Data-Driven Marketing for Successful Promotion of iGaming Platforms

The times when marketers relied on their intuition or general data about potential customers to promote iGaming offers are long gone. Due to the highly competitive nature of the industry, which - according to Statista - will exceed $130 billion in 2029, you need to use analytical tools and develop strategies based on accurate data to succeed. In this article, you will learn about the features of modern digital marketing for casinos and sportsbooks, as well as how data driven marketing solutions are important today to effectively convert traffic into active users of iGaming platforms. 

Importance of Data Driven Marketing for iGaming

The approach in promoting offers based on the active use of data for segmentation and targeting is very popular for various spheres and especially for iGaming which is still a sensitive niche. Every interaction with your visitors, potential and existing customers can give you valuable information about what games gamblers/bettors like, what kind of bets they prefer to place, what bonuses suit them best and much more. By learning how to analyze this information and use the findings for campaign optimization, you'll be able to send your audience relevant messages that resonate with them. 

Reasons Why You Should Engage Data Based Marketing Strategy

Digital marketing today is complex in itself. As far as iGaming digital marketing is concerned, it is a whole science where you need to take into account many different aspects to find the best traffic sources, to ensure a constant flow of customers to the promoted platforms and to successfully convert, i.e., turn them into active players spending money on sports betting and casino games. Below, you will find a few important things provided by a data-driven approach:

·  A complete understanding of the customer journey. By being able to track customer interactions at every step of the way, you will be able to find points where your intervention can make a significant impact.

·  Personalized approach and dynamic targeting. You can categorize your audience based on a variety of factors including demographics, behaviour and more. So, data driven media buying approach will help you to create relevant and really attractive ads.

·  Optimize campaign costs and increase profitability. Today you have access to tools enabling you to evaluate the historical effectiveness of campaigns and their individual elements, as well as to predict the behavior of users and potential customers. Thanks to the obtained data, you can effectively reallocate budgets to maximize ROI. 

To successfully promote iGaming business today, you need to always be one step ahead of your competitors, as gamblers/betters prefer the best and easily change platforms if they don't like something. By tracking and analyzing important information about your audience, you will be able to find hidden opportunities to provide your competitive advantage. 

5 Important Metrics for iGaming Digital Marketing

iGaming marketers deal with numerous performance indicators all the time, with an exact number of which are difficult to calculate. However, below you will find the top 5 metrics without which you cannot properly optimize your campaigns to use your marketing budget effectively. 

 Lifetime Value (LTV)

Let's say you get a new client and incentivize them to make a first deposit. This should not be the end of your work, because you can extract even more profit from such a client by making them stay with your platform for a long time. In simple words, LTV is a metric showing the total profit brought to the operator by the client for the whole period of interaction with iGaming platform. 

Thus, the higher the LTV, the more effective your retention strategy is, which is especially important for businesses in the iGaming industry where the cost of acquisition is often much higher than the cost of retention. To boost LTV, employ loyalty programs and offer personalized bonuses that can increase user engagement. 

Average Revenue Per User (ARPU)

How is your strategy for monetizing the traffic brought to your platform working? The best way to check this is to calculate the average revenue brought by a user over a certain period, i.e., ARPU. By using this metric, you will be able to identify the audience segments that generate the most revenue so you can focus your marketing efforts on them. To increase ARPU, use gamification elements such as exclusive tournaments to incentivize high-value players to spend more money on the platform. 

Churn Rate

You have to accept that some players come to your platform but leave it after a few gaming sessions, and sometimes even faster. The churn rate is a metric showing the percentage of players who stopped using the promoted online casino or sportsbook. A high churn rate indicates problems with the iGaming platform. 

To reduce churn, run an audit of the iGaming platform to identify problem areas. Also, use proactive measures such as bonus reminders and personalized offers to wake up users who have fallen asleep. 

Conversion Rate

One of the most popular marketing metrics, CR shows the proportion of users who completed a targeted action relative to the total amount of traffic attracted. To increase the conversion rate, optimize landing pages based on the data obtained from testing different iGaming content formats. In addition, things like simplified registration in 1-2 clicks can boost this figure. 

Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)

How much money do you spend to bring people to the promoted platform and encourage them to perform the targeted action (sign up and fund the account)? Too high a CPA can negate the profit you get from new users (if you don't take into account their LTV). By using targeted advertising, retargeting techniques and cooperating with affiliate programs, iGaming operators can significantly reduce CPA. 

Why iGaming Operators Should Invest in Data-Based Marketing

In practice, an effective data driven marketing strategy helps not only in attracting new users but also in building long-term relationships with existing players. Using quality and accurate information about your audience will help maximize the return on every dollar invested. Moreover, thanks to this approach, you will be able to personalize your marketing efforts to increase user satisfaction, which will have a positive impact on LTV. 

Analyzing User Behavior to Develop Effective Retention Strategies

To turn new users into loyal customers, iGaming platform operators must carefully analyze the behaviour of their players. This allows them to personalize marketing messages and thus reduce untargeted traffic. While many operators still use bonuses - including personalized promotions tailored to the interests of a particular gambler or bettor - in some cases it is more important to simply remind about a match of a favourite sport or the release of an anticipated title. 

Analyzing Data to Optimize Advertising Costs

Every dollar spent on promoting the platform should work for you. Since iGaming is an extremely competitive industry, you should not neglect any available tools, especially such effective ones as analytics. By carefully analyzing information about your audience and campaigns, you will be able to:

·  Select the most cost-effective channels to cull, for example, those sources that provide players with high LTV.

·  Automate the ad buying process and adjust bids on the fly with ROI in mind.

·  Provide more accurate targeting through behavioural analytics. 

Some iGaming brands are also using analytics tools to study the sections viewed on the platform to use this information for effective retargeting. 

Audience Segmentation for Better Engagement

At the heart of personalization, segmentation allows you to divide your audience into groups based on interests, preferences, lifecycle stage and other important things. It helps you distinguish between regular players and newcomers to the platform, gamblers who prefer online slots or roulette for example, and bettors who bet on sports matches, etc. 

In addition, you categorize players who are just starting on the promoted platform and those who are ready to switch to something new. By providing players with something they are really interested in, you can significantly increase their engagement and therefore the likelihood that they will stay with you for a long time and continue to generate revenue for your business. 

Enhance Competitive Advantage by Leveraging Data

According to Statista, nearly half of U.S. adults surveyed agree that the data they provide for advertising and marketing purposes helps them find something interesting. However, about 25% of respondents expressed concern about brands collecting information about them. Nevertheless, iGaming operators who know how to properly collect and apply data have a significant advantage over their competitors. 

Firstly, data allows operators to better understand players' needs. Secondly, with it, companies optimize their budgets giving preference to more profitable channels. Third, modern tools help predict player behaviour based on data, thereby increasing player engagement and reducing churn. Therefore, to outperform your competitors, you need to put the player at the centre, invest in analytics and remain agile as iGaming is changing rapidly.

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