Opinion: Why Facebook integration will be crucial for egaming operators

There was a flurry of excitement after eGaming Review revealed Facebook’s research into launching real money gambling on the platform, and as Latitude has a close relationship with the social network, we were keen to explore what this means for the gambling market.

While it is true that Facebook has been holding meetings with operators, there is still no defined path forward. Facebook are still trying to recruit suitable personnel to facilitate any changes, and decide on the best direction to take. Most significantly, there have already been significant developments in what gambling companies can do on Facebook in recent months, giving operators more freedom to use the platform effectively.

Operators can now run PPC and cost per impression campaigns through Facebook Marketplace and sponsored stories to attract new users, but perhaps more significant is the fact that they can launch applications which link through to real money sites. However, to do so operators will need to have approval from Facebook’s legal team, which would have to be paid for.

Overall there is no ‘new deal’ currently being worked on, according to Facebook, but the company are indeed investing more time and effort in researching ways to worth with operators, helping to add more value to their propositions.

Today it is vital for companies to ensure they make Facebook a significant channel in their digital marketing strategies. Google’s organic search rankings are implementing social media signals into its algorithm, so without developing a presence on social media platforms, companies will struggle to make waves within this area, whereas early adopters like 888 and Gamesys stand to make significant gains. Latitude has already seen successful Facebook campaigns tied in with TV advertising campaigns deliver 33% more additional funded accounts, at a cost per funded account that was 26% cheaper than expected.

Facebook’s worldwide usage shows just how significant a platform it is, and proves just why it will become a key part of any operators’ business:

• 11% of the world population has a Facebook account.
• There are over 800 million Facebook users in the world.
• 12.3% of time online is spent on Facebook
• 50% log on onto Facebook every day.
• The average user has 130 friends and spends 700 minutes per month on Facebook.
• Every 60 seconds there are 510k posted comments, 293k status updates and 136k uploaded photos.
• 30 billion pieces of content are shared each month.
• Average session: 37 minutes

Source- The B2B Guide to Social Media

Therefore I don’t see this research into launching real-money gambling as an attempt to cash in on a huge industry, but more a move to integrate it into their users’ day-to-day online engagement. Facebook is always looking for new ways to improve the services they offer, to ensure they can give customers what they want, and maintain the highest levels of traffic possible. 56% of all social media traffic goes through Facebook (Source: Hitwise data) so why wouldn’t the company look to seamlessly integrate gambling sites onto the platform, rather than losing traffic to a search engine or affiliate portal, when they are looking to retain these users?

Facebook will grow to become a key consideration of operators next year, and as long as communication between the platform and the operators continues, I believe that the channel will soon become as important a channel as mobile gambling.