Irish bookmaker Paddy Power is to alter the marketing strategy for its mobile gaming apps within the Apple App Store to a more brand-led approach in an attempt to improve conversion rates in a competitive market.
According to Marketing Week, the firm is aiming to attract iOS users searching for gaming apps using generic terms like ‘casino’ by more prominently featuring its gaming brands in its initial results.
In its existing strategy, Paddy Power would initially display screenshots from its gameplay, but a period of testing has led the firm to conclude a switch in tactics will help boost conversion rates.
“For us there’s three areas of search; there’s brand search, there’s paid search, then there’s App Store search,” Paddy Power’s senior marketing manager for its gaming brands, Ian MacLeod, said whilst speaking at the Mobile Tablet and Gambling Summit in London this week.
“We believe that we’re bringing some of the strongest selling points to the market, including our game play.”
MacLeod said that highlighting Paddy Power’s mobile functionality forms a vital part of its marketing strategy in terms of both online and offline.
“It’s really important to ensure that mobile is prominent on the TV [ads] by having notices like ‘go to the app store’,” he said. “We obviously see huge uplifts in the number of mobile searches and downloads whenever we launch campaigns.”
MacLeod also said that the company will focus on maintaining high retention rates amongst its iOS audiences as it continues to compete in what is an expanding market.
“From a retention point of view, it’s really hard to stay on a user’s screen. If people get bored of an app and stop using it they’ll delete it,” he said. “That’s not the case with people’s favourites on desktop.”
