January is a time of new beginnings and looking ahead. How will iGaming evolve over the next 12 months, and how will technology and marketing trends influence where we’re heading as an industry?
With these questions on everyone’s minds, we asked our own team for their take on 2016.
Trend #1: Omni-Channel Marketing by Sarafina Wolde-Gabriel, CMO
“Omni-channel marketing will continue to gain momentum and the separation between traditional and digital marketing will diminish. Furthermore, consumers will demand higher value in their experience and interaction with a brand and will look for stronger transparency.
2016 will see more companies engage with their customers in real-time and across multiple platforms. They’ll also focus on soliciting consumers’ feedback on their experience with the brand. These insights can then be incorporated in their data analysis so they can better measure brand perception and value.”
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Trend #2: Big Data by Jenny Lu, Director of Client Relations
“With rising acquisition costs and increased competition, 2016 will see operators putting more weight on the analysis of big data. This will mean a greater focus on attribution and how each touch-point in a customer’s journey impacts on their conversion.
Operators will be looking at how to most efficiently spread their marketing spend across the various channels, and how to leverage strategies – such as remarketing, branding/awareness and contextual targeting – that most effectively engage their customers in the conversion process.”
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Trend #3: Precision Targeting & Affiliates by Geoff Smorong, Manager of Account Management Team
“2016 will see precision targeting continue to become ever more important in digital marketing. While this has been true for some time in other markets and channels, it’s now also becoming the reality for iGaming affiliates as well.
Having the right tools to properly target advertising efforts by region, device or other actions is no longer restricted to high-cost display campaigns. This year it’ll become something every good affiliate needs as well.”
Trend #4: The Affiliate App Revolution by Nick Say, Communications Supervisor
“iGaming operators’ apps have been widespread for a couple of years, but I feel that 2016 will be the year that affiliates join the app revolution.
This will have a major impact on affiliate marketing, though I see affiliate apps as complementing rather than replacing the traditional model of banner ads targeting desktop players. It will be interesting to see how affiliates adapt and diversify their strategies to satisfy consumers whose daily reality involves multiple devices.”
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Trend #5: Digital Video by Erica Anderson, Manager of Client Relations, SEM & Design
“In 2015, the number of video views on Facebook exploded and online video started to overtake TV. In 2016 that trend is only set to gather pace.
As a result, digital marketers will be placing even more emphasis on using digital video as a content and marketing tool. The most successful brands using the medium will create short, easily digestible and impactful video content for consumers and players.”
Trend #6: The Triumph of the Creative Affiliate by Corey Tardiff, Team Leader of Affiliate Marketing Department
“In 2016 we will see the affiliates with the most creativity rising to the top. These affiliates will be looking to exploit as many niches and cutting-edge ways of driving traffic as possible in 2016.
For example, they’ll be developing apps and focusing on marketing them using app store optimisation (ASO) and other channels. Being among the first to carve out these niches and find new sources of unsaturated traffic will be crucial to the success of the small and medium-sized affiliates who cannot find traffic based on brand recognition alone.”
What are your predictions for iGaming’s 2016? Tell us your own forecasts in the comments sections below or email us!
