Everyone talks about the importance of entering new markets, but what about sustaining your position within them? VP Product Marketing at Bede, Jessica Marrs, explains why an operator’s longevity and ongoing success needs to be built on much more than just being early to the party…
Whenever we talk about growth and expansion in the iGaming industry, there’s a tendency for much of the focus to be drawn towards entering new and emerging markets. However, among the clamour for operators to increase their industry footprint by broadening their global horizons, one simple fact often gets overlooked: long-term success is as much about sustaining your position in the markets that you’re currently active in as it is about finding new ones to potentially conquer.
While being first on the scene does undoubtedly play an important part, your strategy once you’ve arrived is equally as crucial in determining whether your platform will ultimately sink or swim in any newly-regulated environment. In light of this, the challenge for operators is striking the right balance between ensuring they have the speed-to-market that will attract a meaningful customer base and laying the strong, stable foundations that are required for long-term sustainable growth.
Be Fast, Be Thorough
In its infancy, any newly-regulated jurisdiction is a clean slate waiting for the early entrants to pick up their market share. As getting there ahead of the competition can help operators establish a strong presence from the outset, working with a B2B technology partner that moves with speed and flexibility supports this with fast delivery, quality and stability. This doesn’t, however, mean that operators should just rush blindly into the unknown, as this speed needs to be tempered by entering each market with a proper understanding of local regulations and planning accordingly.
As every globally active operator knows, what works in one territory might not necessarily work in another, so taking the proper time to get to grips with market nuance and legislative limitations is crucial to starting strongly. Appreciating how customers think and how their distinct behaviours around each vertical can be approached uniquely is necessary to develop long-term engagement and potential cross-selling opportunities, which is a topic our CEO, Colin Cole-Johnson, covered last month while outlining the factors operators need to consider when diversifying their line-ups.
Beyond that, any strategy must allow for future growth. When laying their foundations, businesses should be doing so with flexibility and scalability in mind, as this ensures when traffic increases, they aren’t forced into costly and disruptive operational overhauls. As one of the primary goals should be to help the market continue to grow once it’s matured, operators need to also be prepared for this eventuality, and this means investing in a robust technology stack capable of scaling with demand while minimising downtime and maintaining performance as volume grows.
Customisation Is Key
Once a new market has been entered and an initial strategy has been set, continual growth thereafter relies on a variety of factors. As regulations and player preferences will undoubtedly evolve over time, businesses need to have reliable infrastructures and efficient operations that are easy to customise, allowing them to pivot at a moment’s notice. In Alberta, for example, we already know that the AGLC plans to redefine its guidance post-launch, and this illustrates the case for working with partners who can implement future enhancements quickly and seamlessly.
Smart use of AI and machine learning also has an important role to play. Not only can these technologies make traffic scaling automatic, modular and cost-effective, but they can also help operators enhance their personalisation and customisation to ensure that all messaging they put out is on point. Especially in a recently-regulated territory where competition for market share is likely to be fierce, leveraging AI to gain insights into player behaviour can be a key driver for acquisition, as it enables operators to engage with them on a targeted and more individual basis.
Often, simply knowing what customers want ahead of time and being able to provide them with a unique and engaging experience can be one of the biggest factors influencing loyalty and growth, and this is why the groundwork operators do pre-launch is always so important. Again looking at Alberta, the player base will likely be younger based on province demographics, and this indicates strong digital potential and a preference for fast-paced content. Additionally, the province has Canada’s largest Asian population in the prairies, so operators would do well to consider how they tailor their content to suit this audience. Such insights provide direction as to what products are likely to perform well, and should inform operators’ strategies moving forward.
Know Your Audience
The common thread that runs through operators entering new territories and ensuring they’re set up for long-term success is that nothing should be undertaken without in-depth market research and thorough due diligence. These considerations should always fuel product, marketing and operational strategies when an operator considers not only their initial approach, but also how they will sustain their momentum as the territory matures – and this is especially true in markets where regulation varies from state-to-state or province-to-province, and localisation is essential.
In Canada, the differences between Ontario and Alberta really emphasise why having a clearly defined strategy can make all the difference. Though smaller in terms of population, statistics show that Alberta residents have higher average and median incomes than those in Ontario, and also pay less in taxes. This means the demographic there will have a higher spending power among adult players, but with that comes an increased risk of problem gambling; a fact that has been reflected by AGLC requiring additional Responsible Gaming measures to keep players safe.
As of now, approximately 70% of the province’s online play takes place on unregulated offshore sites, so while players in Alberta are already well-versed on iGaming offerings, the challenge for operators will be finding ways to entice them to come and play on their own regulated platforms. In practice, this will mean entering the market with an attractive set of personalised offers and a wide range of localised content that has been hand-picked to reflect preferences in the province – and both of these aspects will be key in getting players to make the shift to AGLC-approves sites.
In terms of payment methods, Interac is a popular, Canada-specific option that will likely be essential for operators looking to successfully target the Alberta market. Due to its unavailability in other countries, this could easily be a potential blind spot for businesses that haven’t done their market research, again showing the risks of entering without having a fully localised strategy in place. Of course, such considerations can and should be applied to any new territory, and it’s the operators who adapt their approaches accordingly who’ll be best set up to win the long game.
So, to sum it all up, being able to thrive in any new market comes down to a lot more than simply being one of the first on the scene. Operators not only need to ensure that they have a long-term strategy in place that takes into account all relevant regulatory requirements and local player preferences, but also that their platform has the capacity to scale as the market grows and traffic increases. Conducting thorough market research and working with an agile technology partner that can adapt to any future changes is, therefore key to setting yourself up for sustained success.
