“Be unique and stop using templates in affiliate marketing” – Olessia Selitsky
Olessia Selitsky, Affiliate Account Manager at Wildgamblers, joins the latest series of affiliate interviews on Affiliate Grand Slam
Olessia Selitsky Affiliate Account Manager, and the rest of the team of Wildgamblers, filter offers carefully, follow trends, and try to offer compelling offers. They hand-pick projects with an impeccable reputation, where their visitors can safely entertain themselves. They work hard to create a one-of-a-kind concept – follow her story below.
How did your Wildgamblers take off? Is iGaming your only vertical?
The story of our project started during the quarantine in June 2020. During lockdown, we had plenty of free time and decided to invest it in a new ambitious project. We are a team of bright individuals including an SEO manager, an email marketer, a front-end developer, a designer, a copywriter, and an affiliate manager. Isn’t it a perfect combination?
iGaming is our only vertical. However, there are some cryptocurrencies in the project for people who can no longer imagine iGaming without BTC.
Tell us a bit more about Wildgamblers’ concept and features.
Wildgamblers is a unique B2C platform. There is a tough competition in the market. Some platforms attract audience by the magic of SEO tools, others find rather unconventional ways to generate traffic. However, very few websites can offer an all-inclusive platform where one can find information about brand-new casinos, renowned brands, a bonus blog, as well as the best gaming news. Large gambling networks offer high-quality content, advanced usability, and a well-designed mobile version, but they often forget about real-time interaction with their audience. We learned these lessons of our competitors and decided to create a platform based on dialogue with our audience. We carefully filter offers, follow trends, and try to offer compelling bonuses. Thanks to our talented designer and a front-end manager, we promptly implement brand-new ideas of our Wildgambler fellows which they kindly share on our website, not to mention ideas from our providers in the framework of media partnership. We have been trying hard to create a one-of-a-kind concept. Our priorities were to create fascinating design and engaging content for our audience. In our opinion, an online casino portal should keep up with the online casino design, be unique, avoid ready-to-use templates and regularly provide updated content relevant to the needs of its audience.
If, for the desktop version, we focused on providing attractive promotional materials, for the mobile version, unfortunately, we had to sacrifice our dazzling design in order to speed up the loading, but the system with casino awards and achievements perfectly took the hold of it! We actively cooperate with leading developers and game studios in the framework of media partnerships. Today Wildgamers is the official media partner of prominent studios such as Wazdan, BGaming, Tom Horm, Evoplay, PearFiction, and more.
We are especially proud of our system of awards, which was very much welcomed by our audience. It makes it easy to choose the projects presented on our website: we have 40 items in 4 different categories, in total. Recently, we have launched a brand-new category – a casino collection which includes those brands that did not fall into the 4 main categories, but are worthy of attention.
Tell us a bit more about your plans, project growth, and problems.
Surprisingly, the main challenge in this business is not market competition, but a lack of understanding of pricing policy by the owners of new brands. Many new brands want to make money without investing it in the first place. We offer two options for cooperation – RevShare and placement on one website, or listing with placement on all websites with the connection of email resources.
Our project is developing quite quickly. Today we already have 4 websites at our disposal. 3 of them are pretty standard, but they very useful for SEO management. Wildgamblers uses email marketing tools to convert flow of incoming visitors to organic traffic.
We are constantly looking for innovative approaches to expand our activities and remain open to cooperation offers. In addition to SEO and email traffic, we plan to connect stream projects, as well as launch our own channel, where we will assess the brands with votes of our visitors.
What sets you apart from other affiliates and what makes your traffic proposition/traffic sites unique?
First of all, we are recognised by the high quality of our work. We are very serious about what we do and careful to every detail including harmony between our logo and style of background on the website. We are very selective in our commercial choices and we do not host every brand. Our audience values it and stays with us, follows our news, and interacts with us on a daily basis.
Secondly, we have a very strong team. Our major advantage is the perfect synergy in our team. We have amateur players in our team who perfectly understand how our users think. That’s why we build our project the way the player would like to see it. In the meantime, our specialists in affiliate marketing apply their in-depth knowledge and impressive experience in online casinos to meet the expectations of our visitors. At the same time, we remain flexible in cooperation with our partners because we know the pitfalls of partnership programs and build effective relationships to make mutually beneficial deals.
What importance do you give to responsible gaming?
Irresponsible approach of brands in relation to the consumers is unacceptable for us. Frankly speaking, we have experience receiving tempting but illegal cooperation offers, but never allowed commercial interest to surpass integrity in our relationships with people who trust us. After all, would we play in such a dangerous place ourselves? No way. We have hand-picked projects with an impeccable reputation, where our visitors can safely entertain themselves.
What motivates you to promote more, and what helps you boost your motivation?
