Yolo Group Chief Marketing Officer, Saurabh Khosla, explains why offering tailored experiences is “absolutely vital” ahead of his appearance at the SBC Summit in Lisbon. Speaking to CasinoBeats, he also discussed the “powerful acquisition tool” that has helped fuel the growth of the firm’s Sportsbet.io brand.
Firstly, can you explain how you would define gamification and why this word is so popular among online casino operators?
We are a gaming business, and it is fundamental to us to make every user interaction fun and exciting; whether that is through pure gameplay or non-gaming environments. These users are not just our customers but also our internal teams and partners, and the culture is to inspire collaboration, interaction and the will to make it engaging. Gamification has changed the way we think about creating world-class user experiences.
Why do you think it is important for online casino operators to offer players experiences tailored specifically to their demographic or preferences?
It’s absolutely vital to offer a tailored experience these days. That takes many forms, across language, game preference, personalised rewards and much more. Our brands have enjoyed success in a number of diverse markets globally. That doesn’t happen by coincidence. It’s all about understanding our customers, their needs and preferences and going above and beyond to deliver on it.
When you look at the biggest brands in technology, whether that be YouTube, Spotify or TikTok, they all have one thing in common: when you open the app, you see something that feels truly personal. We set ourselves that same target, and we’ve always said at Yolo Group that our ultimate goal is to put the customer at the centre of the universe.
How can offering free-to-play games and competitions help enhance a player’s experience?
We’ve found that free-to-play games are a powerful acquisition tool. Over the years we offered several through our Sportsbet.io brand. It’s a great way to onboard players who might not feel ready to immediately make a deposit. It’s a conscious effort from us to let users experience our product, understand their feedback and evolve our product to users expectations.
We have also enjoyed a lot of success around competitions. Our Euro 2024 predictor game, which challenged players to correctly predict the outcome of the group stages and knockout games at this summer’s tournament, offered a $10m jackpot for anyone who was spot on with their picks. It was another successful campaign which proved extremely popular with our users.
With Artificial Intelligence playing an increasingly large part in several aspects of online casino operations, what part does AI have to play in engaging players and driving loyalty?
Artificial Intelligence is going to touch every part of our industry over the coming years. It’s already becoming a fundamental operational aspect, and we’re finding new ways to leverage it on an almost daily basis.
When it comes specifically to driving loyalty, I’d say we’re still in the infancy stage. Ultimately, this is about delivering personal experiences to customers that truly resonate, and AI can help us do that on a larger scale than is possible. It’s often in the small details, like helping us craft individual messages that are more relevant than more general communications. On the face of it, it seems like a paradox, but when AI is at its best, it actually enables us to approach the player in an even more ‘human’ manner.
With SBC Summit next month, can you give us a sneak peek into what Yolo Group has in store for the event?
This is going to be one of our biggest conferences in some time. More than 30 Yoloers are heading over to SBC Summit, and Hub88 will be exhibiting (drop by stand B134 to say hello!).
I’m looking forward to speaking on the Casino Stage on the topic of CRM Strategies. This is such a fast-moving area, so it is always great to meet like-minded people trying to solve the same challenges. It should be a fantastic discussion. Meanwhile my colleague Matthew D’Emanuele, CEO of Yolo Entertainment, will be speaking on a dedicated leaders panel focused on Asia. Matthew is always great value when sharing his experiences and perspectives, so that’s going to be a must-watch for anyone at the show.
How do you feel about SBC’s flagship event taking place in Lisbon for the first time?
We’re really excited for the conference. It’s always good to freshen things up, and after some great years in Barcelona, we’ve got no doubt that SBC Lisbon is going to be one of the most important dates in the igaming calendar. There’s already an impressive list of speakers, delegates and exhibitors in place, and I’m looking forward to catching up with old friends, and maybe even making some new ones, at the end of September.