With the football World Cup in Rio offering a fantastic potential revenue boost, Tim Axon, Head of Gaming, Maxymiser, insists betting companies need to get their mobile Big Event Betting strategies in shape – and fast. Trying out new content and ideas at Cheltenham and the Grand National could be the key to re-engaging customers, increasing average customer value and transforming overall online performance in 2014.
The gaming world has changed radically since the last football World Cup in South Africa four years ago. While online revenue continues to grow strongly, it is mobile that increasingly dominates. Paddy Power reports that 47% of total online revenue comes from mobile channels – with 63% of active customers transacting via mobile in one month alone.¹
So what does this change in consumer behaviour mean for companies looking to maximise the value of the Big Event Betters for Rio? While the regular punters deliver essential revenue, there is no doubt that success at the annual Big Events –Wimbledon and the FA Cup, for example – can fundamentally transform a company’s annual results.
So how can gaming companies address both the Big Events challenge and improve the mobile experience? What is the best way to exploit the growing use of mobile platforms to re-engage with consumers and encourage not only World Cup bets but transform these occasional customers into regular visitors? Critically, in a market that is struggling to come up with a new-look mobile betting slip that delivers an excellent customer experience by minimising complexity, which company is going to steal a march on the competition in Rio?
Big Events
There are two key factors to consider: personalisation to improve engagement, and creating the best mobile experience. Targeting customers who regularly place bets on Rugby, for example, with relevant football content; or reflecting an individual’s location/nationality in the bet offer can transform the value and volume of bets.
Critically, the experience must be simple and seamless. Big Event Betters are non-typical customers; they are often inexperienced. It is therefore essential to gather and exploit any available information to tailor the offer. Does the customer have an account? Or simply want to place a single bet? Can the potentially off-one customer looking to place a bet on England be enticed with the idea of also betting that Rooney will score the first goal? What is the best way of encouraging these occasional betters to place doubles or accumulators?
Mobile Experience
For the consumer, confidence in the experience is key. And that is where many companies have struggled due to the limitations of the mobile devices. Yet the importance of the mobile platform cannot be underestimated. As new casino entrants in Scandinavia that have carved out significant market share with a mobile-only strategy demonstrate, a good mobile experience is key.
The Rio World Cup provides not only a chance to maximise Big Event revenue but also the opportunity to transform the customer’s mobile experience. Critically, while organisations will continue to impose a code-freeze in the run up to and during these sporting highlights, it is still possible to test and serve up winning variants throughout these high traffic events to continually improve the customer experience.
Testing Strategy
With 12th June not far off, it is essential that companies get the strategies for Rio right – and soon. Testing ideas for Big Event content and personalisation at forthcoming events such as the Grand National will prove invaluable to tune up the journey for these non-typical, yet valuable, customers.