Social Media Tracker: How did operators work to promote Safer Gambling Week 2020?

Each year, Safer Gambling Week, or Responsible Gambling Week as it was formerly known, is run to promote a safer environment for players. Operators in the UK are asked to promote this campaign to their players and show that they are supportive of gambling in a responsible way.

Gambling should always be fun and although operators gain more from players who gamble more frequently, they must not contribute to problem gambling. Now that Safer Gambling Week has come and gone, we thought we would look at which operators used social media to promote this campaign effectively.

Safer Gambling Week

Safer Gambling Week is a cross-industry initiative that both igaming operators and sports betting operators must take part in. This campaign aims to promote safer gambling in the UK and Ireland and takes place every single year. The event this year took place 19-25 November.

In partnership with the UK Gambling Commission and BeGambleAware, this campaign provides operators and affiliates with resources that they need to show players that they are here to support them. They offer banners that should be placed on sites and social media, alongside training if required.

This year, safer gambling is seen as an even higher priority due to an increase in the number of people gambling online due to Covid-19. Of course, Safer Gambling Week is something that should be promoted year round, not just for one week of the year.

This message was echoed by the CEO of the Betting and Gaming Council, Michael Dugher, who said: “Safer Gambling Week is incredibly important, but safer gambling should not be seen by anyone as simply something we support for one week of the year – it is a commitment for every week of the year.”

Many operators took on the challenge of promoting Safer Gambling Week 2020 using their social media channels.

Case study 1: Tombola

Tombola is a well-known brand in the UK that operates both a bingo and an arcade site. It first launched back in 1999 and since then has become a leading brand for players in the UK with a large focus on community. Tombola players feel as though they are part of something when they sign up and tombola regularly pulls off excellent marketing campaigns.

Their Facebook page is their most popular social media channel and it is updated regularly with the latest news and competitions. They currently have over 186,000 likes on this page with engaged players.

This year, tombola added a few new features to its site and app to give players a safe gambling experience. This included a chatroom within their games that allowed players to talk with Safeplay champions. The bingo operator even offered a competition to win a Safeplay goody bag. This was promoted on its social media channels and it encouraged players to join in on the fun.

The chatroom wasn’t all that tombola did, it also had its Safeplay managers speak in videos to spread the word throughout the week. On the first day of the campaign, players could see Safeplay manager Emma talk about why Safer Gambling Week is so important. This was received well with over 40 comments from players who answered the question posed to them.

Throughout the week, tips, warning signs and general gambling advice was given to players in an easily digestible format. With the addition of friendly faces from Safeplay managers and chat monitors, players could feel supported.

To round off the week, the team at tombola added several resources that players could use if they are experiencing problem gambling. This included links to Gamblers Anonymous, Citizens Advice and various support groups.

Overall, the campaign was well received by players and the additional chatroom was used regularly by those who needed extra support.

Case study 2: Jackpotjoy

Another brand to put together some impressive social media content during Safer Gambling Week 2020 was Jackpotjoy. This brand has been active in the industry since 2001 and since then, it has racked up over 124,000 likes on Facebook.

Jackpotjoy didn’t go over the top with its promotion of Safer Gambling Week 2020 but did provide players with some fun resources to remind them of the tools that are available.

On 19 November, players were given the chance to answer a question that linked back to their Session Reminder tool. This allows players to keep track of how long they have been playing. They had an impressive graphic that allowed players to click and drag to count the clocks. This was well-received on Facebook with over 179 comments from players.

On 23 November, Jackpotjoy also host a live ‘Cool Off’ quiz with cool questions for players to answer. This promoted the Cool Off feature and it received a lot of engagement from players taking part. Once the quiz was over, there were over 1.5K comments. This bridged the gap between informative and fun promotion!

Will next year be even better?

This year, we saw some impressive campaigns from operators who used their social media channels to promote Safer Gambling Week. They advertised their tools and showed players that they cared. Big brands like tombola and Jackpotjoy really pulled it out of the bag but they weren’t the only operators to create some effective campaigns.

Now that Safer Gambling Week is over, we look toward next year. Hopefully, more brands will use their platform to really make a difference. Gambling should be fun after all!

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.