Affiliate Success

Affiliate Interviews: David Hjelmström, founder of Betting.se and SweGaming Affiliates AB

Published

4 years ago

April 19, 2016

There is no doubt that the online gambling sector of the Scandinavian region drives large volumes of players and the quality in term of wager value is the most increased in the industry. However this also means that the competition is harsh among affiliates that are looking to attract the players and drive them towards partner brands. The story of David Hjelmström, founder at Betting.se, is quite interesting and it gives us an inside scope of what is happening in the online gambling affiliate industry of the Scandinavian region.

David is the 3rd affiliate which will fly for free to SiGMA(Summit of iGaming, Malta). You to can benefit of this promotion, just be sharing your story as David did. Read more details here: https://gamblingaffiliatevoice.com/share-story-us-get-free-flight-sigma-limited-offer-first-40-affiliates/

Without any further side details, I give you the interview with David Hjelmström.

GAV: First, we would like to thank you for the opportunity to interview such a highly appreciated professional of the industry. Could you fill out the short form below so our readers can imagine your profile?

Name: David Hjelmström
Age: 21
Hometown: Gothenburg
Living in: Gothenburg of course, where else.
Favorite Food: Meatballs with mashed potatoes and lingonberries
Must Read Book: Svenska miljardärer (Swedish billionaires)

GAV: Tell us a bit about yourself, we want to know who David really is, the main person behind Betting.se. Where were you born? What was the key idea of developing this great website?

David: I were born just outside Gothenburg city where I lived for a long time and then moved into central Gothenburg later on. In high school I meet my future colleague. We started to bet on football and ice hockey games before we had the age with our parent’s IDs. It continued and we were thinking, someone has to make money on this. So we started our first affiliate site, betexpert.se. Since then we have built a lot of casino and sports affiliate sites with varying quality. With betting.se, we wanted to invest properly on a website that really stands out.

GAV: Since there are thousands of sports betting review websites out there, and the Scandinavian market is quite ruff, where do you think Betting.se stands now?

David: I think we make a serious impact on the Swedish market out with our new site Betting.se. It just got launched and in the next couple of months and on EM we will already play a big role.

GAV: What are the strong points of the website and what makes it stand out from the niche websites? We can certainly say it jumps out of the routine websites…the design is really appealing.

David: I think Betting.se is standing out with our daily Betting tips and our own build odds checker. We are also in the work with filming video reviews that will stand out. The design is not a normal WordPress theme. Bettting.se design is built from the grown by my amazing Colleague.

GAV: What were the bumps on your road when you got started and how did you overcome them?

David: The first and biggest bump so far is the domain Betting.se. We had a tough work getting in touch with the owner that just had the domain but no website on it. After some dealing about the price, the domain where ours. If you don´t give up and continue to fight you will overcome everything with a bit of luck and timing.

GAV: We have browsed your website and found some high quality content. Are you writing it by yourself or you have a team of people writing your editorials?

David: We have an in-house team that writes most of our editorials. But of course I cannot get my fingers across from writing my own articles.

GAV: How do you keep the content fresh and devoid of clutter when a lot of fluff and nonsense appear on the Internet on a daily basis?

David: There is for sure a lot of fluff and nonsense on the internet but I don´t think it affect us on a bad way. We get our information on official websites. One of our content manager is also an old hockey player and knows people in the biggest league in Sweden and also NHL. There we get some unique content for sure.

GAV: We are sure that you receive daily messages from Affiliate Managers showcasing their products. You of course select them by the brands they work with; but what are your thoughts on how Affiliate Manager-Affiliate relationships should be built?

David: Yes, we get a lot of emails from affiliate managers that wants to work with us. There is always a balance between the brand and the person in self. We also search around and ask people if they are a trusted affiliate program. It is easier to work together if you have a personally relationship with people. Therefore, it is perfect to eat dinners on conferences or just drink a water together on the conference.

GAV: How do you see the future of the gambling industry? For instance, will it become a truly global phenomenon in the near future?

David: I think the gambling industry will continue grow for a long time. It is still a lot of people that are interesting of gambling but has not taken the step yet. It will undulate but continue grow for a long time. But the margin will be smaller in the future with game taxes and more competition.

GAV: Can you name one change that you want to see in the sports betting affiliate ecosystem?

David: I would like more transparency for affiliates. I think it is important that the affiliates know exactly how their players behaves and what they think is good and not. It will help the player value.

GAV: What advise you would like to offer to the new affiliates who are looking to venture into this great industry?

David: When we started in 2013 we felt a bit late. I think it is really hard to venture into the business at the moment. But with tough work, everything is possible but it will take a lot of time and efforts.

GAV: Who is your favorite celebrity?

David: Henrik Lundqvist

GAV: If you would just open your YouTube search bar, what would you search for?

David: I would search for my favorite hockey team, Frölunda

GAV: Back to work. Do you attend any iGaming conferences? If so, which one is your favorite and what is your most fun experience?

