The New Automation

Mobile as a channel presents established betting and gaming companies with an enormous opportunity to grow their user base and generate new revenues. However, market share is not easily attained. Competition is fierce, and something as simple as a slightly misjudged app update can have a devastating impact on turnover. The initial challenge facing any operator is to build a platform that offers the best possible chance of acquiring, tracking and
converting customers either online, mobile or offline.

Taking a closer look at mobile in particular, this is often easier said than done. Many operators attempt an online approach to their mobile channel, often
finding that their software which is more suitable for desktop, results in a poor mobile experience for the end-user. In addition, many are forced to build on top of legacy systems that were not originally built with mobile in mind. The challenge then moves towards creating an engaging mobile player experience in spite of these limitations.

The easiest way to accomplish this is by integrating a couple of lightweight SDKs into a native app or mobile site that can track how players are interacting in real-time and use this data to target effectively. Pairing this with a high-speed push notifications or in-app messaging platform, especially one that focuses on real-time, will deliver an immediate impact to the bottom line.

While we have seen extraordinary growth in mobile marketing automation over the last 12 months, it is still an under-exploited resource in betting and gaming. The days of sportsbook operators sending the same push messages to everyone who has downloaded their app are at an end, and we are entering an era where unobtrusive in-app messaging, tailored around specific player behavior, will drive incremental bets and stimulate the next period of growth in mobile betting. Notifications and messages will be delivered in milliseconds, as operators look to harness the potential of targeted messaging for inplay bettors.

In addition to data analysis tools, the latest advancements in mobile marketing automation technology enable operators to effectively target relevant content to their mobile players in a way that makes it interesting for the end user. A combination of smart targeting, data analysis and highspeed in-app messaging technology for pre-match and in-play campaigns has been proven to increase mobile bets by more than 100x for operators 

Given the high cost of acquiring new mobile users, once a player is acquired operators must work hard to keep them engaged by delivering content that genuinely appeals to their specific interests at the most opportune time. In the last few years, overuse of push messages gained a bad reputation due to a “spray and pray” approach, resulting in irrelevant content being delivered to unhappy users. Today, we are moving towards more proactive and strategic ways of communicating with mobile customers via more subtle in-app messages and highly targeted push notifications.

Operators are now beginning to recognise the opportunity for these in-app mobile campaigns, and this is being reflected in significantly higher player engagement rates, especially for in-play betting, where we have regularly seen over 400% increases in activity. In-app campaigns configured to appear at
the right time with the right branding feel more like part of the app experience and less like actual direct marketing to the end user, which is key to its effectiveness. 

Clever use of in-app messaging can also help ensure the navigation experience remains intuitive, by guiding a mobile app user through a specific journey. This can for example be used to increase the rate of conversion through the dreaded sign-up process by using branded in-app messages to create a gamified experience for the user. Next-generation mobile marketing automation technology is a recent addition to the gaming and betting market, and it is
clear that the industry has only scratched the surface when it comes to harnessing the capabilities of these tools.