SimilarWeb recently released its 2020 marketing report: ‘The State of Marketing Intelligence’. 600 individuals from 86 countries were surveyed.
The behaviours of marketers, and what they’re focusing on this year, were identified.
Although paper looks at professionals across multiple digital marketing spectrums, there’s a lot for affiliates to take into consideration.
Here are some of the most important findings that’ll apply to you and your business efforts.
Search and content
There are two big challenges facing site owners these days. The first is that, especially in the gambling industry, competition has risen dramatically. Unlike when it first began, there are countless affiliates in every genre you can think of. And alongside that, Google’s algorithms are ever-changing.
For the most part, Google’s updates continue to become more user-centric. This means that it’s imperative that you know what your audience is looking for. That goes beyond just keywords, too – you need to angle your content appropriately and pick your visuals wisely too.
We should also note that it’s no longer just about typed searches, either. Voice is also growing in importance, especially with improvements being made to language-reading capabilities. With this in mind, it’s perhaps surprising to see that only 12% of marketers in the report were optimising for voice search. But two things can be taken from this. First of all, you can still get an upper hand if you start now. And secondly, that percentage will likely increase before long.
Trust
It always important, but trust is even more significant within iGaming than it has ever been. Part of this is due to the number of operators and affiliates in existence, but changing regulations and a sharper focus on responsible gambling also play roles.
One thing worth noting from SimilarWeb’s paper is that a “lack of transparency is resulting in a low level of trust for affiliates”. Many such sites are viewed as key decision-makers for players. This is especially the case for odds comparison sites, since users often choose who to deposit with based on ratings and the like.
Going forward, there are a variety of ways you can be more transparent. For example, you can build trust amongst players by getting players to review casinos they deposit with. You can also follow the example of Catena Media’s playandsustain.com, which ranks operators by their ethical standards. Whichever path you choose, building trust will increase player loyalty and lead to more repeat visitors.
Attracting better users
Of course, not all traffic is equal. Some affiliates might attract higher visitor volumes, but with lower lifetime values. And now more than ever, quality is key.
47% of users in the report said that organic remained the most effective channel for attracting “high-intent users”. Paid search was close behind, at 41%. Meanwhile, email marketing was at 26% and 14% said that influencers were the most useful.
When you look at the above statistics, it’s possible to argue that it’s best to choose a couple of channels to focus on. For example, you might find that organic is nicely-complemented by influencers. By diversifying your traffic sources but not overwhelming yourself, you can achieve attracting more valuable users.
Final thoughts
SimilarWeb’s report offers a host of ideas for affiliates to apply to their marketing efforts this year. Although many marketers aren’t focusing on voice search yet, this can be viewed as an opportunity to start doing so now.
Content remains key, with users continuing to utilise organic search results to find what they want. This means that you need to be focusing on what they want and considering both the visual and written side of things. If what you produce isn’t relevant, then Google won’t rank you highly – period.
The importance of diversification, but balancing this with not overwhelming yourself, can also be seen in the report. Yes, organic search is still king. But you need to think about broadening your horizons and tapping into other areas. By doing this and gaining a better persona of your users, you’ll stand in a good place to maximise your growth this year.
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