In any industry, engaging content is the key to attracting new audiences and retaining existing ones. It is also a way to communicate with your target audience, showcase your brand’s identity, and drive sales. The pandemic reinforced the value of content marketing, making it more important than ever for an efficient branding strategy. According to Hubspot, 90% of marketers that use content plan will continue to do so this year, and 66% of those marketers expect their budget to grow. So, what exactly is content marketing, and how to do it in 2024? Read this GBC Time article to find out.
What is content marketing?
To put it in simple words, content marketing is a marketing strategy that revolves around creating and sharing useful relevant articles, posts, videos, images, and other media formats. Brands use content marketing to create and nurture a relationship with their audience, engage them and drive sales. It also creates and improves brand image. If done in the right way, content marketing can clearly communicate the brand’s values.
In the post-Covid world, the role of content in the marketing strategy cannot be underestimated. More and more brands turn to different forms of content to boost their visibility, expanding their marketing budgets.
According to the survey conducted in late 2021, 42% of content marketers were planning to increase their budgets over the year.
Statista reports that in 2021, the global content marketing revenue was $65.6 billion. And that sum is expected to double over the next four years, reaching $137 billion in 2026.
Goals
The same research shows that companies use different forms of content to raise brand awareness first and foremost.
Role of content marketing in online gambling
It is no secret that the iGaming industry is enormously competitive with new companies emerging every few months. So, it may be challenging for an iGaming brand to stand out from the rest and make impression on potential clients. That is where content marketing comes in handy. With a precise, efficient, and detailed content plan gambling operators or any other brand involved in the industry can reach several goals:
- Communicate the brand’s goals and benefits to the larger audience;
- Debunk myths about the gambling industry and attract new potential clients;
- Increase engagement on the gambling platform;
- Ultimately, drive sales and improve the GGR of the company.
You can learn more about content marketing in gambling here.
Top content marketing formats
Having established the main perks and role of content marketing, now let’s take a look at the most popular content formats you can utilize to reach your goals.
Keep in mind, that when creating a content marketing strategy, you can rely on multiple forms of content. We will not list all types of content and will focus on the most effective formats instead.
Blog post
The most basic yet efficient form of content is a blog post. It can be written either on your company’s website or on social media. With a blog, you can boost your brand visibility, communicate the brand’s value and purpose, and promote your other content. You can embed external or internal links, share buttons, and other forms of promotion in the blog post. It is also one of the cheapest ways of promotion, where the results depend on the quality of your content.
Email lists
To successfully execute a content marketing strategy, creating interesting and engaging posts is not enough. After you caught the attention of your audience with a publication, you need to convert them into long-term clients and keep their attention. And that is where newsletters and email lists come in handy.
Of course, your mail listing has to include relevant, informative, and fascinating content. But even if the client sees your company’s name in their inbox, it will remind them of your brand. The main goal here is to get as many subscribers as possible and bring these customers to your website again.
Case studies and e-books
This form of content is a chance to showcase your company’s expertise in a certain field. With case studies, you can demonstrate how your product or service has already helped customers. This way, brands can make potential clients understand the value of their services and know a little more about your approach to work.
E-books are the other way to attract new customers. Being a rather long form of content, it typically delves into some particular problem, delivering practical solutions. As for its functions, an e-book is a great lead magnet, driving readers to the company’s blog, social media, or literally anything.
Video
Ever since the launch of YouTube, video format has been prominent for brand promotion. And in recent years, short video clips have become the center of attention. Social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts are actively used by brands to promote their products and services and build brand image. While videos are typically harder to produce, compared to the other content formats, the results are the most fruitful as well.
Podcasts
The other content format that is blowing up right now is podcasting. It is especially widespread in the US, where there are around 120 million active podcast listeners. The growth in the number of podcast fans is also evident in Europe, where streaming content is as popular as ever. The number of podcast audiences in different European countries in 2021 speaks for itself:
- The UK – 21.2 million people;
- Italy – 14.5 million people;
- France – 4.4 million people;
- Spain – 30% of all internet users.
Statista predicts that by 2024, the global audience of audio streaming content will surpass 500 million.
While it is rather new, podcasting has become one of the most influential content formats of the modern age. The most popular platforms for podcasts are:
- Spotify – free to download, $9.99 for a premium;
- PlayerFM – free to download and listen to;
- Google Podcasts – free to download and listen to;
- Apple Podcasts – free to download a listen to;
- Pocket Casts – free.
Social media
We could not wrap up or list without mentioning the most diverse and common content format – social media posts. According to Hubspot, over 4.6 billion people all around the globe use social networks to stay on top of the news, connect with their friends and family, and just spend their free time.
Social media is also an efficient promotional channel and a powerful advertising tool. Just in 2021, the global advertising spend on social networks amounted to $154 billion. Besides, it is one-third of all global ad spending.
