Hey everyone,

As some of you might know, I’ve stepped away from the casino operator industry for ethical reasons and am now focusing on creating my own sustainable casino affiliate project. If you think you can contribute, feel free to ping me—I’m always open to ideas and collaboration.

In the meantime, I wanted to share my blueprint for advertising on BitcoinTalk.org. It’s not often you hear an operator openly talk about this, so I figured I’d lay it all out for those of you looking to make the most of the forum as an acquisition channel.

I personally spent close to $50k on various forum services, and also sat down with several operators who are advertising here and openly talked about the numbers, so I hope some, if not all of the info here will be useful for future operators looking to join us as an advertiser.

It's also worth noting that I'm openly against all the signature spam that has been going on in this section of the forum, and I placed this thread as self-moderated. You have the opportunity to contribute to the conversation meaningfully, but any sig spamming will be deleted.  

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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE FORUM AS AN ACQUISITION SOURCE

Advertising on BitcoinTalk.org isn’t about quick wins. Operators used to instant results from affiliates might find this frustrating, but if done right, the payoff is worth it. Here’s a breakdown of key takeaways:

• Forget Affiliate Comparisons: Forum campaigns take time—think 4 quarters at least, not 4 months. Don’t expect forum traffic to behave like affiliate traffic; it’s slower to build but ultimately more valuable.
• Community Babysitting: Running a forum campaign is like managing a mini-community. You’ll need to engage constantly—answer questions, handle complaints, and maintain activity. It’s work, but it pays off over time.
• User Value Similar to Branded Traffic: Forum users bring higher ADPU and LTV because they trust you and join without external incentives.
• Tracking is a Headache: Forum users are smart and often bypass tracking links. Performance might appear low at first, but I’ll explain tracking strategies later.
• SEO Value: BitcoinTalk has significant SEO power. Work ethically with your SEO team to leverage this for your brand.
• VPN Traffic: Over 75% of the forum’s traffic comes from VPN users. Be ready to handle this, or don’t bother.
• Scammers vs. Defenders: Expect scammy messages when people know you’re an operator, but build trust and the community will defend you against false claims.
• Don’t Be a Dick: Respect the community. If you accept VPN traffic, honor winnings. Pulling a bait-and-switch will get you publicly shamed.

The forum is an investment, but if you respect the rules and the community, it will reward you with high-quality, loyal players.

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WHAT TO EXPECT FROM CAMPAIGN MANAGERS

I wouldn't recommend doing anything alone on the forum, especially if you're a newly registered account. It's crucial that you find a campaign manager - otherwise you'll just be wasting your time and money. However, working with campaign managers can make or break your campaigns. Here's what you need to know:

• Prepare for Idea Overload: Campaign managers are passionate and will bombard you with suggestions. Be clear about your goals to steer them in the right direction. Use this guide to clarify your expectations.
• Negotiate Rates, But Check Reviews: Comparing campaign manager rates and reading their reviews is crucial. Cheaper is not often better, and if you have a long-term roadmap, negotiate for better terms.
• Be Ready to Pay Upfront: Scams involving campaign managers are rare, but operators who collect traffic and disappear are common. Paying upfront ensures trust and attracts top talent. I've spent close to $50k on the forum and it was almost all paid up front, I got scammed zero times. Some people even refunded me a portion because we were calculating in dollars but paying in BTC, and BTC got a boost at that time
• Define Responsibilities Clearly: If you’re unavailable after working hours or on weekends, let the campaign manager know. Set expectations early to avoid misunderstandings.

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WHAT OPTIONS DOES THE FORUM HAVE FOR ADVERTISERS?

BitcoinTalk offers several advertising opportunities. Each has its quirks, but with creativity, you can make a big impact.

#1. Create an account and open up your own ANN page. An ANN (announcement) page is your HQ, and essential for building your casino’s presence. Without one, the forum won’t take you seriously.
#2. Launch a Casino Review Campaign and fix your Platform/Operation/Front-End Issues. By far the most useful option for fixing platform issues, and rarely employed by other casinos. This campaign pays users to test your casino by depositing real money and reviewing everything - from the user flow to CRM, deposit methods, games, and support.
#3. Find New Talent by Creating Various Design or Dev Competitions. This is the second most useful tool if you ask me, the forum has tons of smart people, and you can easily tap into that pool by organizing design, content or dev competitions.
#4. Launch a Casino Game Competition and Generate NRC’s and FTD’s. Regardless if you're a casino or sportsbook operator, there's always a way on how to organise daily, weekly and monthly games on the forum and attract registrations, with a plethora of successful examples, I included some of them in the dedicated post.
#5. Organize a Signature Campaign and Make Some Proper Noise. These campaigns are BitcoinTalk’s most iconic advertising method, but they require long-term commitment. I will go into detail about it in the posts below.


