Affiliate marketing with email newsletters to gambling offers. Is it possible to attract large volumes of traffic from this source in 2023?

Many arbitrageurs are not interested in working with email newsletters, as they believe that this source has lost its relevance and is not worth investing time, effort, and money in. However, even with little experience, you can achieve high efficiency and conversion rates by working with high-quality creos and offers from recognizable advertisers. Especially in the gambling vertical.

To create this article, we engaged Dmytro, Head of Affiliate iGaming partner TheAFF, to share his expert opinion. He shared his expert opinion on working with gambling offers in email newsletters, providing answers to the most relevant questions. You can find out more about the offers and tools offered by the affiliate in the «Aff networks» section.

Are email newsletters really dead for traffic arbitrage?

Today, it seems that email is no longer a popular method of communication. Advertisers prefer messengers and social networks. But dry statistics show that despite the emergence of numerous new online platforms, the popularity of email services is only growing. This is especially evident in the burgeoning geo-sector. According to Statista, the number of subscribers to email newsletters is also constantly growing. Thus, in 2020, there were ~3.9 billion newsletter users, and according to the latest forecasts, by 2024, the number is expected to grow to 4.5+ billion. Across industries, the average email open rate is 22%, and the average number of clicks in an open email is 4%. Moreover, in Western geos from the Tier-1 segment, about 60% of users buy online thanks to emails.

In terms of audience response, email newsletters outperform social media. So, even in 2023, email newsletters are a great tool for initial and repeated lead acquisition. However, to be successful with email newsletters, you need to go beyond the usual approaches and create customized and creative emails.

Strengths and weaknesses of email newsletters

To begin with, we suggest paying attention to the advantages of email newsletters for the gambling vertical.

• You can attract the most targeted audience due to the fact that potential players voluntarily agree to receive thematic emails. Moreover, the number of new subscribers in the database can be increased by collecting it organically.
• The user base can be nurtured over a long period of time by offering new offers and bonus offers to the audience.
• You can place links to several offers in one email. This significantly increases the chance that the subscriber will be interested in at least one of them and make a deposit.
• The email format with the correct layout allows webmasters to add a lot of graphic elements and warm-up information to the creative, which the reader can interact with a single tap on the screen.
• Automatic adaptation of email design on different devices on the side of email services.
• The mailing process is easily automated.

Now, as for the disadvantages, there are not so many of them, but they do exist. And the main one is that users ignore emails or take them for outright spam. If a subscriber is not interested in the offer, they are likely to not only not click on the creative, but also delete the email, marking it as spam in advance.

The second nuance is the high level of competition due to the fact that large iGaming advertisers and online casinos are very active in using this traffic source. Besides, this is not the kind of advertising format where you can aggressively attack the audience with your creos, trying to encourage them to perform a targeted action in the first email.

What are the pros and cons of such a traffic source as email newsletters specifically for arbitrage in the iGaming vertical?

Dmytro, Head of Affiliate TheAFF

«In my opinion, e-mail traffic is very underestimated in our vertical. In fact, with the right approach (not just spamming a database that has been resold a hundred times), it can generate very high quality for any product. But very often we face the fact that advertisers are not very willing to experiment and give good bids for this kind of traffic.»

Email types for affiliate marketing

Each gambling or betting offer requires a unique approach and communication. Email newsletters can offer different types of emails according to the targeted purpose. Webmasters who are focused on iGaming often use the following four main formats:

• Educational materials. The body of the email briefly describes a unique method of making money on online casinos and smoothly leads the recipient to the fact that there is a step-by-step guide in the attached file that allows to do it quickly. The text of the guide contains referral links to the offer.
• Announcements. Short emails with an obvious gambling design that inform about promotions and special offers from the offer and motivate to make a deposit.
• Newsletters from an «expert» resource. A good option for those who collect e-mail databases on their own gambling websites. The emails contain detailed information about the appearance of a «new» offer or several offers at once.
• Triggers. This format is often used for the audience that has already registered and is playing. Such emails usually offer similar offers.

What type of emails should you choose to send?

Dmytro, Head of Affiliate TheAFF

«You shouldn’t use a missive or clickbait – it always leads to a decrease in quality. In many cases, you can consult with the product to find out which emails bring the best results. These can be top slots, casino showcases, new interesting bonuses, or tournaments on the product.

We also recommend registering with the product and following the email newsletters they send to keep up with the latest news.

E-mail is not about spam, but about performing the same role as the product’s customer service department, but to your personal databases.»