What is more, as there are various social media channels, companies can spread their key message to a wider audience. In the infographics below, you can see the most visited social networks in 2022.
For creators and marketers, social media posts and other formats are often essential parts of their content strategy. Brands often use it for direct communication with customers, conversion to the company website, and attraction of a new audience.
Keep in mind that publications should be adapted to each social network individually and posted regularly.
Top 5 strategies for content marketing in iGaming in 2024
Video & podcasting come to prominence
In its recent survey, HubSpot found out that video was the number-one content format in 2022. For the third year in a row, it is the primary form of media used in the brands’ marketing strategy.
The reason for such popularity of videos among content marketers is that it offers high engagement and better customer reach. Besides, people are spending about 19 hours a week watching videos and the numbers are gradually growing, Wyzowl survey says.
This is especially true for short-form videos, which have been blowing up ever since the introduction of TikTok. So, keep this in mind for the higher video engagement rate.
Personalized and empathic content
In recent years, brands have been focusing on the user’s experience and the journey they have with the content. That is why personal and empathetic content comes to prominence.
In 2024, brands would want to guide a client all throughout their journey and make it as seamless as possible. This involves empathizing with the customer and viewing them as a human with their own needs and problems rather than a client with buying ability. To make content more engaging in this way, creators can the following questions beforehand:
- Who are your customers?
- What are their motivations?
- What are their pain points and how can you solve them?
This way, a brand can tailor customer experience according to the client’s needs and build trust with the client.
The other way to boost engagement and create a better relationship with the client is deeper personalization and customization. This is especially evident for email newsletters or in-app messages.
Influencer and affiliate marketing
A gambling brand does not always have to do all the marketing by itself. As people tend to put a bigger trust in influencers, celebrities, and bloggers, iGaming ops often recruit famous people to advertise their services. Some of the most prominent deals are:
- Mike Tyson – the famous boxing star used to be an ambassador of the not less well-known sportsbook PariMatch;
- Conor McGregor – another fighting superstar and UFC champion was recruited by the Parimatch gambling company to promote their services;
- Cristiano Ronaldo – the football star took part in the charity campaign run by PokerStars;
- Lionel Messi – the footballer is the ambassador of the major casino corporation – Hard Rock International;
- Shane Warne – a big star of cricket and a celebrity in Australia now promotes a betting company Dafabet.
Sportsbooks and online casinos also tend to recruit gambling streamers to promote their services. Some streaming platforms like Twitch, however, limit and ban gambling ads. Read this article to know what is going on with slot streaming on Twitch.
The other way to boost brand visibility is to recruit affiliate marketers – digital webmasters who get paid for promoting companies online.
Gamification
Over the past few years, gamification has become a powerful and popular tool in all aspects of iGaming. And even more so when it comes to content marketing.
After the start of the global pandemic, people began spending significantly more time online, especially on social media. With the demand for original and innovative content growing, the proposition also increased. So, to stand out in 2024, brands have to engage players with all tools they can think of.
Adding interactive or gamified elements to your content is one way of doing this. To engage your audience, you can add:
- Polls – they make users feel present and as if they are the ones making the decision. You can include a simple poll on your social media;
- Quizzes can be a great way to collect valuable insights about your target audience. You can create gambling-related content, such as quizzes such as “Which slot are you”;
- Virtual badges give your readers a sense of reward and satisfaction. It can be simple VIP badges for the top players on the site. At online casinos or sportsbooks, ops often hand out VIP rewards to the users who deposit the most;
- Levels – another gamification technique that casinos and betting sites often use. Many iGaming operators have loyalty systems with various levels for players’ achievements. You can add the same approach to your content marketing strategy, rewarding players for reading or viewing your content with promo codes or other incentives;
- Challenges – everyone loves a challenge and it is a great way to engage players with your content, even in the iGaming sphere. For instance, you can leave a small task for your readers at the end of a blog post or video;
- Progress bars – this gamification feature can be seen on many platforms, even on LinkedIn. This tool encourages readers to complete whatever process they are doing.
Strategic SEO
One of the biggest helpers of content marketers is search engine optimization (SEO). HubSpot reports that in 2021, 69% of all marketers invested in SEO, which is 5% more than in the last year.
At the same time, more and more content marketers use strategic SEO techniques like:
- Strategic keywords (83%);
- Creating unique and valuable content;
- Mobile optimization (64%);
- Backlinks and link building (64%).
Conclusion
Content marketing is a powerful tool that can boost the visibility of your iGaming brand, attract new audiences, and build any brand image you like. Digital marketers should not underestimate the power of content in 2024, as it will become crucial for the promotion of online gambling brands. Considering all said above, here are some practical recommendations for content marketers in iGaming:
- Try out podcasting and short video format;
- Create high-quality content that appeals to the audiences’ deep needs;
- Invest in strategic SEO practices;
- Gamify your content;
- Try out different social media and different approaches;
- Work with influencers and media buyers.
