Maximising investment of operators'€™ resources

Allan Petrilli of Income Access Group outlines proven techniques for efficient use of different marketing channels

The UK egaming market’s revenue will grow to £4.4bn by 2018, according to Deloitte. However, the firm also acknowledges that the Point of Consumption tax (PoC), which came into force in December, “will increase the cost of operating in the British market”.

There’s never been a more important time for operators to streamline their digital marketing strategies. An approach balancing cost-effective acquisition channels with those that maximise the investment of time will best position operators for the future.

Maximising marketing spend
Few digital marketing tools are as cost-effective as the affiliate channel. Its performance-based model allows operators to only pay for the acquisition of players who convert. Cost-per-acquisition (CPA) or, even better, revenue share commission deals with affiliates maximise operators’ marketing ROI.

The affiliate channel is effective in more than just financial terms. The IAB’s 2014 performance marketing study reveals that 51% of UK consumers discovered online brands via affiliates. To promote egaming brands in particular, there are tens of thousands of affiliates focusing on every possible vertical niche. In addition, longstanding affiliate networks connect these affiliates to brands.

Of course, developing affiliate programmes and recruiting affiliates takes time as well as the human resource investment of hiring an affiliate manager or outsourcing one. Nonetheless, it’s vital that operators expand into the channel sooner rather than later, given that a mature programme can drive over 30% of acquisitions, according to Income Access’ data.

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is another channel requiring low-cost investment but which takes time to build. A majority of consumers (54%) discover new online brands through organic search, according to Conductor, emphasising SEO’s fundamental importance. Operators’ research can identify  three types of keywords – short-tail generic keywords, long-tail generic phrases, and long-tail brand-specific phrases – and then optimise their brands’ content accordingly.

Operators’ keyword research can also feed into how they market their mobile apps. Research by Apptentive reveals the importance of app store optimisation (ASO): a majority (61%) of apps are discovered through organic search within app stores. Highly cost-effective, rigorous ASO involves both keyword optimisation and ensuring that app pages’ content is enticing enough to result in an install.

While primarily a retention tool, social media can also be used to acquire players without major investment. If operators create engaging social content, players will frequently share the posts, thereby promoting brands to their own social networks. In terms of operators’ platforms focus, a Content Marketing Institute survey emphasises Twitter as the most effective B2C social channel of marketers (75%), followed by YouTube (50%) and Facebook (21%).

Maximising time investment
While social media content, ASO, SEO and affiliate marketing are cost-effective, they involve an important time investment. How can operators acquire players in the short-term while these channels develop?

The pay-per-click (PPC) advertising channel allows operators to drive targeted traffic to their brands quickly. While the UK market is competitive for gambling-related keywords, operators can use their previously defined long-tail keywords promoting their brands’ unique selling points. This will ensure that their paid search ads on AdWords and Bing Ads maximise the rapid
acquisition of players and minimise associated costs.

If PPC complements SEO, the affiliate channel can be supported in the short-term by media buys. By working with third-party traffic networks, operators will be able to promote their brands to huge audiences of potential players. Most commonly, banner ads are served on a cost per mille (CPM) basis, so costs can be erratic when compared to affiliate marketing. However, media buying provides a short-term acquisition foundation and supports brand building as the affiliate channel grows.

A more targeted, short-term acquisition channel is email marketing. Smart Insights’ research reveals email as the most effective B2C digital marketing channel in the UK market. Egaming operators can tap email’s potential by developing targeted mailers and distributing them through third-party email marketing firms whose databases include those interested in gambling content.

Email marketing, media buys and PPC allow operators to maximise their acquisitions in the short-term as their other, more cost-effective channels – affiliates, SEO, ASO and social media – gain traction. Streamlined through tracking and constant readjustment, the cross-channel acquisition approach will
allow operators’ brands to overcome the current fiscal challenge to focus on the revenue promise of 2018.