Furthermore, the online domain is an ever-changing territory where trends come and go swiftly by the day. And just like in any other business in the online gambling and sports betting industry, you need to be up to date with the latest iGaming market trends to stay ahead.
This short video will give you a general idea of the tools and approaches you should use to find the latest iGaming topics for your marketing strategy.
Using keyword tools to identify new iGaming trends
So, how do you go about identifying the latest iGaming marketing trends and targeting the right audience?
Well, there are several methods, which, when put together and used as a cohesive strategy, can make a huge difference in how well you manage to reach and engage your target audience.
Keyword research is an excellent way of gauging current trends. Furthermore, keywords can tell you which subtopics are related to a specific topic and what your audience is really looking for. Therefore, keyword research tools are always a good starting point when trying to identify new trends.
Combining the tools
You can also use Google Trends to analyze the popularity of the top searches in different regions and languages. This is an efficient tool that shows data for popular search terms in relation to each other. When coupled with a good keyword research tool like Ubersuggest or Keywords Everywhere, Google Trends can certainly give you some valuable insights into online trends in different markets.
For example, you can compare “online casino” and “sports betting” as topics in Great Britain, including similar search entries with this link or you can check the topic “football” in GB here, where the keywords “2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup” and “Football League One Standings” were the most sought after topics in terms of football on the date of our search (28th April 2020). This is what you want to target with your content right away as well.
Especially in times like these when people are staying home, #coronacrisis, they are consuming much more content online. Any content you can provide, we can produce it for you.
Whether you start off using keyword research tools or not, you’re certainly going to need them at some stage. And in our article describing the 5 best free keyword research tools, we give you a detailed breakdown of some of the best free keyword tools out there.
These tools are quite comprehensive and can be a great starting point for beginners looking to learn and experiment with keyword optimization.
However, if you’re seriously looking to stay ahead of the competition, you’ll need to invest in more professional paid keyword research tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush, that have the power to really improve your keyword strategy.
Other ways of finding trending topics and setting up a strategy
Once you have tools in place, the next step is to plan out a solid content strategy.
Identifying the latest trends in a specific region or business requires more than a set of keyword tools. And while these tools are of great use, they don’t do all the work for you.
To stay ahead, you need to keep your ears to the ground and constantly try to figure out which way the wind is blowing – and there are many pieces to the puzzle.
Know your business
For starters, knowing your business well always helps. And sometimes there are buzzing topics that obviously will spike the interest of your audience.
For instance, if you’re working with sports betting, you’d know that large international events like the EURO 2021 and the Copa América 2021 draw a lot of attention.
Knowing this, you can easily experiment with search terms in different keyword tools and decide which ones to focus on.
Keep a close eye on the competition
You need to keep an eye on what your peers and competitors are doing. And that’s especially true for a young and fast-paced business like the iGaming industry.
When it comes to trends, you never want to be left behind. And while the goal is always to be the first one to identify new trends, you need to be aware of what’s happening around you as well.
Therefore, it’s crucial you do competitor analyses to at least some degree. And while there are firms specializing in this field, simpler forms of customer analysis don’t have to cost you a cent.
By simply checking your competitors’ websites and social feeds, you can easily spot if they’re reacting to any emerging trends.
Check the biggest news sites regularly
Your job is to develop your brand and consistently engage and expand your audience, which can be a challenging, and sometimes daunting, task.
And unless you have a dedicated team at your disposal, chances are you don’t have enough time to compile all relevant news.
That’s why it’s wise to seek out someone who does. Make it a point to check the most prominent and leading iGaming news sites regularly. You can then use the information they provide to make better decisions on what the latest iGaming marketing trends are.
Whether it be the latest sports betting news, information on compliance and regulations or new gaming trends, you want to make sure you stay in the loop. And since news sites such as iGaming times and Gambling Insider collect relevant news from all fields of the business, they paint a broader picture of what’s happening in the industry.
For instance, if a news site announces that leading game developer NetEnt is reporting a 23.9% year-on-year increase in revenue due to growth in the UK and US markets, then that’s probably two markets you’d like to have a closer look at.
Using social media to find new trends
Social media is a great way of knowing what’s on people’s minds. Check what’s trending on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube and see if you can find a connection between these topics and your brand or product.
On Facebook, for instance, the stories are grouped into categories such as politics, sports, tech and entertainment, so you quickly can find content and stories that are relevant to you.
