achieve is what matters most to any acquisition strategy: high volumes of quality conversions at low cost.
We use five key pillars with the acronym STARS to break this down:
S: Smart Segmentation – Campaigns tailored by audience type. Casual players or high rollers; sports punters or casino fans; mobile commuter bettors and laptop on the desk gamers. The more you understand your audience, and the more you tailor an offer to them, the higher your chance of a conversion.
T: Trust – You want your brand to be sold by clear, honest reviews. Players are savvy, and they can sniff out a sales pitch a mile off. Instead, sites affiliated to your brand should offer them useful info, comparisons, and value-packed guides.
A: A/B Testing – Headlines, images, landing pages, bonus structures… Even commission terms. The phrase ‘fail fast, fail often’ may sound cliché the message couldn’t be more relevant: test, discard what doesn’t work, keep what does, repeat. The smallest of tweaks can lead to significant improvement in conversion rates.
R: Real Time Tracking – Let the data make your decisions for you. With tools like Trackbox.io, you can now see what’s working and what’s not in real-time. That means adjusting your offers, creatives, and targeting on the fly.
S: Strong CTAs – There should be no ambiguity in what happens next when a user clicks a button. Make it obvious what you want them to do next: sign up now, claim a bonus, make a deposit. Use action oriented language that creates urgency, and make sure the next page they go to aligns appropriately with what they were told when they clicked through.
Choosing the Right iGaming Affiliate Models
Whilst there are ample opportunities in iGaming affiliate marketing, if you don’t structure your payment models to suit your business, those opportunities can easily pass you by.
There are four main affiliate payment models, each with pros and cons that will work for different partners and operators:
Revenue Share (RevShare) – Affiliates earn a percentage of the net revenue generated by users referred to the iGaming operator. Commission is tied to the players’ activity i.e. the players’ net spend means more affiliate commission. RevShare is a good choice for iGaming affiliates who expect longevity from players, or have an iGaming affiliate strategy that attracts high-value players.
CPA (Cost per Acquisition) – A fixed amount is paid to the affiliate for every qualified action taken by a user they send to the operator. Qualifying actions can include the first wager, first deposit or account creation. It’s the simple choice, with an agreed amount settled for each successful conversion so if there is a steady stream of players coming through it’s easy to forecast commission amounts.
FTD (First Time Deposit) – Essentially the same as the CPA model, but with the sole focus of encouraging new depositing users. This puts onus on the affiliate to market to those depositors who will go on to become repeat players, which suits iGaming operators who are looking to grow their active user base. Commission rates are typically lower due to the propensity for low lifetime value of the FTDs.
Hybrid – Combining the best of both worlds, the hybrid payment model blends an upfront CPA payment with ongoing revenue share commissions. Due to varying commission structures and qualification criteria, these can become fairly complex, but experienced affiliate partners and operators may negotiate a hybrid deal to find a suitable middle ground in terms of risk tolerance and business targets.
The main thing to consider when deciding on the right model for you is what your brand needs. Operators will pay good fixed fees for high value players, but if the affiliate is more about volume than quality, fees will be lower.
Each situation will be unique, and you don’t have to pick one commission model and stick with it – always weigh up the pros and cons and negotiate appropriately for the individual deal.
SEO and Organic Traffic in iGaming Affiliate Marketing
Many brands try to focus on ‘quick wins’ in the SEO game and neglect the issues that are bogging their website down, preventing them from claiming organic search traffic. We’ve mentioned that iGaming is super-competitive and what that means in terms of paid advertising is that it can get very expensive.
Placing your bets on only the quick wins won’t make any difference to your business’ bottom line, but nailing your SEO strategy is like a cheat code to avoid relying on high-cost paid ads, making it an essential part of any iGaming marketing roadmap.
Starting with an ideal customer profile, you can begin to create an affiliate marketing SEO plan for success. By defining your audience, you understand who you are making content for. It’s then a case of designing and executing a content plan where each piece of content – visuals, headlines, meta info and copywriting – has both the end user and the search engine in mind.
This will require some in-depth keyword research to find out what people are searching for. By pulling search volume reports, you can discover the search terms potential customers are typing that are related to your iGaming product(s).
Including these keywords in your content will help you rank higher in search results but it isn’t a case of stuffing as many as possible into a blog post and having done with it (those were the days!). Content needs to be original, informative, authoritative and trustworthy otherwise it won’t get a second look from Google, and your potential customers swiftly will head elsewhere.
Backlinking (where another trusted website links back to your site) is another important element of an affiliate SEO strategy. Popular ways to do this are by having affiliate websites create guest posts for your brand that link back to your content. This often goes hand in hand with a special offer, like a boosted price. Another good example that often makes the news is when bookmakers settle bets early, for example when Liverpool won the Premier League in 2024/25.
Combine great content and a strong backlinking strategy with a highly performant website, and your SEO plan will be ready to take your iGaming affiliate site to the next level.
Emerging iGaming Markets in 2025
Forward-thinking brands are keeping their eyes on the next opportunities for growth. Being one of the first to market in emerging markets gives iGaming businesses an obvious head start, bringing benefits such as prominent brand exposure and better organic search presence.
An iGaming affiliate strategy should consider countries that are introducing new legislation as a potential new market – these are often a hive of activity but lack the expertise of iGaming professionals who have worked in regulated markets previously.
Another key consideration is tech adoption: regions where people are getting increased access to high-speed internet and more advanced smartphones can also be a hotbed for new players.
In 2025, we’re expecting to see significant opportunities arise in Africa (particularly Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa), recently-regulated Brazil and the growing Argentina market, and The Philippines which has issued a limited number of online iGaming licenses to select operators.
Essential Tools and Technologies for iGaming Affiliates
Your top priority to nail iGaming affiliate marketing in 2025 should be to identify the tools that will help you execute the tips we’ve given you in this article, and continue to drive conversions and build your brand.
Aside from the obvious things: a trusted communication tool like Slack or MS Teams (for mobile communication, Telegram is popular for iGaming affiliates), and a project management tool like Productive or Trello to keep your tasks in order – what else do you need?
Well, to back up your SEO efforts it’s worth investing in a SEMRush account. Their AI insights will help you do the leg work for your SEO strategy – analysing backlinks and traffic potential, running technical audits and tracking ranking changes, and finding the high-value keywords that inform your content creation.
If you’re running email campaigns, you’ll also need a CRM platform to help you create, schedule and send emails to affiliate partners or potential players. Likewise for social media – although not a necessity – tools like Hootsuite can help organise scheduling of posts.
Undoubtedly the most important software for any iGaming affiliate is a tracking platform. This provides you with the ability to set up affiliate deals (with the commission structures that suit your strategy) and, most importantly, monitor their performance. As conversions come in (or don’t) you can check the reports to ensure you can take whatever action is required.
Different platforms have different features and it’s key that you choose one with all the functionality you need. As a good first step, why not contact a well-reputed affiliate tracking software company for a demo? Scaleo, RavenTrack and Trackbox.io are three great places to start.
Next Steps
Affiliate marketing generates approximately 16% of all online purchases which isn’t as far behind paid search (20%) as many would think. It’s a huge part of online consumer behaviour. With that in mind, it makes sense that it is at the forefront of iGaming in 2025.
As we said at the top of this article, iGaming doesn’t stand still. Your iGaming affiliate marketing – whether it’s just starting out or in need of a refresh – will only benefit from you taking an wide-angle approach to your iGaming affiliate strategy, and considering opportunities for improvement and growth. That’s how brands will stand out and succeed in 2025.
