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Interview with Roman Manuylov – CEO at Alfaleads
Affpapa caught up with Roman Manuylov, CEO at Alfaleads, to discuss the company’s growth, strategic decisions, and its impact on the iGaming industry.
Yeva: Alfaleads has become an international holding company with iGaming and digital marketing expertise. Can you talk about the strategic decisions and key milestones that have shaped its journey since its launch in 2016?
The most important decision is to focus on what you do best. We are experts in traffic, so we built our entire holding company around this expertise.
The second key decision that helped Alfaleads become an internationally recognized company was creating an ecosystem that allows for efficient traffic management.
The third decision was staying true to our company’s cultural values and mission. We’ve always maintained our identity, hired people, and launched projects through the lens of our core principles. This has given us a significant competitive advantage. Employees remain with us long-term, they are loyal, and they make a great contribution to the company’s growth.
Yeva: Alfaleads includes various specialized brands, including Alfaleads Network, Alfa:search, AAA Agency, and the BIG Conference. How do these brands work together to help the company achieve its goals?
We believe in businesses being efficient and self-sufficient. At the same time, we freely share knowledge and experience across our units. For example, the team from the Alfaleads Network affiliate program can consult with Alfa:search for SEO expertise, as they are one of the largest SEO teams in the market. We’re also happy to share our knowledge with partners — naturally, without revealing trade secrets.
As a holding company, we can offer clients a full range of services: CPA traffic from Alfaleads Network, SEO promotion from Alfa:search, creative campaigns from AAA Agency, and more. It’s important to note that each of our businesses operates as an independent entity, generating its own revenue and achieving profitability on its own.
Yeva: The upcoming BIG Conference in Belgrade is set to gather over 2,000 participants. What inspired the creation of this event, and what do you expect to gain from it?
We had long wanted to create our own conference because we’ve always been good at organizing events. Over the years, we’ve put together numerous parties, pre-parties, gatherings, and business events.
One of the biggest inspirations for starting this project was our current location. The Balkans is one of the most interesting regions. Many iGaming companies are based here, including some that aren’t represented anywhere else in the world. Numerous media buying teams from the Balkans are difficult to connect with at typical conferences. Additionally, it’s a convenient meeting point for everyone.
The BIG Conference isn’t just designed to boost the media presence of our projects — it is about bringing all our clients together in one place to create powerful networking opportunities. My ambition is to make BIG the event with the fastest return on investment in the market for all participants.
Yeva: Alfaleads has been recognized with multiple awards, such as the CPA Life Awards and the Affbank Awards. How do these awards influence your company’s reputation and client relationships?
While it’s difficult to measure the exact reputational impact of awards, participating in rankings and competitions naturally attracts new clients — similar to how conferences benefit from organizing award ceremonies.
For me, receiving these awards confirms that we’re moving in the right direction and that clients are choosing us.
Yeva: In your experience, what are the most significant challenges in affiliate marketing today, and how does Alfaleads address them to maintain its competitive edge?
Key challenges include:
- Market restructuring and declining conversion rates, especially in the CIS region. Marketers are losing revenue due to payment processing failures.
- Increased government attention to iGaming. Some countries, like Thailand, are moving toward legalization, while others are tightening regulations.
- More frequent Google core updates that heavily affect SEO. Previously, major updates happened roughly twice a year, but now they occur much more often.
- Talent shortage. It has become difficult to find qualified experts for leadership and sales roles.
To address these challenges, we’ve focused on Tier-1 legal markets where earning potential is higher. Currently, we hold the largest base of Tier-1 advertisers among all affiliate networks.
For SEO, we’ve dramatically improved our response time to changes. Previously, recovering de-indexed websites took weeks — now we resolve such issues within hours.
Regarding talent and team development, we launched a training program that I personally invest a lot of effort into. This year, I plan to focus on implementing AI to further boost our efficiency.
Yeva: With the fast-changing advancements in digital marketing technologies, how does Alfaleads ensure it remains at the forefront of innovation and delivers value to its partners?
We stay ahead of the curve by leveraging all modern technologies, including AI. Aside from automation, these tools also significantly enhance the quality of our work. We use AI in quality control, content creation, analytics, database management, and more. In the foreseeable future, AI will handle routine tasks, freeing our employees to focus on more important responsibilities.
For Alfaleads Network, our greatest asset is our client service, which we’re constantly working to improve. We also have one of the strongest sales divisions in the industry. Our team secures deals that aren’t available elsewhere in the market, we offer them to our trusted partners who deliver high-quality traffic.
Yeva: Reflecting on your career, what motivated you to get into affiliate marketing and eventually lead a company like Alfaleads?
My background began in marketing, PR, and digital before moving into CPA and eventually affiliate marketing. What drew me to Alfaleads was that it’s a company with a human soul — its values and people-centered approach resonate with me personally. I share these principles and consider them fundamental.
Several factors helped me grow here:
- I’ve always been invested in everything I do, approaching each task as if it were my own business.
- I never stop learning and read many books, including fiction.
- I focus on developing both myself and the company not just through networking, but also through my personal brand to bring additional value to the company.
Company: Alfaleads
Interviewee: Roman Manuylov
Date: 12.03.2025
Alfaleads – iGaming Voice by Yeva
In the latest installment of iGaming Voice, AffPapa talked to the CEO of Alfaleads and co-CEO of Advisability, Roman Manuylov, about the affiliate company and how it has...
