Alex Kornilov: “Marketing spend optimization will guide future company decisions”

Alex Kornilov is the CEO of Betegy, a company that caters to the needs of the iGaming and sports betting industries by using data-driven personalization to create scalable display advertising campaigns for digital, programmatic, broadcast, and retail. Our conversation with Alex is an eye-opener as he walks us through the approach that Betegy has employed over the years to establish itself as a market leader, the understanding of deeper regulatory changes that guide the marketing approach, and the role that personalization would play in delivering successful campaigns. It’s no longer a matter of just spending money, although this could remain an issue – it’s also about how companies invest in their approach and process.

Q: What drives Betegy’s product offer and market approach in 2023 and how has the company evolved over the years?

The main idea behind our attitude toward product development and market approach, not only in 2023 but throughout our existence, has been to solve the real problems of our existing clients and present something to the market that makes sense—driven not only by our vision and approach for product development but also with high consideration of our clients’ needs. Therefore, our product offering and market approach in 2023 was largely in line with what it has been in previous years: to work closely with our clients to understand their needs and problems.

If you look at the gaming industry’s approach to marketing over the years, you’ll see significant changes from 2017—when operators had heard about personalization but didn’t understand its importance or how to incorporate it into their marketing—to 2023, in which most companies know about and try to implement these personalized solutions. In essence, our focus continues to be on enhancing our clients’ marketing efforts through personalization, but the way in which we employ those tactics changes as the market shifts.

Q: Operators have had to adapt to many changes in their marketing strategies necessitated by technology and regulation – how has Betegy helped with this?

Regulations define fundamental shifts in marketing strategy. Many new gaming markets experience a massive rush in advertising, particularly in the first six months, as operators seek to capture market share and increase brand awareness. Then, their focus shifts to enhancing their marketing approach, particularly concerning customer acquisition and cost per result. As such, regulation—and the legalization of gaming in a given market—plays a huge role in operators’ approach to marketing, and technology determines the effectiveness of these campaigns.

In the long run, after that six-month mark, operators’ marketing campaigns need to be scalable, and able to generate new customers in new locations. Using marketing technology to personalize these campaigns, including a focus on the audience, their location, and their preferences, is crucial to ensuring compliance with highly customized regulations in different markets.

Q: How important is personalization for today’s betting and gaming market and what are the main challenges to adopting this technology successfully?

Companies are starting to see a dramatic improvement in their campaigns when they are personalized. This does require an investment, not in money but in approach and process. Everyone understands the benefits of personalization, and operators are starting to understand that the associated costs are worth facing to reap those benefits. For an operator to change their approach to personalization, they have to invest in marketing technology development, and it can be difficult to find the necessary resources to make that investment. Our offering is important to the market because we substitute the need for creating a separate marketing team by providing our skills and resources to facilitate that personalization.

Q: What are the particular aspects of this industry-wide marketing overhaul where Betegy holds the high ground?

It is extraordinarily expensive for operators to launch in a new market. A significant amount of capital is applied immediately, and they can’t afford to run long, expensive marketing campaigns without substantial results. We help operators to optimize their marketing strategy and campaigns, and continuously adjust their creative and targeting to ensure higher performance and greater transparency. Given the high barrier of entry for operators, and the speed with which they need to reach a break-even point, this is incredibly important.

Q: Can you make one prediction about the future of marketing in the industry and Betegy’s place in it in the next couple of years – a rather long period to talk about, we know!

In the coming years, we’ll see operators increase their focus on marketing spend optimization. Companies are now establishing their positions and drilling down on key KPIs in their campaigns, increasing transparency, looking at every step of their customer journeys, and improving across every stage of the process. We’ll see this trend expand in the months and years to come.­­

As for Betegy itself, data is becoming increasingly available and informative, and as we gain clients, we are able to increase the efficiency of our creatives and campaigns. The more we acquire, the more we learn, the more data can optimize our results. One of our goals is to launch cross-channel marketing, allowing products of multiple platforms to be used at the same time: for example, out of home, TV, social, and digital, all through one campaign/platform with one adapted message that can be effectively tracked and optimized.

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