As the year draws to a close so does the first series of Footprints in the Market.

Over the last seven episodes, Sharon McFarlane, Managing Director of Digital Footprints, was joined by “some of the biggest marketing minds in igaming” and for the closing episode, she broke down some of the best lessons we’ve learned throughout the series.

Don’t bite off more than you can chew

During episode two, Dan Shannon, Head of Affiliate Marketing & SEO at CBS Global, emphasised the need for new operators to target two or three geographical locations to begin with and establish themselves in these regions before looking to expand.

“From an agency side, we’ve experienced that,” agreed McFarlane. “We’ve got affiliates and operators that are potentially biting off more than they can chew in terms of their geo-targeting.

“The first thing we need to do is have expectations managed and there’s a huge amount of work that goes into each of those locations and there’s a lot of thought that needs to be behind it. There needs to be an understanding of how that’s going to be resourced and there can just be bits that people forget.

“People forget and think this is the new emerging trend, we want to hop on it, we want to get there where everybody else is, and that’s great. But, if you do too much at the one time, then you run the risk of not being successful in any of those emerging markets.”

Combatting negative connotations

Later on in the series, Niamh Gallagher, Marketing Manager at Mindway AI, spoke about the need for the industry to educate the general public on regulation of the industry and restrictions on advertising.

“There is a lot that needs to be done in terms of educating the general public on what we’re trying to do as an industry and on our safer gambling initiatives,” explained McFarlane.

“I think from an industry perspective to have more affiliates and operators really pushing those messages out there could potentially change that narrative and change those negative connotations that are attached to the online gambling industry as a whole and create more fruitful partnerships across the board.”

Kindred’s sponsorship strategy

Finally, McFarlane touched base with Adam GaskellKindred Group’s Head of UK Marketing, who outlined the firm’s strategy to promote its Zero% mission through its partnerships with teams such as Rangers and Middlesbrough.

Gaskell said: “I feel like we’ve done a really good job. We obviously have a percentage of our advertising now which promotes safer gaming tools and the zero per cent mission.

“I think we have 25 to 30% of our advertising dedicated to safer gaming and we’re really making sure that what we put in front of people is effective in terms of safer gambling.”

Reflecting on this point, McFarlane explained that being a “true partnership” is critical to the success of sponsorships in general rather than just being a “vanity sponsorship”.

She added: “I think you’re going to get so much more success when you work collaboratively to make not just a difference with their advertising campaigns but also to have those common goals achieved.”

You can click here to watch the full episode. You can also click here to catch up with any episodes you may have missed throughout the series.

Footprints in the Market: End of season round-up