The importance of education in esports betting
By Kenneth Williams
Those that want to bet on esports can do so relatively easily, with a range of different odds and markets available. But those that may be interested in having a flutter, but little experience of real-money wagering, fail to take that additional step.
After all, esports bettors are very different from their traditional sports counterparts. They consume very different kinds of media, and are much less experienced when it comes to gambling.
Their relative youth and inexperience mean that there’s a significant information gap that betting operators can fill.
By giving gaming fans the tools and advice needed to start betting, the operators can facilitate this conversion. If a business’ marketing plan includes informational content geared towards esports, there are a few things to keep in mind for each format.
Reading material
Blogs and newsletters are some of the most straightforward ways of attracting traditional sports fans to your website, but esports fans respond to different products.
Email newsletters, for example, aren’t as popular with the younger crowd that makes up the esports audience. An email is more likely to annoy this individual than it is to entice them to a sportsbook site.
Blogs, on the other hand, are essential to attract esports fans. They provide valuable space for search engine optimization and provide a reason to come to your site beyond placing a bet.
Educational blogs might seem redundant, but articles helping esports fans get up to speed are significant for bettors. Guides on how sportsbooks work, how to make deposits, withdrawals, or create a betslip are particularly useful for esports bettors.
General news and season recaps are also very popular. Both types of content provide more room for valuable SEO. Esports bettors new and old love historical content and quick overviews of events, and they’re more likely just to Google their questions rather than stick to one site.
Education through video and streams
While it exists, video content is scarce among both betting sites and affiliates. There is little sign of operators creating educational streams, only sponsoring such offerings.
Written content is a good investment for several reasons, but some esports fans prefer recorded and live video content.
Educational content can still be conveyed through video; it’s much more challenging to update recorded content.
Written pieces such as “Biggest Tournaments this Year” can be simply updated, but video content updates could require new footage, editing and voice work. While certainly an option that would stand out to some bettors, video and streamed content simply isn’t as practical as written articles or blog posts.
Best practice
There are a few examples of operators already succeeding in providing these educational pieces, with Pinnacle one of the leaders.
In addition to its general database of Pinnacle-specific betting guides, it offers a regularly updated esports blog covering several of the more prominent titles.
These vary from explaining the positions of a Valorant team, to explaining how the Swiss tournament format works. While educational and entertaining, their pieces are, above all, useful.
Esports Entertainment Group, on the other hand, takes a different approach.
Instead of focusing on news and game-related content, it chooses to create content around the evolving esports industry and its relationship to betting.
Its professional format and easy-to-read press releases make it a common response to search engine queries. Similar business-focused approaches could work to lure more experienced bettors to your gaming sportsbook.