In-app in gambling: how to get quality traffic? | Interview

Hello, everyone! WelcomePartners here, and we’re excited to present a new interview with a partner. In this material, our team shares their experience and practical advice on driving traffic with In-app in the CIS. The interview features answers from the Team Lead.

How long has your team been in gambling, and how did you decide to work with In-app? 

Our team has been in the gambling industry since 2016. The decision to work with In-app was made about a year ago with the goal of diversifying traffic sources, increasing the overall volume of traffic, and, consequently, profit.

Do you need a technical background to start running In-app traffic?

A technical background is not mandatory to start working with In-app advertising in the gambling industry, but it can be beneficial for setting up and dealing with mobile attribution, integrating offers from advertisers. Moreover, experience in analytics will be helpful for tracking and optimizing advertising campaigns, as well as for conducting A/B testing.

The good old classic: solo or team?

The question of whether to work in In-app traffic arbitrage solo or as part of a team depends on your personal preferences, skill level, and available resources. Both approaches have their advantages, but I recommend considering the option of working in a team.

Working as a team in the In-app traffic arbitrage industry provides you with much better chances of achieving positive results and the opportunity to earn a stable income that can significantly surpass the earnings of solo arbitrageurs. In a team, you can share your experiences, receive feedback, and collaborate with colleagues who possess different skills and knowledge. This fosters more effective problem-solving and rapid adaptation to market changes. This approach typically leads to more sustainable and successful outcomes compared to working alone.

Having an experienced BizDev in your team is an undeniable advantage over a solo arbitrageur. This specialist can make a significant contribution to your profits, no less important than a professional buyer. The ability to find non-obvious and high-converting offers not available through public affiliate networks can boost your profits significantly.

Obvious factors like having significant budgets, corporate privileges, and career advancement opportunities are considered self-explanatory, as their importance is clear without the need for further discussion.

What advantages and challenges can you highlight when it comes to running In-app traffic?

Some of the advantages of In-app advertising include:

1. A large audience. Mobile apps have a massive user base, providing a broad audience for your ads.
2. The ease of launching advertising campaigns. In-app traffic sources often require minimal configuration.
3. Fewer account and ad campaign bans, except in certain cases.
4. Profitable ad campaigns can generate stable income for several months without additional intervention.
5. The availability of interactive ads (Playable ads) that capture the audience's attention and positively impact traffic volume and quality.
6. The opportunity to run traffic to the RU GEO, apart from other popular sources among arbitrageurs.

The negative aspects of In-app advertising include the lack of advanced targeting options based on gender, age, and interests. Additionally, there is increased competition with other arbitrageurs in the In-app sources, which affects the cost of acquiring traffic due to auction bids.

How do you choose offers for In-app?

The choice of an offer is made by our BizDev. The main criteria for selection include experience working with specific GEOs and existing working connections in those GEOs, the offer's KPI, its conversion, CPA payouts, and recommendations from advertisers. The more private and newer the offer, the better.

How to choose and evaluate an advertising network?

When choosing an In-app network, we pay attention to its stance on gray verticals such as gambling and betting. It's important to clarify with the support team which GEOs have the highest traffic volumes broken down by mobile device operating systems. Additionally, you should find out which ad formats are supported on the platform and what payment model is used: CPI, CPC, or CPM.

Which creatives work in apps? What should you pay attention to for a creative to be approved?

Generally effective creatives, like everywhere else, often involve emotions, slot images, and financial winnings. It's important not to forget to create intrigue at the beginning and include a call to action at the end of the creative in In-app networks; this is crucial. The approval process for creatives can vary between different networks. In some networks, almost any creative is accepted, while in others, you may need to remove real money, bank logos, and popular slot images.

What ad formats do you work with?

In general, these are video ads with a duration of 15 to 30 seconds, with end cards at the end of the video. Additionally, it's important to conduct tests using different approaches with Playable ads.

TOP converting GEOs for In-app?

Russia, Spain, Italy, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

Could you share the most remarkable success or failure case from your recent experience?

Among the recent pleasant cases, there was a situation where we reluctantly conducted testing on less-known and smaller GEOs. As a result, we obtained stable, cheap traffic with a 200%+ ROI, and we're still running campaigns in these GEOs.

What budgets are needed to work with In-app? Is it possible to enter In-app with a small starting capital?

To start working with In-app, you should consider investing at least $5000. This allows you to acquire or rent several iOS and Android apps, as well as top up the traffic source budget (minimum top-up often starts from $1000, depending on the platform) and conduct testing of several GEOs and offers.

What applications do you work with? Inhouse or rent?

Currently, we use both app rentals and acquisitions. Additionally, we are concurrently developing our in-house app production within the company.

What is the average lifespan of an app, and what revenue can an app generate before it gets banned?

The lifespan of iOS apps is usually longer than Android apps. However, it's highly situational and depends on various factors such as the quality of development, the overall market conditions, and traffic dynamics on new apps. Starting with large volumes can potentially shorten the app's lifespan. On average, for Android, the lifespan is about two weeks, while for iOS, it ranges from two weeks to two months.

What are the global challenges you face when working with In-app, and how do you overcome them?

1. Competition in the auction. It's necessary to improve the quality and increase the CTR of creatives, which allows you to attract more traffic at a lower cost than competitors.
2. Apps and offers. Apps are often blocked, so it's important to have backup options. There are many offers, but not all of them pay off.
3. Not all affiliate networks are reliable. Therefore, it's essential to know in advance who and how you plan to work with.
4. The quality of traffic is not always high, but this problem can be solved through optimization based on publishers and creatives.

How much did you earn from mobile traffic at its peak?

$150K+.

Can you share some life hacks for running In-app in gambling?

Our experience shows that 70% of success depends on creatives. The remaining 30% depends on the offer, optimization, and the application itself (including its ratings and user reviews). It's also worth testing pre-landers and tailoring creatives to match the app and pre-landers.