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Alexander joined the company on May 2020. He has over 26 years experience in Sports Betting. His expertise is in sports betting, iGaming industry analytics, product management, and product team development.
What are your thoughts on the biggest issues facing betting and gaming companies today?
In the iGaming sector, there are two main objectives: player attraction and retention. Two key aspects are important in this context.
First, when we look closely at the products and strategies of B2B firms, it is clear that many struggle to understand what players need. In the betting world, it is not enough to offer a product. It’s also important that it engages players.
It’s also important that a bonus system works like an instrument in the hands of the operator. They should be able to adjust the journey of the player from the moment that they enter the project, and keep them interested for the long run. It is about creating an atmosphere where players are more than just interested, but also involved.
We also understand that some players might want to try out other games. We want to make sure that, once players switch platforms, they are immediately aware of how much more user-friendly and captivating our bonus system is. The difference will be felt by them, even if they cannot explain it. Our development efforts are based on this principle.
What is your opinion on such methods as Gamification to keep attention?
All of us have an inner child, don’t we? We often tell that inner child to pack away their toys. Gamification is the answer. It’s a cool trick that allows apps with nothing to do games to sneak in some fun.
This bank app cleverly combines gamification principles with the financial sector. You may think that banking is not a game, but the app has some interesting incentives. Imagine receiving extra cashback, cool avatars and bonuses for actively using the app. When you purchase tickets for three different countries, you are rewarded with an avatar of a “traveller”. You can even interact with the central character of a cat to make your banking experience more fun.
All it comes down to is our need to play. We tend to hold back. When you add a little fun, the engagement increases. As we get into quests and missions, it keeps us coming back. These app developers want us to be hooked. We keep returning to our virtual cat, or spinning the wheel, because, let’s face it, missing those bonuses means less bonus. We also all participate in the weekly missions that are designed to improve our rankings. The core principle is to make it fun for us.
How can a casino build player loyalty?
Over the years, I have come to appreciate the power that personalisation has. It’s an innovative approach that goes far beyond bonuses and gamification.
We have departments that are specialised in retention and VIP retention. They are tasked with treating each VIP player like a unique person, and not as just another customer. Understanding that VIP players are unique and have different needs is key. We make VIP players feel valued by promptly responding to their concerns and requests. This is not just a betting principle, but a universal truth. Bonuses add a layer of excitement but are just that.
I’ve seen a variety of scenarios when it comes to engaging VIP players. Sometimes players ask questions that are unrelated to the project. Sometimes, players will ask for help or directions on a completely unrelated matter. In such cases, those who step up to assist the players are often viewed as heroes by them. It’s like creating a bond with players where they instinctively turn to us when they need help, whether it is placing a wager or asking for guidance on a completely different matter. It’s all about creating a reflex that tells the player, “If I have a question, I will ask .”
It’s important to measure the retention rates of regular players that aren’t in the VIP category. A company may use a five-tier system based on the profitability of players. Employees receive KPIs that include, for example, elevating clients to the next level of retention. Employees can also advance to the next level based on their performance. This strategy has been highly successful.
When discussing retention of players, I’d pay close attention to the recommendations. Consider a situation where we tell a player their favorite team will be playing today, but that one of their key players has been sidelined and their team is having issues with their striker. It’s not about misinforming the player, but about building trust and knowing that the math will take care of the rest.
A great way to keep players engaged is through tournaments, quests and jackpots. These encourage friendly competition between players. This variety of tools can be used to encourage players to take part in different activities. The operator could, for example, announce that all bets on the International 2023 would contribute to a certain jackpot. This strategy encourages players to take part in the actions and enhances their overall experience.
It’s important to remember that when discussing odds and betting, our profits are directly linked to the margin. This fundamental concept is unfortunately often overlooked by operators in the gambling industry, including those with considerable expertise. They often overlook the fact that bookmakers’ earnings are not directly tied to their odds, but rather, are shaped by how much margin they can maintain.
We encourage players in certain tournaments to compete for a prize pool. The prize pool for these tournaments is set and there are time limits.
We can also design tournaments in which players are rewarded for certain actions or achievements within the game, adding a new layer of excitement to the competition.
What are the primary areas that you focus on when designing and improving your products at SOFTSWISS?
Three main criteria are important to us. The first two criteria are extremely important.
First, we are always concerned with the needs of our players. Our top priority is to keep players interested and engaged. Second, we have what the operator wants. We want players to be motivated to do things which are both fun and beneficial to the operator. It’s win-win to encourage bets for live and express events. Finally, market trends. We keep an eye on the latest trends because we know that other operators do too. We want to remain in the game, and ensure that our players get the latest and greatest.