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WHAT IS THE RECOMMENDED BUDGET TO START ADVERTISING (UPDATED FOR 2025)

Not only was I an advertiser here on the forum, I also spoke with several affiliates, campaign managers and operators who are currently running their signature campaigns, and although there are lows and highs, the general consensus is that you will fail if you expect results within the first 3 months. Campaigns need to be run for 6 months to see some results, and ideally 12 months to see major results. This is not my opinion, this is a fact, backed up by data.

You can start of small, but you will not get the same results, so an ideal recommended budget is the following:

#1. To create your Casino ANN Page, place $150 aside, as I already mention it before, don't do it yourself or with your designers if you don't know how to work with BBcode, lots of things can go wrong, best to hire one of the local designers that I'll recommend below. With that budget you can expect a complete ANN thread design, just keep in mind that you will need to guide them on what you want on the ANN page itself.
#2. To run a Casino Review Campaign the recommended budget would be $12.000, divided into four quarters with $3.000 each , that will cover the Admin fee and get you 25 reviews per quarter, following my methodology outlined in this thread. You will need a campaign manager for this.
#3. To run a four quarter Competition Campaign the recommended budget would be $60.000, it can either be a multiplier challenge, some sort of sportsbook competition or whatever your campaign manager might think of. This will cover the admin fee + get you anywhere between 1200 to 1500 NRC's depending on the type of action you're having.
#4. To run a four quarter Signature Campaign the recommended budget would be $200.000, so $50.000 per quarter. This is if you want to include some of the better members of the forum and make a proper move. It includes signature designs, admin fee and up to 40 members.

Can you do all of that for cheaper? Yes, you can, but results might vary depending on who's managing the campaign and which users you took under your wing.

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WHO TO HIRE TO LEAD YOUR SIGNATURE CAMPAIGN?

I mean, look, like in every community, there's always additional noise and drama, this guy allegedly scammed that guy, one campaign manager has outperformed another in terms of ratings, but has more scam accusations, that person's grandma is actually Satoshi himself and so on, lorem ipsum. What I'm trying to say here is, don't be an idiot. Treat this process like any procurement process in your company. Meaning, I'll give you a list of the people that I either worked with or personally like, and your task is to reach out to them, ask for a quote and a roadmap, and then make a managerial decision on who did the best job and offers the highest value.

Here's the list of Campaign Managers who have experience with casinos, have a good trust rating, and whos performance can be tracked and verified here on the forum:



MY NOTES FOR EACH OF THEM
a.) With Cro2, you’re essentially getting two campaign managers—Trofo and Cryptofrka—which means a slightly higher admin fee but more flexibility during off-hours and holiday seasons. Both are fluent in English and Croatian, and communication is handled through Telegram. Operating in GMT+1, they are typically available from 6 AM to midnight. Their business model is highly transparent, allowing you to verify whatever you need. They have extensive experience with casino signature campaigns, reviews, and competitions.
b.) Hampuz is an experienced campaign manager with a strong portfolio, an extensive list of profiles, and significant influence within the community. During my initial research, he was transparent about pricing, responded within an hour, and spoke fluent English. His trust rating alone demonstrates his longstanding presence and expertise in all three key areas for this list: signatures, reviews, and competitions. Definitely worth reaching out to.
c.) Icopress is the mastermind behind some of its most creative competitions on the forum, and has a data driven approach to advertising on top as well, something that many operators appreciate. He takes full ownership of the forum’s P&L. Fluent in English and reachable via Telegram, he holds a significant portion of the forum’s competition infrastructure, making him well worth a conversation and his signature space. He's also experienced with casino signature campaigns, reviews, and competitions.
d.) Little Mouse is a hard worker with a solid portfolio of unique signature campaigns and competitions. His nickname might be little, but his heart is big. Based in GMT+6, he has excellent English skills, and most of my messages were answered within an hour. Transparent about pricing modules and clear about all aspects of his services. While he lacks experience with Casino Review campaigns, you can easily follow my guide to create one with him.
e.) Royse is another highly experienced user on the forum, with a strong portfolio, an extensive list of profiles, and substantial influence within the community. He understands the forum’s value to operators, is knowledgeable about Affilka, speaks fluent English, and communicates via Telegram. Experienced with casino signature campaigns, reviews, and competitions, he’s also an innovator in the space. Reach out to him for a chat.
f.) Upgrade00 is another diligent campaign manager with a strong portfolio. Operating in GMT+1, he has excellent English and communication skills, understands the value that signatures bring to clients, making him worth a conversation. Although he lacks experience with reviews and competitions, if his approach resonates with you, you can easily follow my guide to develop those campaigns with his help.
g.) Yahoo62278 might be last on this list due to alphabetical reasons, but he's one of the highest when it comes to recognition on the forum (Bpip.org). Has a keen eye for quality forum posters and boasts a healthy portfolio worth reviewing. While his ANN thread is slightly outdated, he understands the game and enjoys innovating. Transparent with pricing and fluent in English. Although he hasn’t provided a Casino Review Campaign, you can check with him directly for details.

