CRM Strategies that work in any market

The USA landscape is set to change with the legalization of sports betting and growth expectations are exponential in the next months and years. After a much anticipated wait, Sports betting is now legal in 8 states across the US.

Major events in the US sporting calendar, especially the Super Bowl with its so-called March madness, have already brought to light US betting behavioural data. This data will be instrumental to operators planning to take an early stand in this market.

The scene is set for marketshare battles to begin. Before the ‘new’ market becomes desensitised through overexposure there is opportunity for iGaming operators to take a strong position in the market by winning loyalty early in the game.

SPEED is the name of the game

A lot of large operators are able to move into the market pretty fast once they have the right partnerships in place.

The key strategies operators will focus on to penetrate this new market are:

• Converting players from Fantasy Sports to Sports Betting
• Converting customers from land-based Casinos to Online Gambling

The main tools used for such conversions are Email, SMS and Outbound Calls.

Email

Email is still key to any operator’s CRM acquisition strategy in iGaming. According to MailChimp, the email open rate in the gambling industry is 18.4% and CTR is 3.15%

So for example, if you have a database of 1000 players, only 184 of those will open your email, leaving only 5-6 of those players actually converting.

However, as more operators move into a space, players will receive more emails from different brands and registered free players can become desensitised.

It becomes much harder to convert new players once your audience has received 5 emails from other operators. Therefore, it’s important to move in fast and make this your first strategy upon market entry.

Segmenting your players based on the statistical data gathered from their behaviour as Fantasy players can really help you push your open rates. Aligning bonuses specifically to their sports interest and perhaps create cross-platform points and bonuses can also boost your conversion rates and inspire loyalty.

Converting offline land-based casino players to online might prove a little more tricky. Offline loyalty schemes that offer points to play online can help you open up plenty of options to create incentives within your land-based casino in order to attract players to also play online. You also need a clear picture of the demographics of your audience and create incentives and provide support accordingly.

For example: if your casino players are mostly 50+, you may need to provide video tutorials and direct telephone support to help them overcome tech hurdles.

Responsiveness to email is at an all-time low because inbox saturation is at an all-time high, so gauge your expectations with this in mind.According to Golan Shaked (CCO at Deezer), the average millennial today spends 47 minutes on email and 114 minutes texting daily. Which bring us to the next important CRM medium.

SMS

SMS is often the second medium used alongside email to convert players into paying customers. It is an entirely different medium in terms of the messaging; although emails are mostly consumed on mobile devices too.
The biggest obstacle to effective conversion here is attention deficit.

“The average millennial has 26 mobile applications on their phone on which they are active every day.” Of these 6 apps being paid for – meaning they probably get more attention.
Golan Shaked CCO at Deezer.

Outbound Calls

As sports betting opens up it’s important to capture the market as quickly as possible. Attention to how players are moved from free sports games onto sports betting is key. The most important factors in a market that is expected to grow really quickly is differentiation.

Operators need to focus on factors that help them stand out in the US market.
Most, will be using Emails and SMS to penetrate this new market. This approach is industry standard and therefore none of these will help you stand out in a crowded marketplace.

Personal outbound calls, backed by industry specific built technology offers a different and unique approach. This approach feels personal and delights your customer into remembering you. Human to human calling creates loyalty and positions you firmly as a premium brand by giving your customers the VIP feel, whilst ensuring responsible gambling regulations are followed throughout the process.

This does not remove the need for Email and SMS campaigns. It is an additional layer of conversion efforts, that begins where your CRM cycle stops. Outbound calling gets to work once Email and SMS stop working. It aims to convert the remaining players that did not respond to your emails and SMS-es.

The conversion rates and return on investment of outbound calling can be astounding, and it’s completely risk free, because you’re targeting your unconverted list.

In the US market, outbound calls can help your players find their way on a new platform which uses a different logic to Fantasy. It can also help convert more land-based players into online customers by helping them navigate the technological hurdles.

A direct outbound call allows you to directly increase conversion rates by helping players through any difficulty and explaining anything that may not be intuitive to the user.

The Outbound Call also gives you the opportunity to ask your customer questions, understand what they want and guide them through any difficulties they may have during any stage of their player lifecycle. This puts you in a position to improve your offering and convert more players in the future.

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