Which creatives and geos in this variety perform better in iGaming offers?

«Creative should fuel the player’s excitement and interest. Remember that gambling is about excitement, enjoyment of the game, and a good time. Newsy approaches and luxury lifestyle are definitely not for email sourcing.»

To get a good ROI, it’s important to not only choose a short and triggering headline at the email creation stage, but also to divide the main content into short blocks to make it easier for the user to perceive the information.

Where to get email databases for traffic arbitrage campaigns

In order to simplify and speed up a significant part of routine processes, webmasters prefer to buy ready-made consumables. However, such off-the-shelf databases, which were collected by an unknown person and when, often contain bots.

Also, newcomers to this business are often tempted to use free databases.

Is it possible to make money through email newsletters using only free databases?

Dmytro, Head of Affiliate TheAFF

«For the best results, you should use databases that you have collected yourself, for example, through a Facebook contact form. If you buy databases, be sure to check them and validate them to weed out all the irrelevant stuff.»

Here are a few basic ways to collect the database on your own:

• Placing a subscription form on your own or a third-party website in a sidebar, footer, pop-up, online chat, or on a separate page.

• A form for comments and feedback on websites. To leave a comment, the user must provide his or her e-mail address.

• A landing page. This option requires users to fill out a registration form to receive bonuses, manuals, etc. Traffic to such landing pages can be attracted, for example, from advertising networks through push notifications or banners.

• Social networks. In most social networks, you can place an iframe subscription form that can be used to collect emails. For example, Facebook allows you to run ads for the purpose of «lead generation», where the user will be redirected to the subscription form by clicking the «Subscribe» button in the ad. The audience can be attracted by offering bonuses or any other benefit, or simply by merging traffic from a paid advertising campaign.

• Chatbots in messengers. In this case, the newsletter is a great way to demonetize players.
• A newsletter subscription button in the body of an email that contains useful information for the user.

Also, with the growing popularity of streams, you can encourage viewers to fill out a short Google form to receive emails with referral links that can be used to receive bonuses.

The «headshot» principle in email campaigns no longer works

At the stage of creating a funnel campaign to attract high-quality traffic, it is important to understand the purpose of each individual email. Depending on this, you develop the subject line, type of content, schedule, and type of campaign.

The mechanics of actions consist of combining several strategies at once. In the first and most important email, you should try to interest the user with useful information. This will be the reason for sending a second email, in which you can ask whether this information was useful and announce tournaments and sweepstakes that will be held on the offline in the coming days. And in the third email, you should offer bonus spins, promo codes, etc. with a mention of their limited validity. If a certain part of users did not take advantage of the offer, it is worth using redirects (similar to retargeting on social media).

What else should websites working with email campaigns pay attention to increase conversion?

Dmytro, Head of Affiliate TheAFF

«Remember that advertisers are interested in working in the long term, so always focus on the quality of your traffic. Thanks to this, you will always be able to expand your cap and bump your bid. The long-term perspective is the key to success. Importantly, don’t stop sending emails to players who have already made a deposit. Separate them into a separate chain and work on it as carefully as you do with non-depositors. Keep warming up players to keep them playing and not losing interest.

When it comes to increasing conversion, always use a relevant product promo, appropriate regional slang, and regional peculiarities.»

What metrics should you pay more attention to in email campaigns?

Dmytro, Head of Affiliate TheAFF

«Delivery rate, Open Rate (the number of emails opened divided by the number of emails received and multiplied by 100), Click Through Rate (CTR), host2reg, reg2dep, and Repeat Rate (the number of redeposits). It’s important to track conversions (CR) at every stage of the funnel.

And finally, we’d like to add a little email summary:

• collect databases yourself;
• if you buy databases, always evaluate the quality of what you bought;
• segment your database into categories and work with each one separately;
• position your work as an external retention department of the product.

This is the approach that will allow you to produce quality. The option of coming, pouring in bad traffic, and then leaving does not work with this kind of stuff.»

Is it possible to make money from email traffic arbitrage in gambling today?

Email campaigns in the iGaming niche no longer work on the principle of spam and require more skillful and subtle approaches, as in poker. In this kind of marketing, it is important to pay attention to the quality of the email database, create the most relevant funnel to attract the target audience, and analyze and optimize advertising campaigns. By following these simple rules, you can safely count on attracting high rollers. Such traffic has a good chance not only to pay off but also to bring extremely high ROI. Moreover, even from one email database, you can successfully generate traffic for several years.