Unlocking New Verticals: Driving Growth for Crypto Clients📈

Dom Averkiou
Tuesday, December 17, 2024

Introduction

This blog series reveals how we drive incremental growth for our clients across a range of industries—from ecommerce and healthcare, to fintech—spanning the US, Europe, and the UK. See firsthand how we turn affiliate marketing and partnership programs into the driving force behind the growth of ambitious brands.

The affiliate marketing landscape is constantly evolving, with innovative technologies reshaping how businesses connect with audiences and drive revenue. Among these game-changers is cryptocurrency—a digital revolution that's not only redefining finance but also presenting unique opportunities for affiliates and marketers.

We’ll take you behind the scenes, sharing how our tailored strategies, targeted partnerships, and data-driven approach have played a pivotal role in significantly scaling our crypto clients affiliate programs.

Our Objectives: Full-Funnel Approach for Crypto Affiliate Programs

A successful affiliate strategy relies on leveraging a full-funnel approach, and this process is no different for crypto clients. To maximize traffic and drive significant volume, it’s essential to have a mix of all elements within the funnel—from awareness at the top, to conversion at the bottom. By building tailored strategies across each stage of the funnel, we can guide potential customers through their journey more effectively.

At the top of the funnel, SEO content drives organic traffic by addressing crypto-related search queries, such as blockchain basics or wallet recommendations. Simultaneously, influencers with niche crypto or tech audiences build trust and engage users through authentic content on platforms like YouTube. Mid-funnel retargeting and bottom-funnel optimised CTAs ensure prospects move smoothly from awareness to conversion. This balanced approach drives sustained growth for our crypto clients.

The hyper-engaged crypto audience presents a massive opportunity to build partnerships with key publishers in this space. Collaborating with these publishers not only boosts visibility, but also enhances credibility in a trust-driven industry. These relationships are essential for affiliates looking to tap into the unique potential of the crypto sector.

Our Approach: Building Tailored Strategies for Crypto Audiences

Crypto’s appearance in the affiliate space required us to prioritise understanding its unique audience behaviours. By analysing user behavior and identifying key interests, we gained insights into where crypto enthusiasts spend their time online. This research guided our initial focus on blockchain education websites and the rapidly growing crypto gaming sector. 

The team conducted SEO Keyword research to prospect for high ranking crypto sites such as Cointelegraph, NFT Evening, and Coin Gecko. Aligning with these niches allowed us to connect with highly engaged and relevant audiences right from the start.

Competitor analysis was pivotal in shaping our publisher prospecting strategy. By researching how competitors targeted the crypto gaming and gambling sectors, we identified high-potential publishers and traffic sources. This proactive approach helped us uncover future volume drivers, ensuring our program remained competitive and positioned for sustained growth.

Given the niche and fast-evolving nature of crypto, close collaboration with our clients was essential. By acting as an extension of their marketing team, we ensured our efforts were aligned with their goals and market insights. This partnership fostered clarity, trust, and a unified approach, enabling us to build strategies tailored to the client’s unique needs of the crypto audience.

Furthermore, creating a clear dialogue with crypto partners to educate them on affiliate networks was key in helping them through every step of the onboarding and verification process. Through these steps, we built an efficient onboarding process that maximised alignment, minimised guesswork, and set up crypto affiliate programs for long-term success.

Overcoming Challenges in Crypto Affiliate Marketing

Traditional volume-driving affiliates, such as cashback and loyalty platforms, proved ineffective in the crypto space due to a mismatch in audience behavior and preferences. However, the pivot to hyper focused crypto partners introduced another issue due to increased costs and market volatility. Some partners were not open to CPA or smaller flat fee opportunities which led the team to take a more creative approach in negotiations, including hybrid offerings or performance based incentives.

Client payment models initially created barriers in scaling volume. CPA structures lacked appeal on a commercial level and failed to generate the necessary revenue. To address this, we recommended switching to a CPL (cost-per-lead) model tied to KYC (Know Your Customer) sign-ups. This approach aligned incentives more effectively and ensured measurable value for both clients and publishers.

These challenges highlight the need for flexibility and creativity in adapting strategies to the unique dynamics of the crypto affiliate space. By addressing these obstacles, we unlocked new opportunities for sustainable growth.

Results: Proven Success for Crypto Affiliate Programs

  • We reached 93 click and sale active crypto partners across two programs.
  • We unlocked a new vertical with Crypto Gaming becoming a key volume driver across all of our programmes: Hamster Kombat were keen to work with one of our clients on a CPA basis of $5 per vetted conversion, which was a great way to test out this new vertical. Since going live on the 26th August we’ve seen over an incredible 15 Million clicks and over 1,800 conversions.

Conclusion: Innovating for the Future of Crypto Affiliates

Exploring crypto through the affiliate space has challenged us to adapt and innovate, refining our strategies to drive growth and engagement effectively. Through the insights we’ve gained, the crypto publisher network we’ve built and the new vertical testing we’ve carried out, we are now well-positioned to provide significant value to future clients. The crypto affiliate landscape is just the beginning, and we’re excited to leverage our knowledge to unlock new opportunities and deliver even more impactful results.

Ready to Scale Your Affiliate Program?

If you’re an ambitious crypto brand looking to launch or scale your affiliate program, we can help! Get in touch with us for a free consultation with our industry experts and discover how we can optimize your affiliate strategy, drive incremental growth, and overcome industry specific challenges. Simply fill out our contact form to get started!

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Dom Averkiou

Account Manager