Image Maintenance for Online Casinos and Bookmaker’s Offices

The iGaming and sportsbook industry is more exposed to risks related to their reputation than other areas. These include negative mentions in the media, black PR from competitors, and frequent changes in the regulatory framework. As a result of that, any business can instantly become illegal.

Today, to successfully operate in the market, it is not enough to obtain a prestigious licence and buy reliable content. Entrepreneurs also need to continuously work on the image of their brands and build greater trust with customers.

About the Concept

High status and trust in an iGaming firm are built over the years, but they can be lost within a few days or even hours. Therefore, businessmen should carefully assess their strengths and weaknesses, as well as all risks.

Reputation management is a set of measures aimed at creating and maintaining a positive view of the company among players, partners, and regulators.

The main emphasis is on the perception of the brand by users since they are the ones who generate income for the entertainment platform. Relationships with the B2B segment and legal authorities are also important. They ensure the legitimate and successful work of enterprises and open access to large investments and concessional lending.

According to the MOZ study, losses that damage the image of firms look like this:

• 25% of clients go to competitors' websites even if there is only one negative factor (for example, a bad review on the Internet);
• 59,2% of bettors leave the digital portal when they come across at least 3 negative mentions of it;
• 70% of players leave if, in the search results, they see 4 or more pages with negative feedback about the gambling platform.

According to Ernst and Young, 30% of the success of companies depends on their goodwill. The market capitalisation of companies takes from 20 to 25% of their image indicators. In the media, consulting, and other promising areas, this figure can be 70% or more.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, Entain CEO Jette Nygaard-Andersen noted:

The casino and sportsbook niche has a reputation of an “unfair” industry. Therefore, it is important that our customers understand that we care about their safety and offer reliable products.

What Problems the iGaming Sector Faces

Image risk is the likelihood of a negative public opinion of an enterprise as a result of certain actions or, conversely, negligence. Entertainment brands constantly overcome various challenges. For example, unprofessional support staff or unflattering mentions of the betting process in the media.

The gambling sphere is more prone to such problems than other areas, so continuous work on building a positive reputation is important here. It is necessary to daily convey to the public that the casino business is legal and socially responsible.

Let us consider what challenges operators face.

Technical Risks

This includes program/system failure, device breakdowns, use of software without certificates of conformity, and denial of a licence. It is also worth mentioning security, which contains the safety of personal details and the secrecy of correspondence.

Data privacy is the cornerstone of trust in the iGaming niche.

Owners of casino sites and betting platforms face cybercriminals every day. The goal of the attacks is to disrupt the platforms, create thousands of fake accounts, and steal the clients’ information that should not be disclosed. This is the full name, bank account number, etc.

Such actions negatively affect the image of an entertainment portal. Players stop registering on it, making deposits, and placing bets.

Risks of industrial accidents also fall in this category:

• fires in data centres;
• outages of electricity;
• mass hacker attacks, and other disasters that directly or indirectly affect the reputation of gambling companies.

For example, if an enterprise has not created copies of databases on backup servers in advance, then in case of fire, all information will be lost or severely damaged. Customers are unlikely to want to continue visiting this digital resource, fearing new unforeseen situations.

The emergence of empty sites (satellites) is another type of technical problem. Such portals function as fraudulent copies. They steal Internet traffic from licensed online casinos and betting shops, thus taking income from legal operators.

Human Risks

This includes rudeness and negligence by employees, bad management decisions, and negative feedback from users. This group also includes challenges associated with unfair competition in the market.

The most common option is the posting of negative comments by players. Literally 2 or 3 bad mentions of an iGaming site can cause an avalanche effect and create a poor information field around the brand.

Reviews from dissatisfied customers are also dangerous because other people read them with interest, make reposts, and leave their opinions on the situation. This is how User Generated Content is created. It has a high level of trust from the audience and huge viral potential.

The activities of business opponents (operators, bookmakers, and software vendors) can also cause the spread of negativity on the Internet. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully study all feedback about the company in the media and immediately respond to any manifestations of unfair competition.

Economic Risks

This category includes the likelihood of:

• tax disputes;
• cooperation with dishonest B2B partners (suppliers of program components, hosting providers, and advertisers);
• licence revocation;
• changes in the regulatory framework;
• illegal actions of investors;
• lawsuits, etc.

Economic risks almost always entail huge financial losses. Brands may suffer from fines and additional fees and lose regular customers or profitable contracts with B2B partners.

The most common example of such a problem is changes in the regulatory framework in the country where the firm provides its services. Even the slightest innovations (advertising restrictions or increase of the age limit by one year) fundamentally change the enterprise’s work in the selected market.

Therefore, it is better to launch iGaming startups in popular jurisdictions with a developed economy and stable legislation.

