INSIGHT
SMART MARKETING
IN THE MOBILE AGE
Winner’s Yahav Sanoff looks at five key areas of opportunity for marketers seeking to maximise return
from the mobile channel in 2015.
IN RELATIVELY NO time at all, mobile
consumers have grown to outnumber
desktop users, and operators need to hop on
the mobile bandwagon or be prepared to fall
behind, way behind.
It used to be that mobile was thought
of as an unsolvable market, with the
potential of always-on marketing to
mobile users understood, but pervasively
out of reach. As mobile technology has
evolved, so too have the marketing tools to
reach an increasingly mobile population.
Connections to marketers and end-users
are now stronger than ever, and instead
of casting the widest net possible, custom
tailoring campaigns to a specific audience
is now the industry standard.
The user-end experience
Scannable barcodes, or QR codes, have been
an incredibly easy way to connect users
with the latest coupons, offers and software
your brand is promoting. Couple this with
state-of-the-art metadata collection and you
can personalise communication with a huge
audience who share common traits.
A single email to your 21-35 demographic
with a penchant for slots displaying your
latest addition to the game catalogue can
reach thousands in an instant. Pay-by-phone
services supported by a slew of providers
and a QR coupon to redeem a personalised
bonus offer make the transaction as
convenient as possible for the user, and
increase the likelihood of their buying what
you’re selling.
Smart design is one that avoids the pitfalls
of app burn-out, this avoiding being part of
the majority of apps that users download,
use once and then forget. There is simply
too much out there to contend with, even
for the most active mobile users. That being
said, a well-developed app will give the user
incentive to keep coming back beyond their
initial introduction.
A quantitative way to track rewards like
comp points or loyalty incentives based on
activity are a great way to circumvent this
hazard. It’s not enough to tell a user their
loyalty is rewarded - they need to see it and
be able to refer to it at a moment’s notice.
In casino and iGaming, it was for so
long the norm for users to download
an operator’s app only to have access
to a handful of games. Now even basic
casino apps contain dozens of titles with
impressive graphics and substantial reward
incentives. Couple that a social experience
of connecting with other users and the realm
becomes more a dynamic and enjoyable
place to participate.
Achievements are another aspect of the
gaming community with massive potential.
In the same way competition in business
is good for customers, competition among
customers is good for business. People are
competitive by nature and are drawn to
earning achievements, badges and trophies.
Retain their interest by offering something
to strive for and your competing users
will always be working to remain on the
forefront of your product’s leaderboard.
Geotargeting
Rise of the microtransaction
CRM has never had so many available
avenues. With text messaging, email and
updates at a user’s fingertips, the in-app line
of communication is always open. With
more details about your customers, you’ll
be more in tune with what they want out of
your products
Location-based marketing is increasingly
on the rise, along with the ability for
users to track their own progress in some
quantitative way through their apps.
Back when resources were scarcely devoted
to the mobile platform, casino operators
and developers paid most attention to iOS
devices, the main reason being that the
iTunes App Store supported real-money
gaming apps, while Google Play did not.
This made way for the micro-transaction
boom. Free apps using fake coins or credits
that can be purchased by players to continue
spinning and winning circumvented the
rules set by the Android app store, but
QR codes, pay by phone and
personalisation
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essentially facilitated the same outcome.
Die-hard and casual players alike were
drawn to these free apps with in-game
purchases that allow for easy headway.
Combining casino games with social
platforms like Facebook allowed operators
to further boost their bankroll. Take for
instance the Jackpot Party franchise,
available on both Facebook and mobile
platforms. With an average of 5.5m
combined monthly users, developer
Williams Interactive/Scientific Games
brings in millions of dollars annually, the US
alone bringing in $2bn with this estimated to
rise to $3bn by the end of 2014.
iGB Affiliate Issue 51 JUNE/JULY 2015
Reach on the horizon
While we’ve known about these industry
standards for years, there are exciting new
developments on the horizon that will
further help developers. SMS is becoming
the industry dinosaur as MMS (multimedia
Messaging Service) gains ground as the
preferred method of delivering and receiving
content. RMM (Rich Medi HY\