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Taking the gamble out of Accelerating Growth: Maximising Your Marketing in New Sportsbetting Markets
By: Kalen Bushe VP Customer Growth at TrafficGuard
Too many sportsbooks are wasting their marketing dollars. As new markets open, they have to make every dollar count when it comes to winning to new players. Regions like the Middle East and Latin America (LATAM) are opening, and it is critical that sportsbooks optimise their marketing to win market share.
These emerging markets present sportsbooks with a golden ticket to expand into a new region and increase profits. These opportunities are being matched with new complexities in their digital marketing activities. Invalid traffic (IVT) is as a barrier to expansion by draining digital advertising budgets and reducing ROI without sportsbooks recognising it.
IVT encompasses any activity originating from sources lacking genuine user interest, including ad fraud, bots or returning users. While invalid traffic goes unchecked, sportsbooks won’t see the full value of their digital advertising campaigns and lose a competitive edge in new markets.
70% of surveyed iGaming operators reported to be expanding into online gaming markets in Central and South America in the next three years according to a GBG survey. This means there’s a lot to win by getting marketing right and not wasting advertising spend on attracting the wrong audiences, fraud or bots.
They key is to understand potential opportunities and recognise risks in digital marketing. Every sportsbook needs to maximise ROI on every dollar they are spending, and it becomes even more crucial when trying to gain critical mass in newly opened markets.
Bots, Timewasters, Fakers and Fraud
Legislation is loosening worldwide, over the past few years North America has seen numerous states legalise sports betting. Similar changes have happened in Brazil, where online gambling regulations were passed in late 2023. These changes have paved the way for sportsbooks to explore exciting new markets.
However, sportsbooks are being fed inaccurate campaign data by IVT. This inflates impressions and impacts future ad campaigns as sportsbooks funnel ad spend into projects that aren’t performing as well as it would seem, giving competitors the chance to take the lead in new markets.
IVT includes non-human traffic which typically takes the form of bots powered by artificial intelligence (AI). Bots can create a multitude of fake accounts and use them to exploit promotions undetected. Despite the implementation of rigorous registration verification checks by many operators to combat this issue, it remains a significant challenge. This poses a hurdle for sportsbooks seeking to attract users and carve out a presence in new markets, especially with bonuses, which can lead to a drain on their campaign resources. On average, around 5-7% of sports betting campaigns suffer from this form of media loss.
Bots aren’t the sole concern for sportsbooks in safeguarding against inauthentic engagement. Navigational traffic stemming from returning users, who are already part of the customer base, also poses a significant challenge as they unintentionally deplete budgets. When these users try to reach a site via search engines, they inadvertently click on paid brand advertisements, consequently inflating customer acquisition costs (CACs) without contributing to conversions, thereby causing losses for the sportsbook. Without an effective strategy to manage returning users, optimising campaign value becomes considerably more difficult.
Taking Down Barriers to Growth
For sportsbooks to flourish in emerging markets, the first step is to counter IVT. IVT damages budgets by remaining undetected, therefore it’s crucial that sportsbooks maintain visibility into their traffic.
Monitoring traffic as it passes through systems is key. Through this, sportsbooks can identify any irregularities, such as traffic from an unknown origin. This could be an indicator of IVT, which can then be identified and dealt with before the campaign can be interfered with.
The increasing frequency of non-genuine engagement is difficult for teams to monitor unaided. An ad verification platform can fill in the gaps and accurately pinpoint any threats and mitigate them directly. These platforms work to validate traffic in real-time, determining the origin of traffic and blocking it from entering systems if it’s suspicious to proactively protect budgets.
It is also possible to control the number of times returning users interact with your campaigns without risking damaging the relationship they have with sportsbooks. Setting custom verification rules is an effective method of limiting the number of times an ad can be clicked on by a certain user. Once the user reaches the threshold for clicks, they’re prevented from seeing it, which significantly reduces cost-per-click (CPC) rates.
This can be further expanded upon by deploying shadow campaigns. These are an effective way of maintaining optimal engagement by duplicating current campaigns set up with lower CPC. This funnels returning users away and prevents them from driving up costs. The budget saved can then be committed to growth in new regions.
Winning Big in New Markets
The sports betting industry is opening doors worldwide for sportsbooks to gain audiences in places they never could before. Excelling in newly legalised markets against a multitude of competitors is a difficult task, only being made harder by the interference of IVT.
By tackling non-genuine engagement, sportsbooks give themselves the advantage back over competitors. With full visibility and control over campaigns, their full potential can be realised to ensure sportsbooks can focus on global expansion.
New product allows American bettors to log-in directly to their bank accounts at online sportsbooks’ cashiers to fund real-time wagers
Paysafe, a leading payments platform, today launched Pay by Bank for iGaming, a new solution allowing U.S. online bettors to instantly and securely fund deposits at operators’ cashiers directly from their online bank account as well as cash-out winnings seamlessly. This product expands the capabilities of Paysafe’s Gateway, the iGaming payments solution that connects U.S. operators to the market’s most comprehensive range of traditional and alternative payment methods via a single integration.
