As Betting on Sports Europe – Digital gets underway today, we’ve been doing the rounds and chatting with our event sponsors to find out more about their plans for the digital event.
Chatting to Fergus Clawson, CEO of Blueclaw Media Ltd, he touched upon the need to prioritise key online channels during these unprecedented times, emphasising that companies must not neglect tools such as SEO.
What are you looking forward to at Betting on Sports Europe – Digital 2020?
Given the current climate, I’ve found myself really missing key aspects of physical events – specifically the ability to network, learn from other industry leaders, exhibit, and meet new and passionate people. I’m really looking forward to being able to do all of these things again, albeit digitally, from the comfort of my own home!
I’m also really looking forward to catching up with how the industry’s been dealing with COVID-19 and what the general thoughts are around betting and iGaming going into 2021.
What would be your biggest bit of advice for betting and gaming businesses trying to mitigate the impact of COVID-19?
With continuous lockdowns in place across the globe, it is clear that most people will have no choice but to work and play from home for the foreseeable future. Given the circumstances, many consumers have taken to relying on digital avenues to provide entertainment, and we’ve seen search trends around sport betting, gaming, and gambling related terms soar over the past few months.
With that said, my biggest bit of advice would be to invest in your digital strategy and ensure that you are not neglecting key online channels, such as SEO, during this time. While some providers may find it hard to make progress on their digital presence or organic visibility due to budgetary constraints, investing in digital is crucial at this point in time so as to avoid seeing significant changes in revenue and traffic when lockdown comes to an end.
For those that are currently able to invest in digital, I believe that now is the perfect time to take advantage of your competitors lack of activity – take the time to close the gap between yours and your competitors link profile, make technical changes you’ve been putting off, or improve your content to bring it up to industry standards. Taking the time to do so will put you in a much stronger position when things go back to normal and traffic levels out.
What are you promoting at Betting on Sports Europe – Digital 2020?
With over 13 years of experience working with leading iGaming operators and affiliates, Blueclaw has developed a tried and tested approach to SEO, PPC, Content Marketing and Digital PR. We’ve used this experience to put together a two-part, comprehensive workshop that covers the benefits of utilising an integrated, growth focused digital marketing strategy.
The first part of this workshop will cover our thoughts on Link Building and Digital PR vs Paid Link Building, and will highlight the benefits organic link building tactics have on SEO. Our team will also cover our custom approach to building links within the highly competitive Sports Betting sector, the topics that journalists are sure to cover, and examples of how we’ve used these tactics to win awards and build 100’s of links for our iGaming and Betting clients.
With the high levels of competition present within the betting and gaming sector, the second part of our workshop will cover Paid Search and the most efficient way to attract high-quality customers while keeping CPC’s as low as possible. Based on an approach we’ve tailored for leading operators and affiliates, our team will cover the best way to leverage performance from your PPC strategy, including the advantages and disadvantages of utilising smart bidding, ad customizers, and dynamic search ads, versus a reactive and manual human approach.
What industry innovation will capture the most attention in 2020?
When COVID-19 first hit and resulted in the cancellation of live sport, I was really interested in following the compelling trends and availability of innovative content that quickly came from the eSports sector. Utilising PR tactics such as celebrity endorsements and mainstream exposure on key media outlets, the sector really excelled and stepped up to provide updated, innovative platforms and really diverse player experiences that seemed to keep sports fans engaged during trying times.
Additionally, the use of custom data is likely to be behind such strong innovations within the industry, and with most operators and affiliates having such a wide breadth of data to utilise, I believe that innovations such as dynamic graphics, increasing gaming options, and most importantly, unique content, based on data, will be what drives the most attention in 2021.
Which operator has impressed you the most in 2020?
LeoVegas have done an exceptional job when it comes to delivering continued growth over the past 9-10 months. From the looks of things, they’ve done their best to make the most of these exceptional circumstances by investing in the right areas and have been able to report sustainable profitability while providing both an entertaining and safe gaming experience for customers across the globe.
They’re an innovative company with what looks to be a fantastic, socially responsible and forward thinking team and I’m always keen to keep up with their plans and what they do next. Definitely one to be impressed by!
What partnership has stood out in the past 12 months?
To be completely honest, any partnership that has focused on the digital growth and development of operators and affiliates stands out as a step in the right direction for me. We’re a digital provider so of course I have to say this, but I’m always keen to see partnerships that highlight the importance of utilising a strong digital strategy and the ways in which tactics such as SEO, PPC, etc. can be implemented as substantial parts of a successful growth oriented strategy.
Most recently, Better Collective acquiring Atemi Group jumps to mind as a significantly synergistic opportunity related to intent and search focused marketing, and I look forward to seeing the impact that has on the brand and its sub-brands.
Which parts of the conference agenda have caught your eye?
I’m always keen to join discussions around innovation and given all that’s gone on this year, I think some great points will come from the Innovation in Sports Betting stage. Specifically, I’m looking forward to the “New Entrants – New Angles” talk and the “Offering a compelling digital product” panel as my team and I have found ourselves discussing and advising on both of these topics with a number of land-based operators looking to move their offerings online.
Given my role, I’m also looking forward to the “Operator CEO” panel for insight into what the future holds for betting in Europe this decade, and of course the “Optimising Player Acquisition” panel that features our Head of Performance, James Kelly!