1xSlots: Understanding and localising in LatAm

Crypto is a popular deposit and withdrawal method in Argentina. Why does crypto appeal so much to this market?

Crypto is quite popular in Argentina, but it’s not the most popular one. Most deposits come from Mercado Pago and other local payment solutions. Despite this fact, crypto itself is popular in the Argentinian market due to a range of factors:

1. Inflation and devaluation

During the last five years, the Argentinian peso has been devaluing and the inflation rate in the country has been at its highest levels in recent history. It makes sense why crypto has become more common, as young people don’t want to deal with economic and devaluation issues, and they use more appropriate and accessible methods for payments and interactions. Moreover, an increasing number of them now use crypto as their main method of income, be it through salaries and other forms of payment.

2. Dual currency

Black and blue dollar. 

Another issue relates to the official currency and the market rate of the USD. The blue dollar is an abbreviation for using unofficial rates. In the main streets of Buenos Aires, you will rarely find any place to exchange currency at the black rate (official rate), which is used only for government occasions. On the other hand, people are exchanging at market prices, which are much higher than the official rate.This fact gives people more motivation to use stable crypto instead of the national currency.

3. Gambling        

A lot of people play in unofficially licensed casinos and don’t want to deal with strict banking rules. That’s why they use more secure methods for deposits and withdrawals. 

4. Cultural trends

Crypto is becoming more and more popular among younger people as an asset and investment option. More people are using it for faster transactions and borderless deals. Within the contaxt of globalisation crypto is now becoming a big part of global marketisation. This trend also affects Argentina, like other countries. 

What promotions appeal to Argentinian players? How do these differ from other LatAm players? 

We have fully localised promotions in Argentina. Firstly, all our promotions are shown in the local currency, including the welcome bonus and seasonal tournaments. Secondly, we have a dedicated local retention team that creates personalised promotions specifically for Argentinian players. We take into account cultural differences, observe Argentine player behaviour and try to stay ahead of market trends and meet local demand. The promotions we offer in Argentina differ from those in Chile, Mexico or Colombia, as we tailor them to the specific needs of the Argentine market.

Another prominent LatAm market is Mexico. What is the process of entering this market like and how is it different from other LatAm markets? 

Mexico is a very large and specific market, and it’s not like other Latin American markets. The difference between Mexico and the other markets is that local brands with a local licence have around 90% of the market share. To get a Mexican licence, you need a strong presence in the country, working with local authorities and stakeholders. This makes the market less accessible than, for example, Argentina, but Mexico has great potential and the average deposit rate seems to be higher than in other markets. If a casino can handle the market and players, it can make a lot of money. 

We entered the Mexican market about three months ago and are trying to establish a good presence through media plans for brand positioning and performance marketing tactics that we have used in LatAm for many years. Today, I can say that the conversion rates and average deposit rates, as well as the LTV of players, in the 1xSlots project in Mexico are on par with those in Argentina, taking into account that we have worked in Argentina since 2020. Our entry strategy includes:

A. Brand positioning through influencers

B. Performance marketing and traffic acquisition

C. Retention strategy

D. Localisation (including payment methods, support, promotion etc.)

E. Offline marketing strategy

What advice would you give to brands entering the Mexican market for the first time?

1. Localisation – without localisation of the website, support and retention teams, it will be very difficult to work in Latin America at all.

2. Already have traffic sources that can generate traffic from Mexico through social media and influencers.

3. Having a big budget: A big country needs a big budget to enter, otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to compete.

4. A local agent or country manager who knows the market and cultural factors.

Influencers are a significant part of many operator and affiliate marketing strategies in LatAm. However, there have also been some controversies around using influencers. How do you go about working with these creators in a responsible way?

Five or six years ago, when we were trying to expand in Argentina, our first and main strategy was influencer marketing. We worked with almost all casino streamers and most of them increased their audiences thanks to us. Currently, influencer strategies still play a big role, but over the past three months, we’ve had some big problems. More and more influencers have received messages from regulators saying that they can’t promote unlicensed casinos, and many have refused to work with global brands with global licences. Some even fled to Chile and other countries in order to continue promoting and working.

How are we dealing with this? We use different strategies. If the influencer is a complete casino streamer, we have a strategy that suits him. If he is not, there are many ways to implement spy marketing, which includes sponsorship, merchandise and offline strategies. We try not to interfere with their problems with authorities and always try to help if they have difficulties.

Looking ahead, in five years’ time, how do you feel the LatAm market will have evolved?

Last year in Dubai, I had a great experience sharing my thoughts with industry leaders. We discussed how tier one, two and three countries were emerging in the gambling industry, and whether they had the same or different paths of transformation. We took a case study from CIS countries 10 years ago, and compared it to LatAm today. If we compare, we see a similar transformation path for players, but there are some major differences. In LatAm, we have a gaming society that was born in the 2000s and grew up with smartphones. The market transforms faster than we might expect due to this factor. The more we work with younger LatAm players, the more we see their needs and behaviours change rapidly. They are more tech-savvy and integrated with esports games; computer games and traditional casinos play less of a role in their entertainment. So, how can we get them to spend time on our casino website? That’s a big question…

In five years, as I see it, we will have more new games that differ from traditional games. Nowadays, we already have fast-paced games and crash games that get more interaction, and in five years’ time, we will see a completely different range of games with diverse features.