Christoffer Odegarden Head of Marketing at Bojoko

Canada is a fast-growing market, and competition is fierce. One of the main ways casinos try to get a leg up is bonuses, but most come in the form of a 100% welcome bonus. It’s very easy to understand. Players get what they deposit doubled in the form of a bonus. But here’s the question—does it work anymore? Do you need more to spin players’ heads?

To investigate, we spoke with Christoffer Ødegården, who heads the marketing efforts at the popular Canadian affiliate Bojoko.ca. They sit on a mountain of data about which offers work best, to which Ødegården often speaks, and even feature a large overview of 100% casino bonus offers. In this interview, he’ll discuss to what extent these offers still work and if there are more effective ways to get FTDs with your bonus offers.

Do 100% casino bonuses convert well, or are they the default option?

It depends a little on the brand and is a question each operator needs to ask themselves. The short answer is yes, they can convert well. There are casinos with 100% welcome bonuses that convert very well through us. However, what is clear is that other bonuses, and by other, I mean any bonus that goes above 100%, even a 150% offer, tend to enjoy a notable bump in conversions.

Often, this comes down to scrolling through affiliate lists and seeing better offers. However, many players are quite savvy now. They compare deals, read the terms, and look for actual value. It is fairly common knowledge that the bonus percentage is not the only thing that matters; the terms are the most important thing, but that is not fully showcased in our stats. 200%, 300%, etc., just grab the player in a different way.

It sounds like you’re saying casinos are maybe playing it a bit safe with these offers. Do you think they could be doing better?

It’s not really about playing it safe. A 100% offer can still be risky, be it in trying to make it too good with low wagering requirements or going the opposite route by making players look elsewhere by seeming too bland. A 200% bonus can still be really safe. You just have to tweak the terms; for instance, add a higher wagering requirement and a max win clause.

Casinos offering 100% offers may do it out of habit, which is not a great thing. You should be making decisions based on data. The industry as a whole could do a lot better when it comes to bonus design. Right now, many casinos are stuck in this cycle of offering the same thing just because everyone else does.

From a marketing perspective, what’s the risk of sticking with the standard 100% offer?

The biggest risk is becoming forgettable. When every casino is offering the same thing, you stop standing out. And even worse, if your bonus feels stingy or overly complicated once players look closer, you damage trust. From a conversion standpoint, that first impression matters the most. There are so many brands out there now that unless you have a huge advertising budget or brand name recognition, players are unlikely to give you another thought if they don’t like what they see.

What would a “better” bonus look like, in your opinion?

Depends on what you mean by better. From an experienced player's perspective, a 100% bonus with low wagering requirements is better than a high percentage bonus with high wagering.

However, from an affiliate marketing perspective, large percentage bonuses are almost always better. There is a drop-off if the terms are too complicated or restrictive, but our data shows that conversions are always increased no matter what.

The best-performing bonuses are in the 400%-500% range, and it can be quite easy to make these safe as well. The only issue with them is that doing so usually requires a small amount, making them non-optimal for bigger spenders.

Of course, you can have multiple offers or a high-roller-specific offer. Still, for simplicity, I generally recommend the 200% bonus and the maximum bonus to be at least a decent size. It shouldn’t be extreme, but enough for bigger spenders to get something out of it.

That said, you must also be vigilant yourself. Try different offers, collect the data, and see which performs best.