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HOW TO SELL THE IDEA TO YOUR STAKEHOLDERS

When proposing to your stakeholders, this is what you would need to include in the pitch deck.

• Higher Player Value: Forum users have higher ADPU and LTV compared to affiliate traffic.
• Low Entry Cost, No Revenue Share: A 12-month campaign set at $200.000 might look expensive, but calculate in the fact that there's no revenue share on acquired players.
• SEO Benefits: Ethical campaigns can generate hundreds of backlinks to your casino or affiliates, and you can easily split the advertisement budget with the SEO department since they will benefit from it.
• Affordable Quality Control: You can run a QC review campaign for around $12,000 to gain valuable insights, far cheaper than traditional market research that can go into 100k+.
• Strong Community Support: If you build the trust properly, the community will defend your brand against scammers.

REVIEW CAMPAIGNS TO FIX YOUR PLATFORM

By far the most useful option for fixing platform issues. This campaign pays users to test your casino by depositing real money and reviewing everything- from the user flow to CRM, deposit methods, games, and support.

• LoyceV flagged issues in my Terms of Service that my legal team overlooked.
• Dbshck found an error in the 100% deposit bonus setup.
• Yoshie, FamososMuertos, and Khaled0111 uncovered a transaction cost issue with ETH payments.

Overall this was a game changer for both the platform, execution and payments team, and thanks to this exercise we managed to create a well-structured roadmap.

MY OWN FINDINGS:
I'm gonna share my last casino review page, but keep in mind that this is not an example of a good review campaign. I would do it different this time and I'll share the full process below, but for now here's a link to it: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5434945.0


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MY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE REVIEW CAMPAIGN

Set aside a budget hovering around $3000 per quarter : That should include the admin fee and get you 25 good quality users that actually care. Plan to repeat this for four quarters (totaling $10,000 plus the fee). You will want to give up to $70 to each member for the service provided, and $30 for them to deposit, trigger the deposit bonus, and have some fun at the casino.

Set up the Forum Welcome Page and Forum CRM Offer. Let’s assume you’ve already created a forum-themed landing page with a custom bonus or bonus code and a CRM flow tailored to forum members that I've recommended before. If you’re creative and have approval from other forum members, you can also incorporate their nicknames or projects into the CRM flow or landing page design. Make sure to ask for approval.

PREPARING THE CASINO TEAM
#1. I’ll also assume your team is onboarded regarding VPN usage and that you're ready to remove KYC requirements from those players. It’s unwise to ask for reviews without letting reviewers register and play. I know that you know that there’s flexibility here, so make it flexible.
#2. Bonus costs will be high and might affect your quarter targets. For example, if you offer a $100 match bonus up to 100%, your bonus costs will be an additional $2,500 for that quarter. Consider filtering out these users in your dashboard.

FINDING THE RIGHT MEMBERS AND KNOWING WHAT YOU NEED FROM THEM
The best-performing members usually don’t switch signatures, so use this opportunity to collaborate by hiring them for your review campaign. I won’t recommend specific people to avoid bias, but remember: users who manage infrastructure take their role seriously, while motivated newbies can also add a lot of value if given the opportunity to join in.

