SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
An operator whose in-play messaging isn’t personalised to bettors or tailored to the circumstances of the game is leaving revenues on the table, according to OtherLevels CEO Brendan O’Kane.
With this summer’s football World Cup set to generate record turnover for the sports betting industry, the race to capture the hearts and minds of bettors around the globe will be fiercer than ever. Now that a significant amount of that turnover is generated in-play, it is natural that operators will target more of their offers and marketing initiatives towards the live action.
Yet according to Brendan O’Kane, CEO of multi-channel messaging platform OtherLevels, communicating these offers is often either restricted to a few high-profile sports and matches, or the combination of the live trigger, the target audience, the market and odds, and the communication content are not optimised.
O’Kane, who will be addressing delegates at next week’s Betting on Football at Stamford Bridge, said: “We have seen some real progress from operators like Sky Bet, who are innovating in the way they communicate and engage live with customers, but as an industry we cannot afford to rest on our laurels.
“With industry consolidation, it is particularly important to keep moving so as to grow revenues, reduce costs, and remain competitive. Customers need to be engaged with personalised, contextually-relevant messages that prompt the latest in-play odds on what they are seeing on their screens.
“Doing that manually is prohibitively expensive even for larger operators as teams of marketeers are required, and more often than not out of office hours. Yet with more thoughtful in-play messaging now available, there has never been a better chance to communicate compelling and compliant content.
OtherLevels’ solution automatically sends out messages, triggered by a live event such as a goal or red card, to a target audience based on previous betting preferences. As a result, operators can now send in-play messages across a wide-range of sporting events, providing bettors with personalised content to increase engagement, conversion rates, and revenues.
O’Kane added: “The likes of app and web notifications give customers an immediate call to action, but they need to be relevant to the circumstances and excitement of the game, rather than generic. Just as importantly they need to be personalised and consider a customer’s betting history and interest.
“An automated solution allows you to reach the long-tail of customers who engage not just with football, but with sports and markets across the globe. The combination of an automated, cost-effective platform is the sweet-spot and will ensure operators make the most of revenue opportunities.”
Looking beyond the World Cup, O’Kane sees this level of service expanding across 10+ sports and not just football. With one of their clients reporting that it has already been responsible for an increase in average in-play stakes from £11 to £22, it is clear that it is a winning strategy.
Brendan O’Kane will be leading a presentation on the complexities of contextual marketing for in-play, held as part of the Betting on Innovation track at next week’s Betting on Football.
