Interviews
The Full Spectrum Strategy: How Betting on Both Popular and Lesser-Known Sports Pays Off
In an insightful interview with Alexander Kamenetskyi, Head of SOFTSWISS Sportsbook, we delve into the complex balance between promoting mainstream sports events and exploring niche markets in the betting world. This strategy enhances profitability and ensures a steady engagement across diverse betting markets, crucial for maintaining a dynamic and resilient business model in the competitive world of sports betting.
How should operators balance promoting popular sports events versus niche ones?
The effective strategy in betting is to diversify wagers across a broad range of sports events and markets. This approach helps minimise fluctuations in outcomes, enhancing both the profitability and predictability of your betting business.
Based on this, we recommend that operators promote all sports comprehensively to maintain steady activity and turnover. This ensures that players remain engaged with alternative options, even during periods lacking major events.
Itâs crucial not only to focus on popular events like top football matches or major NBA tournaments but also to spotlight less mainstream sports such as water polo, badminton, and Formula 1. For instance, Australian football is notably underappreciated despite offering unique scheduling advantages that can be leveraged during off-peak times to attract bets.
How can you choose sports that have the best chance of attracting your audience?
To effectively capture your audience’s attention, it’s crucial to identify alternative events during periods when popular events like the Champions League are not happening. Our strategy involves actively promoting these alternatives to familiarise players with new tournaments and sports.
We have two dedicated teams: one that selects potential events and advises operators on what to highlight, while the other crafts promotional campaigns to ensure these events resonate with your audience.
The primary factors we consider when selecting events are Total Bets and the number of bets placed on a specific event or tournament. Popularity is our second criterion, which we measure by comparing the turnover to the number of participating players.
For instance, if there are no football championships over a weekend due to Euro qualifying matches, we might suggest promoting NBA evening games or volleyball tournaments to fill the gap left by high-profile football events.
However, it’s also beneficial to occasionally promote sports other than football, even when popular football matches are available. This strategy helps diversify the betting habits of the audience, which is vital for maintaining a stable and engaging product.
How far in advance do you need to start working on a promotional campaign?
We typically share promotional materials with operators two weeks prior to the event. This timeframe usually provides ample opportunity for operators to finalise the text and graphics. If we opt to use bonuses as the main promotional tool, we generate the rules, bonuses, and banners automatically. It’s then up to the operator to create and either self-publish the content or do so with our assistance.
What promotional channels would you recommend focusing on?
Operators have a variety of tools at their disposal, from email and SMS campaigns to managing their own channels on Telegram and other messaging platforms where they can share updates, offer bonuses, and more. Many even offer additional bonuses for subscribers of these communities, which proves effective in building a targeted and loyal audience interested in your project’s bonuses.
Another effective strategy involves placing promotional banners on various sections of the operator’s website, such as the homepage, event pages, and user dashboards. Additionally, collaborating with influencers like streamers can significantly boost traffic.
It’s also crucial not to overlook the power of email newsletters. When crafting content for these, it’s important to consider user behaviour and device preferences. For instance, with over 90% of our current revenue coming from mobile devices, itâs safe to assume most emails will be opened on a smartphone. Thus, optimising for mobile viewing is key. Our tests show that simple, structured, and transparent offers tend to perform best â you only have a few seconds to capture the player’s attention and persuade them to click through.
Do promotions without financial incentives like bonuses still work?
Let’s be clear: bonuses and promotions are fundamental to attracting players, especially those who rely on luck to multiply their capital. Seen as lucky breaks, bonuses allow participation without direct cost. Properly integrated into the marketing strategy, these incentives not only maintain player interest but significantly enhance financial performance.
For example, if an operator earns 15% from express bets, they can afford to redistribute 5% of that as bonuses, slightly reducing their margin to 10%, but potentially increasing user engagement and solving other operational issues.
Furthermore, promotions enable operators to direct betting activity efficiently. While major events naturally draw attention, incorporating bonuses for lesser-known events like the World Curling Championship can broaden a player’s interest and betting activities, introducing them to new sports and betting markets. This strategy not only diversifies the player’s experience but also stabilises the operatorâs financials by spreading funds across various sports, thereby reducing the impact of financial peaks and troughs during major events.
