Bookies not so social
Steve Richards, MD of social media specialist Yomego, shares some thoughts on how bookmakers interact with social media.
We’ve just done some research on what some of the big bookmakers are doing to embrace social media, and the answer is surprisingly little. We analysed the social media reputations of five major brands – William Hill, Bet365, Paddy Power, Ladbrokes and Betfred – and found that although they all have a social media presence, activity is low. And yet when bookies do use social channels, the response from consumers is overwhelmingly positive.
There’s clearly an appetite to interact with bookies over social media – just look at how the social gaming sector is growing “ and consumer satisfaction with the bookies is high. But the majority of the bookmakers we scored still rely on affiliate links, which can be seen a ‘spammy’, rather than using social media to engage consumers. These brands are already being talked about on social media sites, but they don’t appear to be getting involved in the conversation.
We used our Social Media Reputation (SMR) index, which ranks a brand’s social media ‘reach’ and ‘satisfaction’ out of 100, to give an overall ‘SMR’ score. This is how the five scored out of 100:
1. William Hill – 49.24
2. Bet365 – 44.30
3. Paddy Power – 43.99
4. Ladbrokes – 41.85
5. Betfred – 40.60
To put these scores into context, the most successful brand on social media – eBay – has an overall SMR of 92.29 out of 100. It’s clear there’s some work to be done.
William Hill is starting to use Twitter well, with a distinctive tone of voice. It is getting some criticism for the state of its high street shops, and if it’s monitoring its social media channels, it has a chance to act on this. Bet365 has the highest customer satisfaction with its service, and yet one of the lowest engagement levels in social media (and the most spam-ridden Facebook page) “ a real opportunity missed.
Paddy Power is growing fast online; it is developing a really interesting YouTube channel and using Twitter to deliver customer service. Ladbrokes, despite its brand strength, is very shy of social media, and possibly has the biggest opportunity to develop here.
Betfred, although coming last in our list, is one to watch “ it’s clearly starting to take social media seriously with a Facebook page that is starting to grow. Given the average profile of online gamblers, a bold strategy in social spaces could pay off handsomely for any brand prepared to take a risk.