Three ways to reach the younger generation of sports bettors: everything that bookmakers should do
Younger generations have a much different approach to sports betting and gambling in general. So much different, that it appears to be a one-way choice for bookmakers and betting sites to adjust their offerings, services, products and their entire operations to suit the needs, requirements, tastes and preferences of the new sports bettors.
Today it is not uncommon to see younger punters select a bookie to register with on the basis of criteria that we have never thought before, or that simply did not matter to us. For example, it is not uncommon for a young Aussie to choose a sportsbook only among the existing payID betting sites in Australia, because the particular payment method is the preferred one.
Or it is not uncommon to select a betting platform based on the micro-betting opportunities that it offers to its users. And more on this, it is definitely not uncommon for younger punters to choose the bookmaker to register with based on the bookmaker’s presence on social media and the opportunities for interactivity for that matter.
Overall, younger generations have a different view, perception and subsequently a different approach to betting. But since they are the rising generation, which is forming the present and the future user base of the sports betting industry, it is crucial that sportsbooks and betting sites in Australia, or anywhere else in the world, tune their betting markets, offerings, products and services in order to be able to meet their tastes.
Let’s see what bookies need to pay attention to when it comes to the younger bettors:
1. Multiple and modern payment methods
Younger generations don’t want to go with the flow. They want to be part of anything modern, new, innovative and breakthrough. They are very likely to assess a betting site only by the accepted methods of payment, simply because the payment method may say a lot about their digital literacy or their tech-savviness.
For example, payID betting apps or crypto betting platforms have more chances of being on the preference list of younger sports bettors, compared to sportsbooks that feature more traditional payment methods.
2. Engagement
One of the basic characteristics of the younger bettors is that they seek engagement with the game and engagement with betting. They are in a constant search for interactivity and unless they are able to find the kind of interactivity (and engagement) that they are looking for, they will not be able to remain with a sportsbook.
To increase engagement, bookmakers need to be innovative and creative. From focusing on providing a wealth of prop betting or micro betting opportunities to embracing the world of eSports and from providing not only live streaming options, but AR, advanced graphics, data analytics and statistics for live events to producing online content -which younger generations predominantly consume – all these are some of the many ways in which betting sites and sportsbooks can actually trigger the engagement of young sports bettors.
3. Omni-channel operations
The new generation has been born and bred in the era of the internet, but they are living in the physical, natural world as well. Young people are said to be always connected and the truth is that they are so – just imagine that they spend more than 6 hours a day on social media platforms, while they remain actively online and connected for more than half of their day! – but they have not yet given up on the physical world.
They demand that the two gambling worlds are integrated in such a way that any transfer from one to the other is seamless. They demand that they are able to do things online and these instantly occur in the offline world as well. They expect the offline and online to be the two sides of the same coin, not separated and not independent.
So, bookmakers need to take this under serious consideration and go for omni-channel operations, where what they do online they can do offline too. Users should be able to have the same betting experience no matter where they have the service encounter – whether the interface is the betting app on their smartphone, the betting site on their computer or the betting shop on the street right down their house. For as long as they are under one brand, all these need to be fully integrated and ready to deliver the same, identical experience to the user.
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