A survey has revealed that 86 per cent of affiliates run a mobile site, with 77 per cent featuring selected content on mobile devices as a key promotional strategy.

The report, produced by Paysafe's marketing and technology provider Income Access, is entitled State of Play: iGaming's Affiliate Marketing Industry, and includes statistical and anecdotal insights on the current state of play and expectations through 2018.

Over 20 survey questions cover a range of topics, including mobile traffic and optimisation, preferred advertising models, verticals and markets of interest: all factors when considering operator partners.

Other promotional strategies that are popular include banner adverts with sign-up offers (55 per cent) and Twitter accounts with trackable links (30 per cent).

Casino (44 per cent), sportsbook (36 per cent), poker (31 per cent) and bingo (27 per cent) were identified as the top four verticals that affiliates are considering promoting in the future, while esports (25 per cent), lottery (21 per cent) and social gaming (21 per cent) also showed signs of long-term affiliate interest.

Income Access compared several results to a separate 2016 affiliate survey that addressed many of the same topics and questions. It showed an increase from 20 per cent to 39 per cent of affiliates who said that more than 50 per cent of their traffic arrived from mobile devices. For verticals, the number of affiliates who selected bingo as a current focus rose from 17 per cent in 2016 to 40 per cent in 2017. Casino was the top current vertical of focus at 75 per cent.

Lorenzo Pellegrino, CEO of Income Access and Digital Wallets at Paysafe, said: “With the survey report, Income Access set out to evaluate the state of the industry through the eyes of affiliates. What we found was a mix of consistency, which can be seen in results for the leading markets and verticals, and evolution. Increased interest in bourgeoning verticals such as esports and lottery is a great sign for the industry. That affiliates are making a conscious effort to be strategic with their content development is similarly encouraging.”