Social Media Tracker: How are casino operators newsjacking to increase their reach on social channels?
In a series of monthly articles, Crystal Content takes a look at how gambling brands are using newsjacking to their advantage
The concept of newsjacking has been around for many years but more recently, this trend is catching on due to the increased use of social channels. Many of the top retail brands have been using newsjacking strategies to connect with their target market and now casino operators across the UK are catching on.
With more than 330 million people using Twitter globally per month, this channel can be extremely useful for newsjacking strategies. Here, we look at what newsjacking is and discuss some of the top operators that are giving this a try.
What is newsjacking?
If you are not familiar with the term ‘newsjacking’ then you should know that this process involves creating content based on popular events such as sporting events, TV shows and awards ceremonies. Breaking news stories can also be used by brands who want to increase their reach and align their casino with certain audiences.
While it might be harder to align a casino brand with a popular TV show, it is something which is happening much more often. We thought we’d look at two brands that are increasing their following and their reach with this kind of strategy in place.
NetBet Casino
NetBet Casino is a top casino operator based in London in the UK. This operator has a strong social media following with their Facebook fan page having over 35,000 likes. Over on Twitter, NetBet has almost 9,000 followers but has a reasonable level of engagement.
Recently, NetBet Casino has been trying out some newsjacking in relation to the Oscars ceremony. The Oscars is a massive event that takes place every year and there is always a massive buzz around it across news channels and on social media. It is clear that NetBet is using this to its advantage as it is not only offering odds on the categories but also pushing content that targets those searching for Oscars news.
Some of the content that NetBet has used includes blogs featuring their odds and social media competitions that offer free spins as a prize. Their recent ‘spot the difference’ post, which featured images of popcorn and awards, received 102 comments and reached a lot of people. Over on Twitter, they ran the same competition and while it didn’t get as much engagement, it is sure to have shown up when anyone was searching hashtags.
PlayOJO
Casino brand PlayOJO has a slightly smaller following on Facebook with only 13,391 likes on its page. Its Twitter account has 468 followers but this is set to change as their newsjacking strategy really takes off.
PlayOJO has decided to target fans of the popular British TV show Love Island in their newsjacking strategy. Love Island is watched by a large percentage of the UK with over 3.3m people viewing the launch of last year’s summer series. Around 25% of Love Island viewers are in their thirties with 43% being under 30. While PlayOJO needs to be careful to avoid targeting those under 18, a large portion of their target audience watches Love Island.
Some of the ways that PlayOJO have tried newsjacking Love Island includes posting images of previous contestants with statements that they have made. They then ask their fans to finish the sentence and this increases engagement. They have also conducted polls on their Twitter account previously using full names of contestants and asking Twitter users to vote for the right answer. While this didn’t receive as much engagement as they might have hoped, it shows that they are using this strategy and hoping for it to work as the season goes on.
Tips for creating a strategy
As these brands are already giving newsjacking a try, it might be something that you want to try as a casino operator in 2020. The first step involves a lot of research as you need to figure out what is relevant to your target audience. You can then alert yourself to news and get your content strategy out there as soon as possible.
Keywords and hashtags are also vital for this kind of marketing strategy to work. If you aren’t hitting the right hashtags on Twitter at the right time, your content is going to get lost. This is also where relevant and easy to read content is key here. If you aren’t pushing something different, other brands are going to reach your target audience quicker.
Something to consider when giving newsjacking a try is the kind of content that you are aligning yourself with. It might be useful to avoid taking a political stance as this can cause some controversy. It is important that you don’t alienate your existing players.
Newsjacking is used across many industries as brands try to maximise their reach and create digital strategies that will work. If you do decide to give newsjacking a try like NetBet Casino or PlayOJO, make sure to follow our tips. There is room for improvement in the strategies already in place from these brands with the correct use of hashtags.
Sharon McFarlane is the managing director of Crystal Content – a digital marketing agency that specialises in igaming. She has eight years’ experience in the industry and has contributed regularly to industry magazines and conferences sharing her expertise on all things digital marketing. Her company (www.crystalcontent.co.uk) offers an outsourced solution for igaming businesses when it comes to content marketing, social media, UX design, website design, branding and conversion rate optimisation.