What to Test First: Creatives, Landing Page, or Funnel?
When launching a marketing campaign in the iGaming niche, one question always comes up: what should be tested first? There are generally three options: the creative, the landing page, and the funnel with all its stages.
Your choice determines how quickly you can optimize spend and improve conversion rates. Mistakes at the start can be costly — especially in competitive GEOs or under strict regulatory requirements. So today, in this piece from Big Traff Partners, we're sharing our testing experience.
Creative. Why testing starts here?
The creative is the first thing a user sees. If a banner or video fails to grab attention, no one will click through to the landing page. In the iGaming niche, creatives must meet audience expectations: bonuses, free spins, atmospheric visuals, emotions, and winning moments. We can say with confidence that creative optimization in 2025 is a critical part of any campaign.
When we test creatives first:
- Lack of data on the local audience, low CTR, need to find a hook fast.
- When targeting multiple GEOs or cultural contexts where creatives may land differently (sports preferences, local slang, cultural codes).
- When competition in the GEO is too high.
What we test:
- Format (video / static banner / playable).
- Value proposition (what exactly the user gets: a bonus, free spins).
- Overall visual style and tone (aggressive vs. soft, real players / gamer aesthetic / VIP offer).
- CTA (Join / Play Now / Claim Bonus).
Landing page. Can it matter more than the creative?
If the creative is driving enough clicks but conversions to registration / deposit are low, the problem is likely in the landing page. It's quite common for affiliates to overlook poor internet connectivity in the regions they're targeting.
The user doesn't click on the ad — instead, they "bounce" from the landing page or abandon it due to a complex form, slow load time, or irrelevant content.
What to test on the landing page:
- Load speed (especially on mobile). Critical for Tier-2 and Tier-3 GEOs.
- Number of form fields, UX (including verification / validation).
- Content-to-creative alignment (offer, bonus).
From our own experience: pre-landers with simple UX and trust-building elements can reduce bounce and improve CR — even without changing the creative.
Funnel — the full logic from ad to FTD
Here's a scenario: both the creative and the landing page are performing reasonably well, but CPA / CPL / FTD numbers are still high. What's the issue? Most likely, it's somewhere in the funnel itself — in the intermediate steps (pre-lander, KYC, confirmation, payment UX) or in response speed.
What to test in the funnel:
- Pre-lander. Determine whether it's needed at all, or whether the number of steps can be reduced.
- Re-engagement scenarios (if the user didn't complete registration or didn't deposit). Identify where users drop off and why.
- Transition speed between stages (from click to registration, to deposit).
- Channels / entry points. Then check the percentage of users who reach each step.
We've found that action-driven landing pages — focused on prompting a specific action rather than just delivering information — consistently produce stronger conversion rates.
So what should you test first?
In iGaming campaigns in 2025, there's no universal rule or single right answer. All components matter, but the testing sequence will vary depending on your specific situation.
- Start with the creative if CTR and engagement are low — that's where the biggest potential for quick growth lies.
- If you're getting clicks but registrations / deposits are low — test the landing page and UX form.
- When both the creative and landing page are working — move to the funnel: pre-landers, KYC, payment speed, re-engagement.
One important factor is your overall budget. You can of course run A/B tests on everything at once, but you'll simply end up wasting time and money.
It's better to move through these stages sequentially: first make sure the creative attracts, then that the landing page converts to registration, and finally — that the entire path to FTD is working.
Priority sequencing + proper testing = budget savings and higher conversion rates. The Big Traff Partners team operates on exactly this methodology: creative — landing page — funnel.
