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Exclusive Interview with Lee-Ann Johnstone just ahead of this year’s AffiliateFEST

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Exclusive interview with Lee-Ann Johnstone ahead of the AffiliateFEST Bootcamp2018

We had the opportunity to catch up with Lee-Ann Johnstone who took time from her busy schedule to answer our questions on a wide range of topics related to affiliate marketing. Lee-Ann is the co-founder of Affiliate Insider and has been in the affiliate marketing industry for over two decades.

In the interview she talks about her career, the growth of Affiliate Insider and what is in store in the upcoming affiliate conference AffiliateFEST. She advises affiliate marketers to “invest in your skills development” and describes how to go about it.

While she admits that she has “no crystal ball that can predict the future”, she is quite confident that “commercial acumen and personal touch” will remain the secret of success in this industry even amidst the advent of artificial intelligence, machine learning, smart analytics and all that.

Over to Lee-Ann now.

 

GAV: Let’s start with a few words about yourself. Our audience love to hear top-class professionals saying a few words about themselves.

Lee-Ann: I like long walks on the beach and sunsets? … Just kidding, I’ve been in the iGaming space for almost two decades and seen a lot of affiliates build businesses which is incredibly difficult to do alone. Having spent a lot of time building affiliate programmes and relationships I saw the gap to break out of the corporate world and make a difference helping others to grow their businesses with mentoring support, which isn’t readily available in the affiliate sector. This is why I’ve built Affiliate Insider – a company that can help support best practice, strategic growth, and skills development for affiliates and operators alike. I’m passionate about this Chanel and about what we do and I think it shows in the quality of the services we deliver to our clients, sponsors and delegates alike.

 

GAV: How did you choose affiliate marketing as a career? Is it deliberate or is there an interesting story behind that. About 20 years ago, it might not have been a popular choice.

Lee-Ann: It wasn’t a conscious choice back then as it was still an industry evolving. I learned everything I know today – on the job (as digital marketing was being created still, I was learning it as we went along) I just really loved it! I moved into online from a traditional offline marketing background and had a in depth online media buying background before moving over to affiliate relationship management and I guess it was the people aspect I loved the most. Finding ways to meet the end goal and revenue objective innovatively is what spurred me on to specialise in this channel and here we are almost two decades later and I’m still learning so much each day.

 

GAV: It’s been under 6 months since affiliateinsider.com was launched. The website offers all-round coverage of the affiliate industry. Is the growth so far in anticipated lines?

Lee-Ann: As we are still a new brand to market our growth rate has been well above expectations and this is due to the fact that our content team know this industry inside out, we live, breathe and consume everything about the affiliate marketing sector in the iGaming space each day. We manage clients affiliate programme, we create content that supports affiliate growth and we teach others the skills our team has amassed over two decades of being in the iGaming sector. Through this FREE for all knowledge share Affiliate Insider has built a solid reputation in a very short time as a thought leader and developer of best practice, strategies that impact revenue growth and events that deliver a depth of content found nowhere else. The combination of mentoring, training, content lead events and insight is what makes this business invaluable to the industry both affiliate and operator facing. Suppliers need to engage with our site too as it is here that they will engage new business leads for the products and services they deliver in this market place. We have a steady and loyal repeat readership growing on the site and in our newsletters who spend time on the site, and take time to read the content we are delivering which is offered with no paywall restrictions.

 

GAV: What about AffiliateFEST? What is special in this year’s event on September 19th? Who will benefit from attending the event?

Lee-Ann: All our Affiliate Bootcamps are special – but AffiliateFEST really is about helping affiliates growth hack their marketing and digital activities on site to increase their revenue. Today we just announced the Keynote for September’s event who is trailblazing influencer marketing as a new digital medium : Ben Jeffries (CEO of Influencer along with YouTube sensation Caspar Lee). This is the kind of content we focus on bringing to affiliates and operators in order to share the latest tangible insights and marketing techniques. This really is the core of what this conferences offer. Digital Marketing Insights that help affiliates get ahead of digital disruption within the iGaming industry offering them a competitive advantage to implement strategies and tactics to really row their revenue.

Each Bootcamp we run is unique and has a very specific subject or vertical focus – for example we have the Affiliate Insider America Track coming in April 2019 at Betting On sports America, and an exclusive African Business Retreat for those affiliates who want to expand their business and localise into the African Market as well as have a but of a retreat in South Africa alongside to take time out from working in their business to work ON it.

 

GAV: You have been in this industry for two decades. What’s your advice to people who are starting out on the affiliate industry? What does it take to become successful in the industry?