If I would be re-doing the review campaign, I would be searching for the following users:

a.) 10 Android users, because the majority of players that I had playing with us were on phones, and the majority of the phones were androids released anywhere between 2016 and 2020
b.) 8 iOS users, there were less iOS users, but still a significant portion of the players had iPhones.
c.) 4 desktop users (1 Firefox, 1 Chrome, 1 Edge, 1 Safari), this was the group after the phones.
d.) 2 tablet users (1 Android, 1 iPad), tablets were just 10% of the traffic, but still important to test
e.) 1 Smart TV user (to test for resolution issues), a very small percentage, but useful to know how the site operates on a smart TV.

Include members who know your priority languages. For instance, if you’re targeting ROW, DE, NO, and PT, ask the Campaign Manager to find members fluent in these languages.

Also make sure to clarify with the members that this is not a BTC only review, you will be using all the available coins you have in order to test their usefulness with the operation.

MANAGING THE FUNDS FOR THE REVIEW CAMPAIGN
The easiest way to handle payments is to register the Forum Campaign Manager as an affiliate on your affiliate platform and pay them like they provided an affiliation service. They can then distribute funds to the reviewers from their own wallets. In that way you only have 1 invoice per quarter and can let the campaign manager do their thing.

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HOW TO FORM THE QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE REVIEW CAMPAIGN
Now that you have 25 reviewers and a Campaign Manager, what should you test? Here are some ideas:

Registration Flow:
        #a. Ensure members register using their forum nickname for tracking purposes. Please tell them that this is important, no one wants to quote LittleDickMarie15 in a stakeholder meeting.
        #b. Ask them, when compared to other casinos, how hard was it to register? (rate 1-10).

Deposit Flow:
        #a. Assign different coins to testers (e.g., Bitcoin, Ethereum) and evaluate time, fees, and user satisfaction.
        #b. Ask them, when compared to other casinos, how easy was it to deposit with us? (rate 1-10).
        #c. Was the welcome bonus triggered, any issues there?

Device Compatibility:
        #a. Test navigation on the device that was assigned to you, log issues like load times, button size, and usability.
        #b. Any issues unique to your device?

Terms of Service:
        #a. Can you go through our TOS, is it easy to read? Do you understand everything? Are you against something?

Translations
        #a. Can you check the quality of localized content on one or more landing pages, the homepage or lobby page? How did you find it? Any suggestions here?

Customer Support
       #a. Can you invent a problem and ping the customer support team and test their response time, ease of communication and do they know your language?

Design Feedback
       #a. Can you tell us how the design of the site looks? Are you happy with it, do you like it? Which casino has the best design in your opinion?

General Feedback:
        #a. Is there anything else that bothered you, or you would like to say?

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WHAT I FOUND USELESS WHEN IT COMES TO REVIEWS:
There were some smaller surprises from my side.

#1. Testing games doesn't make any sense, since even if they do find some issues with the games, you can't fix it because it's the game provider who needs to change it. So ideally just let them play whatever they want, and tell them that you're only interested in the compatibility of the game with the device they are using, not gameplay itself. This changes if you're a game provider, then the users obviously need to test the game.
#2. Tell them to use pagination and move through the lobbies a bit. Otherwise you'll get 25 people reviewing your homepage and the first game promoted there.

GENERATE NRC'S AND FTD'S FROM GAME ACQUISITION/COMPETITION CAMPAIGNS
If you’re looking to generate the most NRCs (New Registered Customers) and FTDs (First-Time Depositors), forum games are your best bet. You can approach this in any way or shape you want, as long as you know what you're doing and have the NRC's and FTD's in mind. I'm gonna share some of my examples and attempts from before, as well as the best ones for conversion.

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SLOT AND AVIATOR MULTIPLIER CHALLENGES ARE GREAT
These games always work if the awards are good, below are some ideas:

#1. The Hi-Low Multiplier Challenge. Talk with your game provider and get a custom aviator style game, open up a daily multiplier challenge on the forum, and reward the player with the highest multiplier with a cashback. You can also play around with the rules and offer the worst loser a cashback on his loss as ell. BGaming is also open for custom slot games if you want to create one that matches your branding.
#2. The Move the Board Multiplier Game. Basically you create a monthly monopoly board and each player can report only one multiplier of the day, and with that multiplier move forward on the board. The board itself has various gifts inside, cashbacks, bonuses and so on. This can work great with Christmas calendars as well.
#3. The Deam Dream Challenge. In this teams of forum members need to join in, let us say one team is 3 players, and together they are reporting their total multiplier of the day, the team that reaches the highest number per day, or week, gets the prizes.
#4. Partner up with forum Affiliates and create a Contest. Efialtis is a great guy and easy to work with, you can see one of his latest examples here:

