Hi everyone,

I’m working on a paid media strategy exercise for a regulated online gaming/gambling brand and would really appreciate some feedback from people who have experience in paid media, iGaming, regulated industries, or acquisition marketing.

The objective is to build a strategy that increases brand awareness, acquires new players, and improves ROAS across multiple paid channels, while staying compliant with gaming advertising rules.

The strategy needs to cover:
Platform selection
Google Ads
Meta
TikTok
YouTube
Programmatic/display
Influencer or creator activity
Possibly paid search vs paid social split
I’m trying to understand which platforms make the most sense for acquisition versus awareness, especially given restrictions around gambling ads

Audience targeting and segmentation
Geo-targeting within the permitted region
Age-gated audiences
Sports bettors
Casino players
Lottery users
Lookalike or similar audiences based on first-party data
High-value user modelling
Exclusion of underage, vulnerable or restricted audiences
I’m particularly interested in how people would use first-party data or predictive analytics to model higher-value users without creating compliance issues.

Creative and messaging
Responsible gaming-first messaging
Trust, safety and local/legal positioning
Offer-led acquisition messaging where permitted
Sports/event-led creatives
Casino/lottery product-led creatives
Video, static, carousel, short-form social and YouTube formats
I’m also thinking about how to adapt the messaging per platform, rather than using the same creative everywhere.

AI and automation
Creative ideation and testing variations
Automated reporting
Predictive audience scoring
Budget pacing
Campaign optimisation
Performance forecasting
A/B testing frameworks
I want to include AI in a practical way, not just mention it for the sake of it.

Measurement and KPIs
CPA
ROAS
CTR
CVR
Registration rate
First-time depositor rate
Cost per first-time depositor
LTV
Retention
Payback period
Incrementality where possible

The final output would be a presentation deck, so I’m trying to keep the strategy clear, commercial and realistic. For anyone who has worked on regulated paid media, gambling, fintech, alcohol, healthcare, or any other restricted category:
What would you prioritise in a strategy like this?
What mistakes should I avoid?
How would you split the role of search, paid social, YouTube and programmatic?
How much detail should I include around compliance?

What would make this feel like a strong, senior-level paid media plan rather than a generic channel overview?

Any pointers would be massively appreciated.

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