Lee-Ann: It’s a lot of hard work. You learn every day and you need to keep your knowledge base fresh. I consume an incredible amount of media around the subject of affiliate marketing, I also write a lot about it too from my own experiences which helps to upskill others. It takes determination and grit to be a good affiliate manager, as the skills set required to be a real good one is vast. My advise to anyone coming in to the industry is to invest in your skills development by finding experts you can learn from. This generally means finding people who have hands on experience for a few years longer than you in doing the job successfully.

There is no accredited School of Affiliate Marketing for the iGaming space. Therefore we have created The Affiliate Insider Training academy which offers a range of training options for both corporates and individuals to gain access to expert lead affiliate marketing strategies and for affiliates – a source of iGaming business mentoring that can help them advance their skills and work with like minded individuals to knowledge share and grow revenue in the affiliate space. Everything we do is about offering a high end in depth service with tactical content that can be implemented in any iGaming business for success.

 

GAV: Final question now. Could you provide your take on the evolution of affiliate marketing industry over the years? We have been hearing a lot about machine learning and all that. Will there be a time when robots take over affiliate marketing scene?

Lee-Ann: I think we are in for a big evolution in terms of how the affiliate model sits within the digital marketing mix. As one of the largest and most cost effective drivers of traffic the channel continues to evolve year on year and grow. AI is a big part of the reason why this is happening as we get smarter analytics and more regulated the opportunity for innovation continues to expand in this channel as well. The entire ecosystem will need to overhaul the value chain and how relationships interact in the affiliate model. We could see a move to differential pricing from traditional CPA and Revenue Share or Hybrid models based on tracking omni channels more accurately. There is no crystal ball that can predict the future but I can say that relationships will always require a commercial acumen and personal touch to really succeed and this is what we excel at delivering at Affiliate Insider as well.

 

Thanks for your time Lee-Ann, we really appreciate it, and all the best for the AffiliateFEST!!!

Affiliate Success

EEGS Webinar: Affiliates Face New Demands in Balancing Compliance and Conversion

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Eastern European Gaming Summit

 

On May 13th, the Eastern European Gaming Summit (EEGS) hosted a dedicated affiliate webinar exploring one of the most pressing challenges in iGaming today: how affiliates can stay commercially effective while adopting an increasingly responsible role in player protection. The session, titled “Balancing Compliance and Conversion: The Affiliate’s Role in Responsible Gaming” featured Gjorgje Ristikj, Founder of Gamblers Connect and Co-Founder & CEO of RankRadar, as keynote speaker.

The conversation unfolded against a backdrop of intensifying regulatory oversight and market saturation, highlighting the transformation of the affiliate segment into an essential part of the iGaming ecosystem. As emphasized during the discussion, affiliates are no longer peripheral actors but full-fledged digital media businesses, operating with considerable investment in content, compliance, analytics, and brand credibility.

Ristikj pointed out that modern affiliates are increasingly absorbing roles traditionally associated with internal marketing teams, from advanced SEO operations and audience segmentation to responsible gaming communications and transparency standards. These shifts are not merely cosmetic. As the speaker noted, operators now rely on affiliates not only to acquire traffic but to reinforce brand integrity, especially in competitive or newly regulated markets.

One of the core themes discussed was the growing expectation for affiliates to support safe gaming environments, both through the content they produce and the brands they choose to promote. In a concrete example, Ristikj introduced a Responsible Gambling Scoring Index, developed by Gamblers Connect. The tool evaluates operators on the presence of key responsible gaming features and publicly displays a score to inform and empower players. This kind of initiative reflects a broader industry movement to embed responsible gaming principles at every stage of the user journey.

Another major focus was the mounting operational pressure faced by affiliates. While operators remain accustomed to revenue-share partnerships, Ristikj argued that fixed listing fees are becoming necessary to sustain professional affiliate operations. Investment in content, platform development, video production, and tracking infrastructure has significantly raised the cost of doing business, especially as privacy regulations and attribution challenges reduce the reliability of traditional performance models.

The webinar also touched on the emergence of video-driven affiliate strategies and personal branding as a differentiator in a crowded landscape. As new players, many backed by agencies or former operator teams, enter the market with aggressive strategies, trust and transparency are becoming the critical assets for sustainable success.

The session concluded with a clear message: affiliates who want to remain relevant must adapt to a new standard of accountability. That means embedding responsible gaming principles not only as a compliance checkbox but as a core part of the brand experience, something players, regulators, and operators will increasingly expect.

The EEGS Affiliate Webinar is part of a broader initiative by EEGS to provide actionable insights and elevate the strategic role of affiliates in the global iGaming industry.

