Several countries throughout the world have banned gambling companies from advertising. Content marketing on online gambling sites’ owned media is an effective strategy to inform, nurture, and convert prospects into customers.
If your online gambling site uses advertising to attract customers, there are quite a few countries where that strategy won’t work. Italy, too, has joined the fray, although some legal scholars believe the ban to be “in breach of the EU principle of freedom of service and the constitutional freedom of doing business.”
To risk advertising in those countries might mean a hefty fine — or even jail time. Although most digital advertising companies monitor advertisements for compliance with local requirements, your company bears the major responsibility for compliance. Make sure that your online betting content strategy takes that fact into account.
Content Marketing: An Effective, Economical Way to Win Customers
Instead of advertising, use your owned media, such as a blog on your website or email, to build and convert your target market into loyal customers. Providing them with helpful content builds their trust in your company, making it more likely that they’ll do business with you.
According to digital marketing expert Neil Patel, content marketing creates three times more leads than traditional methods, yet it costs 62 percent less. Additionally, content marketing influences more than 60 percent of all consumers in their buying decisions.
With those numbers, you might even consider content a better marketing strategy for online gambling, even in countries without an ad ban.
But…Tread Carefully and Consult Legal Professionals for Compliance
Tread carefully when crafting content relating to gambling itself. Anything deemed promotional might violate local law, as might how-to articles about how people can increase their chances of winning.
Articles that provide real-time news about sports teams, leading horses and riders, and other information that provide your audience with insights on teams or individuals would be a better bet. However, be sure not to mention “betting.” The insights themselves will help readers decide whether to bet on the horse, rider, or team you wrote about.
In such countries, it would be advisable to run any planned content by your legal team — or hire a country-based lawyer to check it for compliance with local law. They could give you advice about which keywords are allowable so that you don’t run afoul of the law while trying to boost your content’s search results.
Get Customers on Your Email Lists Early On
For countries with ad bans, getting customers to subscribe to your site’s email newsletter (or newsletters) is a prudent marketing strategy for online gambling sites. Newsletters can inform potential and current customers about developments in areas that interest them without traditional advertising. While you still need to follow the country’s law regarding what you can include in your content, you can segment your audience according to their interest, thereby making it easier to feed them content that interests them.
For example, if your site features betting opportunities for horse racing, dog racing, football, basketball, and American football, you can use your site analytics to your advantage. Send your subscribers who prefer to bet on football news about all the major football clubs (especially their favorites) and your horse racing fans all the latest news on leading jockeys, what kind of track a particular horse prefers, and so on.
Encourage Gamer-Created Content and Online Recommendations
Secondly, encourage current customers to refer other gaming fans to your site. If the law allows, provide them with bonuses, such as free games or credits in their accounts, for doing so.
And, if you can get them to create reviews or other online recommendations, their words carry more weight than your official marketing messages. More than 60 percent of all consumers trust content your users create more than your marketing team’s words.
Content marketing is an effective tool to add to your marketing toolbox, even if local gambling law permits advertising. In countries with gambling ad bans, however, it is absolutely essential to your success.
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