A Definitive Guide to Advertising in eSports and Gambling
Recently, a lot of industries have suffered a lot from the impact of quarantine – it was a hard time for businesses. However, staying home makes people turn to the Internet, and online entertainment is in high demand. Such spheres as video games, betting, TV subscription services are thriving together with eSports and online gambling.
What does it mean for advertisers? It's the right time to experiment with new ad formats, and there are no better verticals for that than betting on sports events and gambling. This guide will explain why these spheres are a hot target for advertising in 2020, who your target audience is, and how Evadav can help you optimize ad campaigns to reap maximum benefits.
ESports & Online Gambling: Peculiarities and Benefits
With countries keeping their borders closed, it seems like life has been paused, and no sports events are going to be organized in the nearest months. The Olympic games have been canceled, football fields are staying empty, and no matches are seen on schedules. Has the sports industry stopped existing? No! Our attention reverted to a somewhat different industry – eSports.
What is eSports?
To put it simply, eSports are all online video games played on a competitive basis. Instead of being in the middle of a field to play football, participants sit in front of their PC and access the 'battlefield' via the Internet. The most popular games today are Halo, CS: GO, Call of Duty, Starcraft and Warcraft.
Still don't believe in the hype around eSports? Take a look at the audience of some popular tournaments:
If you aren't a gamer but rather prefer watching, you've got the opportunity to earn by making bets – those are available for eSports events, too. If such an option doesn't appeal to you, there is another one described below.
Online vs traditional gambling: what's the difference?
There's no need to explain what is traditional gambling – we all know what casinos are. Now, with technologies being leveraged in every sphere of our life, it's possible to play slots and card games without leaving your house. Online casinos offer pretty much the same games.
The main difference between traditional and online gambling is that games are available in electronic format, and websites accept online payments supporting various methods like PayPal, Payoneer, Skrill, Qiwi, bank cards and cryptocurrencies. Focus on users' convenience!
Discover the opportunities for eSports and gambling advertising in Evadav. Click here to register.
Advantages
Why do people enjoy eSports and online gambling?
- Enormous choice of games and genres;
- 24/7 access to games and tournaments;
- Opportunity to earn money without much effort;
- Bonus programs (free spins, deposit bonuses, etc);
- Huge worldwide community;
- Confidentiality of personal and payment data;
- They provide the same thrill of the competition as real-life playing.
What numbers say?
Both eSports and gambling industries are on the rise – it's an undeniable fact that's proved by numbers.
Here's the prediction of gambling market growth in the US:
While the Chinese authorities continue knocking down on online gambling sector (even despite the potential deficit of $6 bln - the result of a two-week closure of Macau casinos), and deliberately refuse getting income from this industry, some US states are seriously considering legalization of online gambling, taking into account the scale of the epidemic and potential losses. Since the USA is about to soften the laws, other countries may follow the lead.
In the similar manner, the audience of eSports is growing at the exponential rate, and the audience is expected to reach 600 mln viewers (both occasional and frequent) by 2023:
Who is your audience?
Theoretically, you can target all people aged 14-99 when it comes to eSports: virtual games are played by people of all *** and age. According to The Esports Audience research report from Business Insider Intelligence[
1], Gen Zers are more receptive to nontraditional sports, like eSports, than traditional sports — 56% of US Gen Z men (aged 13-21) said nontraditional sports are relevant to their generation. 62% of US eSports viewers are aged
Need help with targeting? Register in Evadav and get help from a personal ad manager.
When it comes to gambling, it's more popular among people aged 21-55. When you're defining the target audience, it's crucial to be aware of local laws and regulations concerning the gambling sphere. For example, UK has gambling-tolerant policy, which results into the domination of its market over European neighbors:
Why Try Advertising eSports & Betting?
According to South China Morning Post, wagering on eSports is the fastest-growing betting trend in sports gambling with punters around the world expected to bet up to $12.9 bln on gaming by 2020. It goes without mentioning simply viewers – they generate even higher income.
2020 is the best time to grab the opportunity to enlarge the target audience. People spend more time home and they need more entertainment options – you can offer them betting and gambling. The chance of ad campaigns' success gets significantly higher.
With the techniques making playing fairer and more immersive, online casinos attract more people. Games are getting more involving, and blockchain technologies guarantee fair playing. The evolution of live dealer games and confidentiality also make online casinos preferable. The global online gambling market may grow $58.9 bln in 2019 and to $66.7 bln[
3] in 2020, which means the growth rate of 13.2%. The main reason for such an immense growth is COVID 19 because of which people have to work home and stay nearly locked. That means having a lot of time for leisure activities, such as online gambling.
Understanding the most appealing ad formats
Which ad formats will work best for gambling and eSports? Evadav offers the most prospective options:
- Native push advertisements are pretty easy in creation and at the same time are very efficient because the target audience is already defined – those are app users. It's the best way to inform about new games and features or upcoming events.
