Leverage data to maximise mobile player journeys

App marketing and communications have come a long way, especially for betting and gaming brands.

User-level data is more available and granular than ever and igaming companies should leverage its potential, says Dorothy Creaven.

“Bet preferences, stake values, lifetime user values and sport preferences are just some of the user-level items that mobile allows us to track.

Previously mobile was a simple engagement channel. It was a stand-alone tactic, something to dip in and out of:

• marketers and brand managers sent a push to connect with players to remind them to bet.
• one-off messages delivered bonus offers or location-based marketing delivered inspired, but short-term success,
• now mobile and its depth of data gives us user-level information to give increasing and long-lasting value, 
• it prevents blast-and-go campaigns that don’t deliver sustainable value.

The focus was on download numbers, those were the golden metric. The number of users who tapped to install was a solid business goal. Install figures are still important, but without any longer term strategy for players they are worthless.

Up to 80% of app users will churn within the first 90 days of use. That means the majority of players who download your app will never use it again.

How do you capture their attention, and how do you turn your app into a habit? How do you prevent player churn?

The answer lies in data-driven strategies that focus on behaviours and app activities and ties them into events in the real world. Mobile provides this user-level data.

Brand owners can capture app data point to find the right solution for their users.

Maximise your acquisition budget with data
Mobile player acquisition is expensive. Without focus on retaining and engaging customers, the money is a waste.

Data helps us refine post-acquisition experiences to make sure it isn’t a hollow investment. We want to know when to push players or when to let them pull.

Of new mobile players, 16% place their bonus first bet, lose and never come back. Data analysis leverages this information to target those players and win them back.

A/B testing clarifies the most effective winback campaigns and data drives the improvement by identifying when players are most likely to be receptive to messages and to which ones.

All data was aggregated from betting and gaming app events between January and September 2016

Data drives segmentation
App players are fickle. How do you make your brand stand out? Better, more targeted mobile engagements deliver better return. Directing engagements with your players, where they want and when, provides value.

Mobile players can easily become disenchanted with messages they are not interested in. We’ve seen time and again, engagement is better with targeted notifications compared to broadcast.

Yet, when you have one million users, how can you enable a personal connection with them all?

Data empowers your messaging to the people you know best for long-lasting business relationships: a data-lead segmentation strategy will yield results immediately.

Start by considering user preferences for sport or leagues. This delivers a quick-win from the off.

Consider that players might use your app for one reason only: to bet on horse racing. In this case a push notification about football is meaningless.

The opposite is also true. In some cases, football bettors don’t deviate from their chosen sport or chosen team. Instead of aiming to redesign an entire app for an individual player, data can help personalise their experiences. Look to finer details to deliver even better results.

Aggregated data shows that of igaming apps, 65% of mobile bettors have the same number of accumulator legs in their mobile bets. Some bettors place single bets 100% of the time, some players never place multiples of less than five-folds.

Knowing when to send a single or multiple-bet message is more effective is better for turnover and for the player.

This level of data gives a clearer understanding of your players. Cross-match campaigns with betting information to deliver higher relevance and context.

Measuring in-app behaviours, event preferences, page visits, stakes and bets and using them to target and retarget gives significant results.

Communications with your players doesn’t have to stop once they convert. Leverage data to build out your player journeys with a focus on retention.

Data-driven marketing mobilises new users to complete registration. It drives registered users to become bettors and elongates the value of bettors.

Data drives monetisation
Data and its correct analysis is vital to understanding mobile monetisation for igaming brands. Qualified data leads to higher turnover, more meaningful customer journeys and better retention rates.

Customer journeys improve markedly with well-utilised data. Granular-level detail like market preferences, stake preferences, location information and device type is important.

These can be used individually or as part of combinations. The key is identifying the right message and the right time.

Take onboarding: the flow of a user’s first journey through your app can make or break the experience. Data tells us where the pain points lie and how we can fix it. One in five new mobile users completes registration and never comes back.

Deep dives into data give insight into why this is happening and how to fix it. Implementing the right onboarding journey lifts the entire retention curve. 

Consistent personalised engagement leads to better retention rates, 64% of mobile bettors have an odds ‘comfort-zone’.

They place the majority of their bets in that range and won’t place bets shorter or longer than in this ‘comfort-zone’.

Delivering the right market to your players eases their decision-making processes, some customers prefer messages based on player stats instead of odds and vice versa.

Interaction with the most loyal and regular customers should be different from that with new users. Track the content they are engaging with most; the market, stake, the type of messaging, the time of day.

Aim to influence some change, by, for example, suggesting a new market, or new sport. Track these in three, seven, 21, 30 or 90-day cycles.

Analysing mobile behavioural data gives greater insight into players receptiveness to cross-selling or upselling. Define a random selection of users and run a test campaign on the launch of a new mini-game or promotion.

The resulting data will provide valuable insights into how the user base will receive it and how to scale-up for a full release.

Plan the growth of a new game or promotion by testing your assumptions on existing real players.

We’ve all heard about in-play and its impact on mobile bettors. One in three mobile bettors use a mix of pre-match and in-play bets.

The rest, the two-thirds majority, prefers pre-match or in-play only. Applying this data is a no-brainer win for targeting.

And long-term data analysis delivers patterns to show the users most likely to bet on both.

There are 5-15 times more in-play bets on mobile as a result of an individual half-time push notification on domestic markets.

Knowing when your players will be receptive to in-play, or different types of markets, opens up a door to infinite market suggestions and turnover capabilities.

Technology is moving faster than ever. These advances bring greater depth and breadth of data.

The challenge now is to develop a clear strategy led by this data and bring personalisation at-scale to your players.

Minor data-led changes will bring quick-wins and adopting a data-first mindset will keep igaming brands growing.”

Dorothy Creaven is co-founder and chief executive of igaming mobile marketing automation technology specialist Element Wave.