Several steps should be taken when developing a marketing communications campaign. First, define your audience, benchmark your campaign against the campaigns of other markets, and address your selling proposal, the message you want to communicate about your product.
It is crucial to think carefully about what kind of image you want to deliver. Consider, are you focusing purely on gambling or are you developing a broader picture of responsible gaming? Have you provided background information to players to enable them to make more responsible choices? Are you able to deliver this information when the player most needs it?
Having done that, set clear guidelines for your creative agency so that it will deliver proposals that meet your expectations regarding responsible gaming.
The greatest business goal of WLA members is to promote society’s acceptance of their gambling products. Measures to support this goal include:
- supporting players
- training collaborators and partners
- educating minors and players
- systematically evaluating the game offering
- detecting risky behavior
- adapting promotion of the offer.
Customers and general audience
All marketing and advertising must refrain from targeting minors or vulnerable people – e.g., problem gamblers, people in financial difficulty, people under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or people who have been previously excluded from gambling sites.
Betting operators should not target marketing to minors by posting on media or influencer accounts that minors follow actively. The marketing should not use themes or visual representations that interest and address young people. Additionally, advertising should not be broadcast in or near places (in real life or online) where minors spend a lot of time.
Marketing communications must not mislead, deceive, or suggest any possibility of getting rich thanks to gambling activities. Giving the wrong idea about the probability of winning is misleading, as is giving the impression that players’ knowledge, skills, abilities, or other attributes affect their chances of winning. This is also the case in horse betting, although knowledge and skills can improve the likelihood of winning. Advertising must also not give the impression that horse betting is an appropriate way of dealing with financial problems or that gambling is a viable alternative to subsistence work.
The most advanced horse betting operators have a responsible gaming system that allows them to monitor betting and work to prevent gambling problems. They monitor how often customers play and how much money they spend monthly via their own algorithmic model.
Customers usually have the option to limit how much they can play and lose within a certain period of time (day, week, month, year). Lotteries may also have responsibility measures aimed at preventing and reducing the occurrence of gambling problems. Such efforts include sending various responsibility messages and live communication on digital channels.
It is also essential for the lotteries to show players their gaming history, so that they can better
understand their own playing habits, such as how often they play, what they play and how much they spend on playing. It is also important to show winnings and losings in a day, week, month, year or even longer periods. This allows players to compare their current betting evolution with previous months so that they are able to identify anomalous behaviors that may indicate the development of a gambling problem (“weak signals”).
Equally, the lotteries must learn and understand how effective the different measures they have taken are, by constantly monitoring these and based on the results, action should be directed towards developing and deploying the most effective tools.
The system allows the betting operators to adapt their relationship with each player, depending on their level of play. For instance, they don’t send commercial messages to a customer who seems to be in a risk group.
Media planning
When advertising horse betting, special care should be taken to ensure that the ads and messages are in a suitable environment. This is the responsibility of the gaming operator and the media and advertising agencies who need to understand and take appropriate action.
Horse betting advertising should not be done in media or events aimed at minors. Due to reputation management, religious connections and media focusing on erotic content should also be avoided.
Horse betting operators must also obtain the consent of their customers to receive direct mail or an SMS before contacting players via digital media. They should avoid tracking the location of players and sending them ads via electronic media when they are in or near certain areas. Players can give their approval for it if, for example, they are willing to receive marketing communications while at the racetrack.
Promotions
Active sellers and promoters must have received responsible gaming training before employment. No promotion shall be targeted at minors or vulnerable people. This means, for example, that there must be no ambiguity about age, that vulnerable people must not be targeted with promotion campaigns, and that the financial benefits of horse betting must not be promised.
Horse betting companies should not have promotional measures that may be considered offensive. For instance, it is good to avoid telephone and door-to-door sales.
Sales activities at trade shows or similar events or in public places – on the street, train stations, malls, etc. – are not per se considered inappropriate.
Social media
WLA member companies must have a dedicated social media staff that develops internal rules and guidelines for use of social media, as well as ensures that there are adequate resources to monitor social media, produce content and communicate with customers at least on a daily basis, preferably more often, so that customers feel they are getting good service and the company listens to them.
The more capable and skilled players are, the more sustainable the playing. As noted above, social media marketing and posts on Internet sites etc., must provide players with valid and broad background information to help them make better choices. Thus, it is important to ensure that you teach players to understand the risks and not to take risks that are too high.
Some lotteries actively maintain a social media presence on Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, etc., to be competitive and build a community of horse betting fans. Lotteries must maintain an excellent social media presence on these platforms by being proactive and using appropriate language and content. WLA does not recommend its members advertise or promote content on Snapchat, which attracts a strong as the share of minors.
Topics for social media include promotions or different bet types as well as the direct connection WLA members have to the horse racing industry and races. There is plenty of engaging content, for example, interviews with riders, drivers and trainers, stories about great horses and their well-being, and reports on various significant races. This type of content is not aggressive, and well suited for use as part of horse betting marketing.
Beyond content, social media platforms can also be deployed to facilitate customer service, by reacting to player comments and answering them in a timely and precise manner. Staff charged with serving players through these channels must have solid horse betting knowledge and should be familiar with the lottery’s or betting operator’s horse betting offerings.
WLA members are strongly encouraged to block people under the age of 18 on social media platforms where possible (such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter), to prevent this category of people from getting access to the operators’ content.
When collaborating with influencers and bloggers, WLA members should strongly frame the contract to ensure that the content is compliant with the young population and active players. For instance, in France, operators invite their influencers to get the responsible influencer certificate (“Certificat de l’influenceur responsable”) deployed by the national advertising regulator (ARPP). This certification aims to sensitize and inform influencers on gaming dangers and limits.
It is also possible to place paid ads directly on most social media sites without having a dedicated social media page for each product. For ads placed on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter, target settings are provided that allow the promotion of gaming products to the appropriate audiences and ensure that the ads will not be shown on the pages of people under 18. The ads can also be geotagged to remain within their authorized jurisdiction.
Responsible marketing
When placing a TV ad, it is best no to do so during programs for children. Additionally, they should not be placed in same commercial breaks with ads for quick loans or financial institutions, except for traditional banks.
When displaying ads on YouTube, a horse racing company’s marketing channel should only be visible to customers aged 18 or older.