- In-page push ads guarantee a high CPM with 25% higher conversion. They are supported by all browsers and can be easily targeted. This fresh format is recommended for the gambling sphere.
- Popunders can be organically implemented in website pages and stay non-obtrusive if they contain truly useful information. This is the best format for giving free eBooks for subscriptions, advertising tournaments and contest games.
Want to try top-notch ad solutions from Evadav? Click here.
Top-10 practices for eSports & Gambling advertising
Before you start an ad campaign, it's crucial to define the target audience. Please, note that you should make your own research and define the target audience according to the products offered.
1. Define your audience and geo
Evadav team has gathered related statistics for you to understand the target audience better.
As we have mentioned, the UK is one of the most prospective markets for advertisers: the laws allow for full-fledged gambling activity, and CPM rates are pretty high, which attracts advertisers, too.
Moreover, the USA is about to make steps towards legalization of online gambling, not mentioning that it's the 'stronghold' of the eSports industry. That means such a geo target as the USA is a wise choice in the long term - you have the opportunity to be among the first to occupy the niche.
INFOGRAPHICS (GEO USA & UK)
Also, you can target alternative markets. For example, some Asian countries generate a generous amount of organic traffic:
The most perspective geos for eSports and gambling verticals are India, Indonesia, Spain, Philippines, and Thailand
Regardless of geographic targets chosen, it won't hurt to research the statistics by OS:
Since the vast majority of users gamble on their Android smartphones, it makes sense to put focus on mobile advertising, or split your ad campaign and target mobile and desktop users separately.
Here's the statistics by browser:
Chrome is the ultimate leader, so comments are needed except for 'optimize your ads correspondingly'.
Evadav provides real-time statistics for advertisers to analyze ad campaigns and boost their efficiency. Click here to register.
2. Develop a strategy
Online gambling and eSports providers usually stick to the four-step strategy:
- Branding
- Acquisition
- Retargeting
- Retention
If you own a new company, you should implement all four steps. If you run a well-established brand, skip the first two steps and focus on retargeting (which is important in 2020) and retention.
3. Think over design
Banners, popunders, or any other kind of static advertisement should be created according to a simple formula:
Colorful illustration + informative text + call for action = effective ad
Here is the example:
| Offer free spins, deposit bonuses, and other perks | Talk numbers and provide statistics: "Over 200 games available" or "50K players already enjoy eSport streaming on X". | Explain that users can play/watch games 24/7 from any device |
| Focus on safety: persuade customers they can trust personal & payment info to your project | Use successful cases. Tell the audience about the profits reaped by your users. | Briefly enumerate project's benefits: "Instant payouts", "Low fees", "Live dealers", etc. |
When it comes to animation and video ads, you should include the same elements and try to make your video ad short (5-20 seconds)!
4. 8 Tips for eSports & gambling ad campaign optimization
When the budget and the target audience are defined, it's high time for starting your ad campaign experiments. Here are the best practices and pro tips for reaching the best results
1.
Segment the audience
Test different ad types to cover all opportunities. If some certain category of users doesn't react to your ads, try alternative options.
2.
Think over frequency
Change the frequency of ads and see when the highest number of people is reached. Do not bombard3. your audience with ads if you see no difference in payback.
3.
Try intent retargeting
That allows to make audience targeting more efficient and lowers the CPA of ad campaigns. Cross-channel retargeting allows reaching the most high-value customers.
4.
Cease inefficient advertising
Your CTR depends on many factors – ad images, texts, targeting efficiency. The lower the CTR, the higher the CPC. If some ads have low CTR, stop displaying them and find an alternative.
5.
Partner with eSports influencers
Contact the top streamers on Twitch and YouTube and ask them to promote your product by native advertising, Instagram posts, or via simpler and cheaper ad formats.
6.
Host and advertise team events
That applies to well-developed projects that have enough resources to organize tournaments and mass competitions.
7.
Evaluate and revise your strategy
To make sure you get the desired results, evaluate your ad campaign periodically and analyze results to implement timely corrections.
8.
Identify the right channels
While online gambling ads work perfectly on any entertainment-related websites and ads, eSports ad campaigns should be performed on special platforms, such as YouTube, Twitch, Gosu Gamers, Hitbox, Bigo Live, or Azubu.
Why Evadav?
Evadav ad network covers all popular verticals, including eSports, gambling, and betting. We strive to provide the highest CPM rates together with exceptional conditions for customers:
- Access to Premium publishers;
- Flexible customization of target audience by different parameters;
- 100% viewability of ad creatives;
- Over 200 mln push ads served daily;
- 100% brand safety;
- Creatives are made in accordance with the global standards and with an individual approach;
- Protection against fraud
Reap maximum benefits from your ads in eSports and gambling! Register in Evadav right now.
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Use Call-to-Action. Make it short and relevant.It's the proven way to motivate a user to click a push-notification. The stronger the Call-to-Action is, the faster you will attract your target audience.
