Social Media Tracker: How are bingo operators using sponsorship deals to increase engagement across social?

For many years, big brands have been throwing money at sponsorship deals in order to spread the word of their brand. In the egaming industry, bingo operators have been using this tactic for a long time and you’ll find many of the biggest brands sponsoring top TV talent shows to this day.

The great thing about TV sponsorship deals is that they can help you reach new customers. However, many brands are using their deals in new ways with cross-promotion on social channels. They are able to engage with their players who are watching these shows as well as promote their brand at the same time.

Here, we are going to look at some of the bingo operators that have large sponsorship deals with TV shows. We’ll also look a little closer at how they then use this to promote engagement across social channels.

Tombola Bingo

Tombola Bingo is a brand that has been on the scene since 1999 but in more recent years this brand has really taken the online bingo world by storm. In January 2019, it was reported that it had seen a turnover of £90.3m which indicates its success. The Tombola Bingo Facebook fan page has over 170,562 likes which shows that this brand has a strong social media presence.

In 2017, Tombola managed to secure a very large deal with ITV show I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here. This deal was previously with Iceland Bingo but it was time for them to move on. Reports suggest that the deal between tombola Bingo and ITV was worth more than £2m per year but the payoff for tombola is worth it with such a popular show. The recent series of I’m A Celeb became the ‘most-watched show of 2019’ with an audience of 13,171,000.

While the main focus of this sponsorship deal was the TV ads before, in between and after the daily episodes, Tombola Bingo did a great job of bringing the show to social media and encouraging engagement. Firstly, they had their own Jungle themed game which was promoted heavily on social channels throughout the series. They also regularly posted updates on the latest celeb to leave the jungle and this increased engagement a lot. Anyone watching the show might see this on their feed and interact, even if they aren’t a player. This is very clever marketing with such a popular show.

Arguably the most effective part of the social media strategy that tombola decided on was their video content. At tombola, there are Chat Monitors who engage with players on the site and through the app. Tombola used the I’m A Celeb Bushtucker Trial format and created their own trials. They asked their Facebook fans to vote for the CM that they wanted to do the trial and then posted it out as a video.

One of the most recent videos that followed this format received 1.2K comments and 365 likes. The video content was interesting and engaged players. Tombola Bingo also put their players to the test and got them involved in quizzes which also worked well.

Overall, it is clear that the recent I’m A Celebrity themed social marketing campaign from Tombola Bingo was well thought out. They didn’t stop at just having their name attached to the brand, they used it to their advantage and increased engagement on their site. It is likely that a lot more people are now aware of tombola thanks to this collaboration.

Buzz Bingo

Gala Bingo rebranded as Buzz Bingo in September 2018 and since then it has gone on to become very popular. The Buzz Bingo Facebook fan page has a slightly lower amount of likes than tombola with just over 17,844 but this is set to change with its recent announcement.

On 4 January 2020, the Buzz Bingo Facebook page announced that it will be the new sponsor of The Voice UK, which is a very big talent show. They kicked things off with a special branded slot game and one for the bingo fans which have both proven to be hits.

While the sponsorship deal has only begun, we are expecting big things from Buzz Bingo on social media. They have already posted some great branded content of players sitting in the iconic Voice chair playing bingo. We are sure that this brand will create some competitions that will engage players and encourage them to vote once the show continues.

Look out for Buzz Bingo and this brand collaboration to see if they make it worth the money.

The takeaway

It would be fair to say that sponsorship deals are one of the most effective methods of marketing but in 2020, this is being used in a different way, with the popularity of social media. With big brands like tombola and Buzz Bingo engaging players with the use of their collaborations, we are looking out for other brands to do the same.

This is nothing new but with the increase in the number of people using social media every single day, we expect other brands to follow their lead. Look out for other operators that bring their TV sponsorship to social media later in 2020.

Sharon McFarlane is the managing director of Crystal Content – a digital marketing agency that specialises in igaming. She has eight years’ experience in the industry and has contributed regularly to industry magazines and conferences sharing her expertise on all things digital marketing. Her company (www.crystalcontent.co.uk) offers an outsourced solution for igaming businesses when it comes to content marketing, social media, UX design, website design, branding and conversion rate optimisation.