Dealer Dan, pictured here with WWE Superstar Mick Foley, has been in internet marketing since 1996. He likes hugs, long walks on the beach, and making money while wearing his jammy jams. For more information, you can read all 
One of the hardest things for sportsbook affiliates is getting their visitors to switch from their current sportsbook to a new sportsbook under your affiliate link.
The majority of sports betters, or punters as we’ll refer to them for the rest of this article, don’t like change. When they find a sportsbook that they can deposit at and get decent customer support then they’re happy. They don’t want to jump through hoops to sign up at a new sportsbook, or deal with a whole new interface.
One really big factor which I outlined in this article is to build up a mailing list, earn the visitors trust and then they will be ready to listen to you when you tell them where to bet. Hell, you’ll even get your readers coming and asking you where to bet, as they trust you.
However that’s something that can take time and is more long-term marketing than short-term. I wanted to list ten methods which you sportsbook affiliates can use in an attempt to get the one-time website visitors to sign up at a sportsbook.
These methods are all great for website conversion.
#1: Deposit Bonus
This is the most obvious one – however simply mentioning a deposit bonus or having a banner showing a deposit bonus just isn’t enough. What you have to do is explain to the user why it is +EV to get this deposit bonus. If you can tie it in to the article that they are reading, even better.
#2: Reduced Juice / Better Lines
Another obvious one – however again it doesn’t work as well for website conversions because the casual sports better just doesn’t care enough about juice or lines. Despite that, you have to do your best to convince the user to play at the sportsbook you are promoting because of the juice. You have to educate the user. Don’t just say “better odds on this game at Sportsbook.com”. Show them over a period of time why line shopping is important, why they need multiple accounts at different sportsbooks, and why it will save them money.
#3: Live Betting
A much easier conversion option is of course live betting. Unfortunately more and more sportsbooks are adding live betting these days. There are still a few big sportsbooks that don’t offer live betting though – so those are the punters you want to go after. You’d be amazed at the amount of punters that don’t even realize there’s such a thing as in-play betting or live betting. Get some banners up stating clearly that people can bet during a game, and you should get conversions from that.
#4: Mobile Betting
Another great conversion tool is mobile betting – and it’s something which not a lot of sportsbooks offer yet, so it’s a very solid conversion tool. Sportsbooks like Superbook also offer free mobile bets to entice the user even more. Mobile betting is something else that a lot of punters aren’t aware of – promote mobile betting, promote iphone betting, promote blackberry betting and promote android betting. With mobile tracking problems however, play it safe and get them to sign up on the web first.
#5: Accumulators & Parlays
They’re +EV, but accumulators and parlays are a big attraction for the casual sports better. These are the type of punters that you really want to have under your affiliate account. They’ll bet $5 to win $100 on an accumulator all the time – they’ll lose more than the win, but they won’t realize it and when they get that big payday, they’re likely to blow it even more. Plus winning and actually getting the money builds trust between them and the sportsbook. Look for specials on accumulators and parlays, and start marketing them to your users. I guarantee that a line like “Canbet offers the best accumulators” will get clicks.
#6: Live Streams
Many sportsbooks now offer live streams of games assuming you have bet on them. This is a cash cow in the making. Promote the likes of Bet365 and Betfair with an easy sale – bet on the game, then watch the game! Bet in-play while watching! These are buzz words that will amaze your punters – especially if they don’t have a TV sports package and have to rely on streams that go down all the time. These are the action junkies you want to get under your sportsbook affiliate account.
#7: Betting Exchange
How many times are sports bets lost because of a last minute ridiculous 3 pointer? Or a completely useless field goal that puts the game “over” when you had bet “under”? You don’t bet sports if you haven’t lost one of these bets. That’s just one of the great things about betting exchanges – being able to “green up” so to speak, as in lock in a profit and trade off your bet. Relate the user, explain to them in the simplest terms about betting exchanges, and you’ll get conversions for sure.
#8: Uncommon Sports
One thing I like to aim for is sports that don’t have a wide audience, or that there’s a lot of people that don’t bet on them usually, like the WNBA. When the reader is unsure about a sport like the WNBA you can educate them on not just why you should bet WNBA(the sportsbooks make REALLY bad lines is one example), but where to bet it. The WNBA is also a sport that up until recently hasn’t been covered by all the sportsbooks. So look at the big sportsbooks, look at sporting events that they don’t cover…then promote them!
#9: Free Cash & Promotions
The big step in converting any punter into switching to a different sportsbook is by getting them to register there. Two great conversion tools are free sports bet offers, or contests like NFL Pickem that are free to enter. Basically explain to the user that they’d be stupid NOT to take advantage of these offers. These are two excellent tools to get that registration. Also don’t overcomplicate things with the user – work with the sportsbooks to offer a simple landing page with a very easy registration form(e-mail address, username and bonus code is all that should be needed).
#10: Special Events
Many sportsbooks offer special bets on events that punters wouldn’t even comprehend could be bet on, so these are also great for conversions. I had hundreds of conversions due to me WWE Wrestlemania Betting article as one example.
Events like Eurovision, Elections, Next Conservative Leader, The Grammys & the Oscars are just a few events that are excellent examples for this type of conversion. Get on the forums where people are discussing the oscars, and let the communities know that they can actually BET on the oscars and put their money where their mouth is – and you won’t be able to help but convert.
If you are looking for sportsbooks to add to your portfolio, I give very high recommendations to Betfair and Commission Account. Triobet are also very solid too, and offer a great mobile app and numerous promotions.
This article was written on February 7, 2011 however all articles are looked at on a monthly basis and updated to keep them relevant.
If you need to contact Graeme, please see his Contact Page. If you are an affiliate manager wanting promoted please see this page.