Building on Paysafe’s 25+ years’ history streamlining iGaming payments, the company added Pay by Bank to respond to the growing demand from U.S. players for payment choice. The Gateway already connects operators’ cashiers to Paysafe-processed card payments, the Skrill digital wallet, the Paysafecash online cash solution, and third-party payment products. Strengthening operators’ player acquisition, Pay by Bank provides their customers with yet another payment option that is particularly appealing to the 27% of bettors who prefer transacting via direct bank transfer, according to Paysafe research.
Leveraging Paysafe’s single-integration Gateway, U.S. online gaming operators can now offer Pay by Bank to their customers, giving first-time users the ability to sync their checking or savings account in just seconds, then fund their player account securely in real-time. For returning bettors, the process is even easier, with Pay by Bank supporting one-click payments from linked accounts.
Winnings can be withdrawn from players’ sportsbook accounts just as seamlessly, with Pay by Bank enabling rapid payouts directly to linked bank accounts, again initiated through a single click.
For operators, all Pay by Bank transactions are indemnified, reducing liability if a player’s deposit from their bank account defaults. Along with helping to drive player acquisition by providing more payment choice, Pay by Bank’s other benefits for operators include strengthening customer retention by improving the overall payment experience. According to Paysafe research, transactional speed and financial security are players’ top-two priorities when it comes to the payment experience.
Zak Cutler, President of Global Gaming at Paysafe, said: “We’re delighted to unveil our new Pay by Bank product for our iGaming solution, which will almost certainly prove very effective in both converting and retaining players for U.S. operators, with the product’s impressive transactional speed and robust security. Through Pay by Bank, we continue to grow the Paysafe Gateway by providing American operators and their customers with unparalleled payment choices, all through a single integration.”
Paysafe will be showcasing Pay by Bank and the Paysafe Gateway while exhibiting (Booth A270) at the SBC Summit North America in New Jersey from May 7th to 9th, 2024.
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Fanatics Betting and Gaming Partners with Continent 8 Technologies for Digital Infrastructure
Sports betting and online casino operator leverages company’s hosting and connectivity solutions across regulated United States states
Fanatics Betting and Gaming utilizes Continent 8 Technologies to deploy a trusted digital infrastructure as it continues its rapid growth across the regulated United States online sports betting and online casino market.
Fanatics Betting and Gaming uses Continent 8 Technologies’ innovative and reliable digital infrastructure solutions to deliver a seamless player experience in the United States. This includes hosting all of its in-state data centers through AWS Outposts. Continent 8 Technologies is supporting Fanatics Betting and Gaming by managing on-premises infrastructure and services in 20 states across the United States including Michigan, New York, Vermont and West Virginia, to name a few.
Continent 8 Technologies has one of the largest connected networks in the world, spanning over 100 locations across four continents including 30 United States states and counting.
The operator has also signed up for Continent 8 Technologies’ Gaming Exchange. This is a powerful, private Internet that allows Continent 8 Technologies’ customers to connect securely via a virtual private network (VPN) across its backbone network. This enables customers to share traffic at the lowest latency, securely and privately.
“We have worked with Fanatics Betting and Gaming – a top-tier United States operator – from day one of its launch, supporting it as it has grown state-by-state,” the founder and Chief Executive Officer for Continent 8 Technologies, Michael Tobin, said. “Fanatics Betting and Gaming is a high-caliber operator that understands the importance of infrastructure in delivering the top-quality player experience it is building its reputation on. Our leading digital infrastructure solutions provide the reliable connectivity operators need to deploy their online sportsbooks and casinos in regulated United States states quickly and compliantly.”
“Infrastructure is the foundation upon which we build our sports betting and casino experience,” the Vice-President of Technology for Fanatics Betting and Gaming, Bob Pascucci, said. “In Continent 8 Technologies, we have a partner with an unrivaled reputation for supporting its customers, enabling us to continue to drive growth at pace.”
Learn more about Continent 8 Technologies’ United States connectivity and infrastructure solutions at SBC Summit North America, May 7 to 9 at the Meadowlands Exposition Center, New Jersey, stand A290.
This month The Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise (Navajo Gaming) honored 186 of its total 1200 team members for reaching significant employment milestones including 15, 10, and 5 years of service for the enterprise. The event at Twin Arrows Navajo Casino Resort in Flagstaff, Ariz. showcased the impact and journey of each hard-working team member, with a special highlight for 29 employees who have served for 15 years.
Less than 10 years after Navajo Gaming was created by the Navajo Nation and charged with the mission of creating jobs, increasing revenues, and stimulating incremental economic development within the Navajo Nation, the gaming enterprise created over 7425 direct, indirect and induced jobs with an overall economic output of over a billion dollars.
“Navajo Gaming employs 1200 people, 85 percent of whom are Navajo citizens. The award-winning AAA’s coveted Four Diamond Twin Arrows Casino Resort shares Navajo Culture through architectural nuances and local artists. Each of the property dining eateries feature ‘Navajo Beef,’ and traditional cuisine of the Navajo people, and our invitation to stay, play and relax at one of our four properties or Travel Center is an open welcome to the Navajo Nation’s beautiful scenic transformation,” Matthew Shunkamolah, Interim Chief Executive Officer of Navajo Gaming, said.
Team members recognized for 15 years of services have worked their way up to a wide variety of position within the enterprise from General Manager and Executive Director of Slots, to Director of Security, Food and Beverage Supervisor and Executive Director of Government Affairs.
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