Affiliate Manager Interview Series - Yana Ryzhenkova

**GPWA Daniel** · 29 July 2024, 11:28 am

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(This interview was originally published in the July 2024 issue of the GPWA Times Magazine.)

Please tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from and where did you grow up?
Hello! I’m Yana, Head of PIN-UP Partners. I’ve been in the affiliate scene for about six years now and I’m widely known as Karma, but more on that later.

How did you first get started in the iGaming industry? What drew you to this field?
To be honest that’s quite a story that started almost 10 years ago…

During my mom’s company retreat, I met an acquaintance of hers (who in the future gave me my first job as a laser-tag arena manager) who turned out to be involved in the whole traffic business. So, after school graduation, I got a job as an office manager for a media buying team, and after a few months and getting into the university I decided to step up and become a media buyer in said team. After a year of being a media buyer, I switched sides and joined an affiliate program. That’s how I got into PIN-UP Partners as a junior affiliate manager.

My story is proof that a circumstance combined with curiosity and hard work can take you anywhere you dream of.

What learning experiences or advice helped shape your career path?
Despite having a university degree, I had to learn everything hands-on. I always listened to my senior colleagues, took notes, and adapted my approaches and actions. In my opinion, one of the most important skills is finding your opportunities for growth and being able to apply the new skills you acquire right away.

What do you like most about your role?
What I like most is my team of department leaders – those are the people I’ve been working with for quite some time and with time comes mutual understanding that allows us to work like a well-oiled machine.

And of course – challenges. They motivate me to do my job better, be it seeing an opportunity and seizing it, or coming up with a new idea that makes an impact.

What are the keys to your success in driving a 30% volume boost as head of affiliates last year?

In 2023, we worked on improving both sales and affiliate department’s performance. We’ve developed education and quality control departments; we strive to improve both in hard and soft skills. We provides affiliates with favorable terms and GEOs, and that’s the “secret sauce.”

How does PIN-UP Partners affiliate program help affiliates attract and retain players?
First and foremost, one of our killer-features is the one of the highest reg2dep (registration-to-deposit conversion rate) on the market, with a ratio of 1 to 3. Every third registration ends with a deposit.

A few things help with that:

Short and easy player registration form, custom creatives and prelanders with top games and sporting events.
Wide media coverage (thanks to the inhouse media buying team, our product is advertised far and wide on the internet and with outdoor ads in GEOs with a local license), so affiliates can yield the results of our awareness advertising activities, as those activities greatly boost performance.
Top-notch support team providing world-class service to players, thus retaining them
In-house developed platform and total transparency of stats with infinite customization options for analyzing traffic.
And, of course, we are always ready to scale our affiliates and attract more and more traffic providing better terms! More traffic → More awareness → Better performance → Better ROI.

How does PIN-UP Partners work to maintain transparency and good relationships with affiliates?
PIN-UP Partners has been on the market since 2016, and since then we’ve been paying for each qualifying deposit on time and with the help of our transparent statistics each and every affiliate knows how their traffic performs.

But there is one more important reason: our affiliate team is skilled in various aspects of the online advertising and affiliate marketing. They can help affiliates with everything from setting up a post back to improving the funnel and optimizing creatives.

PIN-UP Partners accepts traffic for both casino and sports betting. What are the different marketing strategies used for each vertical and how easy or difficult is it to cross-sell players?
We indeed work with both types of products, and as you might imagine, flow of players from one to another is inevitable.

Yet when it comes to acquisition it’s entirely different. Casino product promotion is centered around the emotion and exhilaration of the game, while the sports traffic is event-oriented by nature and we take that into account when preparing promotional campaigns. Players are open to new things, and those coming to place a bet may end up spinning the wheel of fortune.

At industry conferences, PIN-UP Partners always has one of the most lively and well-attended stands. What are some helpful tips for an industry newbie on getting the most out of attending iGaming events?
Stands are a part of the marketing strategy in general and our approach towards the partners in particular. We aim to be the meeting point for our partners and give them the best time and service, both during conferences and our online.

One thing is always applicable at a conference: come with a plan, be ready and open to meet new people and don’t shy away from starting a conversation, as those meetings can help you make it!

What do you know about the iGaming affiliate industry now that you wish you knew when you just got started?
Promised traffic is not always delivered traffic (laughs).

On a serious note – there is a trove of knowledge that combines business metrics, player psychology and marketing approaches, and I see a lot of potential for growth and expansion in combining those aspects for synergy that will drive the growth and profitability of the business.

What are your hobbies? What are you doing when you aren't working?
If you’d ask me about my hobbies a few years ago, you’d hear about all the social events and parties (thanks to the nature of the industry there is no lack of those), yet now I aspire to explore the world.

So, traveling is becoming more frequent and diverse, and I'm all for it, as I can see new places, meet new people and take part in new activities. At the time of this interview, I’m in a tennis camp in Montenegro, improving my backhand while meeting new people and exploring the sights.

We have to ask you: How did you earn the nickname “Karma”?
I guess this question is going to haunt me until the end of my career (laughs).

So, the story goes: at my first job in iGaming, my team leader at the time had a keychain with a “Karma cleanser,” and when I had to create a new account on Telegram, I glimpsed upon and that's how KARMA was born.

When you were growing up, what profession did you dream about getting into?
All things creative – model, artist, actress, a dancer. Yet now I’m in a no less creative industry with creatives, funnels and advertising campaigns filling up my days. Yet one thing for certain, I always wanted to lead, and now I take the perfect role for combining both.

If someone from out of town came to visit you for 24 hours, where would you take them and why?
I reside in Limassol. So, let’s see . . . first and foremost, we’d have a beautiful breakfast in Wagmi, then a walk in Molos park and then head for the mountains, for a local festival, then back to the city for a dinner in Tartufo and finish the day by dipping our feet in the sea and gazing upon the stars.

Name one thing that people reading this magazine don’t know about you.
Despite being relatively young, I’m big on discipline and organization, so no task is forgotten, and no deadline is missed, and I enforce this approach in my whole team.

**universal4** · 29 July 2024, 1:31 pm

Great Interview

Thanks

Rick
Universal4

**NoDepositCasinos** · 29 July 2024, 9:27 pm

What an uplifting interview! You have definitively built your path to the successful position where you are. Yes, there is a luck factor, but taking every opportunity, making the most of it, learning, and developing a strong work ethic has been a personal effort.

As always, it's great to see other women in the industry. I related to some things you mentioned and wish you continued success.

**Slotsjudge** · 12 August 2024, 7:54 am

Fantastic interview! Seeing how you've developed in the field and how your adventure began with such a distinctive tale is encouraging. I really like how you stress the value of taking advantage of chances and never stopping learning—certainly very insightful.

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