David Yatom Hay, General Counsel of Soft2Bet, spoke at this year’s SBC CasinoBeats Summit, engaging the audience with his take on maximising engagement and compliance and the role of advanced player account management and gamification.
Regulated markets are integral to the growth of igaming, but it is fair to say that as an industry we are not shy in complaining about the costs, restrictions or other compliance requirements that those regulations impose on us as operators, suppliers or affiliates. Indeed, depending on the jurisdictions, such as in some North American states, licensing can be required of all stakeholders and not just operators, as is the case in many European countries.
One aspect of regulation that is clear and brooks no argument is that it raises the operating and business costs of igaming companies. That applies to day-to-day activities as it does to marketing and promotional budgets, with media channels keen to maximise revenues from an industry that relies heavily on marketing to attract customers.
Regulatory benefit
But although the costs of running an igaming business rise with regulation, it should also be noted that being able to advertise on mainstream media platforms or sponsor sports teams is one of the benefits of being regulated. Indeed, all those elements could be described as being both the prize and price of regulation. Dubious wordplays aside, changing regulations and adapting to them is another feature that is characteristic of our industry.
The leading igaming firms do this by harnessing the power of technology in all its forms. From the earliest live casino offerings to the latest generative AI or streaming platforms, the online gambling industry has often been a pioneer in leveraging these tools to launch new product formats and reach new audiences.
Data Harvest
Along with these technologies, another way we adapt to changing regulations is by analysing the business intelligence (BI) reports and the vast data sets that we generate as operators and suppliers and tailoring our product portfolios to the data.
This can be done in (seemingly) very simple ways, such as the tone of voice or language that should be used in an automated email reply, but it can also be more sophisticated. For example, it can target specific demographics or player cohorts that have shown a propensity to bet on specific games during certain time windows; or change the product offering according to the length of time they have been account holders with our brands.
All these initiatives are about paying attention to detail, addressing and engaging with customers at a personal level as this connects with their preference and habits. Importantly, this approach yields results for Soft2Bet, as our players identify with customised product offerings that are highly relevant to them.
MEGA product focus
Another way to optimise revenues in highly competitive regulated markets is by offering truly unique products that enable our partners to stand out from the competition. We are pleased to say that we have achieved this with Motivational Engineering Gaming Application (MEGA), the leading gamification solution in the igaming industry.
MEGA is a product suite that drives engagement, interaction and revenues for our partners thanks to highly innovative gamified content. This focus on gamification is particularly relevant to regulated markets as it enables our partners to interact with their players without having to resort to bonuses.
This means costs are reduced when it comes to marketing budgets, and from a reputational perspective it also shows that we engage with customers through content, rather than just through promotions or free bets. Meanwhile in markets such as Sweden, where regulations on bonuses are strict (only one welcome bonus is allowed to new customers), MEGA has enabled our Scandinavian brands Betinia and recently-launched Campobet to grow significantly in the past year.
Igaming growth
Speaking of results, the visuals below demonstrate some of the key growth metrics we have achieved in Denmark and Sweden with those two brands.
The impact gamification has had on Betinia can also be seen from the visual below detailing the positive effect MEGA has had on the levels of engagement, GGR and ARPU it has generated for Betinia.
This approach is replicated in Romania, where regulations require all games providers to be licensed, with our brand Don.ro, which has grown strongly since going live at the end of last year. This has been made possible by the MEGA gamification content that engages with players.
Every company uses different strategic roadmaps to achieve its targets, but when it comes to dealing with regulatory costs and the business pressures they create, gamified content has been a major factor in enabling Soft2Bet to not only manage compliance requirements, but also grow significantly in markets where some of our competitors have not been able to handle these demanding regulations.
