Third-party time

As a year like no other ends, we're able to collectively, as an industry, look ahead to an exciting period for sports betting. 2021 is packed with huge sporting events, with the eyes of an entertainment-hungry audience fixed on Tokyo, Florida or multiple venues across Europe from the comfort of their homes. But how do operators maximise the sports betting opportunity and take their customer experience that step further? With a highly competitive landscape, and the bar for customer experience being raised even higher by other industries, it's imperative that gambling operators add value to every customer interaction. Sportsbooks are no longer just places customers visit to place a bet, then return several hours later to see if they've won. They are entertainment hubs, filled with content, analysis, stats and insight on events taking place around the clock, to a global audience.

Technology also continues to accelerate but the landscape has shifted slightly. While advancements in technology are undoubted over the past five years, it's becoming increasingly evident that providers are delivering similar experiences. This, combined with major operators bringing their tech in-house, has led to a dearth of innovation and left customers lacking something genuinely new. Finding a niche offering is becoming more difficult. This is where curated content takes the sports betting experience even further. And there's a wealth of content out there. Blogs, vlogs, picks and opinions infiltrate our social media pages, especially around key sporting events. Finding the right insight through the noise can be difficult for customers. The key here is a combination of statistical analysis and expert opinions that have betting experience to back up their choices. In fact, from our research, we've found that players are 37% more confident with their stakes as a result of reading an expert's opinion on the event.*

The key metric that operators need to measure here is dwell time: the time from the moment your player engages the operator's site or mobile app to when they drop off or return to their search engine. The process here seems straightforward enough; the more offered onsite the longer the customers spend viewing the page. However, not only is the general layout of the site important, but the content that fills the site and the quality of that content is key to longer customer engagement and ultimately a better experience.

According to our research from A/B testing on leading sportsbook operators in the UK, high- quality third-party content leads to a 41% increase in dwell time and, as most sportsbook product managers will tell you, the longer a customer spends onsite, the more likely they are to place a bet. But apart from the ultimate goal of engaging a customer to the point they place the bet, why is third-party content important and valuable?

On the last count, there were over 9,500 betting sites worldwide. That's a lot of competition. How you differentiate yourself is the key. Third-party content is a fundamental way you can take that betting experience further. Clever acquisition strategies get customers to your site. It's what they see when they get there that builds brand loyalty and retention. But why would a customer spend longer on your site if they think you're encouraging them to place a bet? That's where the independent authority that a third-party content offering gives you an advantage. This independence will be reflected in the player's confidence in you as a service provider, and in their own ability to make a judgement on a sporting event. In the simplest way possible, the more confident a customer, the more likely they are to engage with your product. But it's not just confidence you're inspiring, it's reassurance. While using third' party content, your business is giving an impartial view of the sporting event. This allows players to place bets after being informed by a company who has nothing to gain from the bet, building trust with your players that you're providing a responsible route to place a bet. So what about different execution tactics? In the wider marketing landscape, anything under 2,000 words is considered short-form content. However, we know that is different in the gambling world. While the reasoning behind the content is vital, the key takeaway delivered on a sporting event is ultimately the verdict. Delivering just the right amount of content to inspire confidence in your customers makes your platform distinctive. Whether the content is a fully integrated solution or used within a blog, it adds that value to your customer experience. This is also enhanced during the live in-game betting experience when events on the field happen at pace so the content needs to be digestible and actionable based on what is happening in front of the player.

More insight means more excitement. That buzz of anticipation is what makes audiences visit betting sites in the first place. Enhancing that makes them come back. Yes, your technology, the key features, markets and prices all play a part. But if you want to add real value to your customer experience, your third-party content strategy is what will set you apart from your competitors and deliver that sports betting experience that goes beyond the odds.