European Gaming Q3 Meetup: B2B Social Media Strategy & Future-proofing Casino Products

Social media success – Creating a successful B2B Strategy

Social media is now a key channel for brand visibility. But what makes a social media strategy successful for a B2B company in the iGaming sector? Which platforms are essential? Should your approach be strictly corporate, or is there room for a lighter touch? Who’s leading the way?

These and more were the burning questions that the panelists discussed in the European Gaming Q3 Virtual Meetup 2024, debating content, style, and channels for the optimal iGaming B2B social media strategy.

Moderator and HIPTHER Co-founder, Zoltán Tűndik, welcomed experts Dorota Gruszka – Marketing Manager at Booming Games, Tereza Melicharkova – Head of Marketing at Swintt, and Katya Machuganova – Gaming Product & Partnership Manager at Silverback Gaming, to discuss social media strategies for B2B companies, focusing on engagement, brand exposure, and the potential impact of emerging technologies.

Social Media Strategies for B2B iGaming Companies

The panelists highlighted the importance of engagement, brand exposure, clear objectives, and meaningful success metrics beyond vanity metrics.

Dorota Gruszka emphasized the importance of setting clear goals from the start to measure success. While engagement is key, the real magic happens when you evoke emotions that make your audience remember you.

For Tereza Melicharkova, the success of a campaign is reflected in the Word-of-Mouth factor – when people talk about it even beyond social media.

Katya Machuganova explained that a winning campaign is more than just likes & shares; it’s about building brand awareness and reaching new audiences. In the B2B space, seeing ROI and clearly expressing your company’s values are crucial.

Exploring Social Media Strategies and Challenges

Our experts discussed all aspects of social media marketing and communications: Tereza mentioned examples of campaigns and praised the successful Swinttopia campaign. Dorota emphasized evoking emotions and reminded us of the value of a dedicated website to lead your audience to. Katya discussed key content types for building brand awareness: promotional, personality, educational, and conversational. The team stressed consistency, authenticity, targeting the right audience, and attracting talent.

Social Media Channels: No ‘One Size Fits All’

Regarding the growing popularity of alternative channels like Telegram and fitness apps such as Strava for branding and socializing, the panel agreed that discretion is crucial. Companies should be cautious about adding yet another notification to the already busy devices of modern professionals. The team also discussed the challenges and potential solutions for managing communication across multiple social media platforms, with a focus on LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Evidently, LinkedIn, as the primary professional medium/network, is the place to be for iGaming companies; however, targeting should be taken into consideration when selecting a company’s social media channels. The discussion also touched on the importance of tailoring content to each platform and the changes to the LinkedIn user experience.

Balancing Professionalism and Personality in Social Media

Katya, Dorota, Tereza, and Zoltan explored the matter of the right balance between professionalism and personality in social media presence for companies. How “human” and “light-hearted” companies are allowed to be nowadays? It’s becoming clear that authentic and human-centric content elicits engagement, attracts interest, showcases the values and purpose of a company and helps attract talent. The panel emphasized the importance of a variety of content, authenticity, and tracking KPIs to maintain engagement and relevance. The group also discussed the potential impact of emerging technologies like AI, augmented reality, and extended reality on social media campaigns.

AI, Reality, and Future Casino Products

But what about artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential impact?. Dorota expressed her enthusiasm for AI and its potential benefits, while Tereza and Katya showed some apprehension about its potential to replace human workers. The team also discussed the potential of augmented and extended reality, with Tereza expressing uncertainty about its practical applications.

Designing Casino Products for the Future Player

The second panel of the Meetup saw Zoltan welcoming Brandt Page – CEO at Bitblox, Keith Goddard – CEO at Blaze Gaming, Nemanja Živić – Head of Games at Booming Games, Anthony Oh – Co-Founder at Red Desert Games, to discuss the best ways to future-proof casino products in the contemporary iGaming industry.

Brandt introduced Bitblox Games’ focus on creating unique games that combine skill and chance, with a particular emphasis on the crypto and web 3.0 markets. Keith from Blaze Gaming, a company with a 15+ year history in the gaming industry, highlighted their studio’s primary focus on building casino products and their strategy of distributing these games to a global market. Anthony from Red Desert Games, a relatively young studio, shared their intention to differentiate themselves from typical slot companies by offering something unique. Nemanja from Booming Games, a provider of online slot content, mentioned their plan to expand towards instant win games and other products.

Creating Engaging Content for Regional Markets

The panelists unanimously stressed the importance of crafting engaging and localized content tailored to different regional markets. Keith emphasized the need to understand cultural preferences and to adapt game mechanics, artwork, and features accordingly. Anthony underscored the value of analyzing player data, tracking popular games, and experimenting with new concepts. Nemanja advocated for a blend of internal data, market research, and team expertise to develop captivating games. On the topic of innovation, Keith recommended striking a balance between integrating new features and maintaining the success of existing games, while Brandt proposed incorporating interactive elements and exploring emerging technologies like Web3 for future growth.

Balancing Innovation and Core Elements in Games

The panel delved into the challenge of balancing innovation with core elements in game development. Keith, Anthony, Nemanja, and Brandt agreed that while new technology and mechanics are important, they should be built upon existing successful titles and player feedback. They also highlighted the significance of player experience and the need to solve problems with new technology. The team emphasized the importance of future-proofing their titles and products, with a focus on incremental innovation and doubling down on successful mechanics.

Entertainment Value, Innovations, and Future-Proofing of Casino Products

Keith emphasized the importance of entertainment value in their products and the role of operators as their clients. He highlighted the need for technical innovations to drive entertainment and the significance of considering regulation and market changes. Anthony added that future-proofing a game is challenging due to changing player preferences, market environments, and regulations. He suggested focusing on game mechanics and player feedback as crucial factors in future-proofing. Both agreed on the necessity of having a diversified portfolio to mitigate risks.

iGaming Industry Trends and Regulations

The panelists also discussed current trends impacting product development in the gaming industry. Brandt mentioned the need for off-chain processing due to scalability issues with blockchain platforms like Solana. Keith highlighted the rise of lightweight, customizable games, sweepstakes models, and new genres like trading games. Anthony pointed to the increasing number of new studios entering the market, especially in newly regulated jurisdictions. Nemanja expects a mix of established products alongside lighter, faster-loading games and an influence from changing regulations.

Watch the European Gaming Q3 Meetup recording on YouTube and HIPTHER TV!

Take note of these insights and get ready to upgrade our social media and game development strategies! Up Next: The European Gaming Q4 Virtual Meetup will be hitting your screens in November 2024 with even more valuable insights and updates.