AffiliateFEST 2018 has come to an end for another year, and it’s fair to say a fantastic day was had by all. As the only igaming affiliate accelerator, a wealth of insight and information was shared by industry experts who attended this exclusive event.
At the start of the day, Affiverse CEO and Founder Lee-Ann Johnstone took to the stage to open the event, with some inspiring words for the budding entrepreneurs in the audience. With energy high in the room and delegates prepared, the first in-depth content session around compliance and regulation began.
On the first panel of the day, the minefield that is regulation for affiliates and operators in igaming was discussed. With so many changes in the industry, this was a massively valuable session for delegates in the room. This panel was comprised of Nick Nocton (Mischon), John Hagan (Harris Hagan) and Jade Zorab (SMP Partners). While their opinions provided valuable insight on the need for affiliate businesses to become more cognisant of building compliant businesses that operate according to regional regulation, it’s safe to say that affiliates took a lot of information away from these legal and compliance experts.
Compliance was the theme of the morning sessions, as Allan Turner (BGO.com) took to stage. With a detailed overview of some of the largest challenges facing affiliates and operators alike in the industry at the moment and how to overcome these challenges the focus of his presentation. With the landscape shifting on a near daily basis, this gave our delegates an interesting outlook on the industry and a simplistic look at how to ensure they were advertising operator offers in a clear and compliant fashion to avoid costly fines.
After a quick refreshment and networking break, delegates were back in the room with a spotlight on mobile and app marketing with Nick Duddy (Miratrix). With the mobile bingo and casino scene so competitive, app marketing may potentially be the answer for some smaller affiliates and operators to find niches to acquire new clients. A detailed summary of his findings in how the App Store algorithm is influencing conversion and driving traffic provided a lot of insight for affiliates looking to expand their traffic sources.
Next up a panel of experts discussed the future of esports, fantasy and social betting. This session invited Mikko Miettinen (Fantasy Sports Consultant), Fabien Humbert (Pixel.bet), Joakim Renman (Scout Gaming) hosted by affiliate marketing veteran Sarafina Wolde Gabriel (Paysafe Group, Income Access) as the moderator. This was a great panel to give affiliates the inside scoop on where the industry was headed and how their was incredible value to be had from these verticals. They discussed statistical data, growth opportunities and how valuable these players were over time, offering affiliates the opportunity to really get a clear understanding of the opportunity this vertical presented.
After this panel, SEO guru and ex-Google engineer Fili Weise (Search Brothers) graced the stage for his session on Understanding Google Penalties. With such a major focus on SEO in the affiliate industry, understanding how to overcome these penalties and why they might happen is essential for any affiliate marketer. As a former Google employee, Fili was able to bring a huge amount of information to our delegates, in an interesting and engaging way.
Next on the AffiliateEFEST 2018 agenda was experienced blockchain and igaming expert Jan Sammut (Reftoken.io). Jan took us through the emergence of smart contracts and how Blockchain is influencing the affiliate channel now and in the future. These terms are thrown around a lot in our industry, but many of us don’t really know their practical applications. This session was fantastic for showing where they can be used in the affiliate model and the potential impact this futuristic tech could have on affiliate businesses.
With plenty of networking accounted for on the day, we were onto the next afternoon and final session. The casino and bingo panel discussion covered a full overview of where the casino space was headed, and how casino affiliates could look to differentiate to find value niche’s. Our panel participants, Diana Rotaru (Blockchip), Toby Oddy (Digital Fuel), Sue Dawson (FTD Digital) and Pavlos Sideris (NoWagering.com), exercised their wide-spanning knowledge and experience, giving their views on the outlook of the market. They also discussed where and how wagering requirements may change the face of affiliates building not only a source of traffic but a brand and community alongside to engage audiences and collaborate better with operators.
Finally, our keynote speaker Ben Jeffries (Influencer.com) took to the stage. He explained the convergence of influencer marketing and how this likened to affiliate marketing, stressing how affiliates could look to explore the opportunity to become a nano influencer and add a diversified revenue stream to their existing commercial revenue streams. This was a valuable session for our delegates, to keep abreast of digital disruption and marketing tactics that could help them generate even more revenue within their existing business models.
We’d like to thank all of our speakers, sponsors and of course our valued affiliate delegates for attending AffiliateFEST 2018 and making it possible for us to collaborate, share knowledge, learn and grow the affiliate channel. Watch out for more information about our future educational events and how you can attend and learn from industry experts to grow your affiliate business to the next level!
