As various states in the US progressively open up the sports betting market, the industry's growth momentum is like "bamboo flowering," continuously breaking historical records.
At the same time, market competition is becoming increasingly fierce. Industry giants such as DraftKings and FanDuel occupy more than half of the market share, while emerging platforms compete for users through innovative strategies to get a piece of the pie. In this high-risk, high-reward market, user acquisition strategies are crucial, and sustainable and cost-effective strategies are the key to success.
How can new sports betting apps get off to the best start?
New entrants to the sports betting app market often face the challenge of tight budgets, making it difficult to rely on large-scale paid media promotions. Therefore, they tend to adopt community-driven growth strategies, leveraging existing sports communities and social networks to maximize the use of marketing resources while precisely reaching target users.
Here are several effective user acquisition methods:
1. Relying on social media communities
Sports enthusiasts are active on social media platforms, continuously following event dynamics and analysis. For sports betting apps, platforms like X (formerly Twitter) are ideal for increasing visibility and interacting with users. Sports betting brands can attract users to register and download the app by pushing exclusive offers, real-time interactions, and event analysis.
2. Influencer marketing
Collaborating with KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) in the sports field or betting analysis bloggers is an efficient way to enhance brand trust and precisely reach target users. These influencers can be well-known athletes, sports commentators, or content creators focused on betting strategies. By offering exclusive promo codes or promotional activities, sports betting apps can attract more loyal users.
3. Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is one of the important channels for customer acquisition for sports betting apps. These affiliate members include sports blogs, betting communities, and professional websites, who guide users to register through unique promotional links or discount codes and receive commissions for successful conversions. This model can efficiently attract high-quality traffic and improve the return on investment for user acquisition.
Addressing the challenges of multi-touchpoint user acquisition
Although the above strategies are cost-effective, they also bring challenges in data monitoring and attribution. The behavioral paths of sports betting users often involve multiple devices and channels, for example, they may browse promotional content on one device but complete registration and betting on another. Traditional monitoring methods struggle to accurately attribute, leading to wasted marketing budgets.
Deep linking: The key to improving customer acquisition efficiency
Deep linking can optimize the user journey, directing users directly to relevant pages within the app, such as specific events, promotional activities, or betting pages, enhancing conversion rates and reducing churn.
Core advantages of deep linking:
Cross-device journey optimization: Web-to-app scripts ensure that users can continue corresponding actions in the app after browsing content on mobile or desktop, avoiding experience discontinuity.
Precise attribution: Deep links compatible with iOS and Android seamlessly integrate with social media, search engines, email, CTV (Connected TV) ads, and other channels, ensuring comprehensive marketing data without omissions.
Reducing churn rate: Smart Banner as a non-intrusive advertisement can guide users to download the app and combine with deep linking to provide a consistent user experience, enhancing interaction rates.
How can deep linking help sports betting apps?
Fragmented cross-device journeys
Web-to-app scripts ensure a coherent user experience
Low precision in attribution
Multi-platform compatible deep links achieve comprehensive monitoring
High churn rate
Smart Banner + deep linking optimize the journey
For example, when a user clicks a link from a sports influencer on social media, the deep link can directly jump to the registration page and automatically fill in the influencer's exclusive promo code. This seamless experience not only improves conversion rates but also accurately attributes to the influencer marketing channel, helping sports betting brands optimize their promotional strategies.
Deep linking: Driving long-term growth for sports betting apps
In the context of intensifying competition in the sports betting industry, sports betting apps need to develop data-driven efficient marketing strategies to maximize the value of their user acquisition budget. Deep linking is not only a tool for optimizing user experience but also a key strategy for enhancing ROI and expanding the market. Through smooth user paths and precise data analysis, sports betting brands can maintain a lead in the ever-changing market environment and promote sustainable growth.
