Ahead of the Champs: Get Your CRM Strategy Ready for Euro 2020

Big sports tournaments present a unique challenge, and opportunity, for your Relationship Marketing efforts to really shine. Start preparing right here

As of February 2020, even defending-champ, workaholic Cristiano Ronaldo isn’t yet worried about the biggest event of the summer – the upcoming Euros. But, while he will only have a couple of weeks of preparations between the end of the regular seasons and the European Championship Kick-Off on June 12, that doesn’t mean marketers must work under the same calendar constraints.

You get to plan ahead of time, and we’re here to help!

Earlier this month, during the gaming innovation showcase better known as ICE London, we held an exclusive workshop with one thing in mind: helping professionals across the entire CRM ladder to take their planning around the massive tournament to another level.

To do that, this PostFunnel Workshop had to dive deeply into the hidden trends to be able to come up with some unique data-driven actionable insights. And so, after morning refreshments at the London Tapa Tapa restaurant, we did just that. It took an hour and 41 slides, but we can safely say that anyone who participated left with a long list of notes and action items.

Two expert marketing analysts from Optimove (PostFunnel’s parent company), Omer Liss, Director of Strategic Services, and Matan Block Temin, Strategic Services Team Lead, led the workshop. And the first question they answered, one that you might be asking yourselves now as well, was, “why should we plan for this event four months in advance?”.

Well, the first part of the answer is: Cause it’s huge. How huge? Double huge, as you can see in the slide below, taken out of the workshop’s presentation.

But, secondly, and just as importantly – while the spike in projected revenue may seem mouthwatering, the fact is that the monetary value per customers during the event was below average. Additionally, post-event retention is another complex issue. This is a combination of challenges that requires a smart CRM strategy, one that’s rich with subtle communications around the tournament.

Such a plan is the best way to increase the chances of retention and secure better lifetime value. And while it takes time and resources, the room was packed with around 40 CRM professionals that are more than willing to put in the effort, including representatives from William Hill, BetWay, Lottomatica, Mr. Green, Favbet, SportingIndex, BetVictor, and more.

After carefully describing the opportunity and the challenge, things got really “sciencey.” For example, one way to make sure you’re sending the most impactful communications, to maximize the value of each consumer, is to track different target group’s behavior trends, then hit the iron while it’s hot.

Tapping into the patriotism such events encourage is one way to do so, as can be seen below.

The probability of a player to place a bet on their own national team’s match is +40% higher than an average match played during the group stage. Surely, a bit of data that can help you match time and content for your campaigns, right?

There was plenty more where that came from if you were wondering.

“Optimove’s workshop gave me actionable insights into how to analyze our customer data to improve our omnichannel personalization strategy further,” said Nick Takashima, Audience Strategy Consultant at Betway Group. “What I like about Optimove’s approach is that they go into the specifics. I much prefer attending workshops that provide strategies for exact use cases that can then be replicated or used as a framework. In a privacy-first world with increased regulations (specifically around gambling), workshops now need to outline the more granular details of how to execute and implement the best contact strategy for brands.”

“Both the content as the atmosphere were really good,” added Jeroen Bouserie, CRM Manager with Napoleon Games. “I liked the approach shown, and it was nice to see that the data presented about the impact of both the Euros and the 2018 World Cup is in line with our data.”

“This is an initiative by the strategic services of Optimove,” told us, Mr. Liss. “Our analysts collaborate with clients to plan the strategy and the marketing operation pre, during and post the event, to better target their players and to reach the company’s objectives.”

So, get your boots and jersey ready, as this is one goal-line chance you don’t want to miss. You know Ronaldo wouldn’t.

To learn more about how Optimove can help with your CRM plans, contact motti_c@optimove.com.