Some operators focus primarily on significant events, leading to considerable financial volatility. For example, many faced challenges during the European Football Championship qualification matches when favourites won, negatively impacting financial outcomes. Operators that engage their audience across a spectrum of events tend to experience more stable performance.
Ultimately, using high-profile events to attract new players while promoting a diverse range of smaller events can create a more robust and diversified betting environment. This approach mitigates risks and cultivates a more engaged and knowledgeable betting community.
How likely is it that a person who came to a particular event will continue engaging with you afterwards? What influence can an operator have during this time?
Welcome packages with various bonuses are highly effective in this scenario. The primary goal is to familiarise new players with the range of bonuses and sports offered. Ideally, the entrance bonus program should provide about 20-30% to engage the player effectively.
Besides the welcome package, we can implement trigger-based rules during major events. For instance, a new player might come for the World Cup, and we could offer a promotion like: “Win three World Cup bets and receive a free bet for Wimbledon.”
Once engaged, they might notice a dominant player like Djokovic and place a bet on tennis, triggering another promotion. For example, we could offer a 50% bonus for making an express bet with specific odds on three tennis events. This showcases our diverse bonus system and introduces new sports gradually.
Furthermore, promoting sports tends to be easier than casinos because there are more events and thus more opportunities to engage players through channels like email newsletters, with less risk of being flagged for spam.
We advise our operators to customise bonuses for specific player demographics â like promoting Brazilian tennis players to Brazilian users or Nigerian athletes to Nigerian users. This targeted approach is significantly more effective than generic offers and resonates even with experienced casino players.
However, it’s crucial for operators to view their offerings holistically; they don’t just have a casino or sports section, but a comprehensive project where every part should function seamlessly together, including promotions and the product’s internal functionality.
Africa
SmartSoftâs expertise and future vision for the African market
In recent years, the online gaming landscape has witnessed a surge in innovative and engaging titles that capture the interest of players worldwide. Among these, first ever flying crash game by SmartSoft – JetX emerged as a standout game, particularly gaining substantial traction in Africa. This article provides an in-depth examination of JetX, a popular online crash game, and explores the expertise behind its creation. By focusing on the gameâs features, the developer SmartSoft Gaming, and insights from an interview with the Vice President Commercial, we aim to highlight the factors contributing to JetXâs success and its impact on the gaming industry.
About SmartSoft Gaming
Founded in Georgia in 2015 by industry experts, SmartSoft set out to create a one-of-a-kind casino games provider that offers high-quality gaming experiences worldwide. By combining interactive features with captivating visuals, we blend gaming and gambling to deliver more engaging, entertaining, and superior experiences. Our mission is not just to attract players but to enhance their enjoyment.
To gain further insights into the development of JetX and the vision behind its creation, we spoke with the Vice President Commercial of SmartSoft.
Rusa Javakhishvili Vice President Commercial of SmartSoft shared insights and analytics from African countries, and outlined future plans. Rusa joined SmartSoft two years ago as Head of Finance and Strategic Projects. In early 2024, she transitioned to the commercial side as Head of Account Management, and is now Vice President of Commercials, overseeing several regions, including Africa.
What was the general concept and inspiration behind JetX?
In recent years, the online gaming landscape has witnessed a surge in innovative and engaging titles that capture the interest of players worldwide. Among these, JetX has emerged as a standout game, particularly gaining substantial traction in Africa. The main concept of the game is that it is easy to play, the player is involved in the decision as much as possible, it is fast and within the fast-paced world we think that it delivers exactly what players need for an enjoyable experience.
How does JetX differentiate itself from other crash games in the market?
At SmartSoft, we appreciate our relationships with partners, itâs very important to us. We constantly think and work to create a valuable product and maintain strong connections with them. SmartSoftâs portfolio includes a diverse range of online casino games, each designed to offer unique features and interactive gameplay but JetX is the literal gem!
