One of the biggest challenges we see in online betting is the challenge of loyalty within an often fickle user base.
Customers can readily switch between each brand of sportsbook and there has seemingly been a race to the bottom. This race is focused on offers and advertising designed at re-acquiring lapsed customers, rather than focusing on retention, loyalty and, ultimately, advocacy.
Indeed, in the Feefo Gaming Report for 2018:
- On average, Sportsbooks only succeed in persuading 52% of customers to make more than two deposits
- Only 3% of customers stay loyal to a company for more than a year
- And 79% of customers have switched betting company at some point
At Coveo-Qubit, we think this represents a huge opportunity for Operators.
New innovations, or products, like virtual reality, are great for the press but aren’t aimed at driving customer lifetime value or the short-term challenges faced by most operators.
With this in mind, the team at Coveo-Qubit set about thinking how personalization would increase retention and engagement with a customer base engaged with a Sportsbook, but who likely use one, if not more, competitors.
1. Personalized betslip receipt recommendations
By using data about a bet the individual has just placed, you can provide relevant recommendations in real-time. when we say recommendations, we mean which markets are most-often paired with that placed by the customer.
To scale this across all markets, Coveo-Qubit can leverage data science to make these predictions even more relevant.
2. Personalize in-app and push notifications
With user signals, you can surface notifications based on the bets they place and when they win. Notifications to highlight offers, events and upcoming matches can be a great way to ensure they come to you, rather than a competitor.
For example;
- When a customer places a bet on a specific event – let them know if they can watch the match live on your app before kick-off.
- When the bet has been settled – celebrate their winning moment and notify them of trending bets for the same event.
In both of these moments, the customer has engaged and given you information of their intent and interest, this data is perfect to inform communications and real-time notifications for more relevant future personalizations.
3. Navigation ordering vs. dynamic personalization
All too often, operators are focused on navigation order, rather than delivering a personalized one for the customer.
Based on just a few interactions and user events (page visits, bet interactions, and placement events), you can quickly derive the content that will most interest that unique customer.
With that information, you can tailor the navigation based on which sports, competitions, or games your user is most interested in — a great way to cross-sell with machine learning.
If you have a customer that’s a sports-only bettor, then you won’t have data about their favorite game to cross-sell them. Since this is often a key objective, Coveo-Qubit recommends inserting the most popular game into the navigation for the first-time gamer segment.
At Coveo-Qubit, we also understand the need to prioritize particular business goals or seasonal competitions. Our technology gives operators the ability to add configurable rules to takeover personalized slots with major sporting events or campaigns.
Navigation is a key piece of screen real estate and provides a crucial moment to curate a relevant experience for your customer. With personalization, you make sure it’s always tailored to the visitor based on the user events you’re capturing.
Customer Loyalty As The Next Frontier
In a time where brand loyalty is low and margins tight due to the “race to the bottom,” personalization is one way you can create lifetime value and differentiate as a brand.
Retaining customers through curated online experiences, we think, is the next frontier for successful Sportsbook Operators.
Dig Deeper
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