Are Operators Overlooking Their Most Valuable Retention Channel?

# iGaming Real Talk | Anna Mnatsakanyan, DIGITAIN

And welcome back to another episode of iGaming Real Talk. We are here at SBC in Lisbon, and I have with me Anna from DIGITAIN. Anna, welcome to the show.

Thank you so much for inviting me.

It's a pleasure to have you here. I want to kick off with something that's common knowledge, but it's still interesting to figure out why it needs to be done. For example, how can operators turn a better understanding of their players into measurable business value?

This is a very good question, and this is the reason behind DIGITAIN's concept at SBC this year, where we say, "We Know the Player". There is a good reason behind this. It starts with understanding what players actually need from the experience. At DIGITAIN, we use that understanding to make the journey simpler, more intuitive and more engaging. When the experience is better for the player, it can help operators create stronger retention and long-term value.

Yeah, because it's all about maximising player value and making sure that the player relationship is more sustainable in the long run.

So, how does the "We Know the Player" concept fit into the "Built to Lead" concept? I was at the event when Built to Lead was launched, I think one or two years ago. I don't remember exactly. Can you explain the connection between We Know the Player and Built to Lead? Is it replacing it, or is it complementing it?

We Know the Player isn't there to replace Built to Lead. It's just another statement that we want to communicate. We have come to realise that, to create better products and offer better products and solutions to our partners, we have to go deeper into understanding and observing what the market really wants and what customers nowadays need. I understand that operators use our solutions and products to serve their own clients, and we need to keep this chain alive.

For us, understanding players better helps us shape, create and engineer better products and better user experiences, always keeping player security and the regulations of each market in mind. So, understanding the player is a deeper layer that helps us engineer our products better.

That makes quite a lot of sense, actually. There are a lot of technology providers in the space, and the number is always growing. Our industry is also expanding very quickly. It's one of the fastest-growing digital ecosystems. What do operators need from a technology partner when they're operating in regulated markets, for example? There are so many options available, and new providers keep coming up. What do operators really need?

They need a partner that understands that every regulated market has its own requirements. DIGITAIN has a strong focus on regulated markets, and our technology is built to support market-specific regulations, localisation and player expectations. This allows operators to adapt to each market while maintaining a strong and consistent experience.

That's amazing. As acquisition becomes more and more expensive, how can operators build stronger relationships with their players? For example, through native mobile apps?

Native mobile gives operators a direct, branded channel to stay connected with their players. DIGITAIN's native apps are designed to make the mobile experience intuitive and easy to return to. For operators, that means having a stronger channel to engage players and support retention, while keeping the brand and player relationship in their own hands.

So, this gives them more opportunities to save resources, accumulate their own data, leverage what they already have and, basically, get a free channel. Your native app becomes your own media channel. You can use push notifications, run your own CRM through your native apps, run your own advertising campaigns without paying someone else lots of money, and have your own customised content.

It's a great way to keep players coming back through a unique experience and communication that you can shape with interesting features and localisation capabilities.

Do you think bringing more technology together genuinely makes operators' lives easier, or does it create more complexity?

That's a good question. It depends on how you engineer all those technology solutions under one umbrella. I can confidently say that, in the case of DIGITAIN, we have made sure our operators don't have that burden. Our operators have a smooth experience with us because we have already built an ecosystem with a unified way of integrating our products with one another, offering those solutions to our partners and managing all the processes.

What the operator has to do is simply trust us, and we'll take care of the rest. But I see what you mean. Technology can sound complex. It depends on your proficiency, your knowledge and the way you provide your services. You need to help operators launch, integrate and use those solutions smoothly in real life, and then justify them through business value and outcomes.

Yeah, I think it depends a lot on how you do it, and on the expertise and proficiency of the provider, which DIGITAIN definitely has. Okay, one last question, because I'm curious. Why do your existing clients come to DIGITAIN? What are the main reasons?

First of all, they come to DIGITAIN because of the standards and the high-quality solutions and services that we provide. It's proven. The product is still the number one thing, of course. It's also about our products and the way we help operators integrate and operate them smoothly. That's basically one of our strongest points. All the solutions we offer have been built with operators in mind. We offer products that operators want to have.

I think we can still say that, and my honest opinion is that the products DIGITAIN creates are just perfect. Once operators realise how good they are, they just keep coming back. Okay, that's great to know. Thank you for joining me and for sharing your insights, and for explaining how We Know the Player works alongside Built to Lead.

Yes, definitely. Thank you so much.

Thank you, guys. That's it for today. Thank you for watching, and I'll see you in the next one.