GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 39 - November 2017

Following the Lottery’s Rise “[The lottery] was mainly dominated by the nationals and mo- nopolies; however, where there were perhaps one or two lotto brands a few years ago, now there are three times as many,” she told the GPWA Times Magazine over e-mail. Players are no longer bound by physi- cal borders, either – it’s easier than ever to buy a lottery ticket from another country. “Players can purchase their tickets within a few clicks and the process is very similar to buying in a shop. At EuroLotto, play- ers can buy tickets for six of the world’s biggest lotteries – for instance, Powerball, which is only available offline in the United States, last year hit €1.3 billion! I don’t think that there is a typical lotto player; it’s such a mass-mar- ket vertical that everyone can play and have a shot at winning big,” said Gardiner. How likely is it that you’re going to win a lottery game, anyway? Not very – in fact, you’ll find more articles explaining why you shouldn’t play the lottery than articles explaining why you should . But the payout is an enormous, often life-changing amount of money that’s hard to resist. For many, the amount lost when buying a lottery ticket is worth even a slim chance of winning. The barrier to entry is lowwhen compared to, say, poker. There are no rules to memorize, nor are there any strategy require- ments. Just buy and go. It’s a low-effort investment with the potential for a huge payout for the player. And lottery syndicates are making it even easier to win by letting players pool their money together to buy tickets, which means a better chance of winning for them and bigger returns for you. In general, the higher a jackpot is, the more likely someone is to buy a ticket. And for each ticket sold, an affiliate can receive a 10%-15% commission rate, depending on the number of sales generated per month. For instance, WinTrillions requires at least 25 sales – a number that may seem huge, before you remember that lottery players tend to keep coming back reliably, with many purchasing on a monthly or weekly basis. Commission plans for the lottery are comparable to any other online vertical, but should be carefully considered. CPA (cost per acquisition) is lower in lottery because there isn’t a glut of advertisers, players and the like yet, which can be a deal breaker for some – though it should increase with brand saturation as more adopt the online lottery. For this reason, many current lottery affiliates prefer a revenue share model, which points to good player retention. “Retention is also a lot higher, as players tend to return more frequently to buy their week- ly or daily lotto ticket and, at the same time, tend to have a spin or two on slots,” said Gardiner. Wendy Lawrence con- firmed that the market for secondary lottery is increasing quickly. “The main reason is quite simple: The lottery market is currently expanding with the entrance of new players in the insured and betting model, and new online-only society and charity lotteries. The market is, there- fore, muchmore than the state or national lotteries. As a market with broader appeal, it has the potential to deliver acquisition rewards and CPAs, if not the margins to move into lifetime value of percent commissions. It is also generally true that playerswho play other verticalswill almost certainly play the lottery – while the opposite is not the case,” she said. APPEALING TO BOTH CASINO PLAYERS AND CASUAL PLAYERS For many, gambling is a hobby with baggage. Spend any amount of time in that world and you’ll hear of its evils – it entices children to gamble, it enables compulsive play or, as one New York Senator infamously remarked, it’s “creating the next generation of zombies.” The lottery, however, doesn’t carry the same stigma as many other forms of gambling – it’s got an everyman appeal. “The beauty of the lotto vertical is that it is mass market and a softer sell into online gambling. Everyone, at some point, has bought a lotto ticket or a scratch card offline,” said Gardiner. And those who do make a habit of online gambling are already in that iGaming frame of mind, she said. “The cross-sell between the two is incredible, with over 50% of lotto [buyers] playing casino games within their first two weeks. “The beauty of the lotto vertical is that it is mass market and a softer sell into online gambling . Everyone, at some point, has bought a lotto ticket or a scratch card offline.” Elaine Gardiner 23 W W W . G P W A T I M E S . O R G Illustrations by Macrovector/Shutterstock; Lottery ball illustrations by andrewvec/Shutterstock