Using social listening tools
If you’re willing to go the extra mile and invest some money into understanding current social media trends, you might want to look at social listening tools such as Awario or Mention. TweetDeck is another amazing tool for those who want to monitor all the trending hashtags and topics specifically on twitter.
In a nutshell, these are highly sophisticated digital tools that give great insight into what audiences on social media are talking about and sharing.
Furthermore, most of these tools have niche filters allowing you to dive deeper into content trends for specific topics, regions and countries.
They also compare different social media platforms and give you an understanding of which formats generate the most engagement on each platform.
Use all the tools at your disposal
At the end of the day, content marketing for iGaming operators has a lot in common with marketing strategies used by any other business.
It’s about having an open mind, the necessary experience and knowledge, and using all tools at your disposal. Creativity certainly goes a long way too.
To find trending topics for the online gambling industry, you need to see the bigger picture and know what to make of it. And the more sources and tools you have at your disposal, the better you can assess and predict trends in the market or business you’re in.
How to reach your audience and structure your content
Once you’ve found a topic, you need to figure out how your audience wants it presented.
As a rule of thumb, web audiences are mostly looking for quick answers and easily digested information. And this is certainly true when it comes to the iGaming audience. Therefore, you should always make sure your content is straightforward and informative.
Search engine results of keywords and topics you’ve chosen can also help steer you in the right direction. By looking at the top results, you can easily gauge what your audience is looking for when searching for a specific query.
How to reach your audience
The third step is to decide which channels to use. And a common strategy is, of course, to combine several channels and platforms.
If you’re running a campaign for a specific segment of your audience, you might want to send them an email – in which case your content needs to be different from that of a blog post or article. You might also want to consider the conversion chain and figure out how different channels can work together to generate interest and conversions.
For instance, you could create a short and snappy email that leads your audience to a dedicated landing page where you can present a product or campaign in more detail. The email will establish a personal dialogue and generate initial interest, while the landing page allows you to use other engaging forms of content such as video, infographics and so forth.
You can then tailor these emails and landing pages to different regions and demographics to get better results.
In contrast, you can create an article or blog post to reach a more general audience and see what kind of results certain topics can produce. This is a cheaper and less time-consuming strategy that can still create conversions and give you valuable insights about your audience.
Lastly, social media is a cost-effective way of reaching and engaging a bigger audience. Most people make use of social media on a daily basis, and with the right strategy, you can have your message delivered straight to your audience. For instance, recent studies done by research companies show that Facebook has 2.5 billion monthly users. So, if a third of the world’s population is voluntarily engaging with a social platform this frequently, that’s obviously a place where you want your brand’s voice to be heard.
Furthermore, it’s an opportunity to get to know your audience better and to get valuable insight into your customer base. Another great advantage is that social media tools allow you to easily assess a campaign. You can quickly find out how many people have read, liked or shared your post, and make the necessary adjustments to optimize your strategy.
Content marketing for iGaming operators
Once you’ve compiled all data and decided which channels to use, you need to create engaging content that converts and directs traffic where you want it to go. And when you’ve set your sights on a specific market, it’s important that you speak in a way that feels familiar, relevant and appealing to your audience.
When going for a topic that’s relevant to several markets, you need to tailor your content and tone to each specific market. If your content isn’t localized, the time and money you’ve spent on research and appropriate tools might go to waste.
As an example, we all know from the eBook “Why Germans Bet on Football and the English Love the Horses”, that different countries and regions love different sports. The Finnish love their Pesäpallo and the Japanese love their version of Baseball, while Australians and Indians root for Cricket. Knowing this, you wouldn’t target an Aussie with anything other than footy, which isn’t football as the English love it.
Content localization can make or break your strategy
Once you’ve decided whom you want to reach, what you want to speak about and where you want to engage your audience, your tone needs to conform to all these factors.
At the end of the day, the nuances in your iGaming brand’s voice can make or break your strategy and be what makes you stand out in an increasingly crowded digital landscape.
So, whether you’re planning to reach your audience via email, a website or through social media, we can localize your content and create a voice that’s suitable for your goals and audience.
Header Image Source: Photo by Lukas Blazek on Unsplash
How did you like May Thawdar Oo’s blog post “Identifying Content Marketing Trends for iGaming Operators”? Let us know in the comments if you have anything to add, have another content idea for iGaming blog posts, or just want to say “hello.” 🙂
2 Comments