Scaling Trader Engagement with Demo Trading Competitions: The Pepperstone Use Case

Content

Broker Overview

Pepperstone is a globally recognized forex and CFD broker, known for its institutional-grade execution, advanced trading infrastructure, and strong presence across multiple regions worldwide.

As an official partner of Swiset, Pepperstone leverages technology-driven engagement strategies to connect with traders at scale and strengthen long-term acquisition funnels.

Context

In highly competitive brokerage markets, the challenge is not attracting interest, but activating traders early in their journey and identifying those with real trading intent.

Demo environments are often underutilized. Most demo users register, explore briefly, and disengage without meaningful interaction or behavioral signals.

Pepperstone aimed to change this dynamic by transforming demo trading into an active, performance-driven experience.

Objective

The demo trading competition was designed to achieve three core objectives:

  1. Increase engagement within demo accounts
    Encourage sustained trading activity rather than passive demo usage.

  2. Identify high-intent traders early
    Capture behavioral data to distinguish active traders from low-intent registrations.

  3. Build a scalable acquisition funnel
    Turn demo participation into a structured pathway toward future conversion.

Solution: Demo Trading Competition Powered by Swiset

Using Swiset’s Competition Engine, Pepperstone launched a 15-day demo trading competition with the following structure:

  • Demo accounts only (zero financial risk for participants)

  • Real-time leaderboard and performance rankings

  • Clear rules and transparent scoring logic

  • Centralized analytics covering participation, activity, and assets traded

The competition reframed demo trading from “testing a platform” into a competitive, goal-oriented experience.

Execution & Participation

  • Competition duration: 15 days
    Registered participants: 430
    Active trading participants: 242

    This resulted in a 56% activation rate, meaning more than half of registered users executed trades during the competition.

Engagement & Trading Activity (Real Data)

  • Total trades executed: 26,270

  • Average trades per active participant: 108.55

  • Top 10 countries by trading activity:
    India, Nigeria, Indonesia, Laos, Australia, Angola, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan

Key insight:
Demo traders showed sustained, high-frequency engagement, indicating strong behavioral intent rather than exploratory usage.

Asset Preference Insights

Top traded assets:

  • XAUUSD – 70.66%

  • BTCUSD – 11.98%

  • EURUSD – 3.72%

  • NAS100 – 2.48%

  • USDJPY – 2.48%

This data provided Pepperstone with clear insights into trader preferences, directly applicable to segmentation, education, and targeted onboarding flows.

 

Performance & Competitive Dynamics

  • 56.28% of participants remained active by the end of the competition

  • 43.72% were disqualified based on predefined rules

The leaderboard-driven format incentivized discipline, repeat sessions, and strategic trading behavior, even in a demo environment.

Business Impact for Pepperstone

The demo trading competition delivered value beyond engagement:

  • Qualified demo leads based on real trading behavior

  • Early identification of high-potential traders

  • Rich behavioral data for post-competition nurturing

  • Stronger brand positioning as a performance-focused broker

Rather than treating demo users as anonymous traffic, Pepperstone transformed them into data-rich, high-intent prospects.

Experience the power of Swiset

We offer the best solutions to take your company to the next level.

Schedule a Demo

Why Demo Competitions Work for Brokers

  • Demo trading competitions allow brokers to:

    • Activate users without financial friction

    • Observe real trading behavior at scale

    • Reduce noise in acquisition funnels

    • Build conversion strategies based on performance, not assumptions

    They bridge the gap between registration and real intent.

Key Takeaway

  • Demo accounts are not just an onboarding step.
    When combined with competition mechanics and analytics, they become a strategic growth channel.

    Through its partnership with Swiset, Pepperstone demonstrated how demo trading competitions can drive engagement, insight, and scalable acquisition, all while maintaining a low-risk environment for traders.

Want to launch your own trading competition?

Let’s build it together. At Swiset, we provide the tools, tech, and team to make it happen.

Schedule a Demo

Content