JetX is an online crash game that combines simplicity with excitement, offering players an engaging betting experience. This dynamic gameplay requires both luck and strategy, appealing to a broad audience seeking quick, high-stakes action. JetX stands out due to its user-friendly interface, real-time gameplay, and mobile compatibility, making it accessible and enjoyable for players on the go. Its growing popularity in Africa can be attributed to its exciting gameplay mechanics and the potential for significant winnings.
What strategies did you employ to ensure JetX appeals to a diverse audience, particularly in Africa?
When we expanded into the African market, we knew itâs a big and diverse region, so itâs important to understand each country individually instead of seeing it as one market. With our partners’ help, weâre working hard to learn about each country’s marketing practices and what types of games people enjoy. Itâs a challenging task, but the African market is a top priority for us, and weâve allocated resources to quickly build our knowledge in this area.
How has JetX been received by African players compared to other regions? Are there any notable differences in player behavior or preferences?
The African market is one of the most interesting and significant for us, and we believe it has great potential. It is a highly dynamic and exciting market, where players are exposed to a wide variety of games. Their enthusiasm for diverse content gives us inspiration and motivation to create games specifically tailored to their unique preferences and needs. Moreover, they are quick to engage with new releases, eagerly embracing fresh content when it aligns with their tastes and expectations. Although Crash products were introduced only recently, they have quickly become a favorite among consumers. We expect this trend to continue growing.
How do you assess player feedback and incorporate it into ongoing game improvements?
This is a crucial aspect for us. Thatâs why, in collaboration with our partners, we consistently review key feedback on our games and strive to incorporate it as much as possible into new versions. We strive to bring enjoyment in everything we do â whether it’s in our work environment, or for the end users. Our goal is to delight both the customers and ourselves with our work. Therefore, we integrate gaming’s fun elements into gambling to maximize enjoyment. This approach fuels our drive to innovate and create playful experiences, redefining the gambling industry and making it more entertaining;
What future developments or updates can players expect for JetX?
Our product has undergone numerous changes since its inception, with many more improvements planned. These changes are aimed at delivering the best possible user experience for players while ensuring the product remains of the highest technical quality.
How has the success of JetX influenced SmartSoftâs approach to game development?
JetX, the first Crash game created in 2018, holds a special place as one of the companyâs most beloved titles. Its global popularity is evident, and we’re thrilled that players enjoy it. At SmartSoft, having a diversified portfolio is crucial, which is why we release new games every year. As pioneers in the Crash genre, we ensure that we continually expand our offerings. Our goal is to provide players with a wide range of high-quality games they can trust to deliver an enjoyable experience.
Interviews
Slot Saturation – Q&A w/ Qianqian Liu, Senior Art Director at Gaming Corps
What are the defining visual features of a Gaming Corps slot?
We pride ourselves on the diversity of the look of our slots, we have three distinct styles that are all used to target different demographics. Firstly, Classic, this is a style which usually is also described as retro and some people would even say dated, we prefer nostalgic! But there is a player base who get great enjoyment from slot games like this. The second is Modern, this is a style that is sleek, shiny and incredibly high-fidelity with assets that look polished and could be very much suited to being hung up in a modern art museum. Thirdly is Stylised, this is a style that is completely entirely dependent on the theme, maybe a comic book style or similar, but it emphasises artistic freedom which is important.
All three of these are what makes Gaming Corps a unique slots provider, catering games for all types of target markets.
Where do you look for inspiration when designing an online slot game?
Different inspirations appear for different themes, if it is classic then an old fruit machine down a pub could be the inspiration. If it is a modern slot, then we like to refer to some modern day mobile apps that are more casual to play. The beauty of stylised is that the inspiration can come from absolutely anywhere but usually it can be something that the artist is personally interested in, such as comic books or anime.
How does Gaming Corp manage to distinguish its titles from others on the market?
We focus on iterations and high quality standards, we will start from a basic concept and iterate and iterate until the asset is exactly what would be expected of the target audience. We get feedback from customers as well to help hone in on a particular style that we are aiming to create.
How do you manage to keep repetitive themes (Egypt, classic, Greece and so on) interesting?
For these, it is all about combining the innovative mechanics with a unique spin on a narrative that has been re-told before. Of course if you are to create an Egyptian theme you should still recognise it to be fundamentally Egyptian with its gods and its hieroglyphs. But is there a way to put the spin on the narrative that ties it to the mechanic that has not been done before. It is important to do market research to find common thread that you can capitalise on but also things to stay away from.
