Soft2Bet: Leveling Up Player Retention at SiGMA Europe

Last month, as the iGaming world met at SiGMA Malta Europe at the last major industry event of the year, we had the opportunity to catch up with Styliana Kalogreadou, Head of B2B – Sales and Customer Success for market-leading iGaming developer, Soft2Bet.

SiGMA Europe, as we know, is a world-renowned show with unmatched learning and networking opportunities. The perfect place to visit in search of solutions for some of our industry’s biggest challenges. One of the biggest issues that continues to plague the iGaming sector is the battle to improve player retention.

During our catch-up with Styliana we explore what operators can do to improve this going forward, and most importantly, how Soft2Bet are directly helping the industry with this via their own product development and global expansion.

The iGaming industry annual calendar is almost saturated, with a wide range of conferences and events taking place all over the world. Why was it so important for you to attend SiGMA Malta Europe and in particular this year?

“It’s no secret that Soft2Bet has major plans to expand on a global scale. We have acquired a lot of local licenses throughout this year, and we’ll continue to. So, because of this, it’s very important for us to have a strong presence at the biggest international conferences in the world. Of course, there are some conferences that are marked in our calendar from the very beginning of the year that we know we will attend to connect with the global market and SiGMA Malta Europe is always high on the priority list, as Malta is a global iGaming hub. This is why we were so excited to be attending again this year.”

As we continue to step into the new digital age. How do you think this has impacted the mindset of the general consumer? How can Soft2Bet help operators adapt to the new generation of bettors?

“We are well aware of the changes affecting the current consumer mindset.  We are constantly analyzing the trends and all of the changes the industry is undergoing in relation to the shift in bettors’ customer journey expectations.  To match and hopefully surpass these modern expectations we are introducing a lot of new elements on all of our brands. One of the most exciting products to be introduced is  Motivational Engineering, our gamification technology that helps operators improve on all the key metrics in our industry. This was one of the things our CEO, Uri Poliavich, spoke about during his SiGMA keynote. He spoke about the importance of screen time and how our MEGA (Motivational Engineering Gaming Application)will help to increase this metric by up to four times the average rate.”

As market competition continues to rise, player churn is an ongoing problem for operators. How can new products powered by gamification help to combat this?

“Motivational Engineering, as we like to call it in Soft2Bet, is what the rest of the industry usually refers to as gamification. We have put a lot of work into it and this exciting product will enable players to collect cards, have hourly tournaments and even build virtual cities or stadiums.

“We’ve seen that with the implementation of these exciting features, players continue to deposit more as they aim to reach a specific achievement level. This experience is then enhanced by the social factors further facilitated by our player-to-player messaging systems. As a company, we have taken a holistic view of the industry to gain a truer understanding of the most important KPIs for our customers and potential clients. We see that as a result of our Motivational Engineering tools, retention has grown exponentially.

“Our Betinia brand in Sweden is a perfect example of this. As the graphic below shows, our Motivational Engineering features have led to: 

• +65% increase in average GGR compared to non-gamified brands, with 60% of players participating;
• 52% of the Betinia playerbase engages with gamification, with 50% of them depositing larger amounts and frequency of deposits 30% higher;
• Average revenue per user (ARPU) has grown by more than 70%.”

Which regions around the globe are you most excited about in regard to market growth? What do you see as being the main growth drivers for the iGaming industry going forward? How can Soft2Bet solutions help to support them?

“Everyone in the industry is on the lookout, of course, for new retention techniques such as Motivational Engineering and the same goes for the new markets.

“As we continue with our expansion strategy, we have acquired licenses in Romania, Greece and Italy. It is clear the industry is very excited to see what’s in the books for us there. We’re analyzing everything and the same goes for the plans that we have for entering North America.

“All of these exciting jurisdictions are a core part of our expansion strategy to continue acquiring local licenses in Europe and we are excited to see how our platform adjusts alongside the ever-evolving regulatory requirements we’re seeing across the globe.”

Editor’s Note:

After speaking with Styliana, it’s clear that Soft2Bet have adopted a highly ambitious global expansion strategy. It’s exciting to hear more about the great opportunities in new markets, however regardless of the market, being able to engage and retain your players will always be a key factor.

Forward-thinking, new Motivational Engineering products will play a pivotal role in market success for operators and we’re looking forward to seeing what impact this has on the industry as whole, helping it to grow sustainably.