How to Package Agency Case Studies So iGaming Brands Actually Reply
A brand reads your case study as a forecast of what it gets if it gives you a test. Here's the structure of a case study, how to work around an NDA, the one-pager format and the mistakes that get your email pushed to “later”.
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Agencies tend to send brands the same thing: a screenshot of the ad account, a couple of lines along the lines of “ran casino traffic, went great” and a row of logos. To an acquisition manager, that's not a case study — it's a reason to put the email aside. They need to see quickly whether the agency fits their GEO, product and payment model, and whether the numbers can be trusted.
Below: a case study structure, ways to show results under NDA, the one-pager format and an agency profile that answers half of a brand's questions before the first call.
What a brand looks for in a case study
Your reader is a CMO, an affiliate manager or an acquisition manager. They read a case study as a forecast: “If I give this agency a test, what am I likely to get?” So four things matter to them.
- Relevance. The same GEO, the same vertical — casino or sports betting — and a similar payment model.
- Context. Timeframe, volume, constraints. Without them, any number means nothing.
- Quality, not just volume. How many players made a redeposit, what share of traffic was rejected, how the cohort behaved a month or two later.
- A clean record. Did you work with a licensed brand, within platform rules, with 18+ targeting? For a licensed brand, a case study that hints at a grey-hat setup between the lines is a red flag, not a selling point.
Case study structure: seven blocks
A good case study answers the same questions in the same order. Use this template as the basis for every project. The wording in the right-hand column is illustrative.
| Block | What to include | Example wording |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | What the brand wanted and what the constraints were | “Launch a new casino brand in the GEO with CPA at or below target” |
| GEO | Country or region, language | “One European country, local language” — if the country is under NDA |
| Source | Facebook, influencer, format | “Facebook, video creatives in the local language” |
| Payment model | CPA, RevShare or Hybrid, key terms | “CPA with a minimum-deposit baseline” |
| Timeframe | Duration, seasonality | “12 weeks, no major sporting events” |
| What we did | 3–5 specific actions | “Tested several creative angles, cut the funnels with low deposit conversion, reallocated the budget” |
| Results | Relative metrics and trends | “CPA 15–20% below plan, redeposit rate in line with the brand's target” |
The “What we did” block is the one most often underrated. It is exactly what separates an agency from someone who just pours traffic: the brand sees that you manage the outcome rather than simply spend the budget.
If your team uses terms like baseline, FTD or CR in different ways, check them against our iGaming marketing glossary. The wording in a case study has to match how the brand understands it.
How to show results under NDA
Work with brands often happens under NDA, and that's no reason to drop the case study. Four techniques keep the substance without breaking the agreement. The numbers below are illustrative.
- Anonymization. Instead of the name, a description: “a casino brand that has been in the GEO for less than a year”. Instead of the country, if that's under NDA too, the region.
- Ranges. Instead of “412 FTDs”, say “400–450 FTDs a month”. Instead of the exact budget, give the order of magnitude.
- Relative change. “CPA down 20% in six weeks”, “registration-to-FTD conversion up 1.4x”. The absolute values stay with you.
- Comparison against the target. “Hit the brand's target CPA in week two.” The brand doesn't need the exact figure to judge the result.
If the brand has allowed you to mention it, ask whether it would be willing to act as a reference. A short conversation with a happy client is more persuasive than any amount of polish.
The one-pager: a case study on a single page
A 20-slide deck rarely gets read to the end. A brand finds it easier to work with a single page it can forward to a colleague or open on a phone. The order of blocks:
- A headline with the result: “Facebook, [GEO], casino: CPA 15–20% below target in 8 weeks” (illustrative example).
- A context line: vertical, GEO, source, payment model, timeframe.
- The goal — one or two sentences.
- What we did — three to five bullet points.
- Results — three or four metrics with trends.
- What it means for the reader: “For a similar goal, we can run a test of [volume] over [timeframe].”
That last point turns the case study from a report into an offer: the reader immediately sees the next step and can reply in one line.
Technically, a one-pager is a single-page PDF or a link to a web page. No archives, no “download the deck from this file-sharing link” and no attachments weighing tens of megabytes: emails like that are easier to put off than to open.
The agency profile
Case studies show what you've already done. The agency profile shows what you can do right now. It's a single page a brand uses to decide whether a call is worth it. Make sure it covers everything:
- GEOs. Where you have proven results, and where you're only ready to test. Don't mix the two lists.
- Traffic sources. Facebook, influencer and others — plus the formats within them: video, static, creator integrations, streams.
- Capacity and caps. What volume you can realistically handle per month in each GEO. The brand will plan its budget around these numbers, so a conservative estimate is better than a missed plan.
- Payment models. CPA, RevShare, Hybrid — on what terms and with what minimum test.
- Verticals. Casino, sports betting, other products — where you have experience.
- Compliance. Who you work with: licensed brands only, in GEOs where advertising is allowed by local law, with 18+ targeting and within platform rules. For example, to run online gambling ads on Meta, the advertiser has to get the platform's authorization and confirm its license.
- Quality control. How you monitor fraud and what you do with rejected traffic. More in our article on traffic quality and fraud.
- Reporting. How often and in what form the brand gets data.
Update the profile at least once a quarter: caps and GEOs change faster than you'd think.
Common mistakes
Ad account screenshots only
An ad account screenshot shows clicks, impressions and cost per result on the platform side. What the brand cares about is what happened on its end: registrations, deposits, player quality. An ad account without the brand's data is only half the story.
No context
Is a CPA of $30 expensive or cheap? Without the GEO, vertical, payment model and timeframe, the number says nothing. The brand won't bother decoding it — it'll just scroll past.
Big numbers with no cohort
“300% ROI” with no indication of which player cohort and over what period triggers suspicion, not excitement. Spell it out: “player cohort from [month], 60-day value”. Then the number can be checked and compared with the brand's own data.
One case study for every occasion
Sending a sports betting brand a casino case study from a different GEO shows you didn't look at who you were writing to. Keep several case studies for different combinations of GEO, vertical and source, and pick the one that fits the recipient. How to work a case study into your first message is covered in our article on the first message to a brand.
A one-off peak presented as the norm
A case study built on volume you hit once, at a peak, sets the expectation that it will always be like that. If the result was a one-off, say so — honesty here builds trust.
FAQ
What if we don't have any case studies yet?
Start with an agency profile and an honest description of your team's experience: which GEOs and sources your media buyers have worked with. Offer the brand a small test on clear terms — its result will become your first case study. How to set up such a test is covered in our article on the test launch.
Can we name the brand in a case study?
Only if the contract explicitly allows it or the brand has agreed in writing. By default, assume you can't, and anonymize.
How many case studies should be in the portfolio?
Coverage matters more than quantity: one or two case studies for each key combination of GEO, vertical and source. Case studies that no longer reflect what you can do today are better removed.
Who should finished case studies go to?
To whoever is responsible for traffic acquisition at the brand: the affiliate or acquisition manager, or the CMO. If you have no way in to these people, you can hand your case studies to an outsourced sales team — Avero, for example, matches agencies with brands that fit their traffic sources and GEOs and introduces them with the context already in place.