side, what good is an ‘exclusive’
90% rev share deal if the team
and increase the risk for affiliates,
then, but can they ever be worthwhile?
isn’t able to extract value
from your players beyond
the first deposit?
Every new brand an affiliate
Despite my own obvious reservations
about them, baselines can occasionally
promotes comes with the burden serve a purpose in very specific
of opportunity cost. There is a real circumstances – with a few caveats,
risk attached to giving exposure to of course.
one site that doesn’t convert at the not looking for a quick buck, they’re 1. Baselines allow affiliates to
negotiate higher CPA deals with
new sites
New brands, especially smaller
hoping to build a long-term, mutually casinos, have to balance the desire to
beneficial relationship. Discussions attract valuable traffic through good
have to start on a level playing field, affiliates with the need to work within
not from a position of only operators tighter marketing budgets.
expense of another that does. Tests
work both ways. The best affiliates are
having something to lose.
Baselines can be an excuse for poor
The typically huge appeal of new
sites to players can help to offset the
research. Ensure you’re speaking to handicap of commission triggers.
the right affiliates and none of this Some affiliates may be willing to work
should be a concern. with a baseline to avoid missing out on
for good, but the bees only go where
the honey is; it’s an operator’s job to
The case for baselines
the benefits of increased demand.
“It’s nothing personal, but we need
to know we can trust you”
“We need to see how your players
react to our site” the inclusion of a conditional 2. Baselines speed up the operator
on-boarding process
Aside from accepting an affiliate
arrangement such as a baseline can programme’s default terms, agreeing
Searching for certainties in gambling put additional strain on affiliate to deals without pushback is the
is a sure-fire path to frustration. partnerships. Trust needs to be quickest route to getting a new
Operators asking for assurances earned, but it’s not just affiliates that brand live and clicking. Why worry
from affiliates are just as guilty of need to earn it. The opportunity about deposit and wagering baselines
compromising a relationship as cost of sending traffic to one site when you could be making a fortune
affiliates that openly promise them. over another is often founded on from your new £500 CPA (with
an incredibly high level of trust in £200 trigger)?
make them stick.
A lack of transparency around
In the same way that brands need
to share responsibility for bonus operators, for example: hunters, they also need to be willing • Can I trust the links to track properly? platform as quickly as possible, the
to analyse the wider shortfalls of • Can I trust the integrity of the data barrier of a baseline might not seem so
their site before shifting the blame
for poor performance – or even
anticipated poor performance –
onto marketing partners.
Including a baseline in an affiliate
deal won’t offset underwhelming user
experience, badly designed landing
pages, non-existent CRM and a
product offering little or nothing in
terms of innovation. And, on the flip
pulled into the affiliate software?
• Can I trust the accuracy of
qualified/unqualified FTD reports?
• Can I trust the deal to be set up
In the rush to scale an affiliate
prohibitive. Perhaps you’d save more
in time by not negotiating than you
would in money by doing so. Probably
not, but perhaps.
correctly without error?
• Can I trust the deal will be honoured
for the duration agreed?
• Can I trust that the operator will
actually pay for the traffic?
Baselines reduce the risk for operators
Is rev share the answer?
If you’re tempted to forgo the
headache of CPAs and pursue
the revenue share only route of
commission, you’ll probably be
iGB Affiliate Issue 72 DEC 2018 / JAN 2019
27