In the intensely competitive iGaming landscape, effective affiliate marketing is the lifeblood of player acquisition and sustained growth. Navigating this dynamic sphere requires a blend of strategic vision, keen market understanding, and a relentless focus on data. At the forefront of this crucial discipline for 1xSlots Online Casino is David Arutinyan, Head of Affiliates. Since joining in July 2023, David has been instrumental in shaping a multi-faceted approach to affiliate partnerships, SEO, and media buying, designed to maximise reach and revenue.

iGaming Times sat down with David to discuss his immediate priorities upon joining 1xSlots, his strategies for optimising affiliate relationships, and his outlook on the future of iGaming affiliation.

iGaming Times: David, as Head of Affiliates at 1xSlots since July 2023, you lead a comprehensive team covering affiliate partnerships, SEO, and media buying. What were your immediate priorities upon joining, and what key strategies have you implemented to drive growth in this crucial business vertical?

David Arutinyan: When I joined in 2023, my immediate priority was evaluating our existing partnerships. After this assessment, I began restructuring our acquisition team. Our team is now organised into three main channels: affiliate, SEO, and media buying. Within each of these, we have further subgroups based on traffic sources and regions. For the affiliate team specifically, we created regional and traffic-source based subgroups and started recruiting junior managers. This structured ecosystem and clear process definition have been absolutely crucial in helping us manage our rapid growth effectively.

iGaming Times: Your role involves identifying new affiliates and optimising existing relationships. What criteria does 1xSlots prioritise when seeking new affiliate partners, and what specific methods or initiatives do you employ to ensure current partners are consistently optimising their performance and long-term value?

David Arutinyan: Our criteria largely depend on the specific traffic source and region. Every traffic source undergoes its own unique evaluation process. However, there are several “soft” parameters we always consider when selecting new partners:

Firstly, communication skills are vital. When a partner is presenting their product-which in this case is traffic-they must be able to fully describe what they are selling: the type of traffic, its source, specific parameters, and so on.

Secondly, we look for a strong working mindset over simply a friendly relationship. Of course, we strive to build good, non-binding relationships with our partners, and I can tell you that the most profitable collaborations often emerge from such connections. However, both sides need to remember that the primary goal is achieving results.

Thirdly, fast support from the partner is essential.

Beyond these, we have strict evaluation criteria for partners based on traffic quality. Our short-term evaluation parameters include: FTD (First Time Depositor) count, Deposit Sum, Average Deposit, Redeposit Sum, Unique Redeposit Count, and Active Players Percentage. For long-term evaluation, we consider all these short-term metrics, plus ROMI (Return on Marketing Investment) and LTV (Lifetime Value).

iGaming Times: You’re tasked with identifying new ideas, tests, and experiments to innovate within the affiliate ecosystem, including working with networks, key opinion leaders, and social media influencers. Can you share an example of a recent innovative campaign or approach that has yielded significant positive results for 1xSlots?

David Arutinyan: At 1xSlots, we always allocate a portion of our marketing budget specifically for new ideas and experimentation. This year, for instance, we significantly optimised our social media marketing strategy and established a completely new department dedicated to media buying. Their efforts in creating fresh, engaging content gave us a substantial boost in Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) of more than 20%. We also implemented a new retention strategy using AI systems. We are very much keeping up with new trends in AI and are increasingly utilising it for design purposes within our marketing efforts.

iGaming Times: 1xSlots boasts over 10,000 games from 100+ providers, including slots, live casino, and more. How does your affiliate marketing strategy adapt to effectively promote such a vast and diverse game library, ensuring that different game types receive optimal exposure and appeal to their respective player segments?

David Arutinyan: We position ourselves as a comprehensive website offering a vast variety of slots and casino games, and we consistently strive to have the best Return-To-Player (RTP) rate in the market. Firstly, we have an internal team of game developers who continuously conduct market research to identify trending games and providers, ensuring they are swiftly added to our expansive list. The second crucial part is the RTP rate itself. If you compare us to many other casinos, you’ll notice a difference. We are always working to establish the best possible communication with platform and game providers. We actively attend conferences, meet-ups, and constantly negotiate for the best deals. The “secret trick” isn’t a secret at all: it’s consistent communication and a dedicated working mindset.

iGaming Times: With the site available in 60 languages and 20+ languages for online support, 1xSlots has a significant global footprint. How do you tailor your affiliate marketing efforts, including content, promotions, and partner selection, to effectively penetrate and perform in diverse international markets?

David Arutinyan: We primarily operate in Tier 3 countries, and when we plan to expand into a new market, our first step is always thorough localisation. Currently, our top market is Latin America, encompassing Argentina, Mexico, Chile, and Colombia. For this region, our website is fully localised for the audience, which includes not just language and currency support, but also a dedicated local retention team and specific affiliate partnership channels. We firmly believe that a strong presence necessitates true localisation, and we apply this same rigorous approach to all other markets we target. Our corporate structure and culture are designed to provide a very comfortable workplace for people from different nationalities and local residents, fostering a synergy where everyone works together towards the same goals to provide the best support and ecosystem for players.

iGaming Times: 1xSlots highlights an extensive bonus programme and a VIP club with attractive offers. How do you work with affiliates to effectively communicate the value of these player incentives, ensuring they translate into higher conversion rates and player retention for both 1xSlots and your partners?

