iGaming marketing requires a long-term strategy, not heavy spending
The first months following market regulation usually trigger a race for market share. Large-scale advertising campaigns, aggressive bonuses and heavy customer acquisition spending often dominate operators’ strategies. However, as markets mature, this approach becomes less effective.
This is what is happening in countries such as Brazil, where the regulatory environment continues to evolve rapidly and competition is becoming increasingly intense. In this scenario, companies that rely solely on increasing marketing investment tend to face higher customer acquisition costs, while those that prioritise brand positioning, local market adaptation and player relationships are better positioned in the market.
According to Michela Pace, Fractional CMO at GameOn, one of the most common mistakes made by companies entering newly regulated markets is treating expansion as a race for immediate scale.
“Operators arrive expecting to buy growth, but they end up competing through the same acquisition channels, bidding on the same keywords and pursuing the same sponsorships. Costs rise quickly, and the companies that stand out are the ones that did the less visible work first,” she said.
According to Pace, that work primarily involves localisation and regulatory compliance. In the Brazilian market, this means carefully adapting campaigns, communications and commercial strategies to the characteristics of local consumers while keeping pace with a regulatory framework that has continued to evolve since its introduction in 2025.
Pace added that many international operators assumed that business models that had succeeded in European markets could simply be replicated in Brazil. However, stronger regulatory oversight and stricter advertising rules demonstrate that every jurisdiction requires its own approach.
Another challenge is managing expectations of return on investment. In newly regulated markets, building a reputation takes time, particularly in a sector that continues to face resistance from parts of society and is subject to frequent regulatory changes.
Acquisition remains important, but retention gains ground
Acquiring new customers remains a priority for betting operators and online casinos. Even so, the industry is increasingly focusing on retention metrics and the value generated throughout the customer relationship. As a result, some industry experts believe that strategies focused exclusively on attracting new users are gradually giving way to initiatives centred on retention and personalised player experiences.
Pace cited excessive reliance on promotional incentives as an example, a practice that remains common across several international markets.
“If every brand offers virtually the same benefit, it stops being a differentiator and simply becomes the cost of entering the market,” Pace said.
A deeper understanding of player behaviour enables operators to develop loyalty campaigns that are more effective than standardised promotions. Personalised incentives and experiences tailored to each user’s profile are more likely to build lasting relationships and increase lifetime value, the metric that measures the revenue generated over the course of a customer’s relationship with an operator.
She expressed a similar view regarding some digital influencer campaigns. While acknowledging that influencer marketing can produce results when properly planned, she believes many companies still prioritise reach over relevance by investing in profiles that have little connection with their target audience or without establishing clear metrics to measure returns.
Integrated marketing replaces the search for the perfect channel
Another transformation within the sector concerns how companies allocate their marketing investments across different channels. For many years, the discussion focused on identifying which platform delivered the highest return on investment. Today, the trend is to develop integrated strategies in which each channel serves a specific role throughout the customer journey.
In the B2B segment, for example, public relations, content production, SEO, LinkedIn, in-person events and paid campaigns often complement one another. While some initiatives strengthen reputation and authority, others help generate business opportunities or reinforce relationships with customers and partners.
“There is no single channel that delivers the best results in every situation. Performance depends on the company’s objectives and how each initiative contributes to the overall strategy.”
This shift also reflects the growing maturity of the iGaming industry itself. Rather than concentrating resources on isolated campaigns, companies are seeking to build a presence across multiple touchpoints with operators, partners and consumers, strengthening their brands over time.
Peru is Latin America’s next opportunity
While Brazil continues to attract a significant share of the industry’s investment in Latin America, other markets in the region are beginning to feature more prominently in companies’ strategic planning.
Among them, Pace believes Peru stands out as one of the main opportunities for the coming years. According to her, the country has all the ingredients for success: national regulation, a rapidly growing player base and a market that remains far less saturated than others in the region.
She believes that, although Colombia continues to serve as a benchmark for regulatory stability, much of its fastest growth has already taken place. Peru, by contrast, still offers room for consolidation and the arrival of new brands.
“Operators that invest in branding and localisation now will secure market share that will be much more expensive to acquire in the future,” she said.
Consumer behaviour indicators also help explain why Peru is attracting growing interest from the industry. Data from Blask, a market intelligence platform specialising in the iGaming sector that monitors digital consumer behaviour and the performance of different gambling verticals, shows that sports betting overwhelmingly dominates the Peruvian market, accounting for 83.01 per cent of player interest in June 2026. Live casino follows with 8.06 per cent, online casino with 3.82 per cent, online poker with 3.48 per cent and fantasy sports with 1.62 per cent.
The player profile also reveals a relatively young market. According to Blask, 35 per cent of players are between 25 and 34 years old, while 25 per cent are aged between 35 and 44, and 22 per cent are between 18 and 24 years old. For operators seeking to expand across Latin America, these figures indicate a digitally engaged consumer base with a strong affinity for sports betting, creating favourable conditions for investment in brand building and retention strategies.
Pace also highlighted Chile as a market worth monitoring if its regulatory process advances in the coming years. The country has been discussing the introduction of online betting regulation for several years, and the industry expects that, if approved, the new framework will attract international operators seeking to establish a presence from the outset of the regulated market.
This article was first published on the Portuguese SiGMA News page on 16 July 2026.
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