What impact does localisation have on game development from a visual perspective?
Localisation of Gaming Corps is super important to us, we sometimes want to create games that can be tailored for a particular market. Especially when working with casinos for bespoke content. For example, we created a game in 2023 called âRamen Puzzleâ which was launched with a casino partner in Japan. It was very important for us to nail the anime style that suited this market and it was a core part of the development cycle to research, develop and iterate on our designs to perfect the style.
Another recent launch this year was Samba Soccer, a crash product that was created with Brazil in mind. It had a stylisation that suited popular games in that market but also a theming that set the game in Rio de Janeiro. This visual combination allowed the game to be hyper localised to this market.
What future trends do you think are going to impact the look and design of online slot games?
More and more over the years, the target demographic has moved away from playing on desktop to playing on mobile, in particular on mobile portrait, so we will always feel as if designing with a mobile-first approach should be at the forefront of what we do at Gaming Corps. This I believe will continue to trend upwards. This has a big impact on the way that slot games look and feel, there is a small space with lots of elements fighting for room so it is important to be very clear with Product Owners on what are the most important elements of the slot game.
Interviews
Safety First: Slots Temple Q&A
For a company that has begun to blur the lines between affiliate and operator, social responsibility remains the ultimate watchword for Slots Temple, says CEO Fraser Linkleter. Â Â Â
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How important is social responsibility to the affiliate side of Slots Templeâs business?
We began life as an affiliate business that offered free demo games and slots tournaments (and we still do!). This allowed us to build a highly engaged base of players that genuinely loved playing slots. From day one, we always put social responsibility at the heart of everything we did.
We always believed that an entertainment-driven socially responsible gaming experience created a sticky player-base that trusted us and created better quality traffic for our partners.
Has tightened regulation of the gambling industry over the past few years impacted affiliatesâ responsibilities towards its users?
Definitely. Affiliates deliver an estimated 30% to 50% of acquisition to operators in the UK, and while the sector is not directly regulated by the UK Gambling Commission, these numbers demonstrate that the responsibility to protect players from harm should be shared.
Increased regulation over the past few years means that operators, rightly, must be more cautious about choosing their affiliate partners. Ultimately, as affiliates, we must accept the responsibilities we share as part of the gambling supply chain.
The reality is, while affiliates are not directly regulated, the standards to which operators are held by regulators are passed on to us through our partner contracts. Affiliates that do not comply with these standards will struggle in this climate because operators will only work with the partners they can trust to behave responsibly. So social responsibility has become not just an ethical consideration but a strategic business decision too.
In 2022 Slots Temple received a license from the UKGC which allowed you to offer paid tournaments and real-money slots. Has this changed the way you think about social responsibility?
Social responsibility was always a big part of our business model, and our UKGC license was a recognition of that. Of course, offering real money games means that we are held to the same high standards as all licensed operators.
That means KYC, deposit limits, timed reality checks, affordability checks, self-exclusion options, and so on. But for us, itâs about more than mere compliance. Our model has always been about being a safe destination for fun play and prizes. As I say, weâve fostered this community of slots fans who trust us and itâs important that we maintain that trust through the way we operate.
Ultimately, the license allowed us to offer our player-base more choice. First, that was free-to-play tournaments with cash prizes, and then low-stakes paid-for tournaments with bigger prizes, plus real-money slots.
So, your experiences as an affiliate have made you a more socially responsible operator?
Yes, because it has helped us understand what our players want. For example, we believe safer gambling is about smaller deposits. Where we offer cash play, itâs always small buy-ins and small bet sizes. There are tournaments for 1p, or you can play for free in UK tournaments, all with real cash prizes.
We also think itâs important to educate players about the games we have on site. For example, we clearly display the return-to-player (RTP) and volatility of the game customers are about to play before they are able to access the game.
Itâs about being on the side of the player â whether youâre an affiliate or an operator. Ultimately, we believe that an entertainment-driven, socially responsible gaming experience will foster a loyal, trusting player-base.
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