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Interview with Artem – Head of Affiliates at Rocks Partners
AffPapa recently interviewed Artem, Head of Affiliates at Rocks Partners, about his professional journey, clues to company growth, underrated traffic sources, upcoming projects, and more.
Yeva: Artem, can you tell us about your professional journey leading up to your current role as Head of Affiliates at Rocks Partners? What key experiences shaped your career, and what led you to specialize in affiliate marketing?
Absolutely — my path was far from straightforward. I have a degree in veterinary medicine and used to teach clinical diagnostics to students. Later, I worked in show business, organizing large-scale events, and for a while, I even hosted my own segment on a morning TV show. I also ran my own business. These areas had nothing to do with traffic, but they taught me how to handle pressure, work with people, and move fast.
I got into the gambling industry completely by chance — four years ago, on a January day, a recruiter called and invited me to an interview. I went through three stages, completed a test task, and joined a startup. At that time, I knew nothing about the industry, but I was familiar with marketing. Within six months, I became the team lead of the affiliate department, and soon after, its head. Later, I continued my career in two major holding companies as a Senior Affiliate Manager.
Affiliate marketing really clicked for me because it’s real-time work with tangible results. You either deliver, or you don’t — and I appreciate that level of transparency. Over time, I moved from day-to-day operations to strategy. Today, I lead the affiliate team at Rocks Partners, helping partners scale faster and smarter, while coaching my team to work more efficiently and effectively.
Yeva: What sets Rocks Partners apart from other affiliate marketing companies in the industry, and what do you think has been the key to your company’s growth and success?
We don’t just run offers — we run the whole product. That’s the difference.
We have in-house brands, in-house funnels, and a team that’s been in the trenches. So when we say something converts, it’s not a guess — we built the backend to make sure it does.
Our growth comes from two things: control and care. We control the entire chain, and we care how it performs. That’s rare in this industry, and partners feel it.
Here’s a typical case: a partner comes to us and says, “I want to run traffic to Germany for WinHero.” We respond, “No — take DuoSpin instead. It converts better, and you’ll earn more.” This kind of honesty always resonates with partners because we’re genuinely focused on their results, not just distributing traffic across brands.
Another example: we never mislead partners or ignore technical issues. If a key payment method goes down and a partner sends traffic to that GEO, we reach out first and recommend pausing until it’s fixed. Many would rather hide bugs and keep the traffic flowing. We’re not like that. We believe in transparency and long-term relationships.
Yeva: Affiliate marketing is a dynamic and rapidly evolving industry. What trends or changes have you observed over the years, and how have you adapted your strategies to stay ahead of these developments?
The biggest change? Speed became strategy. You can’t rely on one source or one method anymore. Facebook rules shift overnight. Google updates destroy months of work.
So we diversified. We moved into ASO, SEO, cleaner PPC, and long-tail flows. We tested faster, localized deeper, and planned for volatility instead of pretending it wouldn’t happen.
In short, we stopped trying to win the algorithm — we started building systems that adapt.
Yeva: Are there any marketing trends or affiliate traffic sources that you think are underrated and should be used more often?
Definitely. ASO is still slept on by a lot of affiliates. It brings high-intent users, costs less than PPC, and retention is naturally stronger.
Also, email and push. Everyone’s obsessed with new sources, but good retention flows typically beat fresh traffic on ROI.
SMS is one of our favorite — and seriously underrated — traffic sources. On average, 15–20% of our total traffic volume comes from SMS campaigns.
The quality is excellent: high-value users, strong retention, and the cost is comparable to social traffic.
If you’ve got SMS traffic, reach out. We’ll take your entire volume.
Yeva: How do you choose potential partners? What criteria do you look for when determining whether a collaboration is a good fit for Rocks Partners?
I don’t care about how big someone says they are. I care how they work.
We look for partners who are transparent, proactive, and treat this as a business, not a one-week test.
If you’re coachable, honest, and bring ideas to the table, we’ll work with you whether you do 100 FTDs or 1000.
We also prioritize partners who say, “We’re ready to take on your KPIs because we want to prove the quality of our traffic.” For us, that’s a true win-win strategy — it shows a mature approach and a genuine interest in building long-term collaboration.
Here’s a recent case: in March, one of our partners tested five GEOs with our standard cap of 30 FTDs per GEO. After the test, we mutually agreed to keep two GEOs and remove the caps in April. The result? The partner is happy, we’re happy, and the players are happy. Everyone wins.
Yeva: With the company’s expanding presence in the affiliate marketing space, what are some of the most exciting initiatives or upcoming projects you’re looking forward to at Rocks Partners?
We’re launching new GEOs with hyper-local flows — fully adapted offers, creatives, and payment logic. That’s exciting because it lets our partners get an early-mover advantage.
We’re also levelling up our CRM and bonus personalization tools, which is huge for retention.
And finally, we’re investing in education, giving partners breakdowns, data, and playbooks we used to keep internal.
Yeva: Looking back at your time at Rocks Partners, what are you most proud of achieving? Is there a particular milestone or success that stands out to you?
WinHero. This brand started from a simple idea — no name, no visuals, just a concept.
Today, it’s our flagship product in the Tier-1 segment. We built everything from scratch: the offer logic, UX, brand tone, and retention system — all designed with one goal in mind: make it work, make it scale.
I’m proud of this project not just because it performs, but because we built it the right way: thoughtfully, systematically, and with a clear focus on long-term growth. And more than anything, I’m proud of the team that brought it to life.
The project is only three months old, and the traffic has already paid off and turned profitable — now we’re scaling aggressively. We’ve launched two new GEOs and given one of our top PPC partners exclusive rights to one of them. The result? Massive growth.
Company: Rocks Partners
Interviewee: Artem
Date: 05.06.2025
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