Gaming patrons have diverse interests. They might want to place a wager on a sporting event, play a few hands of poker, or try their luck at slots.

But too often, according to Sportradar VP Product Marketing and Advertising Service Ralf Ollig, the distinctions between customers are often forgotten.

“You quite often see that it’s a one-size-fits-all marketing campaign,” Ollig says, adding that “quite often, I see briefings for one campaign, one particular person in mind.”

That’s one of the reasons why Sportradar has developed technology that personalizes and addresses individual patrons. With the assistance of artificial intelligence, Sportradar can identify players who spend thousands of dollars per visit or those who think that spending $100 is a lot, and fine tune marketing campaigns to address each group.

Ollig says that machine learning is used to understand different types of players, and where their interests lie.

“Where AI  helps us is to predict churn, to help address players’ differences,” Ollig says. “And then, on top of all of this, across all the channels, be it social, be it programmatic, we use AI to generate the right press, the right messages. There are quite a few layers where AI can help us to automate things, and test different creatives.”

Each customer segment has its own variations and needs. One group might prefer free play, another group comped meals. And customers who are already in the system are the easiest to reach, be it through mailers or social media, to engage.

“For non-customers, it’s much trickier because you want to find like-minded people, basically,” Ollig says. “How do you do this? You try to understand the user’s patterns. Are they on social media? Are they on specific news sites? Do they use certain messaging groups?

“You try to predict this with the data that you’re getting; let’s say for the VIPs who are spending a couple of thousands of dollars per day.”

For new brands entering the market, attracting the attention, and eventually getting players to commit money, is a tricky proposition. Ollig says the key is finding the right users and getting the message to them, usually through an omnichannel approach, using various methods including videos, advertisements, and channels to build trust with brands.

“Then, it needs to be a fully-fledged strategy. If you drive traffic to your properties, you have people coming in, probably it’s similar offline as well, but online specifically, you need to re-engage them,” Ollig says. “You need to get the message multiple times in front of them be it through social media, be it through video ads, podcasting, seeing your favorite casino brand on a billboard while you’re commuting, that gains trust. It helps you to search for that brand.

“Omnichannel needs to be the approach to get the message across to the user. To which percentage depends on the maturing of your brand and where you are in the market.”

For any operator, large, small, or new, it’s important to understand the audience they are trying to reach. Marketing campaigns should try to reach customers where they are, and how they access betting.

Whether it’s free-to-play contests, sponsorship of events, or merchandise giveaways, such promotions and incentives are definitely valuable, Ollig says.

“It works in igaming and across the board,” he says. “I think if you have these strengths in your portfolio, you should definitely play to them. But also you need to capitalize on them. How do people learn about the events? What do you do when people show up at the events? How do you convert them to your casino?

“So that, in combination with digital marketing, awareness of brand, you have to have the right offering in front of them. You need the right combination.”

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