How to Prevent Reputational Costs

There are several protection mechanisms:

1. Monitoring mentions of the casino. It should be done regularly to promptly identify any newsbreaks: positive info or negative comments. Automated systems can be used to facilitate the process. Both free versions and paid products are available for entrepreneurs.
2. Response. It is important to provide answers to pressing questions timely and resolve customer problems quickly. Owners of gambling and betting projects can react differently, from responding to negative comments to holding press conferences after major scandals.
3. Creation of positive content. It helps to displace negativity and form a good information field around the brand. The high-quality content allows operators to maintain and update the already-established reputation. If the company's image indicators are quite low, then correct materials will quickly correct the situation in favour of the firm.
4. Compensation for reputational costs. When an enterprise has already incurred losses, the only chance to recover them is to go to court. As a rule, providers of entertainment for money suffer from the dissemination of false info. They demand refutation and indemnification.

An important point is legal work in the market. The availability of a licence and certificates of conformity is a definite advantage. If there are no permits, the platform's image suffers greatly. People will be afraid to make deposits, and B2B partners will not sign cooperation agreements.

It is worth constantly reminding the audience that you have an authorisation document. It shows that the business is honest and legal, responsible gambling rules are being followed, and taxes are paid on time.

Methods of Reputational Risk Control

It is almost impossible to avoid mistakes in the entertainment niche but some problems can be prevented. To do this, it is necessary to take care of anti-crisis security measures and develop an emergency response plan in advance.

The risk management system in the casino sector is based on 3 principles:

1. Avoidance. This is one of the most effective techniques, the essence of which is to prevent unfavourable situations in advance. For example, operators can refuse “black PR” or dubious advertising campaigns and choose a legal promotion of their startups. Dismissal of disloyal employees is a good option as well.
2. Reduction. This is the minimisation of possible damage if an unforeseen event has already occurred. Prompt responses to negative reviews, continuous training of personnel, and holding press conferences will be quite helpful. In any case, entrepreneurs need to be visionary so that a small conflict does not escalate into a large-scale crisis.
3. Analysis. This step makes it possible to conduct a high-quality risk assessment, systematise the accumulated knowledge and skills, and successfully apply the obtained data in future periods. It is also essential to study the experience of competitors in resolving difficult situations and understand in which moments the companies did the job successfully.

Business owners can protect themselves from risks by preparing an Anti-Crisis Program in advance. This is a list of documents that contain prepared remarks for the media for each unforeseen situation.

Besides, operators can describe the sequence of actions and communication channels in case of the development of a variety of risks, from incorrect organisation of activity on social networks to cyber attacks and leakage of confidential data.

SERM for Risk Administration on the Internet

There is a whole area that deals with the creation and maintenance of a positive image of a company on the Web.

The abbreviation SERM is translated as “search engine reputation management”. The main emphasis is on the correct promotion of online casinos or bookmakers’ offices through Google algorithms with a minimum of negativity and always useful up-to-date information.

Key components of the concept:

1. High-quality analytics. This is the collection and study of information about the firm and its competitors on the Internet search results, as well as the identification of negative feedback. Monitoring should be carried out both before the implementation of SERP tools and at all intermediate and final stages.
2. Strategy development. The main focus should be on those aspects in which the operators are far behind their competitors. This may be poor visibility in Google, an abundance of inconsiderate comments, minimal presence on thematic resources, and other factors that may affect the reputation.
3. Cleaning and displacement. A planned deletion of unwanted information from search results is carried out, and it is replaced with good content. This can be reviews, articles, promotional materials, successful cases, as well as other engaging materials. The second action allows businessmen to change the key queries from negative to positive, thereby increasing the authority of iGaming resources.
4. Improvement of the site’s ratings. This is done thanks to SEO tools. Here, it is important not only to work with entertainment products but also to fill the platforms with a reference mass, carry out re-linking, and increase the productivity of the casino portal. SMM options and targeted advertising can also be used.
5. Formation of a reputation. Step-by-step work with resources with the players’ reviews, publication of image articles, increase in the amount of high-quality content, and other factors have a positive effect on the reputation of brands. For example, if a company participates in charitable foundations, implements ESG initiatives, and sponsors sports teams, then it is definitely worth telling customers and B2B partners about this.
6. Consolidation of positions. The ability to stay at the top of online casinos or betting locations is not as easy as it may seem at first glance. It is necessary to continuously monitor the market situation and simultaneously increase the volume of positive information.

SERM is a universal risk management system for iGaming startups. The solution will be useful in a variety of cases, be it poor awareness of a brand, the fight against black PR, or an abundance of negative reviews on the Internet.

Using the tool will increase the site's rating and attract new solvent traffic.

The Main Things about Business Reputation in Gambling

Key aspects that entrepreneurs need to take into account:

• There are different categories of problems. Most often, these are technical, economic, and human risks. The iGaming and betting industry is characterised by an abundance of hacker attacks that involve the theft of confidential data. Companies also suffer from negative reviews on the Internet, lawsuits, and sharp changes in the regulatory framework.
• Protection of an enterprise from reputational costs requires an integrated approach. It is necessary to continuously monitor the market, respond to critical situations in a timely manner, create positive content, and work on the compensation of costs.
• SERM is a set of tools for online reputation management. It can be used to quickly displace negativity, post useful information for readers, improve positions in SEO results, and consolidate the company's top positions.

From us, it is also possible to order the following useful products:

• a turnkey online casino;
• a licensed White Label platform;
• games from certified suppliers;
• security software;
• program components for betting portals, and much more.