2023 Wrapped - Martech, Gaming, eCommerce and more

Another year almost done and it has been one of a kind, both personally and professionally. Hectic is probably the most accurate word to describe it. As usual I wanted to wrap the year (my Spotify wrapped suggested that the wiggles were my favourite band and they would not be wrong...) with some thoughts from a seller's point of view on some of the things that worked, and some that did not. I have some thoughts on the #martech industry as a whole and a wrap on what I think were hot topics in the gaming industry this year. So strap on in and join me for a review of 2023.?

Playing Long Game

One of the great benefits, but also challenges, in selling Xtremepush is that we are far from the product and market position we were in almost four years ago when I joined. This is definitely a good thing but it brings challenges as a sales person. It means some of the quicker wins we were having are rarer and that our ICP has changed quite a bit. It means we are fighting (and winning) at the ‘big table’ against some of the best martech companies in the world. We have a much deeper technical sell and as a seller you have to stay on top of the product and the industry trends that are driving new technology. I’ll chat about some of the hot topics that are being spoken about further down the line but an interesting piece I did for an Request For Proposal recently, was talking about product releases that the Xtremepush has had in the last 3 years. It got me thinking. When you go into it, it is amazing to see so much growth in our offering. We have added full CDP capabilities, Multiple OOTB integrations to backend systems, new channels like banners, landing pages, encrypted push etc, analytics and dashboarding capabilities and an acquisition of one of the leading free to play companies in the industry in Thunderbite . Great for customers and users but it is all information that needs to be learnt, brought to market and ultimately sold to prospects by us on the sales team, at the tip of the spear. It is this constant state of flux and learning that can be challenging but it is also tremendously rewarding. As far as customers this year it means we are in bigger fights, more RFPs and having deeper, more strategic conversations about how we can help brands, not in the short term but two to three years down the line. You have to play to the long game and that is a lesson learned this year.??

Podcasts and People

I have been tremendously lucky to work with our marketing team ( Ben Doggett in particular) and Record Media on our ‘Experts in the Room’ Podcast over the last 18 months. We have just wrapped season 3 and you can find it here https://omny.fm/shows/experts-in-the-room. 18 episodes and I have met and talked to some wonderful guests.For season three the highlights include chatting to former rugby mate from Hong Kong Dylan Rogers on all things email, Gordon Newman in a live video session on eCommerce and retail and Jamie Shea , who is one of the most passionate marketing people in the iGaming and sports industry. Chatting and preparing for these calls is always a highlight for me. It genuinely helps in my day to day job which like all sales people is one of continual research, prospecting and connecting with people. Chatting to experts really gets insights into what best in class looks like. Not just what we at XP think it looks like. It broadens the lens, opens you to new thinking and helps highlight the strengths and weaknesses of your product compared to others in the market.?

My core market remains the #gaming industry and I was lucky to get to all of the big events this year and a few smaller ones.

Highlights as always included ICE, Casino Beats and SBC a week after paternity leave. As you get more connected in an industry like this the deeper conversations, insights and heads up you receive from your connections. I always try to tell newer or junior colleagues that getting out and about at events is so integral to being successful. Get out of your comfort zone and you will be rewarded for it. For me I faced an intimidating room attending the VIP dinner at iGaming Expert . Intimidating, because I was on my own, no back up from a usual partner in crime (looking at you Robbie Sexton ). I’m no shrinking violet (as most will attest) but going to a dinner on your own with not too many people you have met before can be daunting. But as always the gaming industry is so inviting and mighty craic was had at the outside tables. Nights like that then lead into the VIP dinner at SBC Barcelona and so on. Jack Oliver is fond of saying you do more business at events and dinner than a year of cold linkedin and email outreach. He is wiser than his good looks and age would suggest and he is dead right as usual. So take heed sellers.?

Trends and Hot Topics - Martech and iGaming

Ai will continue to dominate the headlines for martech and pretty much every wrap up of 2023 says the same thing. Be ready, if you are not already, using and harnessing #Ai as we head into 2024, as it is going to be such an important part of your martech spine. As a marketer (and a seller) part of this year internally has been up skilling and learning about how algorithms work, what types of data feeds the best decisions and the types of outcomes that are currently possible and what is coming in 2024. One of the big lessons Xtremepush has been driving home (and who knows it might be why some of the hoo ha at OpenAI happened) is that there is a need for transparency. A move away from black box thinking has to be at the heart of how we approach advanced machine learning and Ai in our products. The other hot trends continue to be the realisation of brands in the gaming sector that the race to the bottom on high CPAs and non stop bonusing is slowly coming to an end. (Plug for the podcast here) Jamie Shea and I talked at length about how operators have to build walled gardens around their players' data. To drive best in class experience and innovate on new products to really stay front and centre in the battle for wallet share and screen time. https://igamingfuture.com/jamie-shea-highlights-need-for-player-education-in-us-betting-industry/ This links nicely into the Thunderbite team coming on board at Xtremepush and how bringing free to play and gamification into the #crm fold is going to open up some really interesting opportunities for us and for marketers. John Smith is a huge advocate of seeing f2p being viewed as a vertical in itself, rather than an add on or nice to have. I think when viewed in that light, we are going to start to see some really innovative and immersive player experiences being driven on the free to play side. Not just in gaming too!

The Seller

The things that did and did not work this year. Call it the fast fire round. Linkedin is still the best tool for making contacts in the industry and finding ways of doing business. Cold email helps for scale (until gmail kills it next year) but do your legwork on places like Linkedin first. Events are still going to be your number one source of leads as a seller so make sure you are actively making the case to marketing teams and budget holders to get you to events. If that means putting your hand up to speak, running the set up, carrying the bags of merch etc, then get stuck in! Don’t get too deal focused, hard when everything feels like it counts, but stick to your guns on qualifications and time wasters. Learn to move on. Tap into those around you and do not go stale on the way you are pitching, try new things and listen to your colleagues. Do spill beer all over a prospective client as that seemed to work for me at ICE this year… if he is reading he will know who I am talking too.

The Personal

Roger Murtaugh was only 41 when he uttered the now famous words ‘I’m too old for this shit’ in Lethal Weapon and while I am not as old as that, this year has made that quote come to mind a few times! Buying a first home, a move out west and hybrid working, baby number two were huge highlights and a couple trips back to Aus, serious lowlights. Throw in the usual nice client wins and some frustrating losses (as all salespeople have) and you really are riding the rollercoaster. For those that know me, flying would not be my cup of tea and in September last year, facing some serious back to back work travel, I attended a fear of flying course at the Weston Airport. Since then I have somehow wracked up 28 flights in the space of 12 months (the climate isn't thanking me). Am I now a great flyer? No, but the course certainly helped a lot, so a plug for them for anyone in the industry struggling like I am with flying! https://fearofflying.ie/ I bring it up as it was a bit of a step out of the comfort zone for me and it really paid dividends.

Staying level is one of my biggest challenges professionally but I suspect years like 2023 will be watersheds that I can look back on (maybe not too fondly) but with a sense of achievement. The usual people are the support that you lean on, my wife, the kids, family and of course the people you spend most of your time with - colleagues who are actually mates! So a shout out to all of them and they know who they are. (I could've done a mega linkedin name drop but the shit I will cop in the comments will be too much!)

Here’s to 2023 and bring on the Christmas whiskey.