Time for Bitcoin to shine

The online gaming sector has been opening up to the idea of Bitcoin for some time, with several regulatory bodies making positive moves, including the UK Gambling Commission, which added the digital currency to its list of acceptable payment methods last year.

While online gaming’s Bitcoin moment comes at a great time for operators, it presents a wealth of new challenges that will have operators considering how best to reach a new type of tech-savvy consumer.

A different type of player
For starters, it is important to remember that those using these currencies will often have years of experience doing so. Indeed, in some cases, consumers will have been using Bitcoin for longer than the operators themselves.

With this in mind, we need to understand the mindset of a different kind of consumer – one who will consider themselves more tech-savvy than their peers – and take into consideration how such a consumer requires a different kind of approach when it comes to marketing.

Bitcoin might not have quite entered the mainstream, but the spread of online casino players – even in the fiat currency space – contains a large number who will be familiar with digital currencies even if they have not encountered them directly.

Those who do have experience of digital currencies will often come from a position where everything is more open, and where there is less high-pressure marketing due to Bitcoin’s proximity to more communal and inclusive spaces.

Some can be used as a regular dialogue between consumer and brand, often as a means to improve the product, and to do the same can act as a reassurance that you speak their language.

This is also where content marketing can prove beneficial, providing it is free from bluff and bluster. This gives you an opportunity to show the world that you truly know your own product, and that will give even the most tech-savvy and cynical consumer a level of belief and faith that you have the tools to deliver what they are aſter, both now and further down the line.

Gap in the market
At present, those in this space are able to avoid the congestion seen across real-money operators using fiat currencies, who so heavily rely on sign-up bonuses and free spins, so it has arguably never been more important to impose a direct and forward-thinking marketing strategy.

The introduction of digital currencies into the gaming world brings with it a speed of transaction and trust not seen elsewhere in the industry.

“We are under no illusions that – for most of the population – the concept of transacting using Bitcoin will be entirely alien” – Tim Heath, CEO of Coingaming

On one hand this offers an advantage when it comes to marketing to potential new customers frustrated by existing restrictions, while simultaneously freeing you up to devote more time to innovative marketing approaches without worrying about battles over deposit and withdrawal speeds or fraud and chargebacks, let alone payment processing costs.

But at the same time it remains important to acknowledge the increasing familiarity with such payment methods, and that consumers with experience of this shift in other industries will perhaps be more discerning where gaming is concerned. What may have the benefit of uniqueness now will not have that selling point forever, so it can pay to look towards the next step even before this one is implemented.

Instant gratification
Consumers are used to instant gratification in terms of the games they play on mobile and desktop, but have not been able to enjoy the same when it comes to payments.

Through digital currencies we have the capacity to bridge that gap, and this is something that it is useful to reinforce when it comes to marketing to this audience. However, at the same time, it is important to continue to recognise the need to segment marketing, so as not to make assumptions about consumers’ unfamiliarity or otherwise with what is new to the gaming space but has existed for longer elsewhere.

We are under no illusions that – for most of the population – the concept of transacting using Bitcoin will be more or less, entirely alien. However, within the small segment familiar with the currency, plus those with a broad interest in digital currencies with respect to gaming, we are dealing with an intelligent demographic keen to be at the forefront of an industry.

For them, this can mean both a willingness to try new innovations and a willingness to move on if we fail to meet their demands, so it has rarely been more important to get things right first time around.

New opportunities
The reputation of digital currencies is often mixed, which means you know you are likely dealing with customers who have done their own research. However it would be a mistake to assume this means there are fewer obstacles to overcome with regard to these consumers – there are simply different challenges.

Digital currencies can provide advantages in this space, with strong KYC tools putting operators in an advantageous position, but it is about using the information at your disposal in inventive ways, rather than just assuming an audience with an almost necessarily tech-savvy background will respond in the same way to one without.

It can be a case of adapting marketing tools from outside the gaming space; coming to appreciate what has worked when it comes to appealing to consumers in other industries who may conversely have more in common with this demographic than their peers within traditional gaming player bases.

You should not necessarily look at the scenario as a blank slate, even if – as is often the case – digital currencies like Bitcoin can open the door to individuals without traditional banking options at their disposal. It remains important to acknowledge this audience as new to your space, but not necessarily new to its established practices.

Whether consumers have gone down this avenue out of a rejection of traditional methods or an ability to access them, a refusal to patronise or take for granted a growing consumer base can only be beneficial if we are working on
the assumption that the Bitcoin’s place in gaming is set to grow as more acclimatise to it.

These consumers will see through buzzwords and they will know when you attempt to bluff your way through anything. There is also a good chance that they will be familiar with tech start-ups, be they in the gaming space or elsewhere, under-delivering on promises when honesty would have helped earn trust.

By following this approach, it becomes easier to land yourself with consumers who are willing to buy into a project, and a new gaming currency, and have a greater chance of sticking with you, even on those rare occasions where things don’t run perfectly smoothly.

As more operators open up to the possibilities created by Bitcoin, it will be those who can speak honestly and directly to this tech-savvy demographic who will succeed.