iGB North America magazine IGBNA Aug/Sep | Page 47

Management & Marketing

selecting a line of sports players with a salary
limit and then trying to win more fantasy
points than the competition – has attracted
competitive players who have more in
common with Wall Street traders and poker
pros than season-long fantasy fans.
Trends show that season-long fantasy
players and casual sports fans new to fantasy
are deterred by complex DFS products and
by their lower chance of winning prizes
against DFS pros. Such players are more
likely to gravitate to brands offering quick
head-to-head contests, games with no salary
caps or bracket-oriented competitions.
Device preference is another factor
contributing to the market’s diversification
to include more simple products. Although
desktop computers remain the primary device
used by players, this has declined to 44% from
68% in 2013, according to IPSOS. Conversely,
mobile use is rising: 13% of fantasy players
now use smartphone apps as their go-to DFS
device compared to 8% in 2013.
Mobile’s importance is only going to
continue increasing. This leaves a gap in the
market for app-only DFS products, meaning
those products developed specifically for
smart phone or tablet users.
The final area where DFS will see ongoing
product diversification is in the sports
brands showcase. While the NFL remains
the favourite sport of fantasy players, the
FSTA reports that participation has declined
to 73% from 77% in 2013. In contrast,
niche sports like soccer and PGA golf are
gaining ground. This means there’s room
for alternative brands to make these sports
their unique selling point (USP), which, in the
case of golf, for example, also allows them to
target older player demographics.

Alternative marketing approaches
The next challenge for market-entering
operators is marketing their brand. Given
FanDuel’s and DraftKings’ multi-million
dollar approaches to TV advertising and
their raft of sponsorship deals with sports
leagues and major teams, it’s vital that
alternative brands take a targeted and
grassroots approach.
The foundation of their strategy needs to
be defining their brand’s USP. They can then
carry out keyword research to develop longtail phrases for an effective SEO strategy.
While the US search market is competitive
for generic fantasy keywords, phrases
relating to a brand’s specific product niche
will allow them to rank highly in SERPs.
However, SEO takes time to build, so
operators can also consider PPC campaigns.
Importantly, in contrast to Google’s
prohibitive approach towards real-money
iGaming in the US market, DFS AdWords
ads are permitted. While generic fantasy
keywords are becoming increasingly
expensive, operators’ ad copy can focus on
their brand-specific long-tail keywords to
achieve results.
To complement their SEM strategies,
alternative DFS brands are increasingly
turning to affiliate marketing. The channel’s
performance-based advertising model
ensures that it’s highly cost-effective. Even
better, given the importance of sports
statistics and analysis to players, the DFS
affiliate sector’s potential size and diversity
is huge, and has already grown significantly
since the launch of the two market leaders.
Converting season-long fantasy sports
players can be made easier by creating
the same highly social environment that

these players are already familiar with.
In tandem with the affiliate channel,
brands can therefore dedicate resources
to developing an engaging social media
presence and community for their
customers. Above all, with the right content,
social media holds the promise of viral
growth with minimal investment.
Given the vertical’s shift towards mobile play,
operators will also be focused on marketing
their apps, which are some alternative brands’
core DFS product. According to TUNE,
searching within app stores is the way most
new apps are discovered (approximately 50%),
so app store optimization will be alternative
brands’ main focus. As with SEO, the keyword
optimization of their app’s content will be
defined by their USP.
The final question to ask is whether apps
are the future of DFS? One projection about
the next year is certain: when the DFS season
kicks-off on September 10, there’ll be more
brands on the field. From Yahoo to a range
of alternative brands, DFS is becoming an
increasingly diverse vertical. Which brand is
going to be your top fantasy pick for 2020?

As Client Relations &
Communications Manager, Alana
Levine focuses on developing
Income Access’ partnerships
in the iGaming and land-based
casino sectors in the US and globally.
She oversees the creation of turnkey digital
marketing solutions for Income Access’ partners and
also manages company communications. Alana holds
a bachelor’s degree in economics and post-graduate
degree in finance.

iGamingBusiness North America | Issue 20 | August/September 2015 | 47