How to retain esports bettors

The exponential growth of esports has offered the gaming industry a chance to connect with digital natives and millennials. About a year ago I was wondering what would be a bigger challenge – adapting to the climate in Kyiv after a decade in sunny Gibraltar or stepping into esports, a product vertical I had  no idea about. One year on here is a re-cap of my experience of working with GG.Bet, one of the leading esports betting brands.

Product

Defining the on-site experience was a lot harder than expected, and just like any new brand we are still evolving. What worked in our favour was the clarity and feedback that we shouldn’t dilute our brand and position ourselves as an ‘esports first’ betting site. Earning their trust on esports was essential before we could present other options for cross-sell.

Next was to understand where our product user experience efforts should be optimised first, and in a ‘mobile-first’ world we had to give desktop experience priority. Most of the player base were casual gamers, used to two big sized screens and who preferred watching live streams. The bet seemed to have paid off, although mobile is now being given a makeover too.

Another key challenge was the product offering in terms of markets and games that players could bet on. Current providers in the industry were unable to match the expectations of the esports experts behind the project. It wasn’t long before an in-house trading and risk management team was put in place to resolve the hygiene issues around betting options. Promotions and headline events Just like in traditional sportsbook environments, having an integrated headline promotion strategy including key KPI’s like deposits, betting and cross-sell worked.

However, the concepts had to be tailored again to a language and design that the player base could connect with. For example, promo codes that encouraged opt-in were borrowed from the concept of a ‘Hero’ in the popular Dota 2 game. Engagement and opt-in to promotions have pretty much doubled since the launch of the brand using the above. Interest in promotions that were longer than five days seemed to wane quicker than regular betting promotions.

The regular bonuses that are a staple retention tool were met with quite a bit of resistance. Introduction to terms like ‘wagering requirement’ turned out to be much tougher than expected. Corrections had to be made in how the offers were presented and explained. Customer services team were sensitised to the need of being simple and clear about offers.

Cross-sell

Improving player value through crosssell seemed to be a logical step. Slots as a product performed terribly and the presentation layer for casino games had to be redefined. Games were developed with themes and elements borrowed from what they were used to playing on a regular basis. The results spoke for themselves, under 10% cross-sell rate for slots when compared to more than 30% on what we called the ‘Insta Games’.

Limiting the amount of content on these insta games also seemed to work better. A similar approach was adopted when traditional sports were introduced with only five product categories to bet on.

No perfect formula

A year on I would say we have just startedour learning curve on what would make a truly engaging experience for esports betting. Existing notions will be challenged, and just like any other customer base, the esports audience will come with its own peculiarities to deal with over time.

Bhopendra Rathore is a CRM specialist and consultant with more than 10 years of experience in the online gaming industry. His portfolio includes working with industry majors like bwin.party, Mansion, Boylesports and Probability. He is currently the head of player retention at GG.Bet (an Evoplay Group company).