Affiliate Manager: Every week we speak to job candidates who would like to get a job interview for an affiliate manager position in Malta. In this article, we will tell you more about the popular role, daily responsibilities, and which requirements you need to become an affiliate manager. The affiliate manager should have a wide knowledge of several marketing techniques as well as be experienced in the iGaming field, be updated on compliance, and offer customer service excellence.

The importance of Affiliate Marketing

Have you ever visited an online casino that includes a link stating “become an affiliate”? Affiliate marketing has become an increasing trend in many industries and iGaming is not the exception. The reason behind this is that it generates profit for all parties involved.
All online casinos have affiliate managers to handle online affiliate programs. Depending on the number of transactions and affiliate partners involved, some businesses have an impressive affiliate team covering several languages and various markets.
Affiliate marketing offers online gambling companies the opportunity to market its product by investing in a lower budget and using fewer resources. It certainly helps create brand awareness and these affiliate partnerships promote business growth while guaranteeing a higher return on investment from loyal players and a better conversion rate.

What is an affiliate manager?

An affiliate manager is responsible for handling the company’s affiliate programs and has the knowledge when it comes to promoting a brand in casinos or sports betting through different marketing partners. The person oversees every aspect: communication with existing affiliates, reactivating inactive affiliates, recruiting new affiliates and leading the onboarding process, and making sure communication and marketing are compliant and within the regulative framework.
In addition, the affiliate manager handles communications with existing affiliates, attending to their queries and solving any possible issues that might come up along the way.
Main responsibilities of an Affiliate Manager
To be able to plan, execute and enjoy successful business with affiliate partners, the affiliate manager needs to be familiar with MGA, SGA, UKGC, or Spanish gaming regulations, it’s important to have completed training in Responsible Gaming and AML and be knowledgeable about KYC. Affiliate managers are sometimes leaders in Customer service excellence because they communicate 24/7 through emails, phones, and chat while being able to provide exclusive marketing promotions, special casino bonuses, and tailor-made content. This is how successful businesses are being developed!
– Bringing onboard new affiliates will grow the database of online customers playing casinos and betting on sports
– Knowledge about which deals to offer to affiliates (CPA, Revenue Share, and Hybrid)
– Updated on popular streamers who are active on social media, Twitch, and YouTube
– Liaise with the Finance team to make sure all invoices are paid on time

Main skills for an affiliate manager

The affiliate manager is a confident communicator, has impressive networking skills, and know-how to negotiate. Considering that the key task is to educate affiliates, promote a special product portfolio, and increase business revenue, an affiliate manager should offer excellent support, impressive product knowledge, and have analytical skills to be able to present reports and future casino promotions.
– Deep understanding of affiliation and partnerships in the iGaming industry
– Strong general understanding of both legal, technical, web, and marketing
– Conversion optimization experience
– Basic HTML/CSS knowledge and ability to think like a webmaster
– Content marketing knowledge and how SEO works
– General knowledge about regulative matters and compliance
– Knowledge about social media, streamers, and influencers
– Data-driven mindset: strong analytics abilities
– Numerate and a liking for Excel

The affiliate manager will support affiliates

When approached the right way, an affiliate program can be an easy and lucrative strategy for an online casino. Having an in-house affiliate manager allows organizations to create a program that will bring important benefits to the business and affiliates. The role of the affiliate manager will create strategies to ensure key advantages i.e low start-up costs as the affiliate partners will create their marketing content strategies. That’s why it is important to carefully select affiliates. With the right affiliates, the product will be exposed to individuals that might be interested in gaming and gambling online.

In addition to managing the onboarding process for new affiliates, providing support, and being innovative to optimize performance, it’s also important to ensure that all affiliates and their marketing activities are compliant with T&Cs and Government Regulations. That’s why the affiliate manager should work closely with marketing partners and develop strong business relationships:
– Create newsletters to share educational content
– Research keywords and conversion data to create effective and relevant content ideas
– Find and introduce new channels to explore new markets: Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Twitter
– Creating reports and analyses on affiliate performance to help grow NGR, ROI, and real money players

Conclusion

An affiliate manager is a person who understands marketing and gets things done. If you have communication skills, know how to negotiate, and know iGaming then you will enjoy this role. If the affiliate manager understands web development, link/tracking, and can tailor-make casino deals then affiliates and webmasters will enjoy dealing with you and your company. As the affiliate market grows, the need for affiliate managers does as well. Researches show that 2022 will be a huge year for affiliate programs, offering great revenue to all parties involved and the affiliate manager role will be one of the most popular iGaming career jobs in Malta to keep an eye on.