Engaging the future: Enteractive COO Pedram Padidar talks 2023 and the company’s US expansion

iGaming Capital catches up with Pedram Padidar, COO at Enteractive, to talk about recent successes, growing the company in the US, and the focus for 2023.

What have been the highlights for Enteractive in 2022?

 I would say our global growth. We have managed to onboard new clients as well as enter new markets and open a new office. And, of course, the US is steadily growing also. It’s a huge market that we’ve been working towards for some time now, and we managed to launch it successfully and received great feedback from our clients, so now, it’s all about scaling further and fine-tuning our operations to the specific needs of the US operators and their customers.

What industry development has pleased you most?

 Conversely, which has surprised you the most? One thing the industry has been doing is expanding that global footprint, opening up more markets and creating more opportunities for growth – Latam, Asia, the North American market obviously, with many more states being regulated in the US, as well as Canada, such as Ontario’s regulation. That’s been a pleasant surprise; how quickly regulation has developed across much of North America. The whole industry has become much more global.

What are the key trends that you are seeing within the industry through your interaction with clients and prospects?

We’re starting to see much more personalisation complementing globalisation across the industry, not just in terms of communication, but with suppliers coming out with slots, for example, that are more personalised, for different markets and different regions. That’s exciting to see, and it’s great for the future of the industry.

With such a focus on player engagement, would you say the iGaming industry has weathered the last few years well, and is it continuing to grow market share in the entertainment sector?

 I think that as a result of the pandemic we saw most online businesses flourishing – it was a perfect scenario when people were at home. And, to some extent, if you look at Netflix as an example, the number of users has dropped since reaching their peak, and now there’s more competition from services such as Hulu and Apple TV. Since we see the iGaming industry being a part of the entertainment sector, and there is so much competition in terms of grabbing the end users’ share of attention, it’s a question of where you choose to spend your time.

But even with other events squeezing people’s wallets, like the energy crisis, inflation, and so on, I think history has shown us that the iGaming industry is usually not affected too negatively by social and economic downturns. It gives people an opportunity for both entertainment and excitement while at home. Entertainment will continue to exist – it is how you consume it that will be different.

At the end of the day, I believe that sports will continue to be very important to people, and we are very fortunate to represent some of the world’s best sports betting operators. That connection to sports gives us a lot of energy and joy, and I think that is reflected in our conversations with the players of today and tomorrow.

From Enteractive’s perspective, what is the ‘checklist’ that you recommend to your clients to increase retention and playing volumes?

 It’s about looking at the individual – not all patterns are the same, not all offers are received the same, not everyone is looking for the same thing. The key will be to facilitate that unique experience and to provide the users with what they’re looking for, knowing your users so that you can provide that entertainment for them immediately.

This eliminates friction. There’s less reason to stray from a brand because you’re looking for something new, and they make that easy for you. So the users are happy to keep going back to the same place where they are comfortable and have everything they need.

How does Enteractive’s approach to personalisation differ from other CRM solutions?

The very high level of personalisation that Enteractive provides is being able to talk to the players and communicate with them on their terms, in their language, with native speakers. And to try to do that when it suits them, being available to answer any questions that might come up when they’re looking for that entertainment. Most of all, it’s about building relationships with players; it’s about having that connection.

But I wouldn’t necessarily say that it differs from other CRM solutions because at the end of the day, all CRM solutions are looking to achieve the exact same thing. We just have the capability and infrastructure to have agents reaching out, talking to players and building relationships with the ones that want to connect with us.

It’s not about ‘either/ or’. It’s about all the combined efforts that cover all possible bases and keep the players happy – that is when you receive loyalty.

Outlook for 2023: what should we look out for from Enteractive and the industry in general for 2023?

I think one question is whether we’ll see more regulation coming in across various countries. With changing governments in European markets, is that going to mean changing regulations for gambling as well?

And then, similar to 2022, the industry’s global footprint will continue to expand in 2023. I think that will definitely continue – across the pond in the States, in Latam, and here in Europe, it will be about watching out for changes coming, rather than launching new markets.

For us at Enteractive, the big activity will be continuing our growth in the US, launching our office over there and building on the successes of 2022. But also developing even more opportunities in other markets where we’re already active – including Latam, Asia and Europe. We’re available for global operators, and we’re ready to grow.

This feature was first carried in iGaming Capital magazine 2023, the sister publication to iGamingCapital.mt, produced by Content House Group