David: I have attended to all iGaming conferences since I started in the business. The conference I get most out of is London. The most fun experience has to be in a conference in Barcelona for three years ago. Me and my colleague had a meeting with a new brand we had not yet met. We got along well and flied to Madrid the day after to watch El Clásico.

GAV: What is your opinion overall about affiliate conferences such as SiGMA?

David: I like SIGMA a lot. The location of SiGMA is great. It is good for the gaming people outside Malta and also easy for the people how lives on the island. It is nice to come and visit the companies in their headquarters.

GAV: How do you rate the chances of Eastern Europe becoming potential gaming hotspot of the future? Where do you think the region must improve upon?

David: I think the chances are good. I don´t see why it should not be a gaming hotspot. I think the region has improved a lot the last five years.

GAV: Alright, here comes the fun part…., where would you like to travel in Eastern Europe, some part of the region maybe that you haven’t visited yet and favorite destination around the world.

David: I would like to visit Klaipéda in Lithuania. I have never been to Lithuania so I think that would be a nice experience. My favorite destination, I have to say Las Vegas.

GAV: Where you wouldn’t want to travel in Eastern Europe?

David: I would like to travel to all countries 🙂

GAV: What is your opinion about GAV (Gambling Affiliate Voice – gamblingaffiliatevoice.com)?

David: The Gambling affiliate voice is useful for us. We look for certified affiliate programs and also read the articles about the industry.

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Affiliate Success

Three-peat for the King Billy Affiliate Program at the SBC Awards!

Published

3 weeks ago

November 5, 2019

George Miller

Three-peat for the King Billy Affiliate Program at the SBC Awards!

We should know by now that King Billy Casino was bound to be in the limelight for one more time. True to the words of the great Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho “Everything that happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time.”, King Billy does it for the third time in a row.

So, after being shortlisted at the prestigious iGB Awards (and from there, winning it all), being shortlisted again at the prestigious EGR Awards, the King Billy Affiliate Program has now also been shortlisted at the prestigious SBC Awards (event to be held on December 3). Moreover, the operator is also on the SBC Awards short list for Casino Rising Star.

We asked the mastermind behind this tremendous streak, Ruslan Legenzov, King Billy Head of Affiliates to share his feelings with us and a few words about this new distinction. He was, understandably, in a state of euphoria:

“This is beyond our wildest dreams! To complete the “Big 3” of the industry’s annual biggest awards shows, by being short-listed in each and every one of them fills us all with immense pride. At King Billy Casino, we set out with a single goal in mind: to move beyond the commission and offer to our affiliates a program never seen before. We are happy that our effort is recognized by both judges and Affiliates!”

The SBC Awards, now in its 6th year, recognize the achievements of operators, affiliates and suppliers from across all major disciplines including payments, marketing, platform providers and data. The Awards will be held at Battersea Evolution, in the heart of London, bringing together 700 gaming industry delegates.

King Billy Casino is a new generation online casino, available in 5 languages (English, German, Russian, Finnish and Norwegian and soon Japanese) with an impressive record in awards and an amazing variety of games providers and features. King Billy has built on creating a superb user experience focusing on the myth of King Billy and his Kingdom and treats all players with the specialness they deserve.

Affiliate Success

First Georgia iGaming Affiliate Conference: What Was Discussed at the Event?

Published

3 weeks ago

November 4, 2019

George Miller

First Georgia iGaming Affiliate Conference: What Was Discussed at the Event?

On October 18, Smile-Expo held the first Georgia iGaming Affiliate Conference in Tbilisi. The event was dedicated to the specific nature of online and offline gambling business operations, Georgian gambling market prospects, and casino promotion using affiliate marketing.

The conference brought together casino managers, affiliate network representatives, government officials, webmasters, arbitrage experts, SEO specialists, as well as gambling regulation and taxation professionals.

Speakers’ presentations

Sviatoslav Slaboshpitskiy, Head of SEO at Digital Choo (DC), spoke on the topic: The Art of War in SEO: How to Win the iGaming Niche. The speaker stressed that one should develop niche websites to achieve efficient results. At the same time, it is significant to analyze the response and to evolve resources showing the best performance. Sviatoslav also talked about the rules of SEO team building. The expert recommended entrusting the content creation to single-discipline specialists as well as developing checklists and tutorials for newcomers.

Dmitriy Makarov, CEO at Zlodei Advertising Agency, and Gleb Sanzharevsky, CMO at Zlodei, made a collaborative presentation dedicated to ad placement on YouTube and Twitch. They explained that promotion via influencers could increase conversion better than direct advertising. The experts stressed that user stories and popular memes made ads more fruitful.

Nikola Minkov, CEO at Serpact, examined the application of the so-called Featured Snippets, zero blocks in the search results. According to the speaker, Google provides users with such snippets in 40% of the queries. They allow online resources to generate organic traffic and enhance the click-through rate.

The audience was intrigued by Ketevan Bitskinashvili, Chief Financial Officer at the Ministry of Finance of Georgia. The speaker told them about the special features of the Georgian gambling market regulation. She mentioned that the cost of gambling permissions depended on a venue type, a target region, and a number of installed gambling machines. The same parameters affect tax rates.

