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The Rise of Female Bettors: What Does This Mean for Marketing Campaigns?

Published

1 year ago

February 26, 2024

The Rise of Female Bettors: What Does This Mean for Marketing Campaigns?

With the growth of women’s sports leagues and more media coverage, women have become more invested in sports and more likely to place bets. As a result, marketing strategies are shifting their focus toward engaging female bettors. However unbeknownst to most marketers, the more direct targeting they are doing, the higher the costs to businesses because of returning users.

Returning users are holding marketers back from effectively targeting this wide pool of new customers by driving up Customer Acquisition Costs (CACs). Marketers need the stability and freedom to target accordingly and take advantage of the rise in female bettors.

Managing returning users must be a priority for sportsbooks to fully take advantage of the changing market and ensure the longevity of their campaigns. Without full transparency over the data they’re using to target and big question marks over a lack of tangible results from their spending, sportsbooks risk missing out on a huge opportunity to scale.

The Barriers to Expansion

The percentage of women betting on women’s sports in the US has grown up to 10% annually in recent years according to The IBIA. The targeting pool is growing for marketers as interest rises and the increased ease of online betting makes it simpler for women to place bets – backed by research from The Sports Betting Report, revealing that 26% of American women bet daily.

Marketing efforts are shifting to be more equal in this space as sportsbooks seek to make maximum profits from a new wave of players. However, by pumping more budget into paid ads targeted at women, sportsbooks are compromising the success of their campaigns.

Due to this direct ad targeting, women are more likely to bet by clicking on paid search campaigns. However, by repeatedly using paid ads as a front door to the site, rather than organic search results, returning bettors create inefficiencies in advertising as the Cost-Per-Acquisition (CPA) increases. So although these are enthusiastic players returning to place bets, they’re inadvertently driving up costs across the board.

If sportsbooks don’t manage the rise in bettors accessing their sites via paid ads, rather than an app or gateway site, they face losing out on the chance to expand further with new audiences.

Methods of Managing Returning Users

Now the answer isn’t to stop targeting female bettors. The rise in women in the betting scene presents an opportunity for sportsbooks and the challenge of returning users will remain whether marketing strategies shift or not.

To successfully combat returning users from driving up costs and damaging campaign results, sportsbooks should start by setting custom validation rules. Here, operators can cap the number of times a user clicks on a paid ad and once the threshold for clicks is met, the user is prevented from seeing the campaign. This effectively reduces high cost-per-click (CPC) rates by excluding users who are unintentionally driving up costs.

Alongside this, shadow campaigns can be implemented to further the level of success in reducing costs and maximising audiences. These are a duplicate of the sportsbook’s current campaign, but the CPC is reduced meaning that any returning users or excessive clickers can be targeted at lower CPCs. This is a new level of targeting that sportsbooks can harness to elevate their marketing strategies.

With this tactic, advertisers can maintain a level of personalisation in their targeting to make the most of the rise in female bettors without increasing CACs. Budgets are then saved for genuine users with the propensity to convert.

Control Over Campaign Traffic Unlocks True Results

Ultimately, more bettors mean more opportunities. Solidifying campaigns to take advantage of the rise in female bettors is important, but not where sportsbooks should be starting. Without initially protecting campaigns from unknowing returning users, the work to attract those customers causes great losses rather than any gain.

To avoid high costs and take back budget control, marketers need to start by deploying shadow campaigns and custom validation rules. With these tactics in play, businesses will unlock new levels of visibility into campaigns and put themselves in the best position to make the most out of the emerging wave of female bettors.

By: Richard Metcalf, Global VP, Sportsbetting & Online Gaming, TrafficGuard

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Affiliate Success

First iGB Affiliate Manager Academy to shine a light on effective AI-Driven affiliate recruitment strategies

Published

1 week ago

April 14, 2025

George Miller

First iGB Affiliate Manager Academy to shine a light on effective AI-Driven affiliate recruitment strategies

Organisers of July’s edition of iGB L!VE – the first to be held in London – have announced the launch of the AI focussed iGB Affiliate Manager Academy which will be held July 1 as part of London iGaming Week.

The training and mentorship program which is being curated in partnership with Affiverse, founded by veteran affiliate marketer Lee-Ann Johnstone – and which guides businesses on how to launch, scale and grow successful affiliate programs, has been designed to help organisations of all sizes understand how to leverage new tactics and simple AI tools to recruit, retain and activate affiliates more effectively.

The Academy will offer a mix of practical learning, tactical assessments and personalised coaching providing affiliate managers with an invaluable opportunity to learn from industry leaders. Each unique session will include topical insights drawing on the dominant trends in the market.

