Eve Luneborg, COO of GoodLuckMate Ltd, joins the latest series of affiliate interviews on Affiliate Grand Slam
says that at GoodLuckMate Ltd they are covering almost everything related to online casinos. They have put great emphasis on quality, and they have accurate data for almost all aspects of a casino. She says that being unique in a saturated market is never easy but with their custom website, they can basically do whatever they want – follow her story below.
I started in the casino affiliate niche as a freelance writer. I had a background working at an online casino, so when I started writing it was natural for me to write about what I knew, hence casino affiliates were the clients I worked with. I’ve worked in multiple different capacities for a wide range of affiliates before I started working at GoodLuckMate.
What sets you apart from other affiliates?
At GoodLuckMate we do a bit of everything, and that is perhaps the most unique thing about us. We’re in the process of launching our site in multiple languages, and we’re also active across different social media platforms. The fact that we’re covering almost everything related to online casinos is something we take great pride in. We’re not only listing casinos and the bonuses they have but also plenty of guides so that both new and experienced players can find what they’re looking for.
Why do players choose GoodLuckMate?
Our website has something for everyone that is interested in online casinos. We have more than 1,000 casino reviews, several thousand slot reviews, game guides for all kinds of casino games, and a whole lot of other guide pages. We’re also covering all kinds of iGaming related news, and on top of that, we have a blog where our industry experts share their opinions about what’s going on within the industry.
We put the emphasis on quality and accurate data for more or less all aspects of a casino. In addition, according to our editorial guidelines, we do in fact rate casinos according to what the casino actually deserves, and we don’t manipulate the ratings or make the casinos sound better than what they are. So the honesty and the details we provide are probably what players like the best with our site. Also, we do list more or less all available bonuses and promotions from each casino, and that is of course also an aspect that players tend to appreciate.
What importance do you give to responsible gaming?
Seeing that most of the management team at GoodLuckMate has worked at online casinos or in some other capacity within the iGaming industry for years, we do take responsible gambling seriously. As a casino affiliate site, we make a living promoting casinos, and getting players to sign up at a casino and gamble is our goal. However, as is the case with most responsible affiliates, we do not want problematic gamblers to play, as entertainment should always be the goal when gambling online. Then again, as an affiliate, it’s impossible for us to know what players do when they have signed up at a casino, so other than promoting responsible gambling on our site it’s not much we can do.
I would like to mention, though, that we do have the possibility for players to contact us through our site, and sometimes we get questions or requests from players that suffer from gambling addiction. When we do, we have staff that has undergone responsible gambling training, so we help them as much as we can and direct them towards where they can seek help locally.
Which markets are you targeting and why?
Right now, our site is not targeting any specific market. The site is basically a global site, and we get traffic from all over the world. It is, however, only available in English so the majority of traffic comes from English-speaking countries. At the beginning of next year, we’ll be launching the site in multiple languages and if all goes according to plan we will be targeting approximately 10 markets by the end of 2022.
Do you create all the marketing material you need to promote in-house, or do you out-source it?
We tend to do as much as possible in-house. We have worked with several agencies and tried some different approaches to our marketing strategy, but we’ve found that the results we’re getting are better if we keep it in-house. It makes it easier for us to be agile when we need to, and also to be able to schedule our marketing efforts according to what else is happening within our other teams.
How important is social media activity for your affiliate business? How difficult is it with Google’s constant updates?
Social media is very important to us, and we’re active on more or less all the platforms there are. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest are our social platforms, and we also have a YouTube channel and a Twitch stream. Updates for any of the platforms are, of course, always a bit of a challenge, but I do think this is just a constant that we need to keep on top of on an ongoing basis.
What perhaps is a bit more tricky for us, and other affiliates, are all the different rules for social platforms based on country. As we are a global site with users from all over the world, it’s increasingly difficult to make sure we’re not violating any rules for any specific markets as there isn’t much of a “one-size-fits-all” for gambling-related marketing. On our site, we can customise what is shown and not based on our users’ location, but for social platforms, that is, of course, not possible.
How can affiliates be more unique in their approach?
Being unique in a saturated market is never easy, but I do believe that it can still be done. However, it does require a lot of recourses to be able to do something different than what “everyone” else is doing. At GoodLuckMate, we have chosen to put a lot of our recourses into development. With a custom website, we can basically do whatever we want, and that is why we’ve implemented a lot of features that most other sites don’t have.
We have a lot of different unique features and functionality that we’re working on right now, so I’m very excited for that to be completed and live on our site. Before that happens, I won’t be able to elaborate more but I can promise that we’re working on something that at least I have never seen on any other affiliate site before.
How do you choose your operators and how do you manage relationships with multiple operators?
On our site, we have reviewed and listed more than 1,000 casinos, so needless to say, a good portion of my days is allocated to simply keeping in touch with operators. Lucky, many affiliate programs have multiple brands, so it’s “only” about 400 affiliate accounts to keep track of. Most of them are very easy to work with though, and I enjoy talking to lots of different people on a daily basis.
As for how we choose who we work with and not, that’s a bit more tricky. In theory, we’d like to review all casinos there are, so the ones left out are simply because it does take a lot of time and recourses to write and publish reviews of them all. Having a good mix of different types of operators and casinos with different services and features is important to us so that our users can find what suits them best. What we do, though, is that we can do a review of all casinos, but that doesn’t mean we are recommending them all. After all, there are a lot of operators out there that players really shouldn’t play at, and when that is the case we do state that within our reviews.
Have you ever been to SiGMA? SiGMA Europe, Africa, Asia, or Americas – which of these four expo shows would you likely book on your diary for 2021, COVID-19 permitting?
This will be the first SiGMA event I’ll attend. I have been planning on going several times before, but something else has always come up. So I’m really looking forward to going this year. SiGMA Europe will, however, be the only one I’ll be attending. Perhaps I can make it to some of the others as well in 2022.
Tell us a bit about yourself – after all, business is done with people, not just companies!
I’m a native Norwegian, but I have more or less been living in Malta for the last 7.5 years. Before the pandemic hit us, I was traveling around Europe and Asia for about 2 years, as being a digital nomad is one of the great benefits of working freelance. Right now I’m quite happy with staying put here in Gozo though. It’s nice to not have to pack and unpack my suitcase every second week. Not to speak of how nice it is to have a proper office.
When I’m not working, I enjoy meeting up with friends and go out for dinner and some drinks if I’m feeling social. I do, however, also enjoy my own company, and a perfect evening at home consists of reading a good book, accompanied by a nice glass of wine. Personality-wise, I’m one of those extremely organised and structured people who can’t stand clutter, and I’m also one of those people that can’t sit still and do nothing. Then again, I’m also one of those that are never bored. I always have a ton of things to do!
Read more about SiGMA Affiliate Grand Slam here.
Malta Week – Save the dates:
For the first time ever SiGMA Group is bringing its 4 leading shows together for the mother of all conferences. From the 15th to 19th November, SiGMA, alongside AGS and AIBC will bring the best in the business to a first-class meeting point at the Malta Fairs and Convention Centre (MFCC). Malta Week is a chance for investors to leverage the significant crossover potential for multi-faceted business deals and to double down on opportunities to connect with some of the leading affiliates, policymakers, thought leaders, suppliers, and operators in the industry. Register now!
