In the highly competitive world of online gambling, how do you give customers what they want and need, and do it better than the competition? That was the topic of a World Gaming Executive Summit (WGES) panel hosted by our lead reporter, Becky Liggero Fontana, as she asked how an operator can gain an edge.
A big part of it is meeting the player’s expectations, based on what led them to the landing page. “You want them to, once they hit your site, to get the same feeling they got when they were introduced to the trigger to come into you,” said Gil Rotem, Former Group Director of Gaming Strategy for Bet365. “So if you’re making it fun and funny and bubbly, then you want to hit a page that is like that.”
Consistency of experience matters a lot to that, he added. If you’re site emphasizes bonuses, then you need to do more than just offer a big welcome bonus. If the focus is on games, then those games, the best games should be prominent.
But many sites share the same offering of games. How can that be an edge at all? “The idea how to, with your own proprietary algorithms and your own proprietary analysis, how would you serve the right content to the right players at the right time,” he said. “You don’t want the players to look for it.”
The whole idea is to give players the best value for their time. That means offering up the right game at the right time to the right player, and localizing games to the player’s expectations.
Knowing what to offer then, is the trick. “We as a solution provider, we strive to get the operators the ability to deep dive into the data collected from all these different sources, from the website, backend, payments, all these different sources, and gain the insights that are needed for data-based decision making,” said Matevž Mazij, Managing Director of Oryx Gaming. “Developing advanced player segmentation, player profiling, loyalty schemes, recommendations, and then analyze product launch performance, campaign results, and etc. Only by doing that, you’re able to actually give the player what they want.”
Liggero Fontana asked about loyalty programs as well, as they have gained attention from legislators and regulators. Rotem said it’s not wise to build a business on high-rollers who could leave at any time and leave the operator high and dry. “Loyalty plans need to focus on the casual players, on the day to day.” As he noted, there’s usually a better return if you give £25 pounds to 10,000 players than if you gave £25,000 to a single player.
Finally, the group also spoke about the needs to anticipate the player’s needs, especially when it comes to major events. Players expect fast load times, and that’s even more so the younger the player is. If a site hasn’t been configured to provide fast load times at the most important times, it can drive players away.
WGES still has a full day of great discussion to come, so make sure you stay on top of CalvinAyre.com’s coverage by following us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
