Routy Media Spotlight - Alina Famenok - Scaling iGaming Media: From SEO Roots to Global Brand Leadership.

Routy Media Spotlight sat down with Alina Famenok Ex-CEO at Already Media. In this interview, Alina a seasoned digital media leader, shares insights from scaling an iGaming business from a 13-person startup into a global organisation of over 370 employees. Drawing on years of experience in one of the most competitive verticals, she explores the evolution of leadership, the shift from SEO-driven models to full media ecosystems, and the growing importance of data, culture, and adaptability. The conversation offers a practical perspective on building sustainable growth, developing strong teams, and navigating the rapidly changing landscape of iGaming marketing.

B - Based on your 7 years of experience in Digital Media, where you had rapid growth in a highly competitive iGaming vertical. What were the biggest leadership challenges you faced while scaling the company, and how did you overcome them?

A - Over the course of my career, I’ve had to scale businesses twice. The most recent example was Already Media, where the company grew from a team of 13 people into an international organisation with more than 370 employees.

One of the key lessons I’ve learned is that every stage of growth requires a different management model.

When a team is small, a lot depends on speed, personal involvement, and intuition. But as the business grows and the team expands to hundreds of people, that approach is no longer enough. At that point, it becomes critical to build a system – with clear areas of responsibility, transparent processes, and a strong leadership structure.

One of the biggest challenges is building a strong layer of leaders. When a company grows quickly, it becomes impossible to manage everything directly. You need a team of managers who can take real ownership and make decisions independently.

The real challenge of scaling is not just building processes – it’s building leaders.

That’s why investing in people’s development has always been a priority for me — helping team members grow into leadership roles. In the long run, this becomes the foundation for sustainable scaling.

Another important factor is maintaining flexibility and speed as the company grows. Scaling should not turn a business into a heavy bureaucratic machine. Instead, the operating model should empower teams to make decisions quickly, test new ideas, and launch new initiatives without unnecessary friction.

The third element is company culture. When an organisation grows rapidly, culture becomes the glue that holds everything together. I’ve always placed a lot of emphasis on maintaining openness, accountability, and a high level of ownership within teams.

Over time, I’ve come to see companies almost as living organisms. A business goes through different phases: rapid growth, turbulence, restructuring, sometimes even painful transitions. In each of these phases, the role of a leader is to understand the company’s state and help it adapt while keeping a clear sense of direction.B - Looking back at your career journey, what achievement are you most proud of, and why do you believe it made the biggest impact?

A - Looking back at my career, what I’m most proud of is not just a single metric or milestone, but the fact that we were able to build a sustainable company and a strong team.

When I joined Already Media, it was a small startup. Over the next few years, the company grew into an international business with hundreds of employees, operating across multiple countries and generating more than 100,000 FTDs per month.

Of course, metrics matter. Last year Already Media ranked #17 in the EGR Power Affiliates, and I was honoured to receive the Affiliate Leader of the Year 2025 award at the SBC.

But for me, the most important part has always been the people. Throughout my time leading the company, I’ve often said that the most valuable asset any business has is its team.

Over the five and a half years I spent at the company, many strong specialists and leaders grew within the organisation. A lot of them started in operational roles and later became heads of departments, launched new markets, and took on strategic responsibilities.

At some point I realised something important: the real value of a company is measured not only by its revenue or scale, but by how many strong people it helps grow.

That’s why the achievement I’m most proud of is not only the growth of the business, but the team of leaders that grew inside the company alongside me.

B - The iGaming vertical has historically been driven by SEO. How has your marketing strategy evolved as the industry shifts toward brand-led and community-driven platforms?

A - For a long time, SEO was the foundation of the affiliate model in iGaming. Many companies built their entire business around search traffic, and for years that approach worked very well.

But the market is gradually changing.

Competition in search has increased significantly, algorithms are becoming more complex, and users now discover products through many different channels. Because of that, building a strategy around SEO alone is no longer enough.

I believe the industry is gradually moving from SEO-driven websites toward full media ecosystems.

The strongest players now operate across multiple channels: search traffic, performance marketing such as PPC, content platforms, influencers, and social channels. This approach reduces dependence on a single traffic source and makes the business far more resilient.

At the same time, SEO is not going anywhere. It remains one of the most powerful acquisition channels in iGaming.

What increasingly differentiates companies today is something else.

Traffic can be bought or lost. Audience has to be built.