David Arutinyan: These programmes absolutely affect players’ Lifetime Value (LTV). When we engage in new collaborations with affiliates, we always highlight our local retention team and our extensive bonus programmes, which are fully personalised for VIP members. We’ve seen our retention rate consistently rise month by month, particularly in markets like Argentina and Mexico, and these initiatives provide a significant boost for both 1xSlots and our commission-based partners. Since 2017, we’ve collaborated with numerous affiliate partners on revenue shares, and we have never halted or banned payments. Our strong VIP and retention programmes ensure our customers remain loyal, creating enduring value for both our casino and the partners who generate traffic. If you check any list of top casino affiliate programmes, you will undoubtedly find our name, a testament to our long-standing value to partners.

iGaming Times: 1xSlots emphasises fair play, transparency, and licensed operations. How do you leverage these foundational aspects of the casino in your affiliate marketing narrative to build trust and differentiate 1xSlots in a competitive market?

David Arutinyan: We leverage these foundational aspects in several key ways. Firstly, through clear, honest messaging in our affiliate materials. We provide our affiliates with marketing materials that meticulously explain our bonus terms, payout rules, and responsible gaming features. This approach minimises friction in the conversion funnel and builds immediate credibility with new users, which is especially vital in saturated or skeptical markets.

Secondly, transparency is our differentiator. In a landscape where many brands often overpromise and underdeliver, we highlight our consistently fast and secure payouts, with no hidden conditions in our core promotions.

Finally, we apply the same principles through affiliate-facing transparency. Our partners receive real-time statistics, operate under transparent revenue models, and benefit from dedicated support. They know exactly what to expect and how to scale their efforts effectively with us.

iGaming Times: Your responsibilities include continuous market analysis and monitoring performance trends. How do you utilise data and analytics to formulate actionable insights, understand business drivers, and refine your affiliate strategies for maximum ROI?

David Arutinyan: We have a dedicated department for data analytics and security. Every piece of traffic we acquire, regardless of its source, passes through a rigorous data analysis funnel to meticulously check the Return on Investment (ROI) of each partnership. In major businesses, achieving significant results without timely data is simply impossible. To facilitate faster decision-making, we calculate actual ROI using advanced programmes and artificial intelligence (AI) features, which then informs our future purchasing strategies. Regarding market analysis, we conduct it not only for new markets but also continuously for existing ones, ensuring we keep all marketing and social trends under control. This helps us craft the right short- and long-term strategies. On the other hand, we constantly try to identify unconquered areas that can yield maximum ROI on our investment.

iGaming Times: You ensure seamless implementation of projects by working across internal partner marketing and other departments. What are the biggest challenges in cross-departmental coordination for affiliate marketing campaigns, and how does your team overcome them?

David Arutinyan: As all affiliate managers know, we are always faced with choices regarding:

• Budget and capacity
• Numbers and effectiveness
• Short-term ROI and LTV

Of course, all affiliates would ideally want unlimited budgets for all sources, but our focus is always on prioritising those that deliver maximum effectiveness. We work very closely with our accountants, financial managers, marketing managers, and the customer support team. This cross-departmental coordination is absolutely key to our success. Our company operates on a matrix management system, which greatly facilitates cross-functional collaboration between departments and enables efficient resource sharing between our affiliate team and others.

iGaming Times: Looking forward, what significant trends or shifts do you anticipate in the iGaming affiliate marketing landscape over the next few years, particularly concerning technology, regulation, or player acquisition? How is 1xSlots preparing to navigate and capitalise on these changes?

David Arutinyan: In terms of Technology, affiliate platforms are becoming increasingly intelligent with AI-driven tools. Both affiliates and operators can use these tools to analyse data, identify key indicators of traffic quality, and create precise segmentations. Player behaviour is rapidly changing as technology advances, and new traffic sources are emerging, leading to more new channels and AI-powered tools in the future. The world will become faster at decision-making and adapting to new trends. That’s why we should always have all the data readily available to move forward.

Regarding Regulation, regulators are becoming more effective in banning websites, and in the future, we will definitely see an increase in localisation and local strategies for expansion, including the necessity of local or regional licensing. While a global licence certainly provides many opportunities, it also means greater dependence on new local regulations. The cryptocurrency market is also becoming increasingly regulated, which will undoubtedly affect us in the future.

Finally, concerning Player Acquisition, the behaviour of players is profoundly changing. We now have a gambling society that was born in the 2000s and has grown up with smartphones in their hands. The market is transforming faster than expected because of this generational shift. As we engage more with younger players, we observe that their needs and behaviours are rapidly evolving. They are more tech-friendly and deeply integrated with esports and computer games, meaning traditional casinos play a smaller part in their leisure time. So, how can we encourage them to spend more time on our casino website? That’s a significant question. In a few years, I believe we’ll see many new games that diverge from traditional formats. Right now, we already offer fast-paced games and crash games with more interaction, and in a few years, we anticipate an entirely different range of games with novel features. Crucially, acquisition channels will increasingly be based on specific player demand.

David Arutinyan’s insights paint a clear picture of an affiliate strategy driven by a deep understanding of market dynamics, an embrace of cutting-edge technology, and an unwavering commitment to transparency and partnership. 1xSlots is not just navigating the present iGaming landscape but actively shaping its future, particularly in how it leverages data, localises efforts, and anticipates the evolving demands of players. Under David’s leadership, 1xSlots’ affiliate programme is poised for continued robust growth, setting a benchmark for efficiency and innovation in the industry.