Having looked through thousands of sites, among which only a few met our requirements, we decided to show HOW to make a product and what the player really needs. In the process, many more cool ideas are born, and as we implement them it motivates us to create new ones. One of the coolest ideas was a patreon account with the opportunity for everyone to support us financially. I am confident that people like what we do.
Which markets do you focus on and do you see any potential in the emerging markets?
We have 4 websites. 3 of them are being promoted in those markets where there are no strict rules and requirements for licenses yet. Our main project covers all markets. Although we are not in the top positions in countries such as Canada, or Finland yet, our goal is to create a multilingual solution and we are working on it. I’m sure we will succeed.
How do you choose your operators and how do you manage relationships with them?
We are constantly looking for new projects. If there is an interesting product that might be attractive to our users, we immediately contact the owners and invite them to establish mutually beneficial partnership. At the same time, our mailbox and LinkedIn are full of incoming offers. But one should understand that the more brands the less conversion, so we do not strive to become a warehouse.
How important is social media activity for your affiliate business? How difficult is it with Google’s constant updates?
It seems to me that today social media no longer works. One extra step and your content is blocked. This is more suitable for media buying, special schemes for working with Facebook. The only option is LinkedIn which helps building B2B relationships. Everything else is a matter of Google content and ranking.
What does it take for an affiliate business to thrive?
You need to understand what you are doing today should get you the results that you can build on tomorrow. Because tomorrow there will be something else to do to get what you want. You need a consistent work plan that will lead your business to success. Consistent content, competent SEO link building, and market trend alignment are all about strategy. It is also very important to build relationships, because networking and reputation is above all.
Which qualities and skills are essential in an affiliate team/business?
You need to be a professional in your business. We are all workaholics. I have less experience in affiliate marketing than my colleagues, and for a while I even had to delete Instagram, TikTok and other entertainment in order to quickly improve myself professionally. It sounds awful to a girl.
Which emerging technologies like AI and big data will impact the affiliate industry in 2021 and beyond?
It’s hard to say how the AI will impact affiliate programs, because many of them have remained the same as they were 5 years ago (as my colleagues say). Many affiliate programs are far from AI. You know, some of them still do not have the function of sorting clicks by market or country and have to use additional paid third-party tools.
How can affiliates be more unique in their approach?
You should invest in your project as much time as possible because it will pay off in the future. Listen to the audience – sometimes they suggest unique stuff and incredible strategies. Do not get hung up on commerce, because creative stuff doesn’t always seem profitable at first. And most importantly, stop using the same website templates, nobody likes it. Watch leading market players and do buy online courses with fake promises such as ‘how to get rich quickly on ready-made schemes in affiliate marketing’. If you do not have the necessary skills to implement specific tasks, hire freelancers, it is not expensive.
Can you foresee any growth for the affiliate business industry? Why and by how much?
If we compare affiliate business today and a couple of years ago, there is remarkable growth. But at the same time, business is becoming more complex due to local restrictions and innovations. As soon as one of the directions gains momentum, it is immediately sharply limited. You need to follow the trends and manage to ride the wave. Internet technologies are becoming more accessible, the number of users is increasing, and there is tough competition in the market. Even if large companies have already occupied their niches, do not despair – there are always options to find your place in the avalanche of Internet traffic.
Have you ever been to SiGMA? SiGMA Europe, Africa, Asia, or Americas – which of these four expo shows would you likely book on your diary for 2021, COVID-19 permitting?
Together with my husband, I was attending SIGMA in Europe. I was impressed by the exhibition and the amazing opportunities for networking with renowned brands. Sometimes big brands seem out of reach, but here they are in front of you, just like you, full of energy and eager to communicate.
Of course, as a woman, I simply have to visit the charming and sunny Malta as soon as the restrictions are lifted. We would also be happy to visit Manila, you know, I’m crazy about Asia. As far as the Asian market is concerned, this is a very attractive destination. There are no plans for America yet, not many operators have good payment solutions for this market.
Tell us a bit about yourself – after all, business is done with people, not just companies! Your hobbies, favourite book, favourite quote, whether you are into Gaming yourself, etc.
It sounds funny, but I have a medical degree. For several years now I have been playing video slots and this sparked my interest in affiliate marketing. The lockdown was a great opportunity for me to get professional training and specialise in this field. It’s like rediscovering yourself. Talk shows are full of this kind of stories, you know. I wouldn’t say I have ever had big wins. I wish I loved roulette or poker, but you can’t tell your heart.
Is there any woman who doesn’t like to travel? I love traveling, but I’m terribly afraid to fly. I am in love with Asia and would love to move to China with my husband. I admire their culture. I really like the cities where SiGMA is held. We will definitely see you there, see you!
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