Facebook Ads for iGaming in Kenya: Creative & Funnel Tips

We’ve already told you about the specifics of Kenya as an affiliate GEO, and now it’s time to dive deeper into the nuances of running an ad campaign in this region. In this article, the 888STARZ Partners team will share the funnel you should use when targeting Kenya through Facebook, how to create engaging creatives, and offer some tips for effective traffic monetization.

Facebook in Kenya

Kenya is a global leader in social media engagement: the average time spent on Facebook is 4 hours and 13 minutes per day (well above the global average of 2 hours and 21 minutes). Kenya could be a great GEO for Facebook traffic, but it comes with a significant drawback — only about 35% of the population uses Facebook. This means that to maximize reach in Kenya, affiliates must work significantly harder compared to other GEOs.

The overwhelming majority of Facebook users (97%) access the platform via smartphones and tablets. The dominant content format on Facebook in Kenya is both short and long-form video. Around 65% of Kenyans consume exclusively video content — such as news clips or vlogs from Kenyan and neighboring creators. Audience activity is high both during work hours and leisure time, especially among those with flexible job schedules (e.g., taxi drivers).

Facebook Funnel for Kenya

Kenya is a very unique GEO, so launching ad campaigns on Facebook here requires careful planning at every stage.

Preparation Stage

To avoid unexpected ad account bans, it’s essential to properly prepare your ad accounts for compliant Facebook campaigns in Kenya. The first step is to verify whether your affiliate program has a license from the Kenyan betting regulator — the Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB). If your affiliate program lacks this license, launching legal campaigns in this region is impossible. If licensed, you’ll need to apply for Authorized Gambling Advertiser status through Facebook Business Manager. The mandatory document package includes a scan of the BCLB license, a Kenyan tax registration certificate, and WHOIS domain ownership proof. The approval process typically takes 7–14 days. Rejections are common, especially due to incomplete documents or incorrect formatting, so be prepared to reapply.

Important: The 888STARZ Partners affiliate program holds an official operator license in Kenya, which means you can legally run campaigns to this GEO when working with us. Contact your affiliate manager to get a scan of the license, the tax certificate, and WHOIS proof in the shortest time possible.

Once verified, the account must be tailored to local realities. A crucial element is the integration of the M-Pesa payment system, which handles 98% of iGaming transactions in Kenya. Trackers like Binom and Voluum should be used with Gambling Mode enabled to mask referral links. As a backup option, consider renting “warmed-up” accounts from local partners ($500–$1000/month) and split your traffic sources (70% Facebook, 30% alternative channels like push networks with lenient moderation).

Stage 1: New Audience

In the initial stage, your goal is to attract a completely new audience unfamiliar with your brand. Targeting should focus on major cities like Nairobi, Mombasa, and Kisumu, prioritizing males aged 20–21, who belong to the most solvent and populous user class. It’s essential to segment the audience into three categories:

• New players – placing a bet for the first time.
• Experienced players – have placed bets before.
• Professional players – regularly place bets.

Further, segment the audience by region: players from large cities, small towns, and rural areas. Identify which of these aligns with your target audience to launch the most relevant creatives and attract higher-quality traffic.

Pay special attention to football, which is the most popular sport in Kenya. Creatives should be emotional and thrilling, using dynamic video clips of sports moments to capture the spirit of competition and anticipation of victory. Avoid direct calls to gamble or visuals of currency to comply with Facebook moderation and local BCLB regulations.

Stage 2: Retargeting Setup

The second stage should focus on users who have already shown interest in your brand (likes, video views, comments), visited your website or page, but haven’t registered or made their first deposit yet. Retargeting becomes the main promotional tool at this point. Creatives should now feature specific platform offers, such as welcome deposit bonuses or free spins.

Also highlight key benefits for Kenyans, like the speed and ease of payouts via the M-Pesa local payment system. Use compelling phrases like “Withdraw to M-Pesa in 5 minutes!” or “Instant payouts.” These catchy slogans don’t count as direct calls to action but still help build trust in your platform.

Visuals should emphasize interface simplicity or easy registration, especially for mobile users, as mobile traffic dominates in Kenya. Direct this interested but not-yet-converted audience to dedicated landing pages detailing bonus offers and offering simplified registration flows, all while reinforcing trust and ease of starting.

Stage 3: Driving Conversions

The final stage of the funnel targets the hottest and most ready-to-convert users — those who have already registered but haven’t made their first deposit, or who’ve been inactive for some time. Ads here should be strictly motivating and act as reminders.

If your affiliate program has personalized or exclusive offers not available to new users, this is the time to present them. Special deposit bonuses, cashback on lost bets, or free spins on slots work particularly well. If such offers aren’t available, you can create urgency and exclusivity instead. Use messages like “Only for your account!”, “Your personal offer expires in 24 hours!”, or “Come back and claim your bonus now!”. These creatives should shorten the path to action, leading users directly to the deposit page (cashier) or to a detailed promo page. Even for this loyal audience, reinforce reliability and fast withdrawals through local payment systems.

Creative Optimization Tips for Kenya

As mentioned in our previous overview of Kenya, locals often prefer to identify as Masai — the indigenous people of Kenya who inhabit the south. Be sure to mention this term in your creatives to connect with the local audience. It’s particularly effective in betting creatives, as the Masai are associated with physical and moral strength — highly valued traits in sports competitions. Also incorporate national symbols, such as the shield-and-spears flag representing the fight for freedom, the lion (the national animal), or savanna landscapes. Anti-colonial sentiment is still strong in Kenya, and locals appreciate humor involving Western countries, especially the UK. This can be cleverly leveraged in creatives, for example by highlighting the superiority of Kenyan athletes over European ones.

Don’t forget to embed a locally understandable context in your creatives — use relevant Swahili slang, savanna imagery, and references to national football clubs. Be sure to check upcoming key matches in both local and international leagues to plan campaigns around them. However, direct users to neutral landing pages, such as those with sports news or match analysis.

Conclusion

Launching Facebook ads in Kenya isn’t as simple as it seems, but with the right strategies, this channel can bring a large volume of high-quality traffic to your iGaming offers. Keep in mind that Kenya is not a typical Tier-2/Tier-3 GEO — it’s a vibrant and unique region with its own characteristics, and failing to understand them can doom your campaign. If you’re ready to run a profitable and legal campaign in this region, sign up with 888STARZ Partners. Our platform has an official license in Kenya and our GEO pool has grown even larger.