Companies that focus on building real relationships with users through brand, content and community will have a much stronger position in the long term.

B - In such a saturated market, what are the key elements that differentiate a successful iGaming media brand from the thousands of competing affiliate sites?

A - Competition in the iGaming affiliate space is extremely intense. New websites appear all the time, and from the outside it can look like the market is already saturated.

But in reality, there are far fewer successful media brands than there are websites with traffic.

The main difference is that strong players are not just building traffic projects. They are building real businesses. That means investing in product, analytics, technology, and most importantly, in people.

Most affiliate sites are built as SEO pages. The strongest ones are built as media companies.

A real media brand focuses on long-term value for its audience rather than short-term traffic monetisation.

Another factor that is often underestimated is trust. In an industry where thousands of sites publish very similar bonus pages and reviews, users increasingly choose platforms they trust.

This is why quality of content, transparency, and reputation are becoming more important than ever.

In the long run, it is the combination of strong teams, solid infrastructure, and audience trust that turns a simple affiliate website into a sustainable media business.

B - Digital marketing channels are constantly changing, from Google algorithm updates to the rise of social platforms. Which channels do you believe will define the future of player acquisition in iGaming?

A - As I mentioned in the previous question, the industry is gradually moving away from relying on a single acquisition channel. So when we talk about the future of player acquisition in iGaming, I see several directions that will play a key role.

First, performance marketing will continue to be extremely important, especially paid search and other PPC models. These channels allow companies to test new markets quickly, scale successful campaigns, and react to market changes much faster.

The second direction is video content and creator-driven platforms, such as YouTube, TikTok, and streaming services. More and more players discover products through reviews, streams, and content formats rather than only through search results.

Another growing trend is owned community channels, such as Telegram or Discord, where brands can communicate directly with their audience.

But in my view, the real question for the future of player acquisition is not only which channels companies use, but how quickly they can test and scale new ones.

The strongest teams in the industry today are not the ones relying on a single major channel, but the ones that can adapt quickly and continuously find new sources of traffic.

B - Data and analytics play a crucial role in performance marketing. How has data-driven decision-making shaped your marketing strategy and product development?

A - In performance marketing, data sits at the core of almost every decision. But it is important to understand that data itself does not create value. The real value comes from how well a team can interpret it and how quickly they act on it.

In my work and in the companies I have led, a data-driven approach has always been the foundation of both marketing and product decisions. It influences almost everything: which markets to enter, which offers to scale, which channels perform best, and which products are worth developing further.

Analytics helps us understand not only the cost of acquiring a user, but also what happens after registration. How users interact with the product, how long they remain active, and what kind of lifetime value they generate. These insights directly shape marketing strategy.

Data also makes it possible to test hypotheses much faster. This is especially important in iGaming, where the market changes quickly and new geographies, products, and traffic sources appear all the time.

In the end, the real advantage is not the data itself. The advantage is how quickly you can turn that data into decisions.

Companies that can analyse information quickly and adapt their strategy accordingly gain a significant edge in the market.

B - Regulation and platform restrictions are increasingly impacting digital marketing in the gambling sector. What strategies should marketers adopt to remain effective while staying compliant?

A - Regulation is becoming one of the key forces shaping the iGaming industry today.

Over the past few years, requirements from regulators and digital platforms have become significantly stricter, and this trend is likely to continue.

Because of that, marketers need to build their strategies with regulation in mind from the very beginning, rather than trying to adapt after the fact.

First, this means having a deep understanding of the regulatory requirements in each specific market. iGaming is becoming an increasingly local business, and successful companies need to take into account the legal and compliance frameworks of every country they operate in.

Second, the role of transparent and long-term partnerships between affiliates and operators becomes much more important. When both sides work within clear rules and expectations, it creates a much more sustainable business model.

Finally, marketing in a regulated industry requires a far more responsible approach to communication with users, from transparent content to clear positioning of products.

In my view, the industry is simply becoming more mature.

As markets become more regulated, transparency, responsibility, and long-term thinking become essential for sustainable growth.

B - Affiliate marketing often struggles with issues of trust and transparency. What steps can the industry take to build stronger credibility with both players and operators?

A - Trust has always been a sensitive topic in affiliate marketing.

The industry grew very quickly, and over time thousands of websites started publishing very similar bonus pages, rankings, and reviews. As a result, it has become harder for users to understand which platforms genuinely help them navigate products and which ones are simply trying to monetise traffic.