Ms. Ketevan stated that Georgia had already issued 214 gambling licenses. 20 casinos are operating in the country now. 10 of them are located in Batumi and its suburbs, 6 in Tbilisi, and one each in Gudauri, Tskhaltubo, Kazbegi, and Sighnaghi.

Giorgi Gvenetadze from Adjarabet raised an issue of online casino customer acquisition. The speaker believes that the core feature of advertising banners used by Georgian casinos is the availability of luxury car images. Besides, promotion messages mostly appeal to senses of beauty, control, and simplicity.

Panel discussion

The conference featured a panel discussion titled ‘Offline and online casinos. Review of tools for the competition for user attention’. It involved:

Shota Amiranashvili, President of the Association of casinos in Adjara;

Levan Kavtaradze, Director of Gaming department at Pokermatch;

Giorgi Gvenetadze, Head of Product Marketing Department at Adjarabet;

Lavrentiy Gubin from Shangri La Casino, an invited guest.

Experts said that primary advantages of land-based casinos included reach experience of the gaming process, expensive surroundings, and staff attentiveness. Virtual gambling platforms are lack of these aspects. Therefore, discussion participants think that offline gambling venues will never shift to the online space.

Speaking about the most in-demand gambling entertainments, specialists highlighted simple and user-friendly games like roulettes. Moreover, they noted that poker was becoming less popular because of the high buy-in. Currently, we can see a crypto casino trend, as such platforms ensure anonymity.

Participants also focused on the state regulation of the gambling market. According to them, countries failing to regulate the gambling business lose money that could go to the government budget as taxes. One more fact specified: gambling advertising bans give an impetus to look for new audience engagement channels.

Afterparty

The conference ended with a party. Guests, speakers, exhibitors, and sponsors were able to enjoy live music, Georgian sweets, beverages, and snacks. The afterparty allowed participants to communicate in a relaxed atmosphere and establish useful business contacts.

We express our gratitude to the Afterparty Sponsor, NOFLEAD gambling resource, helping to carry out the afterparty in an extremely comfortable environment.

Sponsors, exhibitors, and participants

Companies offering various iGaming goods and services introduced their solutions and services in the exhibition area. Event sponsors were exhibitors as well.

Badge and Bag Sponsor: Digital Choo, an international marketing agency with deep expertise in gaming.

Exhibition Area Sponsor: SoftGamings, a provider of advanced В2В solutions for online casinos.

Afterparty Sponsor: NOFLEAD, an online gambling resource aimed at both beginners and experienced gamblers.

Lanyard Sponsor: ZLODEI, an advertising agency with deep expertise in native advertising.

By the way, attendees were able to examine a stand by IBCCS TAX, an international company providing a wide range of fiduciary services.

Another event participant was Partners.io, an affiliate network for cryptocurrency gambling programs.

The Smile-Expo team expresses its gratitude to sponsors, speakers, and exhibitors for participation in the conference. We look forward to seeing you at the next events dedicated to gambling and affiliate marketing.

Affiliate Success

What does “beyond the commission” mean for King Billy? A short list (at least) at the EGR Awards!

Published

1 month ago

October 14, 2019

George Miller

What does “beyond the commission” mean for King Billy? A short list (at least) at the EGR Awards!

King Billy Casino has been making quite some noise with its Affiliate Program this year. The program has gained momentum and achieved wide recognition from Affiliates, both established and upcoming, which is something not to be taken lightly, given the, ahem, unpredictable mentality and demands of the Affiliate world.

According to King Billy, this is a program that promises to take the casino – affiliates relationship to a new, mythical level “beyond the commission”. You may wonder (as we did) what lands lie beyond the commission. Is the first stop Valhalla? El Dorado? Shangri La? Camelot? Mount Olympus?

Much closer actually: It is the luxurious Grosvenor House on London’s Park Lane, home of the 2019 EGR Awards. The King Billy Affiliates Program has been short-listed in the Affiliate Program Category and we asked Ruslan Legenzov, Head of Affiliates at King Billy Casino, to share his feelings with us.

“The excitement never gets old! Congratulations to the whole department at King Billy, our “King’s Servants” who make this possible. Also, a big thanks to our Marketing and Creative Department for helping us move beyond the commission exactly the way our affiliates want.

Following our biggest distinction to date, the award at the 2019 iGB Awards, this is one more proof that we are doing something extremely well at King Billy Casino. Obviously, after being short-listed, we‘d like to go all the way, but we are well aware of the top level and the quality of all the nominees. So, see you at Grosvenor House and may the best operator win!”

The reputable EGR Operator Awards reward B2C operators for setting the standard in egaming excellence, with categories ranging from customer service to social responsibility, and recognizing achievements across all verticals. The 2019 Awards will take place on the evening of Thursday 24 October at Grosvenor House, London.

King Billy Casino is a new generation online casino, available in several languages (English, German, Russian, Finnish, Norwegian and soon Japanese) with an impressive record in awards and distinctions. The King Billy Affiliates Program has already won the 2019 iGB Awards Affiliate Program of the Year award.