Anastasiia Shсherbyna, Chief Marketing Officer at Melbet Partners & Affiliates, has a deep understanding of what it takes to thrive in the iGaming
Anastasiia Shсherbyna, Chief Marketing Officer at Melbet Partners & Affiliates, has a deep understanding of what it takes to thrive in the iGaming affiliate space. With a background rooted in affiliate marketing and brand strategy, she’s currently leading Melbet’s push for global expansion and a strategic rebranding. Her mission is clear: to build a future-ready affiliate infrastructure and a brand that resonates with partners on a foundation of trust and reliability.
In this exclusive interview, Anastasiia shares her insights on the power of community, the value of long-term partnerships, and the future of affiliate marketing.
iGaming Times: As CMO, you’ve been tasked with a full strategic rebranding and international expansion. What are the key elements of the “marketing ecosystem” you are building at Melbet Partners, and how does this new brand strategy position Melbet to stand out in the competitive iGaming market?
Anastasiia Shсherbyna: The main element is the Melbet spirit, which we have been carrying through all our campaigns for 13 years now. We are not afraid to challenge ourselves, so every new project, new booth, and new solution is better than the previous one. We strive to surpass ourselves and encourage our partners: don’t be afraid to be better today than you were yesterday.
iGaming Times: You’ve written about “the currency of trust” in building partnerships, especially in new markets. How do you, as a brand, establish this trust from scratch, and what specific marketing and partnership initiatives do you use to prove to affiliates that Melbet is a reliable, long-term partner?
Anastasiia Shсherbyna: Melbet always fulfills its obligations. We build a reliable system where our partners can find not only offers for even the most exotic requests, but also the help, support, and attention they need. We are very proud of our GEO portfolio across Tier-2 and Tier-3 regions, featuring rare countries with low competition and little market saturation. Therefore, we can select the best offers and provide flexible cooperation terms.
iGaming Times: Melbet has a strong presence in Africa and other emerging markets. What are the biggest challenges and opportunities when entering these diverse regions? How do you tailor your marketing strategies and promotional materials to ensure a strong local reception, from language and payment methods to cultural nuances?
Anastasiia Shсherbyna: The biggest challenge is to understand and study the GEO we are entering, including cultural differences and internal context. Thus, when we expand into new GEOs, we seek local representatives who can provide a deeper understanding of the people of these countries, their problems and interests, help us learn about them, and develop the most relevant strategy for entering the new market and effectively promoting the brand there.
iGaming Times: You have advocated for the RevShare model, arguing that “consistent LTV-based income always beats one-time profit.” In an era dominated by CPA, how do you market the value of the RevShare model to affiliates, and what kind of partners (e.g., SEO specialists, content creators) are you specifically targeting to build a sustainable, LTV-driven portfolio?
Anastasiia Shсherbyna: Thirteen years ago, when our affiliate program was just starting, it was primarily designed for SEO specialists. We created an affiliate dashboard and the entire infrastructure tailored to their needs. As traffic from other sources has grown, so have needs, but we remain strong specifically in the RevShare model. Our main advantage is our lifetime affiliate links. Once you place a link given to you, you will receive profit for the whole subsequent period. Such stable and long-lasting partnerships are rare in modern affiliate marketing. With 13 years in the market, we can confidently guarantee that earning money with Melbet is a stable, reliable, and long-lasting source of income.
iGaming Times: Your online presence highlights a focus on community and engagement. How does Melbet Partners leverage social platforms like Telegram and Instagram, as well as offline events and contests, to build a vibrant community and create a sense of loyalty among its affiliate partners?
Anastasiia Shсherbyna: Yes, we not only generate revenue with our partners, but we also create a community that unites them, entertains them, and keeps them connected. Over the last year, we have expanded our presence not only at conferences and other offline events, but also online. Over the previous two years, we have already held 7 parties in different parts of the world: from Europe to Asia. And we are preparing our eighth party in Rome, no less spectacular and impressive than the city itself. We will invite our top partners to this special event, where we have many surprises in store, and the most exciting one is a special guest, a legend that many people have long dreamed of meeting. I won’t reveal our cards yet, but to keep up to date, I advise you to subscribe to our social networks.
By the way, speaking of them. Our partners live all over the globe, use various languages, and have diverse interests, so we have created pages for partners in different regions, which we maintain in English, Arabic, and Spanish. We aim to be more transparent and closer to each partner. We are present on LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and Telegram. And understandably, depending on the country where our partners live, certain pages are more or less popular, but we run each of them with an open heart, inspiration, and a desire to be more in touch.
iGaming Times: Melbet partners with global ambassadors. How do you leverage these high-profile sponsorships and collaborations to drive influence and build trust with both players and affiliates in key markets? What is the strategy for turning this brand recognition into tangible growth?
