David Archer, Owner of Better Media Limited, joins the latest series of affiliate interviews on Affiliate Grand Slam

David Archer is one of the 300 affiliates that AGS flew to SiGMA Malta – follow his story below

How did you first get into the affiliate space? How did you transition from retail betting to online affiliate marketing?

It was around 2009 when I first started in the affiliate marketing business. I thought that it was best to begin with a high-quality domain; therefore, I acquired freebets.com for $100000. Initially, I outsourced the site build and content to an agency, as I knew next to nothing about web development or affiliate marketing. This allowed me to learn by working on the site and was an enormous help as it meant I had experts working on the critical success factors from the outset.

Can you walk us through the developing process of www.whichbookie.co.uk since the day you acquired it? How did you scale it up?

I acquired in August 2019 and we knew that the brand had a lot of potential; however, we needed to improve the design, the user experience, and the relationships with many of the operators. In addition to the above and to building on the solid base of content, we have developed many new content areas. In particular, we created a Tips and Predictions side to the site that relies on industry experts for horse racing, football, greyhounds, snooker, and boxing. More sports will be added in 2023.

What sets you apart from other affiliates? What makes www.whichbookie.co.uk unique?

High-quality, in-depth content across the site is our USP and in particular we only use the very best tipsters in their particular sports. Thanks to the quality of the information provided, we enjoy enormous loyalty from our customer base.

Do major events like the 2022 World Cup have a big effect on your business?

Events like the World Cup are great for the business as the activity level increases dramatically and we are in a good position to capitalise on that with solid search engine rankings for both specific World Cup terms and more generic football keywords.

How does the UK affiliate market compare now to 2009 when you started as an affiliate?

The market is constantly changing particularly with the increased regulation on operators in the UK. This has a direct knock-on effect for affiliates. It’s much harder now for the smaller affiliates to survive as you need some scale in order to fully implement the regular regulatory issues which are required.

How do you manage relationships with multiple operators?

We work with 70+ operators and it’s very important to maintain frequent communication with all of them. This ensures fast response to any changes they require. We have an internal team to manage our partner relationships.

How was your 300 Spartans’ experience?

It was the first time I had visited Malta and overall, the experience was very positive. The SiGMA Conference days were really well-attended and it’s always good to catch up with as many partners as possible. I also had time to visit Valletta and to try some of the local food and drink which I can highly recommend.

Are you a regular attendee at the annual SiGMA Europe that takes place in Malta? SiGMA Africa, Americas, Asia, Balkans/CIS, Eurasia, Europe – which of these four expo shows would you likely book on your diary for 2023?

It was my first visit to a SiGMA event and I will now consider attending SiGMA Americas in 2023.

What are the benefits of attending large iGaming events, and what can they do better?

It’s really helpful to meet partners and contractors face-to-face. In addition, conferences allow you to hold multiple meetings in a short space of time.

What advice would you give to anyone considering entering the affiliate space now?

I would say that there are still many niches where it’s possible to make an impact; however, unless you have some unique skills or ideas, be prepared to be disappointed. Operators are understandably more cautious about who they will affiliate with so the sector has become more demanding and more resources and scale are required than ever before.