Opinion: Improving the player experience on mobile

Javier Galan, senior digital marketing manager at OtherLevels, discusses why and how operators must amp up retention efforts via digital channels

Across the entire wagering sector, there’s little doubt that mobile is the future. Consumers are already using their smartphones to make purchases, connect with friends and colleagues, and play interactive mobile games. Since egaming brings all of those elements together, it’s poised to be one of the hottest breeding grounds for mobile innovation across the tech landscape in the years ahead.

Yet for observers of the egaming industry as a whole, what may be most interesting is who does the innovating.  The first half of this year proves that a large number of early-stage technology companies plan to infiltrate the sector. Given that the global mobile wagering market is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 43.08% (in terms of total annual wagers) over the 2014-2019 period, start-ups are obviously keen to seize a share of the revenue.

However, due to the geographic nuances, evolving laws and regulations, and variety of player preferences and loyalties within the egaming sector, new entrants to the market will face an uphill battle acquiring new users and gaining traction. As such, it will likely be the ‘old guard’ companies in the industry that are left do the innovating.

In fact, the existing standard-bearers of the online wagering market face little alternative but to innovate and adapt – and adapt quickly – to a mobile-focused future. Players increasingly expect a customised experience on every site or platform they access.

Targeted engagement

Despite growing consolidation in the egaming market, players still have hundreds of sites clamouring for their dollars – making it crucial for individual companies to stay on their radar through ongoing engagement. Egaming marketers understand this, which is why players – especially highly active ones – receive dozens of emails, SMS notifications, in-app messages, and popups from the portals they play on.

Players increasingly gravitate to mobile first, but that doesn’t make it every user’s favourite communication avenue: 25% of consumers interact with at least three devices daily, and access multiple digital channels while using them – but very few check every message sent to them on every platform.

As such, egaming companies recognise they need to (proverbially) ‘meet customers where they live’ by reaching them on their preferred medium, rather than bombarding them with messages on every available inbox or online tool. Intelligent marketing tools are enabling operators to monitor engagement at the user level in order to pinpoint the most effective channel for connecting with an individual player/customer.

Getting a player to simply open a message, however, isn’t the endgame for marketers. Every app-player interaction should drive the player to a subsequent action, and the key to getting the user to take a forward-moving step is to provide them with something of value.

Just as in retail and ecommerce, blanket site-wide promotions have their place – and can be effective at motivating players. But if optimising mobile conversions, boosting time-on-site (or -app), and maximising wagers is the goal, then the key for egaming companies is delivering the most targeted, customised offers possible.

Driving stronger loyalty

Amid the divergent issues facing the egaming sector – consolidation among the major platforms in the industry; competition for players’ attention (from other mobile wagering games, and from apps of all kinds) – developers must provide users with a seamless player journey and a best-in-class user experience if they expect to earn their loyalty and keep them from churning.

As portals aim to grow user acquisition, they’ll also get more creative about what they offer (and to whom). Gamifying new industries and appealing to new markets, like millennial women, are ideas being mulled across the sector – but smart brick-and-mortar betting shops are also testing new technologies to bring offline players back and online. With geolocation tools and beacons, for example, casinos and betting terminals can send in-person players targeted offers, based on their existing behaviours and game preferences, encouraging them to play the very same games but online.

Coupled with other offline-online bridging features (like scannable receipts and e-wallet functionality) and stronger value offers, such tools will likely boost player acquisition and loyalty in the year to come. Ultimately, innovation across the egaming ecosystem will help attract new players and partners to the sector – helping boost revenues for companies across the entire space.