A new season with new signings brings fresh hope and optimism amongst fans, and they are often keen to back these feelings with a wager. So, with the right strategy and tools to attract customers when the players return to the pitch, sportsbooks can be confident of a winning season.

We caught up with Niki Beier, SVP ad:s, to get his top tips for ensuring your sportsbook’s marketing strategy is in shape for the big kick-off:

1) Boost brand awareness to be top of mind

Big overseas tours are a key pre-season tactic for European clubs to ensure they are top of mind in target countries where new fans are there to be won.

For European operators, touring the brand is less common, but brand awareness is just as key for success. Operators expect to generate a 9.5% year-on-year increase in sports betting gross gaming revenue this yeari. So, it has never been more important for a sportsbook brand to be top of mind with fans – and there is no better way of achieving this than through video.

Operators expect to generate a 9.5% year-on-year increase in sports betting gross gaming revenue this yearii. So, it’s never been more important to be top of mind with fans

Fans have a huge appetite for video content. More than a quarter of adult internet users watch a sports clip or highlights each weekiii, and video ads in general drive an 82% increase in purchase intentiv.

Our Programmatic Video solution is powered by our proprietary industry specific Demand Side Platform (DSP) and ensures your brand gets seen by the right audience, is remembered and subsequently increases your chances of conversion.

2)

a. Don’t overspend on recruitment…

Clubs know that the summer transfer window can make or break their season. So, they lean on scouting expertise and player performance data as they strive to find game-changing talents who will give them the biggest impact on the pitch for the smallest transfer fee. The last thing a club wants, is to sign a multi-million-euro failure that sits on the bench.

Similarly, sportsbooks know marketing budgets need to perform and deliver a strong ROI for their own recruitment purposes. Not for players, but for customers. One of the best ways to ensure this is to make use of programmatic advertising and specifically, the best DSP available for their needs.

Programmatic advertising automatically searches the internet to find your ideal audience and deliver the right message at the right time. And when using our industry-leading DSP your Programmatic Display campaigns are optimised and returns are maximised thanks to curated supply, bidding algorithms tailored to betting and gaming and unique sports betting features.

b. …and search where others aren’t

As with player scouting, to find a hidden gem, you often need to search where others aren’t looking. Similarly, with betting customer acquisition it pays to have exclusive access to audiences. With our Publisher Products, we work with a single operator in each geographic market to gain visibility on premium publishers in the region, while using our unique adtech to deliver automated, contextually relevant ads, that subsequently delivers strong acquisition performance.

3) Give fans a personal experience

Almost three-quarters of consumers expect personalisation from businesses and brands they usev.

In sport, this expectation intensifies due to the unrivalled emotional power of fandom.

Almost three-quarters of consumers expect personalisation from businesses and brands they use.vi

Our Dynamic Display solution satisfies this demand by automating different bets, markets, bonus lines and calls to action in digital advertising. This makes it easy to create thousands of highly customised ads that engage fans as individuals and improve conversion.

4) Fans live on social media – so ensure your presence is optimised

Sport sparks interest like nothing else on social media, generating at least 50% more engagement per post on average than any other sectorvii.

Indeed, with more than three billion monthly users globally, paid social is recognised as the most successful marketing channel in countries like the UK,viii with spending on social media ads is expected to hit nearly $80bn next year – up from just over $65bn last yearix. So, competition for the attention of sports fans on the likes of Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat is intense.

Our Paid Social solution optimises cost-effective campaigns on these hugely popular platforms by combining a sportsbook’s real-time odds and bet types with our sports data, creative expertise and extensive in-house support. This full-service offering saves time and money with automated creatives and expert campaign management, delivering personalised and timely ads that stand out versus undifferentiated ads from rivals.

5) Get your partnerships working harder for you

There have been countless famous examples of successful partnerships in European football; Yorke and Cole, Xavi and Iniesta, Di Stefano and Puskas to name a few. Partnerships firing on all cylinders are often the key to success.

Many betting operators will have commercial partnerships with sporting rights holders, with brand awareness a core focus. However, there are often untapped opportunities to create more value from a partnership. Exploring the digital channels on offer and how they can drive acquisition and ROI for sponsorship investment is a key one.

There are often untapped opportunities to create more value from a partnership. Exploring the digital channels on offer is a key one.

With this in mind, our Sponsorship solution combined with our Publisher Products adtech gets your partnerships working harder for you by enhancing the digital activation with contextually relevant adverts across the rights holders’ digital platforms. This not only creates an improved fan experience, but also improved ad performance for you the operator.

…once your summer signings are in the door, keep them engaged

To get the most out of summer signings, clubs work hard to ensure they settle quickly and feel engaged with the team.

And as operators, once you’ve acquired new customers you to want to ensure they’re engaged.

It’s no secret that streaming sports coverage is an increasingly popular strategy for entertaining and retaining fans. For example, more than half of US fans now pay for a streaming video service to access sports action.x

Our Live Channel streaming products give fans what they want: easy access to the sports coverage they crave. We offer the largest and most diverse live-streaming portfolio in betting, including top-tier football competitions like the German Bundesliga, to drive engagement for online and retail betting customers.

Therefore, with our support, operators have an opportunity to effectively acquire and engage new, high-value customers.

At Sportradar, we’re here to help you convert your chances when the new season arrives.
Get in touch today to find out about our ad:s Marketing Services.