Greg

I wanted to take everyone through a quick run through of the affiliate backend at TowerAffiliates and point out some of the tools that are available. I haven’t really seen this done too often in our industry and I think it’s nice sometimes to see what is out there and how it can be integrated into a marketing plan for your sites.

First off, TowerAffiliates is the affiliate arm of TowerGaming.com We offer poker (Ongame) and Casino (NetEnt), and have a new Sportsbook planned to launch this summer. Players can move funds to their poker and casino accounts through the website. There are loyalty programs on both the casino and poker side as well.

When you first log into the backend you’ll see a few marketing tools available on the left column. These include: banners, text links, email creatives, rss feeds and offline business card templates. There is also a section to set up a sub-affiliate tracker and of course view reports (four types).



Banners are broken into two main categories, Players and Webmasters. Once you choose your market you then select based upon which language you’d like the offer to be presented in. The most popular selection is the auto-updating banner (various sizes) in Global English. However, there are banners available in other languages as well such as German, Swedish, Lithuanian etc. If you have a site that is geo-targeted and you’re looking to increase conversions it’s always a good idea to choose a banner in the language most commonly spoken in that region. Google Analytics offers plenty of free reports that show where your traffic is coming from and the most common language and dialect spoken there. After picking the banner you like you’ll be able to chose the size and tracking link desired. Often times affiliates will set up separate trackers for different sites and campaigns. These are also a nice way to track which banner and offer is performing the best, and adjust internally to boost conversions. This is a very common practice used by super affiliates to tweak landing pages and boost clicks to deposit.

Next down the list is the Text Link section. In this section you can choose from 4 pre-written text links that have your tracking code built in. The wording used in these links has proven to be some of the best available for attracting new players. However, you can always alter the anchor text to whatever phrase you like. Simply copy and paste the code onto your sites and your link is plugged in. These have been shown to work well in correlation with a banner. For instance, some sites will use a small 240x120 banner to promote a deposit bonus and then follow up with a text link promoting the actual dollar amount for free. Mixing up your calls to action and tools are a great way to see what works best for your visitors.

One of my favourite tools are the Email HTML templates available on the site. For affiliates who collect email addresses and have a forum these can be a big help. It takes a lot of time and resources to create a quality mailer. Most affiliates will rely on their affiliate program to provide them with a good creative to use. I understand there is a science involved in converting through email. We have developed some great new email templates for you to use and their available now on the site. There are creatives made for the casino and poker room in both English and German. If you have an email list or even a forum that players go to for new offers and information then you will definitely want to check these out. When you select an email, your tracking code will be built in automatically.

As for RSS feeds, these are an excellent way to keep fresh content coming into the site. I always like placing a feed on my review pages as a way to inform players there is something to be won right now. If you have a review page for TowerGaming then I’d really encourage you to add the RSS feeds. One feed is for new poker tournaments and freerolls. Another popular feed is the Casino Jackpot feed. This is a must for anyone with a casino portal! Usually a solid review, a deposit bonus banner and a jackpot feed are all pieces of a successful offer page. I’ve even seen these used on landing pages and micro blogs as a way to provide updates and fresh news.
Twitter tip: Adding an RSS feed to your twitter account is a great way to provide news and info to your followers.
All the feeds on TowerAffiliates will have your tracker built in as well so there is no coding that needs to be done.



Offline marketing is still a very viable marketing tool in gaming. I knew of several large affiliates who would simply create a landing page (with no SEO) and distribute cards and flyers to players all over. We have developed some really clean business card sized adverts that you can download and use. These are great for in-house promotions and poker/casino pub meetups. If you’re often around potential new players then having one of these professional marketing pieces to send them home with can be a great way to convert a new player. Having something in hand, that tells them where to play and how to receive free money is a great marketing tool used by many of the largest retailers in the world. You never know when you’re going to run into a new player, so being prepared can add to your revenue.

Sub Affiliates can be an amazing source of income for many webmasters. On TowerAffiliates it’s easy to set up your own sub tracker and spread the word that there is a great new place to earn money from. Many affiliates are looking for a new program to promote that converts and takes care of their partners. You may even use some of the copy from this blog post if you like to attract new webmasters to the program – under your tracking link! Simply click on Sub Campaign tracking and add a tracker. There you can chose the tracker type and start earning money from other affiliates.

There certainly are more ways than this to promote our program; but this will give you a good idea of what is available right now. TowerAffiliates is a program that sees affiliates as the most important part of the marketing mix. I am always more than happy to check out your site and give you some ideas on how I feel we could be fit into the mix. If there is something you’d like that you don’t see available please feel free to email or PM me here on the forums. Thanks for all the support. I’ll be looking forward to seeing some responses!

greg@toweraffiliates.com | Skype: gregdpowell | AIM: gregdpowell