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SPORTSBOOK CHALLENGES AND GAMES AROUND THEM ARE ALSO EXCELLENT
I'm personally not into sportsbook, but if you check a few of the threads below you'll see how much value they are bringing in:

#1. NFL Pick-Em Prediction Pool managed by DireWolfM14
#2. Sportsbet's Bitcointalk Sports Fanatics League managed by Trofo and Cryptofrka

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MY OWN FINDINGS WHEN IT COMES TO GAMES:
a.) Set Clear Rules and check bonus costs: Work with your campaign manager to refine rules, but also cross-check with your casino team to balance bonus costs.
b.) Don’t blindly trust your campaign manager when it comes to rules . Many lack casino experience and don’t understand bonus costs. Work with them in designing the game, obviously, but also cross-check your casino team for the best results.
c.) Plan Rewards Strategically: Offer daily and weekly prizes to maintain player interest while staying within budget. You'll get more value out of players who are depositing little, but are constantly active, than those jumping in for a bit and then leave forever.
d.) The longer the forum competition/game is running, the better it will perform. If I would be starting a multiplier challenge right now, I would make it a 12 months campaign.

SOME THINGS THAT I DIDN’T DO, BUT SHOULD HAVE DONE

Looking back, these strategies could have improved my campaigns:

#1. I should have sponsored more community projects: Events like the Pizza Day Competition or tools like TryNinja’s Telegram Bot are excellent branding opportunities that are now being employed properly, but at the point when I started it wasn't obvious for me that these are opportunities worth tackling

#2.  Collaborate with my signature holders and grow other community channels: I could have worked a bit closer with my signature holders and get their help in promoting my Telegram group, build up my blog, or other platforms. If I would be doing it again, I would figure out how to incentives them to encourage participation in other areas of the business, not just the forum.

#3.I should have implement a Robust SEO Strategy: I should have worked with all of the signature holders and try to diversify my link portfolio through their posts and threads. I could have also include supporting websites, like the affiliate reviews and brand protection pages, but I didn't. Now looking back at it it's missed opportunity. If you don't have access to Ahref's, here's a screenshot from the tool just so that you understand the strength that this forum holds:

This is a great thread SirJhon, and It will be a great guide for those Who are starting their casinos and have no idea about how to advertise.

I have one question about the forum advertisement, what do you think is more effective, making a signature campaign or paing directly to the forum for their ads sports?

Indeed it is, but I assume campaign managers have their own ways to entice, invite, and lead casino operators to advertise here in Bitcointalk by presenting their own facts about Bitcointalk besides presenting themselves as capable campaign managers.

Its better to present data on this, SirJohnVonSlotty, Bitcointalk is a bitcoin forum and the gambling section is just one of its popular sections. Bitcointalk rules on many keywords related to Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, and since Bitcoin is a very popular keywords in the internet, I don't think many of these searchers and internet users are VPN users

Wow, I'm very happy to see your post because no one has said it like this. I have noticed in the forum that new project managers who come to the forum are often given various types of offers for promotion.

But from here, some people offer other aspects and other aspects in very small numbers. Even though they get sufficient promotion from the forum, other technical aspects are not completed from here. That is why it is seen that the promotion is very good, but technically, many things are not done well, and that is why the balance is not right. If this balance is right and attention can be paid to other sectors along with promotion, it will be the best, and the path for the project to move forward will become much easier.

Thank you SirJohnVonSlotty for sharing this with us and good luck with your next project.
One of the great examples how to advertise casino in bitcointalk forum is Sportsbet.io and everyone should learn something from them.
They are very active with community in this forum with many prediction competitions and they support many ideas coming from bitcointalk members.

Great job SirJohnVonSlotty, it was exciting reading all these detail explanations as to how the signature campaign and other promotions can be effectively run here on bitcoin talk, I like the fact that you as once a project owner who ran a signature campaign on this forum coming up with this analytical tool to help projects achieve the best from their forum engagement, keep it up.

Also, the part I love most is where you made clear clarifications about the ability of some knowledgeable newbies to deliver like every other rank in the forum, and their inclusion in forum signature campaigns, at least and I hopeto see that project owners start considering that.

I was thinking the same thing, I mean, this thread is great and a detailed explanation of what to do and expect when advertising a casino here in the forum. members could easily redirect new casinos on this thread if they are planning on advertising here.

I would support it if someone made a poll for this thread to be pinned.

also, great thread SirJohnVonSlotty!