LATIN AMERICA FOCUS
South of the border
As more markets start to open up to egaming, Sebastian Perrier of BetMotion talked to eGaming Review about the opportunities that can be found within the Latin American market
The gaming industry’s rush to enter into more newly regulated markets in 2012 has been an anti-climax of sorts. Regulation and licensing regimes across Europe have often proven problematic to operators and service providers alike, while the mouth-watering prospect of a fully legalised and regulated North American market has been dampened by continued slow legislative progress. However, more operators and affiliates are turning their attention to Latin America. It may already to some degree be a developed market, but this region has yet to ful?l its true potential. eGaming Review talked to BetMotion’s general manger, Sebastian Perrier, about the state of the Latin American affiliate industry and the opportunities on offer. eGaming Review (eGR): How signi?cant is the Latin American marketplace for affiliates? Sebastian Perrier (SP): There are approximately 400 million people living in Latin America – crazy for sports and long-standing offline gambling tradition – with an internet penetration of more than 40%. Growing at a rate of 15% year-on-year, it is de?nitely a market with huge potential. Nevertheless, there are still very few active affiliates in Latin America. There are still a lot of SEO friendly domains available in Peru, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and so forth. Note that in each country, search engines will position keywords in a different way, making online advertising a challenge but at the same time an opportunity. Bottom-line, few affiliates dedicated to the Latin American market, which means less competition. eGR: What is PartnersOnly? SP: PartnersOnly.com is BetMotion.com’s affiliate programme. BetMotion is a gaming operator that targets Latin American players. The company offers sportsbook, casino, bingo, poker, ?nancial betting and proprietary games. eGR: What are the bene?ts of becoming an affiliate of PartnersOnly when trying to make an entrance to the Latin American market? SP: The main bene?t is that PartnersOnly, through BetMotion. com, offers content that provides a user experience that suits Latin American players needs. Latin America is different; the approach has to be much more customised to local culture and languages. What works for operators in Europe will not necessarily work in this region. BetMotion is doing a good job in understanding these differences. From an affiliates perspective, the main concern is conversion rate, as it is indeed at the very heart of their business. While they are traditionally very low in Latin America, we are proud to say with our localised content we have shown average conversion rates of 20% to 30%. Additionally, PartnersOnly offers a dedicated account manager, up to 40% revenue share, no negative carry-over, lifetime value, a two tier sub-affiliate programme, promotions and rewards, among other bene?ts. But most important of all, PartnersOnly has a one-to-one, personalised relationship with its affiliates. We help them understand players’ pro?les and search engine strategies for each country. eGR: What sets BetMotion apart in Latin America? SP: Our management team has more than 15 years of experience in the gaming industry in Latin America and a deep understanding of the players’ pro?le in the region. BetMotion knows the local requirements needed to achieve higher lifetime values. It is all about offering the best user experience, meaning strong focus on localisation. Localisation includes having: local content, localised pay-in and pay-out payment processing, 24x7 customer service personnel that speak in the local language and dialect, and of course local marketing strategies. A lot of operators and affiliate programmes will try and throw money at the problem when entering a market, but this only scratches the surface. At BetMotion we’ve taken the time to make a conscious and well thought-out approach to the Latin American market.
BETMOTION
SPONSORED EDITORIAL
SEBASTIAN PERRIER
Sebastian Perrier is general manager for BetMotion. He was founding employee at South America’s leading lottery website, worked as business development manager at Google and conducted independent consulting projects for PaddyPower. Sebastian has a first-class honours MBA degree from University College Dublin.
www.egrmagazine.com
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