“We offer customers the opportunity to increase their first deposits by 15-25%”

As we all know, the larger the client base the better, but isn’t it that the key to success is proper data analysis of such a database?

Definitely yes. Analytics is the absolute basis, regardless of the number of clients. It is known that it is better if there are many more clients in the database, but if the analysis process does not run properly, there is no chance that it will bring results.

In your opinion, are the operators from the iGaming industry approach such an analysis well?

I will try to respond quite diplomatically. Operators certainly do well with the analysis of registered players and have the appropriate knowledge about them.

Unfortunately, over 95% of the traffic on their websites is made up of unregistered users, about which operators has no knowledge at all. They often do not even know how many such users there are, because they do not have appropriate tools to determine it.

It really happens that a serious operator does not know how many users use the website?

Very often, when I ask operators how many total users, not just players, visit their website, I hear the answer: “We have 85k in affiliate system clicks.”

I start to feel like a character from a comedy because it is the answer to a completely different question. Unfortunately, such situations happen very often.

Such situations are common only in the iGaming industry or also in businesses from other areas.

Analytics is an absolute basis in other industries. Even if we are talking here about the use of basic instruments, it should be said that, after all, some kind of analysis is carried out.

Have you ever wondered what is the reason for this gap between iGaming companies and companies from other industries?

However, I would like to defend the operators a bit. No other industry has to face such big challenges as licensing issues etc. If we have a company that operates in many markets, running a business looks completely different in each of them.

The moment of launching a business in the market is therefore incomparably more complicated than in other industries, which is why, in my opinion, it does not look as it should.

The problem may also lie in the fact that the field we are dealing with is difficult for many to understand. The iGaming industry is usually divided into 4 categories: operators, platform providers, payment solution providers and affiliates. You cannot put us in any of these boxes.

New operators often focus only on acquisition, sometimes they do so at a high cost, and then quickly lose such clients. How important is it to immediately analyze data about new clients?

In most cases, companies are about getting as much activity as possible. Unfortunately, this is a one-time and very short-term solution. Companies do not work on keeping users attracted through welcome bonuses as regular clients.

It’s a matter of how these businesses approach analytics because they usually lose out because they have no knowledge of users. If players register with the operator, this does not mean that each time they visit this website they will log into their accounts.

So, the company doesn’t know if that is the particular player until it comes to logging in. We know, however, that very often users do not log in to their accounts, because they only visited the website to check something quickly.

At this point, without having adequate analytics, we also do not have knowledge about such user. If companies had such knowledge, they would have a much better chance of keeping the player.

At Media&Leads you have clients (operators) from different markets. Which one do you think is the least friendly in terms of regulations?

These regulations do not apply to Media&Leads because we only operate on the client’s website and the data that users leave there. Media&Leads later analyzes this data, in terms of player involvement in specific services.

Operators can then use this knowledge to encourage the user to register and make their first deposit.

Even if a client wishes to use our data in their marketing activities, we do not physically purchase the ad. So, this aspect does not apply to Media&Leads.

Does it happen that you meet a very conscious client who knows what he wants from the very beginning?

It happens, but unfortunately not very often.

Can you see the progress of this awareness among clients?

There is some progress. On one hand, however, I can count operators – usually the largest, most recognized brands – who really know what they are looking for and what they expect from us.

What do you offer to your clients?

We offer clients the opportunity to increase the number of first deposits by 15-25%. We introduced this scale, because the effectiveness of our actions also depends on the quality of traffic that the operator brings to the website.

We do this through the use of technology, which is designed to evaluate the pattern of user behavior. This allows us to determine whether the player is really interested in the offer of the operator and which part of this offer is the most interesting for this player.

We provide operators with the knowledge that makes them more aware of what and how to talk to a potential client.

The data obtained by us can also be used by the operators in marketing and their media channels, such as Facebook, Instagram, Programmatic Display, Snapchat or Twitter.

However, it is also worth nothing that the registration of the player is not the goal here for us. The goal is to make the first deposit (FTD).

When we work on the operator’s media channels our effectiveness is even better than when we work on the website. We are able to reduce the cost of obtaining the first deposit by 15-35%. In some cases, we even achieved results of 60%.

To sum up, our goal is to increase revenue generated on users about whom the operator knows very little or knows nothing. We can achieve this on several levels: starting with the website, through media channels, to CRM and e-mail.