Automatisation is important. The more smoothly and automatically these tools work, the better for both operators as well as players.
Let’s look at the details and see what a player needs. In an ideal world, players should have minimal effort to bet and receive bonuses in return. This will encourage them to play. It is important that players are encouraged and feel valued.
Bookmakers’ main goal is to encourage players to wager on live events and express events. It’s all about increasing player engagement. Operators prefer to not invest too much time or resources in managing bonuses and customisation as it is a difficult task.
Content is another challenge. This involves brainstorming ideas, creating content, publishing it on the website, promoting it to players and, most importantly, ensuring that they engage. These tasks are handled by many companies through dedicated departments, focusing specifically on content management. This can lead to a substantial financial burden as these departments require ongoing maintenance and resources.
Our system allows operators to create new bonuses quickly and easily. It takes less than one minute to relaunch bonuses issued previously. Our system is brilliant because it can automatically create T&Cs and banners. This eliminates the need for operators.
Our system will also remove the banners and content associated with a bonus when it reaches its expiration. Operators don’t need to waste their time or energy managing content. We aim to streamline our partners’ operations and save them valuable time. Our product aims to help operators focus on attracting more traffic, while automating repetitive work, ultimately improving their workflow.
The SOFTSWISS sportsbook is equipped with integrated gamification, including exclusive bonuses and jackpots. This allows both players and operators to enhance their gaming experience. The SOFTSWISS sportsbook offers four unique bonuses in addition to the usual sports betting bonuses. These bonuses are Hunting Bonuses (hunting tournaments), Lootbox bonuses and Freebet boosters.
Operators often struggle to determine the correct value of bonuses. Players must receive bonuses that are in line with their betting activities and that continue to attract them. It is important to maintain balance in betting whether you are betting on sports, online casinos or offline casinos.
It is important to find a way of rewarding smaller players without giving them too many bonuses. It would be absurd for a player to get a 100 euro bonus after betting only 1 euro. It’s also important not to disappoint high-value players. When a VIP player who wagers substantial amounts is given a 100 euro bonus, it can be awkward. This delicate balance is an important part of our job.
It is important to automate the system as effectively as possible. We’ve covered it with our Hunting Bonus. Our system works in an automatic mode and ensures that players who bet consistently larger amounts (like 3,000 euros) get the free bets.
The SOFTSWISS sportsbook seamlessly integrates with different platforms and CRM systems. It eliminates the need to retrain operators, as they can continue using familiar tools and processes. It also offers enhanced customization options to create a more personalized experience.
This flexibility is not limited to SOFTSWISS. Operators do not have to use SOFTSWISS platforms. Our Sportsbook can be easily integrated into any platform, within or outside of the SOFTSWISS eco-system.
How can gamification and bonuses improve business metrics?
Operators can offer bonuses for the following month if the player deposits more than 1,000 euros in the current month. This is because the average deposit for a player is around 800 euro. Even if a player’s deposit is 800 euro and they don’t have the entire amount, it’s likely that they’ll make 200 more euro in order to qualify for the bonus. This automatically raises the status of the player.
The operator can create a bonus strategy that is unique by focusing on players who place an average wager of 5 euros. If a player wins a streak of football bets by wagering 7.5 euros, then every third winning bet will activate a free bet of 10 euro. The operator will see a 50% increase in the average bet as players continue to bet and raise their average wager, sometimes without even realizing it.
The operator expects to see a 50% increase in gross gaming revenue (GGR). In this scenario, the bonus component is increased, but it usually remains at around 25%. The GGR increases by 50%. The operator is essentially gaining an extra 25% of revenue.
Operators in sports betting and casinos often overlook a critical aspect when it comes to bonuses: the purpose of the bonus. Operators need to determine exactly what their incentive goals are, such as increasing deposits, increasing the average wager size or prolonging engagement. Bonuses must be tailored strategically to encourage players to perform specific actions aligned with the operator’s goals.
It’s important to understand the impact of a bonus on a specific metric, and set clear criteria that can be measured. This ensures bonuses aren’t just a perk to players, but a tool that can be used strategically by operators to achieve desired results.
About SoftSWISS
SOFTSWISS, an international iGaming firm, provides certified software for managing gambling operations. The team of experts, who number over 1,500 employees, are based in Malta. Poland, Georgia and Belarus. SOFTSWISS is a holder of a number gaming licenses, and offers iGaming solutions in a one-stop shop. The company offers a wide range of products, such as the Online Casino Platform with thousands casino games, Affilka Affiliate Platform, Sportsbook Platform, and Jackpot Aggregator. SOFTSWISS introduced the first bitcoin-optimized online casino solution in 2013.