For those who missed the live session, the on-demand video is now available. You can watch the full session here: https://youtu.be/MJeYZfPI6Rs?si=BVp0yA0Vcpu9FDJx

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Affiliate Success

First iGB Affiliate Manager Academy to shine a light on effective AI-Driven affiliate recruitment strategies

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First iGB Affiliate Manager Academy to shine a light on effective AI-Driven affiliate recruitment strategies

 

Organisers of July’s edition of iGB L!VE – the first to be held in London – have announced the launch of the AI focussed iGB Affiliate Manager Academy which will be held July 1 as part of London iGaming Week.

The training and mentorship program which is being curated in partnership with Affiverse, founded by veteran affiliate marketer Lee-Ann Johnstone –  and which guides businesses on how to launch, scale and grow successful affiliate programs, has been designed to help organisations of all sizes understand how to leverage new tactics and simple AI tools to recruit, retain and activate affiliates more effectively.

The Academy will offer a mix of practical learning, tactical assessments and personalised coaching providing affiliate managers with an invaluable opportunity to learn from industry leaders. Each unique session will include topical insights drawing on the dominant trends in the market.

Looking ahead to the Academy Lee-Ann Johnstone said: “I’m delighted that Clarion has invited Affiverse to develop a bespoke training academy specifically for iGaming Affiliate Managers.

“In an industry that’s constantly evolving, and which is powered by the early adoption of new technologies, businesses and  affiliate managers  have to keep learning in order to remain competitive. The only way we get to understand the affiliate space and all the complexities it entails is on the job – from others!

“It has always been important to me that those who have knowledge pay it forward and I’m really excited to be given the task of leading the curation of this unique event bringing the best of the best together in order to teach, train and coach affiliate managers as we move forward.

“The gap between AI-empowered affiliate managers and those relying solely on traditional methods is widening every month. The iGB Affiliate Manager Academy will provide the bridge to ensure businesses are on the right side of that divide.”

Reflecting on the importance and objectives of the iGB Affiliate Manager Academy, Global Portfolio Director Naomi Barton said: “Our live events are all about delivering real value to our international community of stakeholders. Lee-Ann and her team at Affiverse are spearheading the academy syllabus and content stream alongside IGB’s events production team to provide tailor made training and mentoring for new and existing affiliate managers as well as those who want to learn and scale their affiliate programs faster.

“The workshop will provide insider access to the exact AI-driven techniques that are assisting brands to deliver real results. Most significantly this isn’t just theory — instead it’s a hands-on expert-led roadmap focussing on immediately implementable tactics that will transform your program performance.”

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Affiliate Success

SOFTSWISS Affiliate Software Platform Wins at IGA 2025

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SOFTSWISS Affiliate Software Platform Wins at IGA 2025

 

SOFTSWISS, an international tech company with over 15 years of experience in iGaming, announces that Affilka by SOFTSWISS wins Affiliate Company of the Year at the International Gaming Awards 2025. The comprehensive software platform helps manage, track, and analyse affiliate performance in the most convenient way.

The event recognises leading industry experts, both online and land-based. This achievement came as a well-deserved gift for the platform’s 7th anniversary. The award reflects the platform’s dedication to optimising affiliate program management and elevating the operational efficiency of its clients. By helping operators optimise affiliate partnerships, Affilka by SOFTSWISS has established itself as a technology-driven leader in the iGaming realm.

Powering over 440 iGaming brands, the platform currently has more than 360,000 affiliate accounts and 85 million registered players. One of its most impactful updates is the Geo-Distributed Redirect feature. This innovation accelerates redirects up to five times, reduces bounce rates and increases conversions by up to 7%. By enabling players to access casino sites faster, the feature drives higher registrations and deposits.

Other notable platform functionalities include built-in payment processing, which helps streamline financial operations with trusted payment systems and bank transfers. The flexible commission constructor and near real-time reporting features enable operators to tailor their strategies according to constantly evolving business needs.

“We are honoured to receive recognition at such a prestigious level,” said Anastasia Borovaya, Head of Affilka by SOFTSWISS. “This award reflects our unwavering dedication to delivering the best affiliate management solutions in the industry. With over seven years of expertise, a highly professional team, and a passion for innovation, we’ve built a platform that ensures exceptional service and continuous product enhancements for our clients. We’re committed to maintaining this momentum and supporting the growth of our partners worldwide.”

Now, Affilka by SOFTSWISS is showcasing its latest features and achievements at iGB Affiliate in Barcelona. On 21–22 January, the team welcomes partners and clients at stand C10.

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