After the first meeting with the client, are you able to determine how much you are able to help a given company and how much to reduce the cost of obtaining a deposit from the player.

Due to the fact that operators usually do not have good analytics, I am not able to predict it. I don’t know what the quality of traffic on the website is. We can talk about this aspect only after the first month of cooperation.

What is the process of implementing your ideas and tools? I ask since you have already signed a contract with a client.

Within the first few days of signing the contract, we send the client a code (tag), which the operator places on the website. For most companies, this is by no means complicated and takes more or less two hours.

If we get information that the operator installed these codes on the website, then from now on 90% of the implementation is already on our side. This process usually takes about 4 weeks.

So, we start to act a month after signing the contract and from the first day our client can see the first effects.

For what period do you usually sign contracts with clients?

We do not run projects for less than three months. This period is a pilot. We also do not require clients to undertake to cooperation for a year or two. As a rule, we propose a 3-month pilot to see how much they can actually gain from working with us.

If the client is not fully convinced to our services, we can also offer an option based on a control group so that the client can see the difference in the results.

It happens rarely, but any way we accept such possibility. The operator is then able to see how much of what we offer is what he expects. Then there is the signing of an indefinite contract, which can be terminated from month to month.

We do not sell the technology itself, but also the entire service.

Do operators sometimes feel discouraged by the fact that their employees will be subject to additional duties?

Thanks to the fact that we provide technology support, the operator’s employees do not have additional duties. Everything is happening on our side. Clients only receive results that they can look at and draw appropriate conclusions.

Do the negotiations usually take a long time?

Negotiations do not last long because we have fixed prices, and it works on the principle of “take it or leave it”.

The problem lies not in the negotiations themselves, but rather in reaching the negotiation process. After all, our offer may seem so complicated at first that we do not send any more complex data even before the meeting. We can show the client how technology works in realtime on website of another operator and some case study so that he can see how another operator benefited from cooperation with us.

Is case study important in the entire process of acquiring a client?

Case study is a very valuable tool for us because the operator may sometimes have problems believing that we can actually provide such good results and of course has the right to do so. It is only when he sees it on the example of another operator that everything becomes clearer.

I understand that the companies you work with need to give consent so that you can use their results in a case study.

Yes, of course.

Do you accept every task, or are there cases where you assess that it is impossible to help here, or the risk of failure is too great for various reasons, and you eventually give up cooperation?

We do not decide on cooperation with everyone. If the client does not meet our expectations, for example when it comes to website activity – not enught number of visitors on WWW. It’s not that we’re cutting someone off. With too little traffic, the operator simply won’t get back the investment in our services, and we always inform the operator about that. Of course, we will gladly return to the option of such cooperation when the traffic on the client’s website will be greater, and he will be able to strongly benefit from cooperation with us.

We want to be a company that the client will gain trust in and want to be in a relationship with for many years. For example, we have been cooperating with one of the Polish companies for 12 years, although we are not talking about the iGaming industry in this case.

Are there many cases when you do not decide to cooperate with the company?

There are many such companies. Very often start-ups contact with us, which are at a very early stage. Such clients are not able to determine the traffic on their website. We then say that this is not yet the moment when we can help, but we will be very happy to talk again, for example in six months, when they will be able to determine the number of their users and know what quality this traffic is.

Can the platform used by the bookmaker limit you? It is often the case that bookmakers do not have their own platform, and this can limit the possibilities.

The platform used by the operator is not an obstacle for us. Our contact with the platform is rather occasional because we operate on this first layer. When communicating with the user, we do not use the platform.

You will be present at SiGMA in the near future. But if someone is not in Malta and cannot turn to you then how can they contact you?

Preferably via LinkedIn, directly to me. I also get e-mail or phone messages frequently.

You mentioned fairs, which are also an option to contact us. We often get phone calls or emails from clients who have been at our stand, received printed cases, business cards and felt so encouraged that they decided to contact us.

I consider my personal success the fact that I am contacted by operators who have received contact details from their competitors.

I will end with story, when the CFO of one of the largest operators in Brazil visit our stand at SBC Barcelona, because he heard from his colleague from another company that we offer exceptional services and he absolutely wanted to receive contact details from us to pass them on to Marketing Department.

It was the first such situation when a person who is responsible for finances approached us – a marketing technology provider.