Golf has grown immensely as a betting product in recent years, with the pace of the sport lending itself to live betting players.
Kicking off in a dramatic fashion this morning, the Ryder Cup provides an unrivalled opportunity for betting operators and affiliates to maximise the growth of golf and increase traffic during the tournament.
When asked about how affiliates can leverage the Ryder Cup to drive traffic to their sites and their sportsbook partners, Mike Murphy of OnlineBettingSites.com commented: “Major events in all sports present an excellent opportunity for affiliates to piggyback off the surge of interest during the lead-up to those events. The Ryder Cup is a great event for driving traffic thanks to significant media coverage and widespread interest among the public in betting on the outcome.
“Golf fans will be hungry for information, stats, and resources as they seek to make educated wagers on the Ryder Cup. This will hold especially true in European markets as the competition takes place in France this year after a rowdy stop in the United States in 2016.
“Affiliates who make the effort to publish truly informative reports, match breakdowns, odds comparisons and tie them in with related promotions and bonus offers will benefit most. Not only does truly useful content generate traffic and repeat visits, but it also builds good will and trust with readers.”
Emphasising the importance of the strategy that is undertook by affiliates, he added: “Creativity also goes a long way in this business. While the majority of affiliates tend to herd around the tried-and-true approaches such as basic previews of major events, there are ways to break off the beaten path to more effectively ride the momentum of the Ryder Cup and other tournaments.
“Focusing on just one player, for example, or an individual piece of news and then building off that with a unique editorial slant is a great way leverage the Ryder Cup while still providing unique content for readers. Working that content back into the wider topic of betting can pay dividends because it targets more specific, less competitive topics.”
He went onto detail how operators and affiliates can engage both casual and hardcore golf fans, during the Ryder Cup, emphasising: “The Ryder Cup is a golden opportunity to relate to casual and hardcore fans alike – it may actually be one of the very best events for connecting with both types of fans.
“The Ryder Cup appeals to casuals with big name golfers who are known to the general public and big-name appeal is an easy way to connect with recreational fans. Simple write-ups discussing how big-name players are likely to perform, what those players have been up to recently and their current betting odds is a reliable way to drum up interest.”
Highlighting the importance of golf’s star names to attracting casual punters, he went onto state: “The resurgence of Tiger Woods and his unlikely return to form was tailor made to connect with casual golf fans. Even people who don’t watch golf know who Tiger Woods is. His recent comeback makes it easy to spin an intriguing narrative of the former great, plagued by injuries and personal troubles, returning now as the underdog and against all odds.
“Information and data have a place for serious punters, but it is the narrative that invokes emotion, provokes controversy, encourages discussion and generates page views. And as useful as it is for an affiliate to target specific topics in order to attract qualified website visitors who are interested in betting on golf right now, raw numbers in terms of pure traffic also generate backlinks and ad clicks.”
He concluded: “Something else affiliates should keep in mind with golf betting in general is hardcore betting analyses are great for establishing trust, but don’t necessarily convert new customers. How many people viewing an article about gaining a statistical betting edge already have funded accounts somewhere? Compare that to selling your more casual viewers on a free bet offer at your favourite bookmaker when they drop by to read about the big name of the day.
“With that in mind, the approach affiliates can take to maximise the casual and hardcore audience alike is as simple as this: produce content that engages the casual and hardcore punters. The trick is learning how to court both types of fans.”