At the same time, players themselves are becoming much more experienced and selective. They quickly recognise when content exists purely for monetisation.

Because of that, the first and most important step for the industry is greater transparency. Users should clearly understand how rankings are created and how affiliate partnerships with operators actually work.

The second key factor is product and content quality. The strongest affiliates are gradually evolving from traffic-driven sites into real media platforms.

As players become more informed, the expectations for transparency and quality in affiliate platforms will only continue to grow.

B - Artificial intelligence and automation are transforming digital marketing. How do you see AI changing the way iGaming affiliates attract, convert, and retain players?

A - AI is already starting to significantly reshape digital marketing, and the affiliate industry is no exception.

First, AI dramatically improves how companies work with data. It allows teams to analyse user behaviour faster, identify patterns, and make more informed marketing and product decisions.

The second area is content scaling. AI makes it possible to produce and test different types of content much faster, which is particularly important for SEO and media platforms.

The third aspect is personalisation. With the help of AI, companies can better understand user interests and present more relevant offers at different stages of the funnel.

At the same time, it is important to keep one thing in mind.

AI does not replace strategy. It amplifies the teams that already know how to work with product, marketing, and data.

In the long run, the companies that will benefit the most from AI will not be the ones simply using AI tools, but the ones that integrate them deeply into their marketing and product strategies.

B - If you were advising a new iGaming media startup entering the market today, what marketing principles or strategies would you consider absolutely essential for success?

A - If a new iGaming media startup is entering the market today, the first thing it needs to understand is that the industry has become far more competitive than it was a few years ago.

Success today rarely comes from a single idea or one traffic channel.

The first principle is focus. Many new projects try to operate across multiple geographies and verticals from the start. In practice, it is far more effective to focus on one market or segment and build a strong position there.

The second principle is speed of experimentation. Affiliate marketing involves a huge number of variables: traffic channels, offers, products, and geographies. Teams that can test ideas quickly and scale what works gain a significant competitive advantage.

The third factor is team and operational discipline. Many people in affiliate marketing focus only on traffic, but the companies that actually win are the ones that build strong processes, analytics, and scalable operating systems.

The biggest mistake new projects make is focusing only on traffic acquisition instead of building a real product and brand around their audience. The most sustainable companies build media products.

Those are the businesses that ultimately create strong brands and maintain a durable position in the market.

B - How has your leadership style evolved during your career in iGaming?

A - When I first started working in the industry, my leadership style was much more operational. I tried to be involved in almost every process, make decisions quickly, and stay close to as many details as possible.

But as the company and the team grew, my approach gradually changed. During my time at Already Media, the company scaled from a team of 13 people to more than 370 employees, and that kind of growth forces you to rethink how you lead.

I realised that leadership at a larger scale is not about controlling everything, but about creating an environment where strong people can make decisions and take ownership.

Over time, my focus shifted more toward strategy, team development, and building systems that allow the business to grow sustainably.

A strong leader does not try to make every decision alone. The real role of a leader is to build a team that can make great decisions together. Looking back, that shift has probably been the most important change in my leadership approach.

B - What excites you the most about the future of the iGaming industry?

A - What excites me the most is how quickly the industry continues to evolve.

Even after many years working in iGaming, I still feel that it is a market where new ideas, products, and companies constantly appear.

We are seeing the industry become more technological, with new tools emerging, marketing models evolving, and media and content playing a much larger role than before.

At the same time, iGaming remains a very entrepreneurial environment.

It is one of the few industries where a small team with a strong idea can still grow quickly and build a meaningful position in the market.

That is what keeps the industry so dynamic — there is still real space for new ideas, new companies, and people who are willing to build something from the ground up.

B - What advice would you give to founders building media businesses in iGaming today?

A - iGaming is an extremely dynamic industry, and that is exactly what makes it so attractive for entrepreneurs.

My main advice to founders is to build not only traffic, but a real system around the business from the very beginning.

First, invest in a strong team. In this industry, it is not ideas that win, but the people who can execute them quickly.

Second, do not ignore structure and operational processes. Many startups grow fast but eventually run into chaos because there is no system behind the business.

And finally, be ready for constant change. Marketing channels, regulation, and products evolve all the time, so adaptability becomes a critical skill.

In this industry, the winners are not the biggest companies, but the fastest ones.