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Andre Machado sat with EEGS in an exclusive interview before taking the stage for EEGS’ upcoming Free Webinar on ‘The Relevance Of Media Buying Activity In The Affiliate Space’. Andre Machado shares his knowledge on media buying, affiliate advertising, and how to navigate the complex compliance environment in this exclusive interview. You can get a sneak preview of his expert advice and insights before he shares it with attendees in the free webinar.
Could you provide some key insights on the evolution of digital advertising in the iGaming sector over the last decade and how this has influenced affiliate-marketing strategies?
In order to streamline and scale up their marketing campaigns, operators are turning to automation. The key to acquiring new bettors in this crucial time is automation. Programmatic advertising technology uses it. Programmatic automates online advertising purchases in real-time, allowing for highly targeted ads to be served to the most relevant audience. This is highly efficient and reduces ad waste. Our proprietary ads programmatic service has allowed our global operator client to increase their click-through rates by as much 60% while increasing net gaming revenues by as much 110%. Our clients can save up to two full months of productivity by reducing manual inputs.
Automating advertising across publisher sites such as sports and news websites and high-profile media outlets is also improving the performance of operators. Sportradar’s Engagement Tool, an adtech that we use in our Affiliate Project to automate the display of contextually relevant betting advertisements across premium publisher and rights holder websites, utilizes data to determine what content online users consume most. These adverts are delivered at a speed and range that increases click-through rates by 2,2X. This is impossible to achieve manually. Media Buying, for example, is one of the new ways that operators are collaborating with affiliates.
What do you think are the most important factors to success in affiliate media purchasing specifically in the iGaming industry?
Operators can engage and target their fans more effectively with personalized content if they better understand the interests and browsing patterns of their fans. It is essential to attract new customers, engage existing players and build brand awareness. Marketing solutions would allow them to understand how and where bettors interact with their brand. These insights are used to power digital marketing tools that determine the best bets for players to receive on the correct platform and at the right moment. This personalized approach engages more fans, increases conversions, customer retention and revenue growth while limiting wasteful advertising and compensating the correct partners/affiliates.
What tools or methods do you find the most effective for optimizing media-buying campaigns?
AI is a powerful tool, but data are needed to make it effective. Data is also a resource whose value is determined by how well you use it. The real game changer comes when you combine the two. Operators have access to large pools of anonymised data on their customers, which can provide valuable insights about fan behaviours, interests and betting patterns. AI algorithms in digital marketing technologies use this data to create dynamic football ads that are delivered via channels of choice. A FCPorto fan that regularly uses Instagram could receive dynamic ads with the odds of their next match on the platform’s stories function. AI capabilities in marketing services can use this data to create highly-targeted and customised experiences for fans, resulting in greater brand awareness and acquisition.
How can affiliates navigate the complex regulatory environment surrounding iGaming marketing?
AI-driven tools for personalisation can increase efficiency and reduce advertising waste by focusing on content that is most important to fans. This aligns with current local regulations. It is crucial at the moment when operators are required to supply advertising creatives for hundreds of matches per week played in football’s largest competitions. Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO), powered by AI and automation, is a solution that can address this challenge quickly and efficiently. DCO is used in our Dynamic Display solution, which is industry-specific, to create an endless supply of advertising creatives based on the content preferences of fans and the most popular websites. These creatives are more engaging and increase click-through rates. The custom content in these creatives also saves time and money.
What emerging trends in digital advertising do you see shaping the future of media buying by affiliates? And how can marketers stay ahead of the curve?
Operators who implement efficient marketing strategies will most likely succeed in the market. This is similar to how football clubs allocate their budgets to achieve the best results on the field. Operators can use data and AI in the latest advertising technology to better understand their customers. They can also find their audience more quickly and provide them with content that is relevant for them. To find hidden gems, it’s often necessary to look in places where no one else is looking. In the same way, it is important to have exclusive access when acquiring new betting customers. Our Engagement Tool allows us to work with one operator per geographic market in order to gain visibility for premium publishers within the region. We then use our adtech platform to deliver contextually relevant, automated ads, which in turn leads to strong acquisition results. This could be a trend. It would help balance the competition within the market.
