Paul Puolakka: Our key advantage is our custom-built CMS, which allows us to stay ahead of the competition

Congratulations on being recognized as one of the top marketing professionals in the iGaming industry by iGamingExpress! How does this acknowledgment reflect the work you’ve done at Mr. Gamble?

It’s truly an honor to receive this recognition. It feels like just yesterday that I accidentally entered the iGaming industry back in 2014, and I’ve come a long way since. I’m proud that my work and views on the industry are being acknowledged. Throughout my career, I’ve worn many hats—from customer support to affiliate management, consulting for operators, and even running my own affiliate project.

Now, as the CMO of Mr. Gamble, I believe that my experience across these various roles helps me bring a well-rounded perspective to understanding the industry as a whole.

What do you believe sets your platform apart from other casino comparison sites, and how do you maintain this competitive edge?

One major advantage is our custom-built CMS, which allows us to tailor the platform to our exact needs without the limitations that off-the-shelf solutions, like WordPress, might impose. We’re constantly innovating to enhance the user experience, and we always put the customer first.

This has led to features like the “Casino Trend Meter” and seamless Mr. Gamble Forum integration. We also got the Silver-prize on this from the SBC Awards on the “Affiliate Innovation of the Year” so it’s great that this is being noted in the industry too, hopefully next time we take the first place thou.

Our commitment to transparency and user-centric design has been key to our success. Additionally, we’ve been fortunate to build a talented and innovative team, which has been essential to staying competitive.

Your background includes affiliate marketing, SEO, and branding. How do you balance these different disciplines to create a cohesive marketing strategy for Mr. Gamble?

All these disciplines play a crucial role in crafting a winning strategy. In our case, the collaboration between the SEO, sales/marketing, content, and tech teams is seamless, although there’s always room for improvement.

Each aspect contributes to the bigger picture, helping us stay ahead of the competition. We’re always fine-tuning and ensuring that these elements work harmoniously together to achieve the best possible outcomes.

With Mr. Gamble expanding its market presence, particularly in the U.S., what challenges have you encountered when entering new regulated markets, and how do you adapt your marketing strategies accordingly?

Entering a new market is always a challenge, especially with varying regulatory frameworks, like in the U.S., where regulations differ from state to state. We begin by thoroughly researching the market, focusing on legal and regulatory requirements.

For this, we collaborate with external experts. After that, there’s a lot of work on content, affiliate deals, development, and SEO to align with market conditions. Each market requires its own approach, so we use a variety of marketing sources and tactics, and we frequently perform A/B testing to fine-tune our strategies. It’s a continuous learning and optimization process.

In your opinion, what are some common mistakes that iGaming affiliates make today, and how has Mr. Gamble managed to avoid these pitfalls while maintaining steady growth?

The mistakes really depend on the specific goals and the market that affiliates are targeting. Everyone makes mistakes—us included—but the key is to learn from them.

Personally, when I started my own affiliate project in 2021 (before joining Mr. Gamble), I underestimated how challenging it would be. I quickly realized that success requires constant learning, adaptation, and a lot of hard work.

At Mr. Gamble, we’ve focused on continuously analyzing our performance and refining our approach, which has helped us maintain steady growth.

With the rapid pace of innovation in iGaming, how do you ensure Mr. Gamble stays ahead of trends, particularly in user engagement and retention?

There are a number of different tactics we follow to stay ahead of the competition, especially in user engagement and retention, but I can’t reveal all of our strategies. Suffice to say, we keep a close eye on trends, continuously test new ideas, and adjust our approach as needed to keep the platform relevant and user-friendly.