“Brazil is a very peculiar country” – Flávio Figueiredo, iGaming Brazil

Flávio Figueiredo, CEO of iGaming Brazil / iGaming Media, joins the latest series of affiliate interviews on Affiliate Grand Slam

Flávio Figueiredo, speaks about iGaming Brazil and iGaming Media, the importance they give to SEO, and how to target Brazilian consumers both for local companies and for those coming from outside – follow his story below.

How did iGaming Brazil take off? What do you specialize in?

iGaming Brazil is a B2B betting news portal. It encompasses the main categories of the sector such as Sports Betting, Casinos, Event Coverage, etc. It was founded in early 2019 and soon stood out for its innovative thinking and partnerships for the industry.

What sets iGaming Brazil apart from other media portal sites in the country?

Specialized media portals in Brazil have some very peculiar ways. We have great media companies in the country, but when we entered the market, we felt the need to do something new and brought ideas and thoughts that were not found in the B2B betting segment. With an increasingly visual world, we seek to bring and produce video interviews in the main events in the world, we establish partnerships with motorsport drivers (in order to spread, not only the company’s brand, but the iGaming universe in general, in a market that didn’t even have odds yet) and we found spaces that we could fill, that’s when iGaming Media was born.

In February, Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies voted in favor of legalised gambling. What does this mean? What are the pros and cons?

This is a big step towards regulation, but not the last one yet. The positive point is that we see progress in this lengthy regulatory process. Brazil, being a country with more than 210 million inhabitants and having a population that already likes to gamble and moves billions of reais a year, cannot stand still.

Most internet users in Brazil search in their native language. This means that to target Brazilian users you need good SEO. What importance do you give to SEO?

Importance, total! I often joke that today we write for Google and not for the reader. The internet and technological evolution force us to work looking at SEO. It is the main tool if any company wants to exist or survive in any market where there is competition. I’ve been working with backlinks since 2016 and I felt the market’s need to have a company specialised in this, it was from this need that iGaming Media emerged.

How do you ensure high search engine rankings?

Some companies expect quick results, however, when we work with SEO (backlinks), we need to understand that this type of work does not appear overnight. The system needs time for the result to appear. It is important to work together with the client (bookmaker), as we analyse their website and combine the client’s strategy with good SEO practices, inevitably the result appears! In addition to SEO, we were able to do publicity, which comes in as a “plus” in the business, based on the publisher we publish.

What is the role of iGaming Media in back-links and SEO for Brazil?

iGaming Media is a genuinely Brazilian company. Brazil is a very peculiar country. Within the same country we find different cultures, different dialects, different climates, and these are the traps of Brazil. Knowing the country, knowing which words and marketing to use in different states makes all the difference and can be the cause of a company’s failure or success.

Are there any technical differences between SEO for Brazil and SEO for US and for Europe?

They exist! We are talking about a market of 8,5 million square kilometers ready to consume any product. The Brazilian is characterised by consumption and the Brazilian market can be considered one of the most developed in the world. I believe that the Brazilian market is more similar to the American market than to the European one, due to its natural characteristics.

Brazil covers an area of 8.5 million square kilometers. Even though it is one country, there are different cultures and dialects. What does this mean for outside companies targeting Brazilian consumers? What does it mean for local companies?

It means that companies that arrive in Brazil will need to study this country a lot. Brazil is the only country in South America whose official language is Portuguese. And the Portuguese spoken in Brazil is not the same as in Portugal or Angola, it is unique. Brazil is much more than samba and football. We have German descent in the south of the country and African descent in the northeast, including Indians in the north. Tropicalise is the word! Foreign companies will need to “Brazilianise” their products and services to compete here.

Can you walk us through the dissemination work and strategies of companies that arrive in Brazil?

Yes! Companies arrive in Brazil with the thought of exploring the brand on soccer team shirts and advertising boards. It’s like a cake recipe. I’m not saying it’s a wrong path, but it’s an incomplete path. The player/client is on the internet. He won’t remember the name of the “Bet” he saw while watching the game and goes to search engines to look for a bookmaker to bet on, meanwhile, the company is spending millions of dollars to stamp his name on the team’s shirt, but at the time betting, your “customer” is spending his money at another bookmaker. That’s when iGaming Media enters the field and helps bookmakers.

Have you ever been to SiGMA? SiGMA Europe, Africa, Asia, or Americas – which of these four expo shows would you likely book on your diary for 2022?

I have not personally participated in any SiGMA. We created the company in 2019, we made our first media partnership with SiGMA in early 2020, and then the pandemic came. But we will be in Toronto with a stand and Malta at the end of the year.

Tell us a bit about yourself – after all, business is done with people, not just companies! Your hobbies, favorite book, favorite quote, whether you are into Gaming yourself, etc.

I am a journalist turned entrepreneur. I work and do what I love, maybe that’s why business is booming. As a Brazilian citizen, I love watching and playing football with my 11 years old son. I’m married and I live in São Paulo. In my spare time I like to play video games and I’m reading two books: “Living on the Edge”, a book about Formula 1 and “Companies built to win” by Jim Collins.

Read more about SiGMA Affiliate Grand Slam here.

Join us for SiGMA Americas – Toronto:

Toronto is the perfect hub for SiGMA’s growth in North America, making it a nexus of networking and business development in the region with regards to land-based, iGaming, sports betting, and more. Playing host to a massive iGaming industry, Toronto will be the home for the SiGMA Group’s initiative to link the industry pioneers of the continent together for 3 days of networking, workshops, and awards. To learn more about sponsorship and speaking opportunities or to inquire about attending the event, please contact Sophie on [email protected].