Erica Anderson is VP of Marketing, iGaming & Income Access at Paysafe Group. Income Access offers an award-winning affiliate marketing reporting solution fully optimized for mobile app tracking. Erica’s role includes developing the marketing strategy for the Income Access brand and for iGaming at Paysafe. She has over a decade of industry experience and also leads IA’s in-house affiliate management team and its suite of digital marketing services. She kindly gave us an insight into mobile app tracking and its benefits…
The reality for the iGaming industry today is that it is dominated by betting on mobile devices. With on-the-go products such as live and in-play betting having become ubiquitous in sports betting, there is no question that operators need full mobile optimization. The same mobile-first approach needs to be carried over to the backend as well and tracked like affiliate campaigns.
With the Pew Research Center reporting that 85% of US adults now own a smartphone, the need for mobile app tracking in the iGaming industry has become an essential requirement for affiliates. This is especially true in a growing market like the US, where several new states are being regulated every year.
To break down why mobile app tracking is so important for affiliates growing in the US, we enlisted the help of two experts from our affiliate network: Laisvė Mikone, Senior Account Manager at MediaTroopers, and Yoav Gal, Head of InApp at Sidelines .io.
Growing US mobile market for affiliates
With so many potential American users on mobile, over the past few years we’ve seen affiliates increasingly adopting more mobile-friendly strategies. Earlier this year we surveyed affiliates in our network to understand their motivations and what they wanted to offer their users.
The results were clear: half (51%) of affiliates offered users a mobile-friendly website, while 41% of affiliates had either mobile-friendly websites or mobile apps. Taken together, the overwhelming majority (92%) of our affiliate network offered their users a mobile option. This trend has intensified in recent years. For comparison, in 2021, 87% of our affiliate network offered a mobile option, compared to 85% in 2020.
Speaking to MediaTroopers’ Mikone, she emphasized the US’s mobile dominance. “Over half of all US casino and sportsbook bettors prefer the convenience of gambling via their mobile devices over their desktops,” she said. “And a lot of them just play with that method too.”
Why affiliates need mobile app tracking in the US
US partners with access to operators’ mobile app tracking can further optimize their marketing strategies, resulting in better results for both partners and operators. While Gal didn’t say that Sidelines.io wouldn’t work with brands that don’t offer mobile app tracking, he did admit that “although we work with some valued partners who don’t have a good enough mobile app tracking solution, we tend to.” to work better and more efficiently with those who do.”
This increased ability to optimize mobile campaigns is vital for affiliates as there is increasing competition in the US as new states go live regularly meaning every piece of information matters and can lead to improved conversions. Mikone pointed this out, stating, “Effectively ‘hearing’ the data it provides us with is critical, especially now that more modern mobile options are available in the US.”
She added: “These new mobile betting habits and gambling on apps will be different than on traditional desktop devices. Therefore, mobile app tracking solutions allow us to learn something new every day and translate our knowledge into practical solutions.”
Despite its importance, not all brands in the US offer mobile app tracking to affiliates. As Gal noted, “I’m surprised to see that some industry giants are still missing some fundamental skills that their peers from across the ocean have already embraced.” who chose this approach early on currently have a competitive advantage.”
While it’s not ideal that mobile app tracking hasn’t been fully adopted in the US, it’s important to understand that this is an emerging market that will take some time to mature. However, when mobile app tracking is available to affiliates, they can gather a wealth of data on this growing audience.
“Since each state is responsible for enacting its own gambling regulations, many users visit neighboring states to wager on their mobile devices,” Mikone said. “Ultimately, tracking mobile apps is an effective way to understand new gambling markets, reach new audience pools, and enable legal online gambling not only for state residents, but also for visitors to states where gambling is legal.”
The central theses
While not yet fully adopted by US operators, mobile app tracking is essential for affiliates to efficiently convert new users. As affiliates and brands seek to engage with this growing audience, a mobile app tracking solution allows affiliates to effectively optimize their campaigns, learn more about their audience, and send brands valuable users.
