TRAFFIC
UNIFYING CUSTOMER
CONVERSION DATA
ACROSS DEVICES
Alistair Albers of The Media Image analyzes the conversion path in the era of device multiplicity,
and concludes that iGaming operators are not doing enough to understand the cross-device and
increasingly complex offline-to-online interplay of future prospects.
INCREASINGLY, customer to brand
engagement is cross-device. Complex user
interaction paths underpin how prospective
customers are attracted, engaged and
converted to your brand. Large global
e-commerce and travel brands have known
this for some time, however the complexity
of the conversion path is ostensibly similar
for all of e-commerce, and iGaming, and in
particular online casino, is no different.
Historically the iGaming sector has
had a very insular path to conversion or
attribution view, in essence, dominated
by single session last-click events almost
always isolated by device type. Of course,
many operators have matched player IDs
purchase funnel now defined by device
multiplicity is increasingly difficult to tackle.
The typical journey
Take a typical casino customer acquisition
journey from point of first exposure and
first-time cookie drop to first-time deposit
and user ID (UID) assignment. A young
male (USER A) is accessing content on
a Thursday evening. An exit pop-under
is served exposing USER A to BRAND
B. USER A is using a tablet device for
his browsing session. A few days later,
USER A via a series of desktop-based
search behaviors and content consumption
is added to a behavioral segment called
“Although the simplicity of single session last-event
tracking is appealing, it is not only flawed, it’s
financially irresponsible.”
across device to understand usage and, in
some instances, particularly for large landbased brands, the opportunity to match
online to offline has existed. and in some
cases been exploited. However similar logic
has not been applied to try and understand
the cross-device and more complex
offline-to-online interplay of prospects, i.e.
pre-customers.
Although the simplicity of single session
last-event tracking is appealing, it is not only
flawed, it’s financially irresponsible. More
progressive brands have taken the view that
they will try and understand user behavior
within the purchase funnel. However, a
“Casino Intender”. BRAND B via a
desktop display campaign intentionally
targets said segment and via a premium
ad unit on a sports new site serves an ad
three times to said user. At this point,
USER A’s desktop device is mapped via
a placed cookie. Another 24 hours later,
USER A (with friends) visits a land-based
operation owned by BRAND B. USER A
decides that a live casino experience doesn’t
match his taste, however online poker is of
interest. Having now had five cross-device
and offline exposures to BRAND B, he
conducts a brand search from which he
accesses the site via a paid search affiliate
direct linking with consent to BRAND B’s
online poker offering, using his iPhone 6
mobile device. Based on four different nonunified customer touch points, BRAND
B decides to cancel its pop-under and
display campaign and instructs affiliates
that mobile - specifically iOS - users convert
well! Alternatively, and had one prior
touchpoint been on desktop, they could
have decided to upweight the buy due to
its first-event impact on affiliates. Clearly
both decisions are poor, and made in
isolation of highly important cross-device
considerations.
Cross-device attribution
Ultimately cross-device understanding
requires complex ad technology support
and equally as complex business
intelligence and analytical resource.
Unfortunately, adoption of enterpriseclass ad technology within iGaming
has been limited, and when considered
alongside comparable sectors, rather poor.
One might argue that in less competitive
times the need for media optimization
coupled with heavy reliance on affiliates
was unnecessary. This is no longer the
case. Despite restrictive US gambling
policy, indications from highly competitive
casino markets make it clear that adoption
will become a necessity, moreover with
anticipated shifts in US policymakers’
attitudes toward online gaming, the
opportunity to embed the correct data,
tracking and technology infrastructure from
day one is there.
iGB Affiliate Issue 55 FEB/MAR 2016
41