SMS Now “Channel of Choice” for NFL Gambling: 11 Reasons to Favor SMS for Campaigns
In December 2022, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported data from the Nevada Gaming Control Board revealing an ongoing trend. Mobile wagers constituted 68.1 percent of the state's total handle during the first 10 months of 2022, following the 2021 milestone of 64.6 percent. This equated to $5.3 billion out of a total of $8.1 billion in bets. The trend illustrates industry growth, tripling since 2010's figure of $2.7 billion.
The reality is that SMS Marketing is the odds-on favorite for this NFL season. Let’s dive into consumer insights and intriguing facts about SMS campaigns for the upcoming 2023-24 NFL season.
SMS Campaigns: 11 Reasons to Connect with NFL Gamblers at the Speed of the Game
High Open Rates: SMS messages have exceptionally high open rates, often exceeding 90%.
Immediate Engagement: SMS provides instant communication, making it ideal for time-sensitive updates, promotions, and game-related information that NFL gamblers value.
Direct and Personalized: SMS messages are typically short and direct, allowing for concise and personalized content that resonates with NFL gamblers’ preferences.
Universal Reach: SMS is accessible to all mobile devices, regardless of smartphone type or operating system. This ensures that your messages reach a wider audience, including those with varying technology preferences.
Timely Notifications: SMS is effective for sending real-time notifications, such as live game updates, score changes, or last-minute betting opportunities, keeping NFL gamblers engaged and informed.
Segmentation and Targeting: You can segment your audience and send targeted messages based on preferences, betting history, or specific teams of interest, enhancing the relevance of your messages.
Reliability: SMS messages are more likely to reach recipients compared to emails that might end up in spam folders or push notifications that could be blocked by settings. This reliability ensures that your messages are delivered.
Minimal Effort to Engage: NFL gamblers don’t need to download an app or navigate through a website to access SMS messages, making it a hassle-free way to engage them.
Promotions and Offers: SMS is effective for delivering exclusive promotions, special betting odds, and limited-time offers directly to NFL gamblers’ devices, encouraging them to participate.
Interaction and Feedback: SMS can be used to gather feedback through quick surveys or polls, allowing NFL gamblers to have a voice in improving their betting experience.
Opt-Out and Consent: SMS messaging operates on an opt-in basis, ensuring that NFL gamblers who receive messages have provided their consent, leading to a more engaged and receptive audience.
What makes great SMS marketing campaigns?
A few insights from NFL betting fans:
“Relevancy of Offers” and “Special Discounts” stand as top factors influencing NFL bettors to open messages from gaming sites.
85% of bettors desire digital outreach from their chosen sites.
“Point Spread” and “Players Performance” are the two pivotal factors influencing the decision to bet on NFL games.
A notable 37% of bettors express their aversion to messages from betting sites.*
Two-minute warning:
Understanding each player’s and their preferences is key. Do they seek bet suggestions or not? What insights resonate with them, and what might be irritating? Conversations we’ve held with betting enthusiasts revealed some distinct preferences: Some emphasized the desire for independence, disliking unsolicited betting suggestions. Others found value in promotions, specifically citing the appeal of depositing $100 and receiving $15 in free bets. The significance of alerts pertaining to point-spread line changes for upcoming games was highlighted by several. The feature of multi-leg parlay tracking on individual legs resonated positively with certain individuals. An eagerness for alerts related to their favored teams was also notably expressed. Two last stats for the upcoming season:
Home Field advantage is worth less now – used to be 3 points – now it has declined: Link
Damar Hamlin is projected as the NFL comeback player of the year: Link
Extra Point:
OptiText seamlessly integrates SMS marketing into the Optimove platform enabling effortless orchestration of multichannel, personalized campaigns, providing a holistic customer experience. *Preseason preview of our upcoming NFL betting stats
Rob Wyse is Senior Director of Communications at Optimove.
As a communications consultant, he has been influential in changing public opinion and policy to drive market opportunity. Example issues he has worked on include climate change, healthcare reform, homeland security, cloud transformation, AI, and other timely issues.
