Sportradar introduced ad:s, its data-driven digital marketing service, to the market in 2019. Four years later and the service goesfrom strength-to-strength. Florian Geheeb, Global Director Advertising Sales, Fan Engagement at Sportradar, discusses how theproduct has changed since its launch and what the future holds.
You launched ad:s in 2019, how has the service changed in that time?
When Sportradar launched ad:s in 2019, the focus was very much on delivering efficient marketing activities for ouroperator clients. To do this, we paired programmatic advertising capabilities with a Demand Side Platform (DSP) developedspecifically for the betting industry. This combination allowed us to provide operators with highly targeted display campaigns thatsignificantly reduced advertising waste.
Looking longer term, and as we move further into 2023, we’llfocus on developing a more insightful measurement of marketingperformance
Marketing efficiency has been a key driver of our services and we’ve looked to apply these technical capabilities across multiplecustomer acquisition channels and platforms, such as our programmatic video advertising solution. But as the market has evolvedand our clients place equal emphasis on marketing effectiveness, we expanded the ad:s offering to support top- of-funnel activitysuch as brand awareness and consideration.
The result is the ad:s multi-channel performance marketing platform, which provides our clients with a greater range of optionsto optimize their digital advertising campaigns including paid social, connected TV and digital out-of-home. And, actually, paidsocial media advertising is performing really well for clients and I’m excited about its potential.
You work with over 100 clients for ad:s – why do they choose Sportradar?
Operators work with Sportradar because we offer the industry’s only betting-specific marketing solution. For example, by integratingour DSP into their display marketing campaigns, operators can reach customers they would not otherwise be able to if they used ageneric DSP provider. It’s hard for operators to acquire new customers in such a competitive marketplace, but with ad:s ourclients can connect with relevant customers across multiple channels and jurisdictions that are regulated for sports betting.
It’s this hyper-targeted approach that delivers results for clients. For some operators, ad:s’ range of services has achieved a
reduction of up to a 60% in cost-per-acquisition, increased net gaming revenue (NGR) by 110%, and increased click-through-rates for rightsholder-operator sponsorships by 225%. Furthermore, a lifetime value analysis of the customers acquired
through the ad:s platform shows that these bettors are generating more positive revenue for our clients’ businesses andactively use their services. So, the quality of the customers acquired through ad:s is incredibly high.
These advanced technical capabilities are underpinned by a world-class team of channel strategists who are focused onengaging sports audiences more effectively and delivering positive ROI for clients. Our paid social media advertising team, forexample, works in partnership with clients. They invest significant time getting to know the client’s business and how they can bestuse the ad:s technology to deliver against short-term and long-term goals. It’s a true partnership and that really is key.
What’s more, Sportradar continues to invest in developing bespoke technology for individual channels and bettingindustry-specific products. The industry doesn’t sit still and nor do we – we’re constantly innovating to provide our clients with thesolutions they need to enhance targeting precision.
What can we expect from ad:s in the future?
In the near term, we’re going to build out our paid social media offering. With more than three billion people engaging with socialmedia each month, it’s become a key channel for operators and we’re working to unlock its full potential for customer acquisition. Thead:s technology is deeply integrated into the META platforms of Facebook and Instagram, and we recently announced its integrationinto Snapchat. I anticipate expanding on to new channels as the year progresses.
Looking longer term, and as we move further into 2023, we’ll focus on developing a more insightful measurement of marketingperformance. We’re creating a betting-specific, multi-touch attribution solution that provides operators with complete visibility of alltheir customer touchpoints. This data and insight allows them to have greater visibility of their advertising spend, helping toprioritise their best-performing platforms and understand the true value of their customer cost-per-acquisition. This willultimately reduce advertising waste and provide better value fortheir business.