Looking ahead to the Academy Lee-Ann Johnstone said: “I’m delighted that Clarion has invited Affiverse to develop a bespoke training academy specifically for iGaming Affiliate Managers.

“In an industry that’s constantly evolving, and which is powered by the early adoption of new technologies, businesses and affiliate managers have to keep learning in order to remain competitive. The only way we get to understand the affiliate space and all the complexities it entails is on the job – from others!

“It has always been important to me that those who have knowledge pay it forward and I’m really excited to be given the task of leading the curation of this unique event bringing the best of the best together in order to teach, train and coach affiliate managers as we move forward.

“The gap between AI-empowered affiliate managers and those relying solely on traditional methods is widening every month. The iGB Affiliate Manager Academy will provide the bridge to ensure businesses are on the right side of that divide.”

Reflecting on the importance and objectives of the iGB Affiliate Manager Academy, Global Portfolio Director Naomi Barton said: “Our live events are all about delivering real value to our international community of stakeholders. Lee-Ann and her team at Affiverse are spearheading the academy syllabus and content stream alongside IGB’s events production team to provide tailor made training and mentoring for new and existing affiliate managers as well as those who want to learn and scale their affiliate programs faster.

“The workshop will provide insider access to the exact AI-driven techniques that are assisting brands to deliver real results. Most significantly this isn’t just theory — instead it’s a hands-on expert-led roadmap focussing on immediately implementable tactics that will transform your program performance.”

Awards

MightyTips is nominated for Affiliate of the Year at the AffPapa iGaming Awards

Published

2 weeks ago

April 9, 2025

George Miller

MightyTips is nominated for Affiliate of the Year at the AffPapa iGaming Awards

MightyTips has received a nomination for “Sportsbook Affiliate of the Year” at the prestigious AffPapa iGaming Awards 2025. MightyTips hopes to follow in the footsteps of its parent company, SEOBROTHERS, which won the Affiliate Agency of the Year award at the 2023 ceremony and has received another nomination this year.

MightyTips’ nomination follows a year of expansion for the brand, which increased its portfolio of multilingual sites to 19. In addition to continuing to provide free daily football betting tips and in-depth bookmaker reviews, MightyTips also launched the MightyQs interview series, which spotlights some of the most exciting partnerships between online sportsbooks and high-profile sporting franchises such as Juventus and the UFC.

Held at Hacienda Nadales in Malaga, Spain, the fourth annual AffPapa iGaming Awards will take place on May 28th, 2025. The awards celebrate and recognise affiliates, operators, and B2B providers for hard work and innovation within the iGaming industry and commend those who are constantly pushing the boundaries and setting new standards.

One of the most notable and respected ceremonies on the industry calendar will be hosted as part of the iGaming Club Conference, a two-day networking event that will welcome over 1,200 industry delegates. Voting is open to the public and will close on May 11th.

Eugene Ravdin, Head of PR at SEOBROTHERS, said: “We’re overjoyed to hear that MightyTips have been nominated for these prestigious awards. It’s fantastic to be evaluated for our hard work over the last twelve months, and everyone involved should be extremely proud of their efforts. This is a huge professional achievement for the brand.”

Awards

Slotsjudge Receives Double Nomination at the AffPapa iGaming Awards 2025

Published

2 weeks ago

April 8, 2025

George Miller

Slotsjudge Receives Double Nomination at the AffPapa iGaming Awards 2025

We are delighted to announce that Slotsjudge received two nominations for the AffPapa iGaming Awards 2025. Milestones like this highlight our team’s dedication and strong position in the iGaming industry.

Slotsjudge was nominated in two key categories: “Rising Star Affiliate of The Year” and “Slots Review Affiliate of The Year.” The first nomination recognizes our fast growth and impact in a competitive market, while the second one emphasizes the quality and reliability of our game reviews. We highly value the trust our audience places in us as a credible and influential voice within the industry.

What sets Slotsjudge apart is our honest, straightforward content. Our team creates reviews that players can rely on, helping them make informed choices. We actively encourage community engagement and user-generated content, ensuring our reviews reflect real player experiences. Our approach combines simplicity, transparency, and a direct connection with our audience. We believe that this strong content strategy and dedication to genuine player feedback are the reasons behind these nominations.

“We are very grateful and proud of these nominations,” said Jekaterina Dubnicka, Head of Marketing and Communications. “It is exciting to see our team’s hard work acknowledged. We appreciate our users and partners, whose support has been key to our success.”

The AffPapa iGaming Awards ceremony will take place online on June 20, 2025. Slotsjudge looks forward to attending and celebrating with the industry. We thank the jury for their recognition, and we are excited about the future, continuing to grow alongside our valued community and partners.