Gaming companies get SOS about SMS
Despite substantial investment, only 1 in 4 gaming companies are collecting mobile phone numbers, and 1 in 10 are using SMS for bets in-play.
Recent research conducted by mobile intelligence and SMS platform provider, Dynmark, shows that despite 89% of gaming companies claiming to use SMS proactively to send welcome messages and encourage registration to deposit, only 10% are using it for time-critical promotions such as bets in-play.
The research, released to coincide with this week’s ICE Totally Gaming 2013 Conference, reveals that with competition intensifying, gaming companies have yet to master the art of sending the right SMS messages to the right customers on the right devices at the right time.
The report claims SMS is used by 84% of respondents to send promotional messages to drive traffic and footfall.
However, 74% of survey respondents admitted that ‘mobile phone number’ was not a mandatory field on their registration form and only 53% claimed to proactively collect mobile phone numbers from customers.
Over three-quarters (79%) of survey respondents claim to have integrated SMS marketing into CRM and playing systems.
Paul Putman, CEO of Dynmark commented, “Given the intensity of competition in the gaming market and the amount of investment flowing in to the mobile channel, it’s astonishing that SMS is not being exploited more.
“There seems to be so much attention placed on getting mobile apps to work that companies seem to be missing major quick-win opportunities to drive repeat business”
Fifteen of the UKs top thirty gaming companies were surveyed in January 2013 to understand the use of SMS within the UK gaming market. The research is available from the Dynmark website.
Photo (cc) djwudi.
