Opinion: Mobile is the future

The expected market value of mobile/tablet gambling by 2017 is US$45 billion.

So, if mobile is the future, what does that future look like?

All the signs show that technology will drive the conversion to mobile. Intel recently announced a 14% drop in sales from last year indicating that we no longer have to rely on processor driven computers.

Gaming operators today are looking into how consumers use their phones. The mobile has replaced the laptop as the home computer. The industry is beginning to treat mobile as more than an extension outside the home and more than just incremental revenue. It is becoming the main focus and the primary product.

Operators are linking social media output to their betting products. Twitter and Facebook on mobile are a better platform to sell promotions and deliver content than the betting site itself, and are more engaging for the customer. Switching from your Twitter/Facebook page to your betting platform is quick and easy especially with deep linking to selected markets and events that are promoted. The result is that customers are interacting with your brand on two platforms making them more valuable in the long term.

The other key advancement for the future of mobile is live targeting. The mobile phone is always with the customer ““ there is a constant open line of communication and operators need to take advantage of this. Apple has existing ‘Push’ notification technology and overlaying this with location-based services would give live data on the customer. A bit Big Brother perhaps, but consumers are responding to relevancy like never before and it is not seen as intrusive or spam. Much the same as a highly targeted email will receive a higher open and click through rate, knowing where and when our customers are means a ‘Push’ message can be highly relevant and therefore more likely to get a positive response.

The next step will be to see how 4G can enhance the mobile betting experience. Watch this space.