In this article, Anastasiia Shcherbyna, Chief Marketing Officer at MelBet, examines Jordan’s potential as an emerging iGaming market and the importance of localization, patience, and tailored user journeys for affiliates entering the GEO.
I think many people working in the industry have faced the same situation: a team comes in asking for a new GEO to work with. At MelBet Partners & Affiliates, we see these conversations regularly. Usually, everyone wants quick results, an engaged and highly responsive audience, an opportunity to scale fast, and ideally no need to reinvent funnels or test completely new approaches.
Sorry, gentlemen, but that is no longer how it works.
In 2026, if you want to enter a new GEO, you will have to put in the work.
Today, I want to talk about Jordan, because it is a perfect example. Yes, it is a young and promising market with significant potential. But not everyone will be able to establish a strong position there. This is not a market where you can simply take a successful setup from another Arab country, copy-paste it, and expect the same performance.
And that is exactly why I like Jordan so much.
Today, Jordan is still far from being an overheated GEO. Competition for users is not as intense as it is in more mature Tier-1 markets, while the culture of digital entertainment is still developing. For affiliate teams, this creates plenty of room for testing, but at the same time, it requires more patience and much greater attention to detail.
Why is this market worth considering right now?
Jordan’s biggest advantage is the opportunity to enter before the market becomes significantly more competitive.
The audience is already highly active online and on social media. People are interested in football and mobile entertainment, but they have not yet been overwhelmed by endless variations of the same offers.
And this creates an interesting advantage.
You and your team are introducing users not only to a specific offer, but, to some extent, to the entertainment category itself. That is why the familiar formula of “bright creative — registration — deposit” will not work as effectively here.
Users need time to:
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Understand how the product works.
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Know what will happen after they click.
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Evaluate whether the offer feels safe and transparent.
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Make sure the brand can be trusted.
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Make a decision without feeling pressured.
Yes, this takes time.
But while you guide users through each stage, you are also building their trust.
A longer conversion cycle should not automatically be seen as a sign of poor-quality traffic. In many cases, it simply reflects a more cautious audience. If users receive clear answers and complete their first journey without a negative experience, their future behavior is likely to become much more stable.
When you do not pressure people, you gradually build an association with a reliable product — one that introduced them to a new form of entertainment in a safe, understandable, and high-quality way.
In Jordan, the advantage goes to the team that understands user behavior earlier than everyone else, finds the right communication approach, and builds a clear journey from the first interaction to the target action.
What you need to understand about the audience
From my observations, the local audience is relatively cautious and rational.
Users tend to react negatively to aggressive promises, pressure, and “get everything right now” messaging. An aggressive offer may attract attention, but attention does not necessarily translate into trust.
Calm and logical communication works much better here.
Users want to understand:
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What exactly is being offered.
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How the product works.
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What will happen after they click.
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Why they should take the next step in the first place.
Remember: you are introducing people to an industry that may still be relatively new to them. These questions are therefore completely natural.
This is one of the key differences between Jordan and markets where iGaming has already been familiar to the audience for years. In Jordan, sometimes you need to explain not only the advantages of a particular brand, but also the basic mechanics of the product itself.
How to build the funnel
The funnel should not pressure users. Instead, it should guide them naturally and consistently from the first interaction all the way to the product.
The creative is responsible for generating interest.
The landing page is responsible for explaining how the product works.
Further communication is responsible for building trust and addressing doubts.
If there is a disconnect between these stages, users will leave quickly.
It is best to start with formats that are easy to consume on a smartphone:
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Short videos built around one clear idea.
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Simple infographics.
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Step-by-step explanations of how the product works.
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Football content connected to current matches.
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Gaming products with fast and easy-to-understand mechanics.
For betting, football remains the most natural entry point, especially international tournaments and the biggest European leagues.
And no, I would not look for one universal winning setup.
Jordan still offers enough room to experiment with social media, short-form video, SEO content, and local creators. The main purpose of testing should not simply be to generate a click. It should be to understand which format explains the product most effectively to a particular audience segment.
Localization and cultural context
This is where you need to be particularly careful.
The first thing you should remember is that Arabic should be the foundation of mass-market communication. English is understood by part of the audience, but it does not create the same level of proximity and trust.
At the same time, localization is not simply translation.
You need to consider wording, visuals, tone of voice, local payment methods, currency, and the broader cultural context. A technically correct translation can still sound too formal, unnatural, or disconnected from the way people actually communicate.
That is why local review by a native speaker or regional specialist is highly recommended.
There are also certain topics that should be avoided. Members of the royal family, political conflicts, and territorial disputes should not be used in communication. Care is also required when selecting female imagery.
Your creative can absolutely be bright and attention-grabbing, but it still needs to remain respectful and culturally appropriate.
The wider situation in the Middle East also directly influences audience sentiment. Regional developments can affect demand and user activity, so launches should never be planned without considering the broader context.
Yes, I said from the very beginning that Jordan is not an easy market.
But that is exactly what makes it so interesting.
Who is Jordan suitable for?
Jordan is unlikely to be the right GEO for teams that need immediate volume and a ready-made scaling model from day one.
However, it offers significant opportunities for teams that are prepared to:
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Test different hypotheses and experiment.
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Be patient and avoid drawing conclusions too early.
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Learn about the audience and its specific behavior.
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Invest properly in localization.
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Rework the entire funnel rather than only changing creatives.
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Build trust and user habits gradually, without pressure or aggressive communication.
From my experience working with the market at MelBet Partners, Jordan requires more effort, greater attention to detail, and more careful communication.
But that is exactly where the opportunity comes from.
While the market is still not overheated, teams have the chance to do more than simply buy traffic. They can develop their own approach to the audience and build an advantage before the competition becomes significantly stronger.
Jordan is not a GEO for quick wins. It is a unique opportunity for those who are ready to build demand, test hypotheses, and develop a long-term strategy before everyone else does.