How quality translation keeps sports gamers betting for longer

Sports betting is one of the truly global industries, showing continued growth year-on-year. With a little help from Euro 2016, this year is shaping up to be the biggest yet for the key names in sports betting.

The big brands know what it takes to engage gamers around the world and keep them placing their bets. Part of it comes down to the games themselves; the other part is thanks to the marketing around them. In either case, quality translation is at the heart of every interaction they have with their international audiences.
 

Access is always the first hurdle

The first role of translation is to make your games accessible to a wider audience. Sports themselves may be universal but the games you build won’t be unless you get the translation right. This is important when bets can change in an instant through small details in any sport – understanding these key moments during an event is pivotal when people’s money is on the line.

If players feel they can’t bet with confidence, they’re not likely to bet at all.
 

Don’t let engagement get lost in translation

Your aim as a betting brand isn’t to target first-time gamers; you want to turn them into regular players. This is where gamification is pivotal to engagement, creating an ongoing reason for betters to keep coming back.

If we’re talking about football, this could be regular player scores or injury updates. You’re drumming up interest, telling people where their money might be best spent and giving them the opportunity to make informed decisions based on data.

It’s a nice idea but it only works as long as you provide the right language support. UK football is huge all around the world and you don’t want to limit yourself to English-speaking markets.
 

Personalisation is the future of sports betting

SBTech’s Tom Light recently spoke about the impact that this summer’s Euro 2016 made. It was the biggest sports betting event in history, which goes to show how much progress the industry is making.

The key point he wanted to make was the role of personalisation in the future of sports betting:

“When you have 25,000–26,000 live events a month, how are you able to show the punter only four events?” he asked.

“You really have to use the data that you have and show the punter a personalised offer, so when you open the mobile and when I open the mobile, we see completely different things according to what we’re going to like.”

It’s not just sports betting that’s calling on personalisation to engage people more effectively. All digital platforms are moving towards a more personalised approach to keep people involved for longer.

Sports betting brands will need to create similarly personalised experiences based on user data. The aim will be to create a betting experience that plays on the interests of individual gamers, in their language, on demand when they want it.
 

The off-season is more important than ever

One of the biggest challenges for sports betting firms is dealing with seasonality. What you can’t afford to do is let players lose interest in your platforms when their favourite sport closes for the season. This is where your content needs to keep them involved with your brand and get them pumped up for the next big event.

Translated and localised content throughout the off-season period plays an important role here. You can also use this to entice betters into other sports during the quiet period.

Source: Optimove

Football betters make up the vast majority of online sports gamers but they’re not restricted to the one game. You can target them with promotions for tennis events, golf and quadrennial events like the Olympic Games and the Euros.

Finally, combine your translated sports content with regional preferences for sport. Get your translation spot on, know which sports people are most interested in and create a personalised experience for them – this is how you’ll keep online sports gamers betting for longer.