Every traffic manager wants to work with the highest possible value, but desire alone is not enough to achieve this. Any business is mathematical. An advertiser cannot spend more on traffic than he earns from it, therefore his position must be supported by arguments. And the best argument is always the numbers.
In this article, Andrew, CPA CIS and Africa team leader, shows how a webmaster can move from the difficult path of “my traffic is paid stably” to “I work at a higher CPA”. To do this, we will understand the concept of KPI in iGaming, calculate the return and consider the favorable conditions for a rate increase.
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What are the different types of KPI?
Although the minimum payment thresholds and payment increases are far from each other, they are still connected. Therefore, let’s first understand the KPI: let’s consider what the concept includes and what it can be.
Each offer holder defines their own KPI that determines the traffic that will be played. Let’s highlight the main indicators:
- Player activity. When analyzing, the manager looks at the number of repeated deposits (RD – ReDeposit) and the unique RD.
- Average player check. Calculated as: Total deposits / Number of deposits. An advertiser can include in the KPI the average check of up to 0.5 of the first week’s CPA rate.
- KPIs can also be divided into soft and hard KPIs:
- Hard KPI – mandatory conditions required to pay for traffic.
- Flexible KPI – softer conditions needed to continue cooperation.
This means that if traffic does not pass the soft KPI during the testing period, but the hard KPI is met, these FTDs will still be paid. But further joint work will be in question.
Some people will say this is harsh. But I will answer: we don’t take the numbers out of thin air, but rather from the average performance of our sites. This means it is being exceeded and even exceeded, so the KPI is more than scalable. Test different approaches, check your stats with your manager and in your personal account, and you’ll be happy (and with generous limits and payouts).
More and more advertisers are coming to a single KPI, as the company is mainly interested in going through flexible metrics. And this is not a whim, but a common unwillingness to work on the negative, paying for traffic that will not bring income.
How not to get burned by the KPI?
The arbitration market remembers dozens of cases where webmasters were “cheated” about payment. The accusations were diverse, fair and not so fair. I will not judge anyone, it is much more useful to understand how not to get into such controversial situations:
- Make it a rule to evaluate your traffic at regular intervals. First of all, I advise you to pay attention to the average check (with and without withdrawals), the GGR, the player activity (RD and URD), and you can also ask your manager for a cutoff analysis. This way, you will always know which KPIs you cannot achieve.
- Take an interest in metrics as you expand. Quality can deteriorate as volume increases, so it’s especially important to keep an eye on it. Don’t ask your manager for feedback on traffic every day – once a week is ideal. Don’t hesitate to ask questions. For example, what do you need to work on or which groups are best to set up?
- Compare groups and the quality of traffic coming from them. This is how you can identify winning creatives, CTAs, keys, and other components.
How does the advertiser decide whether the bid can be increased?
The above are only necessary for traffic to simply pay. Now let’s move on to the most interesting thing: the conditions for increasing the rate. The key indicator for us as advertisers is return on traffic. In our calculations we use the data:
- GGR (Gross Gaming Revenue) – Gross gaming revenue. It shows the amount of money made by online casinos from players’ losses.
- GGR = Bet Amount – Payouts to Player
You can see the GGR in your 1win Partners account in the statistics section. The system automatically counts and displays the difference between players’ losses and wins in the “Total difference” column.
NGR (Net Gaming Revenue) – Net gaming revenue. Shows the amount of money remaining after deducting all costs and tax charges.
NGR = Bet Amount – (player payments + bonus payments + administration fee)
Each advertiser establishes its payback period. One thing is constant: investments (funds spent on CPA payments) must generate profit.
Payback is calculated using the formula GGR / CAC x 100%, where CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) is the CPA rate.
Example:
In October 2023, a webmaster brought 50 players, the qualifying payout is $30. In one month, his GGR was $650. So this results in:
CAC = 50 x US$ 30 = US$ 1.500
GGR = $650
In a month, the traffic was compensated by 43.3% ($650 / $1,500 x 100%), which is a good indicator, which means you can ask for a higher bid.
A favorable sign can be considered if, with a CPA of $30 in the first week, the average player brought $10. If the average player brought the same $10 to the advertiser in the first week, but the webmaster’s bid already is $60, you shouldn’t wait any longer.
Conclusion
In short, the KPI is an indicator of average quality and, to count on a bid increase, the traffic must be above average. If you’re moving away from a standard CPA, your metrics fit into ROI targeting and you can justify it, talk to your manager!
This article is not a ready-made solution or a “bulk” button. There are all the tips in what was written above so that you can evaluate your traffic yourself and find the arguments you can present. As they say, whoever understands, understands.
Any questions or want to start working with 1win Partners? So, write on Telegram or DM and we’ll talk!
