The UK bingo market is one of the biggest on the planet and it’s definitely caught the eye of the affiliate marketing world.
Affiliates who are looking to break into this market should be aware of some of the season fluctuations and other challenges that make bingo a tougher market than some folks think.
If there’s anyone who could be considered an expert on the UK bingo market it’s Phil Fraser, founder of Whichbingo.com. He recently sat down with us here at CAP to share his insights on how these factors impact bingo in the UK. Here’s what he had to say.
CAP: Not all of our readers are that familiar with the UK bingo market, can you give these folks a high level view of the market today?
FRASER: The UK online bingo market continues to grow, despite it’s already highly competitive nature, with new sites launching all the time. The WhichBingo UK Directory (http://www.whichbingo.co.uk/online-bingo-directory) lists every site in the UK and today lists 358 different sites. Over a dozen have launched this year alone, and interestingly for 2012 we are now also seeing new game software appearing.
CAP: Why is bingo so huge in the UK?
FRASER: Britain has a long-standing culture of bingo, so the move from physical to online has not been an issue. Everyone in the UK, including kids, knows how to play bingo, so the are no ‘how do I play?’ barriers, as there may be with some casino games and poker.
CAP: What seasonal factors are there with online bingo?
FRASER: There are no real seasonal factors per se in online bingo. However, good weather means people are outside more, and therefore on their PCs less, meaning less play in online bingo. The Late Spring hot spell we saw in the UK saw player numbers drop, whilst the recent ‘monsoon season’ has seen player numbers return. It is player lifestyle that has the biggest impact on player numbers with weekends tending to see a dip in players, as do ‘school run’ times.
CAP: Is this phenomenon unique to bingo?
FRASER: The lifestyle effect described above can, in very broad terms, be seen as the ‘housewife and mother’ effect. As most other online gaming is far less reliant on this demographic, then the effect is far less.
CAP: How can affiliate partners prepare for these seasonal fluctuations?
FRASER: I do not believe that affiliates should amend their activity to reflect this, apart from maybe if they have an external marketing spend (something like a PPC campaign) that they can maybe ‘turn down’ over the weekend.
CAP: What other external factors impact this market?
FRASER: Affiliates need to look at their demographic, and think about their lifestyles. I know it’s VERY broad brush strokes but mums will be off their PCs at school run times, meal times, weekends, school holidays
CAP: Will this market keep growing?
FRASER: The number of competitive sites keeps growing, but in my humble opinion the number of completely new online bingo player ‘virgins’ is not growing at the same pace.
CAP: Is the success of online bingo in the UK repeatable in other markets?
FRASER: There is no reason why it can’t be, as long as the cultural and legislative building blocks are in place.
Want to hear more from Fraser about the UK bingo market? Check out his recent CAP webinar: 6 Keys To Profiting In Online Bingo Revealed.