Key performance indicators (or KPIs) is a fundamental metric for businesses to measure, in a quantifiable way, how effectively they are achieving their objectives – and numbers are essential in the iGaming space.
That specific data can cover such a wide range of areas for a gambling company, measuring basic numbers such as total players ranging to more detailed metrics such as deposit sizes, interaction, player retention and so on.
This is particularly important for those at the summit of companies, such as Jovana Popovic Canaki, CEO of iGP, who has spoken on this very topic in episode four of iGaming Daily’s podcast series ‘Dear CEO’.
In her interview with SBC Media‘s Charlie Horner, she revealed her experience and relationship with KPIs, drawing from her financial background to explain why they are vital for gambling companies, and which indicators have taken precedence.
“We are much more focused on retention and player value and the sustainability of KPIs. Lifetime value and retention matrix – it is no longer about how much a player deposits in the first or second week, its about the six-month, one-year values and so on. It then defines the marketing budget for the acquisition channel and the same goes for the retention matrix – they are crucial – and they show an operator whether the whole user experience is working.
“Back in the day, we were focusing more on the monthly figures, but now it is more granular. We have added far more parameters. It is more about how they have become a part of automated systems in an operator ecosystem.
“We used to have endless Excel spreadsheet exports and doing analysis and I remember those long nights! Now we have systems that give us the results, allowing us to make good decisions to manage the business better.”
In terms of the future, she raised the idea of focusing on the player experience, such as engagement as being crucial for understanding where they can improve as a company. “I believe the future will bring more focus on player quality rather than quantity and that we won’t be chasing only big numbers.
“Things like engagement score and tracking behaviour patterns and the frequency of the playing of the product – perhaps with the help of AI for not just one, two or three parameters perhaps far more in one place.”
One question raised in the podcast was around the concept of vanity figures – seemingly impressive figures but those which fail to reveal any meaningful or detailed data – and in the iGaming industry it is something that Canaki warned companies against falling for.
“These type of metrics are present; companies use them, teams use them, but you shouldn’t be looking at them for the ones you are basing your decisions off. Those decisions would not be quality decisions for sure, not sustainable or long-term. They are flashy numbers that don’t tell you much about the business or the health of it – like everyday sign-ups or registrations.
“You don’t look at the whole picture, that is where the problem lies. That’s why they are dangerous, that’s why operators should be careful because it will never lead to sustainable growth – you’ll see the spikes but they won’t be constant and the whole thing might crash.”
While KPIs help to measure the growth over time for established operators, the topic of question turned to which ones could be most predictive of long term success for new market entrants. Entering a saturated world such as the gambling industry brings immense challenges but the data can help inform strong decision making and growth, especially from a place of infancy.
“It is not easy to define which KPIs in particular can predict or not predict – but there are certainly a few. In terms of the first few months of a new business, for example. You need to measure it closely to see how the product is developing.
“You need to look at the benchmark for the market to help measure the effectiveness of the campaign, track your return on investment and be able to fine tune on a daily basis every deal you made for the player acquisition. That can help to see how the investment translates into player retention.”
Interestingly, the iGP CEO honed in on one area she believes is under-utilised by the industry, opening up a potentially ground-breaking area for others to re-assess and implement whilst reiterating that carefully understanding data segmented in its individuality is crucial as opposed to combining data from different segments which can mask true conclusions.
“One metric I believe is quite un-utilised by teams in the industry is cross-product conversion – sports and casino – a good product conversion could predict the long-term success as a brand. I don’t we pay enough attention as an industry, if you set a cross-product as an onboarding goal for your brand you might see something interesting for player retention.
“The reality of today is that many teams look at the blended performance and not the segmented. You might miss out on some gems or some smaller player segments or affiliates, where in reality, if you looked at them segmented and measured it towards your overall average you would see that would need to double or triple your acquisition or retention budget – but you wouldn’t know it if you looked at the blended performance.”
