Pinnacle – Content & Social Media Manager Benjamin Cronin – Standing out at Russia 2018

This Summer’s World Cup in Russia will provide an unrivalled opportunity for sportsbooks to attract new customers, therefore for both established and growing operators fully capitalising on the event is vital.  

As an operator that takes immense pride in its high quality sportsbook offering, giving high limits and not restricting successful bettors. Pinnacle’s Content & Social Media Manager Benjamin Cronin detailed to SBC how it will ensure it maximises the World Cup and the potential that football’s showpiece event brings.

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SBC: Hi Ben – great to catch up, firstly, can you tell me how Pinnacle plans on ensuring that its sportsbook stands out during this World Cup?

Benjamin Cronin: Fortunately for us, our product already sets us apart from other bookmakers. The best odds, highest limits and a winners welcome policy is a unique offering that no one else has been able to copy.

That said, we appreciate the World Cup is a massive event and although we give bettors exactly what they want, we are aware that the gimmick-laden marketing campaigns from other bookmakers will create a lot of noise. We plan to offer something in-line with our brand and will always prioritise adding value to our customer’s experience over anything else.

I don’t want to give anything away but watch this space…

SBC: The Pinnacle sportsbook is a more immersive product and provides customers with a high level of analysis and data, how crucial is it that operators evolve to continually satisfy the ever expanding desires of a sportsbook user?

BC: The use of data has been building within the betting industry for a while now. Considering we have always been advocates of the use of data (both for bettors and bookmakers), it puts us in a fortunate position – we haven’t adapted a great deal to suit the market, the market has adapted to us.

Whether it’s writing articles about using performance data to find an edge in sports betting, or giving a presentation on how R is transforming Pinnacle’s risk management at this year’s useR! Conference, we are certainly at the forefront of the data-driven sportsbook movement.

Any good sportsbook product is will be built around its users. In addition to understanding what our customers want, we are committed to providing a cutting-edge user experience across the board in terms of our offering.

SBC: When it comes to new sportsbook products that are launched with the World Cup in mind, retain popularity even as the tournament comes to close?

BC: This depends on both the quality of the product and the strategy behind it. There’s plenty of competition for space on the World Cup stage and it will take something special to really grab peoples’ attention.

Some products will be built with a month-long shelf life in mind but those that hope to keep customers engaged beyond mid-July will have to balance the buzz of such a big global event with long-term benefits that the customer will remember.

SBC: Looking ahead, when the football season recommences next August, what do you anticipate will dictate where players bet, new season sign up offers or a positive memory of World Cup sportsbooks?

BC: It depends on what type of bettors we are talking about. Sharp bettors will treat the World Cup like any other soccer tournament – they’ll try and find value bets and know that Pinnacle is where to find them. These types of bettors are only worried about where the best odds are, how much they can bet and getting the piece of mind that they won’t be restricted or banned if they win.

Casual bettors, on the other hand, will always be driven by the sign-up offers. The World Cup is a great opportunity to reach a new betting audience but it is keeping people engaged and offering them a consistently good product that matters most.

SBC: To conclude I’d be interested to find out if you anticipate whether for betting operators this could be the most mobile based tournament ever, and do you focus your sportsbook offering with this in mind?  

BC: We are all well aware of how important the mobile platform is in this industry and the World Cup will certainly intensify the need for a mobile-friendly product. With three of four group games taking place each day (broadcast to an audience across various different time zones) we certainly anticipate a lot of activity on our mobile app (Pinnacle Lite) and the mobile version of our website.

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Pinnacle have been nominated for Bookmaker of the Year, Esports Bookmaker of the Year and Best Affiliate Partner Scheme at next month’s prestigious SBC awards. Furthermore, maximising the World Cup from the perspective of a sportsbook will be discussed in greater depth at the ‘Betting on Football 2018’ (#bofcon2018) conference. To find out more about both events click on the banner below.