What is the best type of affiliate incentive?

[Laura B]

Hi,

I'm interested in what affiliates like in terms of incentives and how you like to see them structured. Whether it be for new affiliates and/or when you're already signed up to a program.

So, is it best to offer money or prizes? Do you like gifts or events tickets for prizes? What's incentives have worked well for affiliates in the past? What motivates you to give that extra push?

Would like some opinions please, don't be shy

Thanks,
Laura

[casinobonusguy]

For us it is all about the % of re share and being paid on time ,then I can get my own gifts Free trips are nice though and sometimes inspire us to do extra special work

[Laura B]

Thanks for that!

Have you had free trips before then? and what type of trips? Like, weekend abroad or days out? I'm really curious (...and jealous).

[matted]

I think CBG was pretty accurate.

#1 thing is always the basics - pro affiliate attitude, good customer service, payments on time, fresh creatives, and honest business practices.

After that...

Promotions should apply to ALL affiliates, not just the top 5. There are many ways to give all affiliates a fair shot at the prize.

Cash is always good. Trips rank highly, but are difficult for part timers like myself with a full time career, a wife, and a couple younger kids.

And I think too many programs go wrong offering some huge package to one winner... giving a little something to many affiliates is more enticing, IMO.

[TheGooner]

Incentives? Not required. Certainly they're not part of any criteria that I have for a program or consider when signing up.

Affiliate competitions and the like are a waste of time, we consider it very unlikely that we will be the "best performer", or "generate most sales in a month" or whatever is the target - so they never attract a greater focus.

All we want from the affiliate program/team/manager is a good base revshare percentage, competent communications, and reliable payments.

[buyonaut]

Mambo-jumbo or incentives are waste of time if you ask me; better to focus on players bonuses and promotions.

Affiliates will see good offer straight away and put your material on their sites in no time, with freebies or without them.

I want good commission, no negative carry over, answers and help from affiliate team when I need it, nice set of creatives and payments to be done on time/regularly.

Long term business does not require any freebies for affiliates, only good bonuses for players when they sign up and some extras for those same players to keep them aboard. This is the best incentive you can give us

[gamblingbutler]

I certainly agree with the Gooner and the others who pointed out what is most important, however this is not really an answer to your question, so if I thought incentives were important, I'd have to say...

• affiliate freerolls because they can be fun
• trips to nice and interesting locations because I know that the wifes (husbands or better halfs of any kind) will appreciate a chance to get away
• better bonuses/promotions for the players

And I strongly disagree with the tenor that incentives are not important for any affiliate. Don't speak for others, some (or many or more than you think anyway) may choose an aff program that offers an incentive of any kind over another (maybe even better) one just because they consider the incentive a nice enough gesture. A lot of affiliates out there and they are not all alike...

[Laura B]

Thanks gamblingbutler.

I know it will be difficult to generalise as everyone is different...

Is this because the guys who have been in the affiliate game the longest are less interested in incentives than the people who are newer to the industry?

[Christoff]

From my experience promotions that appeal to the widest range of affiliates are the most successful.

At my previous company we took 10 affiliates to New York for 5 days which was great but this appealed to the top tier unfortunately.

What do you guys (affiliates) think to promotions based on referring following webmasters/affiliates? The webmaster world is quite small and word of mouth is quite important from what I see and hear.

[AcceleratedSports]

Does BetFair accept US players?

[AcceleratedSports]

By the way, I have been in the business for a long time (almost 10 years) and I was just treated to a lavish trip to Vegas for Superbowl weekend by one of my newer affiliate programs. I enjoyed it very much and would love it if more of my affiliate programs did stuff like this. However, I'd prefer honest tracking over anything. Incentives and other perks are just a smokescreen if the brand isn't doing business ethically with their affiliates.

On-time payments, personal bonus offers, a good affiliate manager that is willing to help in anyway, etc...are all important. But, that is to be assumed if the book is serious about their affiliates and their affiliate business.

[AK]

Hi,

I'm interested in what affiliates like in terms of incentives and how you like to see them structured. Whether it be for new affiliates and/or when you're already signed up to a program.

So, is it best to offer money or prizes? Do you like gifts or events tickets for prizes? What's incentives have worked well for affiliates in the past? What motivates you to give that extra push?

Would like some opinions please, don't be shy

Thanks,
Laura

I won a Harley Davidson before from a program. I have been faithful to them since. Paid trips to conferences or meetings is always a nice perk.

[cameronlove4]

I absolutely agree with "Matted". Money is always good but it is better when it is disbursed on time. I think free trips are a bit tricky...so, I better avoid such offers. Payment on time is the need of the hour. With the increase of number of Affiliates all over the world the online casinos are making loads of money. But on many cases, when it comes to payment to the affiliates, many online casinos feel the pinch on their purse. Damn! The total number of Online casino affiliate scams are increasing at a rapid pace.

I think CBG was pretty accurate.

#1 thing is always the basics - pro affiliate attitude, good customer service, payments on time, fresh creatives, and honest business practices.

After that...

Promotions should apply to ALL affiliates, not just the top 5. There are many ways to give all affiliates a fair shot at the prize.

Cash is always good. Trips rank highly, but are difficult for part timers like myself with a full time career, a wife, and a couple younger kids.

And I think too many programs go wrong offering some huge package to one winner... giving a little something to many affiliates is more enticing, IMO.

[Laura B]

Hi AcceleratedSports,

I've sent you a PM about US players.

Thanks,
Laura

Does BetFair accept US players?

[Laura B]

Can I ask what the competition was, and what you had to do to win that?

I won a Harley Davidson before from a program.

[Betpartners]

Incentives mean absolutely diddly squat to me

Just do your jobs right and we will be happy

Thus the fact that so many affiliates are not happy should tell the AM's something dont you think.

Time is fast approaching where i will only deal with AM's that do the basics right and so my days as an affiliate may well be numbered as i will refuse to communicate with the VAST majority of them.

Sad state of affairs.

In fact the Oscars have the Golden Raspberry awards opposite them, maybe affiliates should set up an awards dinner on the same night as the IGBAwards, call it the Golden Shower awards.

There will be a whole lot more categories and winners in those awards to be sure and desreved for the most part.

[ShelbyIA]

Just do your jobs right and we will be happy

This is an overlooked point, but the purpose behind a lot of affiliate promotions is not simply to reward affiliates who preform well, but also to draw some attention to their program.

One of the biggest huddles for new affiliate programs is brand recognition, getting your brand out there is easier if you have something a little different to offer affiliates.

That being said affiliates will quickly see thought the smoke screen if the AM doesn't have the skill to back up their fancy promotions, so managers that do the job right will ALWAYS be the most important part of an affiliate program.

[casino2k.com]

Every incentive is welcome: trips, cash, gifts....
A recognition for your hard work is always appreciated.

[TheMad4Company]

Reading through the replies to this thread I have to say I pretty much agree with everyone.

Incentives aren't always the most important part of an affiliate program, paid on time, no negative carry over and service are the most important, amoungst others of course.

But when you think about being in a normal 9 - 5 job you generally expect to get a bonus when working for that company. I suppose in a way when affilaites receive an incentive it is sort of their bonus in one way or another.

So the wider the incentive reaches across all affiliates the better and there is no real preferred incentive, it is how much you can realistically achieve that incentive that counts in my opinion.

[Laura B]

Thanks for everyones opinions here. Obviously, each person has a different idea about what they want from a affiliate program. But it's good to get a variety of thoughts on this.

Cheers,
Laura