Enteractive: Don’t score an own goal with post-World Cup churn

World Cup-themed betting offers are set to dominate the airwaves in the coming month and Enteractive can help ensure operators get the most out of their marketing and acquisition activity – by keeping the players active well beyond the World Cup Final. Andrew Foster (pictured, right), Chief Business Officer at Enteractive, explains more.

Football is the world sport and there is little doubt that the World Cup is the king of all the major sporting events, closely followed by the Euros, its slightly smaller cousin in Europe.   

Another important detail is that football, or soccer as our North American friends call it, is by far the most popular sport on which sports fans like to bet online. This matters when it comes to marketing and customer acquisition. 

Indeed it is much easier for betting operators to create campaigns around which they know the audience is interested in and will follow through with wagering. Football-focused betting offers are also much easier to understand for most punters, especially novice ones. 

In terms of promotions or bonuses, it is much simpler to market those offers on a high profile match football between, say, Argentina and Germany, that features world-renowned players such as Lionel Messi or Manuel Neuer than on a 800-metre heat at the Olympic Games or a points jersey at the Tour de France, despite the fact that those events are also hugely popular with sports fans. 

Me-too marketing 

When it comes to marketing there is also a clear case of ‘me-too’ from operators. Some sportsbooks may not be overly keen on marketing numerous promotions that eat into their margins during major events such as the World Cup, but the fact that the airwaves are flooded with adverts from their biggest competitors means they will all be launching far-reaching campaigns in the next month.  

“The reason some executives may also be reluctant to carry out such heavy marketing is because they know that the players opening accounts will not produce much by way of lifetime values.”

At Enteractive we address this by engaging with the operators’ players directly because of the live connection between a brand and its players.  

Data also shows that the signups generated by event-driven acquisition campaigns churn rapidly once a tournament is finished. For example, the 2018 World Cup saw the number of new sportsbook customers increase more than 200%, but churn rates also increased from 60% to 75% after the tournament. [iGaming Business, 2019] 

Early season signups

The key reasons for these trends revolve around real, ongoing interest in sport and intent. 

In the market this translates as the reason why sportsbooks in the US make such a big point of marketing to and signing up players in September at the start of the NFL season. Players opening accounts at the start of the season are much more likely to sync their betting activities to the ongoing results of a Premier League or NFL season. 

The reason is simple, it’s because those early season signups are genuine fans and follow the sport all-year round and European operators may not be so time sensitive as to when they recruit new customers, but it’s highly probable similar trends occur this side of the ocean.

Burn and churn 

In addition and as shown by our friends over at the customer retention and analysis firm Optimove, during seasons that follow a World Cup players’ retention rates are 30% lower than the players’ retention rate in a regular off season, while nearly 80% of those who bet on a World Cup final did not place a bet in the earlier rounds of the tournament.

This trend is not new, but it does happen every time there is a World Cup or a Euro football championship, and it clearly doesn’t prevent operators from carrying out huge marketing campaigns. 

Doing what works 

So how can they ensure they get the most out of their marketing budgets and avoid these high churn rates? As you can imagine, at Enteractive we believe in engaging directly with players, on a one-to-one basis.

“However, the reason we have adopted this approach is because it works. Our agents can talk to players in accents that they recognise and connect with them on mutual reference points; real conversations, between real people in other words.” 

The data also shows the important role this direct dialogue can play. A 2019 report by Gartner showed that consumers’ trust levels around digital marketing and personalisation are set to reach all-time lows by 2025 and that 80% of marketers who had “invested in digital personalisation will abandon their efforts due to lack of ROI”.

Finding the right balance in our industry between blanket marketing and targeted CRM is never easy, but Enteractive has shown that it is possible to maximise ROI when it comes to driving value from marketing budgets. 

Contact us to find out how you can truly connect with your consumers and ensure they identify with your brand.