Checklist: principles to follow when working with gambling to prevent money loss

Offers in the gambling vertical captivate the minds of even experienced webmasters with the size of bets, making it quite easy to make mistakes right from the start. Below, we’ll explore the most common errors made by webmasters in pursuit of desired revenue and provide guidance on how to ensure that there is always an excellent CR and ROI in the statistics, even in the most competitive GEOs.

Choosing an offer based on personal preference 

Many tend to forget that different GEOs encompass diverse mentalities, beliefs, and preferences. Occasionally, they select an offer almost randomly. And when a significant portion of their budget has been spent, they write to the affiliate manager, complaining that the offer isn't converting. They often fail to acknowledge the possibility that the issue may lie in incorrect target audience selection or that local superstitions were not taken into account in the creative, landing page, or application.

Or, even worse, the offer was pulled a year ago, and it was simply forgotten to be removed from the affiliate network. Such cases are not uncommon in public affiliate networks but are practically excluded in private affiliate networks that, in addition to everything else, also provide infrastructure when needed. For example, when we started running email campaigns, such an affiliate network regularly shared target databases for campaigns in different GEOs.

Putting everything on the line at once

Another common mistake is putting everything on one offer, source, creative approach, or combination. However, this approach rarely yields the desired results. Surprisingly, if an arbitrator doesn't want to lose money, it's unlikely to do so without budget allocation for tests.

Choosing an offer that everyone is directing traffic to

Often in open-type affiliate networks, the top offers include proposals with conversion data that inspire belief that within a week of launching the campaign, a webmaster will be ordering a new Lamborghini from a salon in Italy. The offer seems to be thriving, and many are directing traffic to it, with CR and EPC skyrocketing even on standard landing pages and ready-made applications.

Not only newcomers but also large teams tend to forget about competition in such moments. Representatives of affiliate networks prefer to delicately remain silent about the fact that statistics for the offer are collected from various webmasters from different sources.

Wrong place, wrong offer

If an offer can be run in multiple GEOs at once, it's important to consider that the conversion rate in each of them will vary, and consequently, the ROI will differ as well. Conversion also depends on the adaptation of creatives, the quality of pre-landing pages, app design, and so on.

The only solution is to test and request statistics from your manager for the offer in each GEO, ultimately choosing the least exploited option.

Another mistake in the same category is choosing an offer with complex conversion requirements. Often, webmasters are attracted by the promise of a high payout but overlook the potential difficulties in working with such offers. For example, this could involve a strict baseline that only one out of ten players can fully meet.

So, it's not worth chasing the highest payouts, especially if you're not confident in your abilities. It's better to ask the manager to find a simpler offer and earn at least something rather than losing everything and hating the affiliate network because the offer didn't work out.

Settle for cheap and low-quality traffic

It's foolish to hope that in cheap traffic sources, the webmaster will find thousands of leads that will actively deposit money into online casinos. Most likely, without the proper experience in working with such sources and knowledge of effective approaches, the webmaster will waste his budget on a horde of bots.

Conclusion: without knowledge of the specifics, it's not worth trying to drive traffic from sources like, for example, teaser networks, where there is a lot of garbage and non-targeted traffic. It's better to start with sources where the advertising platform's algorithms handle part of the optimization work for the webmaster (for example, Facebook, UAC, or TikTok), which will have a positive impact on the quality of players.

Trying to replicate someone else's cases

95% of the cases published in specialized media, forums, and Telegram channels are already exhausted and dead by the time they are posted. No one will reveal a working setup that can generate big money, especially for free. There's no point in creating competitors for yourself who will only hinder your ability to make money, not just on bread and butter, but also on black caviar.

It's important to understand that cases can be beneficial for broadening your horizons, but blindly copying them is not advisable. Even upon learning about a ~$32,000 case where the design and structure of the email newsletter were meticulously worked out, we wouldn't simply copy it without incorporating something of our own into the mix

Failure to comply with the conditions set by the advertiser

Often, newcomers completely ignore the information provided in the offer card. They top up their balance in the teaser network, copy the link from the tracker (this is under ideal conditions), download a few creatives from the spy service, and launch the campaign on desktop devices because the bid size there is smaller. They generate leads, but none of them get confirmed. Only after this, they read the list of rules and requirements for working with the offer, which can only accept mobile traffic. Therefore, it's always necessary to clarify all the offer rules in advance.

Ignoring tests and optimization

This problem applies not only to newcomers in the gambling niche but also to experienced webmasters. The culprit is laziness and the desire for instant results. Without tests and constant optimization, the chances of finding a profitable combination tend to zero.

If possible and with available budgets, it's better to test a large part of the variables in the setup and find the best approach that will pay off during the main ad campaign. Trying to dive in headfirst, draining the budget without testing, is a sure way to failure.

Conclusion

When it comes to running traffic for gambling, there are several simple principles to follow. To avoid losing money and even make a profit, it's important not to put all your eggs in one basket. Instead of trying to grab a big win by choosing complex offers with high stakes, it's better to clarify all the details of working with the offer in advance. Rather than attempting to copy someone else's successful case, it's better to seek help from a manager. Most importantly, don't give up if it doesn't work the first time, and remember that even the top performers once spent thousands of dollars on tests, overcoming laziness until they started making a profit.