For a long time, betting companies in Brazil had a justification for not treating apps as a relevant acquisition channel: the main app stores simply weren't as open to the sector as they are today.
That barrier fell. Google and Apple opened up space for authorized dealership apps in Brazil, and suddenly a new channel for acquisition, relationship building, and monetization emerged.
For betting companies, however, the app is not just another channel. It's a portal for engagement and loyalty, right in the customer's hand. It's the possibility of keeping the bettor closer to the product, updates, and the brand itself.
But with this opportunity comes a completely new game: more complex, fragmented, and demanding.
The question is simple: does your betting site know how to scale an app?
Having a published app doesn't mean having a mobile strategy. And that difference could be costing you money, and in a few months, perhaps a significant market share.
The logic that worked on the web doesn't automatically transfer to mobile.
The Brazilian betting market has become very efficient in web acquisition. The structure built around affiliates, paid media, influencers, landing pages, tracking, CPA, revenue share, and FTD works like few other industries.
There is a sophisticated machine to understand where the player came from, how much it cost to acquire them, and how much revenue they generated.
On mobile, the logic changes.
The user clicks on an ad or link, accesses the store, installs the app, opens it, registers, goes through KYC, makes their first deposit, places a bet, and ideally, returns, and returns frequently.
Between the click and the revenue, there's an entire journey that needs to be correctly connected, measured, and analyzed with precision.
And that's where the challenge begins.
Mobile is not just the web inside an app.
Anyone who thinks mobile is simply the web inside an app is mistaken. Much of the market has already learned that treating mobile as an extension of the web is an efficient way to waste investment.
Cookies, pixels, and traditional tracking frameworks don't solve everything in the same way in this environment. The mobile ecosystem demands its own attribution and measurement technologies, typically organized through MMPs (Mobile Measurement Partners) like AppsFlyer.
And, just as important as the technology, is having a team that understands this world.
MMP is a central piece in an app's MarTech structure. It's through MMP that the operation can identify where users are coming from, optimize campaigns and partners, reduce acquisition costs, increase ROAS, and create strategies to engage those who have already installed the app.
Building a mobile MarTech infrastructure requires a strategy to avoid waste. It's necessary to configure events correctly, integrate partners, structure links, define attribution windows, track behavior after installation, and, most importantly, connect acquisition to business results.
Are you interested in learning more about this topic? (See the end of the article).
Installation is not the result.
Knowing how many people installed the app says very little. The questions that really matter are different:
⇒ Which media outlets and campaigns brought this player to Brazil — and what is his value?
⇒ Which channel featured players who actually gambled?
How can you optimize acquisition costs and do more with less?
⇒ Which partner brought in a lot of volume but little value?
⇒ How do users who remain active after 7, 30, or 60 days behave?
⇒ How to optimize the journey to encourage the first deposit?
That's the logic behind mobile growth.
And there's a good chance that many firms are leaving money on the table precisely because they still can't answer these questions clearly.
The interesting thing is that the problem isn't always the absence of technology. In many cases, the platform has already been contracted, the SDK has already been installed, and the data is already being collected and presented in dashboards.
What's lacking is day-to-day operation.
There's a huge difference between having an MMP and knowing how to operate it. Between hiring AppsFlyer and structuring an acquisition strategy around it. Between measuring installs and connecting investment, acquisition, deposits, stakes, retention, and revenue.
A new opportunity for affiliates – if measurement keeps up.
This difference becomes even more relevant now because the opening of the App Stores also creates a new opportunity for affiliates.
The online affiliate already knows their terrain inside and out: links, campaigns, code, pages, and conversion. On mobile, however, there's an App Store in the middle. The click happens in one place; the installation, in another; and the conversion can occur hours or days later.
If this journey is not properly structured, the operator loses visibility, the affiliate loses the ability to prove results, and the channel fails to reach its potential.
When the infrastructure works, the opposite happens.
The company can measure better. The affiliate can explore a new channel. The MMP truly takes center stage in mobile measurement. And campaigns can be optimized for quality, not just volume.
It is at this point that the app ceases to be just another way to access the platform and becomes a true driver of growth.
The consumer is already on their mobile phone.
The discussion becomes even more relevant because the Brazilian consumer is already mobile.
The media is on your cell phone.
Social media is on your cell phone.
Influencers are on their cell phones.
WhatsApp is on your cell phone.
And a large part of the betting journey already happened on mobile phones even before the stores opened. Now, the app can finally play a much more relevant role in this equation. But someone needs to operate it as an acquisition channel.
Therefore, perhaps the most important question is not:
"Does our betting site already have an app?"
And yes:
"Does our betting platform know how to acquire, measure, and monetize users through it?"
If you can't say for sure which campaign brought in the install, which partner brought in the depositor, and how much that player generated afterward, perhaps a mobile growth strategy doesn't yet exist.
How much money do you still intend to leave on the table?
(*) Marlon Luft, co-founder of Caaqui and Audt. caaqui.com – audtai.com
Join the webinar "The App Stores are open. Now what?"
The webinar will take place on September 30th at 16 PM, and registration is free.
Link: https://www.caaqui.com/webinar-app-growth-bets.
