We caught up with founder of online gaming site: NoWagering.com, Pavlos Sideris, who is a panelist on our Casino Panel at AffiliateFEST in September. Here, he shares his insight on the recent regulatory rulings concerning transparency and fairness, the effect it may have on the industry and how affiliates in the business can adapt their marketing techniques to comply with advertising guidelines and still add value in a competitive market.
Why are you participating at Affiverse’s AffiliateFEST 2018 – and what do you hope to get out of attending this exclusive affiliate event?
PS: I hope to collect opinions from and learn from other industry experts on topics surrounding the recent regulatory changes in the UK, cryptocurrency and blockchain, AI and machine learning, and general digital marketing in iGaming. As an affiliate entrepreneur it’s important to keep ahead of digital trends so that you can innovate in your own business as the industry continues to change.
Tell us bit about your business experience and background and what you will be able to contribute at this year’s Casino panel discussion at AffiliateFEST
PS: I have been an affiliate for over eight years, starting off in bingo, and now also promoting casino and slots. I have been involved in several affiliate projects over the years, some which have seen relative success, others not so; and as a result gained valuable experience in what works, and what doesn’t from an affiliate marketing perspective so I want to share these insights with new comers to the market so that they can learn and grow their businesses going forward.
Please share a brief synopsis of what affiliates can expect to learn from your workshop or panel session this year?
PS: I hope to convince affiliates, who aren’t already, to take more responsibility for the brands they promote and the customers they are marketing to, and to advocate brands which value fair and favourable practices, especially in regards to overly restrictive and ridiculous wagering requirements, exclusions and limitations that have a negative impact on the industry as a whole.
What have you found are the biggest challenges that small entrepreneurs or solopreneurs like iGaming affiliates face in terms of understanding how to drive traffic in online channels and grow their business to keep up with future trends?
PS: The biggest challenges I have personally found are:-
i) Competing with more established affiliates – in terms of organic search traffic, Google has for some time now favoured reputable brands over generic aggregator sites. The affiliates with the best rankings are primarily strong brands which have been built up over the years. Competing with them on even long-tail terms can be tough, and at best a long term plan.
ii) Prompting engagement, both on social media and on-site. Generally people don’t like to publicly announce that they gamble, and so social media engagement can be very difficult. Additionally, getting users to engage with your website can be difficult, both in terms of convincing them to take the time to engage, but also in terms of not interrupting the ‘customer journey’.
What do you think the future of Affiliate Marketing looks like and what can the delegates attending the event expect to find answers to – what trends are you currently seeing?
As a die-hard affiliate, I should say that the future for affiliate marketing looks more exciting and prosperous than ever, but I do have concerns that with tighter data privacy rules the data that is available to affiliates may become more restricted, and hinder their efforts.