Anastasiia Shсherbyna: In affiliate marketing, first and foremost, people work with people. Our partners are not faceless companies; they are alive, passionate, and have their own dreams and idols. Therefore, by attracting legendary athletes and artists as Melbet brand ambassadors and inviting them to our booths and parties, we fulfill people’s small and big dreams. Sometimes it is essential just to shake hands with your childhood idol, as was the case, for example, at the party in Dubai, where we invited Didier Drogba.
On the other hand, the opportunity to use promo materials with our ambassadors has a positive impact on the quality of traffic from our affiliates, building their relationship with the audience and their trust. Melbet brand recognition grows, and as you know, it is much easier and simpler for affiliates to work with a brand they know and trust.
iGaming Times: You’ve talked about using data to drive success. What key performance indicators (KPIs) do you track beyond traditional metrics to measure the health of your affiliate partnerships and the success of your brand-building initiatives? How do you use this data to provide better support and insights to your partners?
Anastasiia Shсherbyna: Affiliate marketing is a relatively closed industry. The decision to cooperate with a brand is influenced not only by its activity, recognizability, and terms, but also by its reputation, the experience that affiliates share, often in closed communities or chats. We cannot influence what happens there, but we do our best not to give rise to discontent, misunderstandings, or other negative impressions of our cooperation. Reputation is the main cornerstone of any brand in our industry.
iGaming Times: Where do you see affiliate marketing heading in the next 3-5 years, particularly with the rise of content creators, micro-influencers, and new technologies? How is Melbet Partners preparing its infrastructure to be “ready for the future of iGaming”?
Anastasiia Shсherbyna: There are increasingly fewer solo players in affiliate marketing. Small companies are merging, becoming larger, more technologically advanced, and the approach to content creation is changing. Now our largest partners have their own studios, creative teams, and producers. All of this is a fascinating transformation, which testifies to the internal growth of the people who work in this market in the first place.
iGaming Times: For new affiliates looking to enter the iGaming space, what is your most important piece of advice? What kind of support and resources can a beginner expect to receive when they start a partnership with Melbet Partners?
Anastasiia Shсherbyna: My main advice is don’t be afraid to ask for guidance and to learn. There are tons of podcasts and materials online on how to get started. Consult with your affiliate managers, gather feedback from the product, try out new approaches, and expand your knowledge.
Our support managers at Melbet are always ready to assist newcomers and help solve technical problems. Affiliate managers help you find an offer and a GEO that aligns with your experience, skills, and knowledge. Regional managers do not refuse to review translations of creatives, including the use of local slang, and so on.
Feel free to reach out. Everything here is built on communication, networking, and delivering on commitments.
iGaming Times: You’ve stated your mission is “to turn vision into measurable growth.” Can you share a specific example or case study where a strategic marketing vision, perhaps in a new market, led to a quantifiable increase in brand value or partner network growth for Melbet Partners?
Anastasiia Shсherbyna: I’d like to share an experience from a competition among our partners who provide traffic from the African region. At the beginning of 2025, we organized a race: the top 10 partners who work with us using the RevShare model in the Sub-Saharan Africa GEO won a trip to Kenya. We evaluated the traffic we received during the first three months and observed a significant increase in partner interest in these countries, along with a notable boost in traffic.
The best ones travelled with our team to Kenya, where we spent an unforgettable week studying the country’s natural beauty and immersing ourselves in the local culture. Interestingly, the trip brought together partners from different parts of the world. They might not have met otherwise, even at conferences, but together with Melbet, they managed to get acquainted, exchange experiences, and spend a week in a wonderful African country. I hope the memories of this journey will stay with our partners for a long time. We are already preparing new contests and opportunities for other GEOs. But also for Africa as well.
Anastasiia Shсherbyna’s insights reveal a sophisticated approach to affiliate marketing that goes far beyond traditional metrics. Melbet Partners & Affiliates is not just a platform for monetising traffic; it is a brand-building and community-driven enterprise. By combining a foundation of trust and reliability with a dynamic strategy that embraces localisation and new technologies, Melbet is positioning itself as a leader in a rapidly evolving market. Under Anastasiia’s leadership, the company’s focus on nurturing its partner ecosystem and providing long-term value ensures it is well-equipped for the future of iGaming.
