Social media and the online gambling market have been merging for quite some time now. To further associate social networking and online gaming, Twitter has launched a new ‘Bet Now’ button which will allow gaming site affiliates to convert followers into players. The new Bet Now button will appear to on gaming updates from betting affiliates to Twitter users in the United Kingdom.
It will allow users to quickly access gaming sites and place in-game wagers. According to iGamingBusiness, this new feature will certainly help to boost live betting odds for online bookmakers. With smartphones and tablet computers becoming increasingly popular, there has been a sharp increase in live betting activities at betting sites. So, Twitter is building on this trend.
There are some situations when punters cannot watch matches live, so they follow live updates from Twitter. Betting affiliates and operators publish updates when any important events occur in big matches, and now players will be able to instantly make in-game wagers while keeping up with these steams. Aideen Shortt, a social media expert for iGamingBusiness, states that this is a great move for both Twitter and the online gaming market.
The ‘Bet Now’ button further strengthens the connection between social networking and betting sites, and allows affiliates and operators to better appeal to target audiences. “Affiliates can reach particular audiences based on specific shows or matches, channels, sporting events or even programme genres,” Short says.
“The depth of targeting is endless, and in a hugely competitive marketplace which has so many obstacles, the premise of one-to-one, individual marketing is no longer a luxury, but a necessity.” This feature is not yet available to Australian punters.
We can see it being a huge success in the UK, which may inspire it to be made available in the local betting market at some point in the future.