Beyond Traffic: Building People, Partnerships & Performance
Affiliate Manager with 3 years of experience in affiliate marketing, supported by 3 years in recruitment and talent acquisition.
Q: Anastasiia, your career path is genuinely fascinating: you started in recruiting and are now developing in affiliate marketing. How does your HR background help you today when working with partners and teams? How important is the human touch in the affiliate space?
I started my career in recruiting and spent about three years working with both technical and non-technical roles. That experience still helps me a lot today. You learn how to understand people, how to listen, and how to build trust pretty quickly.
In affiliate, this is actually very important. Yes, we work with numbers, but behind those numbers there are always people partners, teams, decisions.
For me, the human side is not something extra. It’s the base. If you don’t know how to communicate and build relationships, it will be hard to grow long-term.
Q: I know that beyond your main role you have a strong personal interest in mentorship and coaching within the industry. How did that interest develop? Is it connected to your time as a recruiter, where you often saw talented newcomers in iGaming struggling without the right guide at the start?
My interest in mentorship came quite naturally. Even in recruiting, I saw many talented people who struggled at the beginning just because they didn’t have the right support.
When I moved into affiliate, I felt the same thing myself. Everything moves very fast, expectations are high, and there is almost no clear guidance. You just have to figure things out on your own. That’s why mentorship became important to me. If you already have some experience, it makes sense to help others move faster and avoid the same mistakes.
Q: In your view, what does high-quality mentorship in gambling look like today? What is the market missing in terms of education and knowledge transfer?
Good mentorship today should be simple and practical. Not theory, not “just watch me,” but real examples, honest conversations, and regular feedback.
What I feel is missing in the market is structure. There is a lot of knowledge, but it’s not organized. And also understanding. This industry is fast and stressful, and sometimes people don’t need a perfect answer, they just need support to keep going.
Q: What skills are most commonly missing in young professionals who enter iGaming and the affiliate space?
Many young specialists don’t really lack hard skills they can learn tools quite fast. What’s usually missing is the bigger picture understanding how everything connects. And also communication skills. Knowing how to ask questions, how to work with others, how to admit mistakes. These things really define how fast you grow.
Q: To help fill those gaps, newcomers need real-life examples. Tell us how you yourself came into affiliate marketing in the gambling space and what draws you to this niche most of all?
I moved into affiliate because I needed more energy, more creativity, and more movement in my work. I’m a creative person, and I wanted something connected to marketing, ideas, and communication.
Affiliate gave me that mix numbers and creativity together. What I like the most is the dynamic. Things change all the time, and you are always learning and building something new.
Q: There is plenty that is attractive, but the reality of arbitrage and affiliate work is a constant battle. What are the main challenges affiliate managers and teams face today - regulation, platform volatility, team burnout, other things?
It’s not an easy industry. Affiliate is always a challenge. There are many things to deal with - regulations, platform changes, strong competition.
But one of the biggest issues I see is team burnout. The speed is very high, and pressure is constant. Also, not all managers know how to work with people. Many are very strong in numbers and strategy, which is great. But business still depends on people. If you don’t support your team, it becomes a problem.
Q: Despite those storms, teams do find solutions. Which traffic channels are currently performing most effectively for gambling affiliates - SEO, PPC, ASO, social media, influencers?
There is no single best traffic source right now. SEO works well in the long run. PPC can bring faster results. Social media and influencers help build trust. But the main thing is not the channel - it’s how you work with it. The strongest teams are those who test quickly, adapt fast, and don’t rely on just one approach.
Q: You have been working in the affiliate space for a number of years now, and iGaming affiliate marketing is evolving at pace. Which verticals or GEOs look most promising to you right now, and what trends will define the market over the next few years - AI, personalisation, new traffic sources, or something else entirely?
The market is changing very fast. New GEOs appear all the time, and those who move early usually win. AI and personalization are important trends, but I think speed is even more important. Tools are available to everyone. What really matters is how fast your team can react and make decisions.
Q: Given all these trends and challenges, what advice would you give to newcomers who want to break into gambling affiliate marketing, and to those who want to grow professionally within it?
For newcomers, my advice is simple don’t try to do everything at once.
Choose one direction, go deeper, and learn how to get real results. Also, find the right people around you those you can learn from and grow with. For those who are already in the industry, growth comes when you start learning more than just hard skills. Managing people, processes, and yourself becomes very important.
Q: Speaking of professional community development and strong ecosystems - Georgia has become one of the most prominent hubs for iGaming teams. Drawing on your experience, how do you assess Georgia’s current position on the iGaming map? What makes this market attractive for affiliate partnerships right now, and what breakthrough - in regulation or innovation - can we realistically expect from Georgia in the years ahead?
Georgia has become a strong hub for iGaming teams. I think the main reasons are simple it’s accessible, there is a growing community, and it’s flexible for business. People feel comfortable working there. For affiliate partnerships, this helps a lot. It’s easier to connect, build relationships, and grow. In the future, a lot will depend on regulation. But the potential is definitely there. If Georgia keeps a good balance between control and freedom for businesses, it can become even stronger in the global iGaming market.
