How does marketing launch successful online casinos?
The ultimate success of online business directly depends on advertising, because a well-designed advertising campaign allows future customers to learn about your company, services and products. And modern technology has turned advertising into a complex set of activities and point solutions, which are especially active in a highly competitive environment. The gambling and gaming industry has been no exception in making marketing strategies more technological.
Ground-based gambling establishments in Canada
Land-based casinos and slot halls have been around for a long time, longer than online casinos, and they have their own characteristics in attracting new customers. The fact is that in many countries they are very much connected with the tourist industry, so land-based casinos resort to various creative ideas aimed at attracting tourists to try their luck.
For example, let’s take a land-based casino in Las Vegas. On the main street there is a part of the Berlin Wall weighing three tons.
- The Venetian Hotel attracts the attention of visitors with moving sculptures;
- And the Golden Nugget Casino has its own attraction – gold chicken nuggets weighing up to 27 kg.
In addition, gambling halls in the capital with gambling entertainment often offer customers other entertainment, such as:
- Circus;
- Concerts;
- Talent shows;
- Boxing matches.
Caesars Palace and Circus Circus are especially famous for such performances. It is hard to call such institutions only casinos, as they have turned into real hotel and entertainment complexes, gambling among their services.
For example, the hotel-casino Caesars Windsor in Canada, back in 1980 conducted a survey of customers, which resulted in the introduction of the program “Guest of Honor. It gave players the opportunity to accumulate points for the time spent in the hotel, with subsequent exchange for a free dinner, car rental and other customer services. You know what the most important thing is? It paid off in just one year, the number of members went from 350,000 to 1,000,000 and the total number of visitors to Caesars Windsor hotels doubled.
Some casinos give regular visitors special loyalty program customer cards, which are valid on the territory of the Republic. The customer cards record their activity in the casino and then offer a certain bonus based on this – an invitation to a banquet, a free room or something similar, to entertain the potential customer 100%.
If we take specific informative advertising, the most common casino advertising can be found on tourist sites or in the lists of places in a particular country when choosing a trip. Often, “Live” casino advertising is land-based and presented in the form of banners, billboards and other graphic elements with bright colors to maximize attention, since most casinos depend on tourists, not locals.
Business profile of a potential client
According to Las Vegas Customer Portrait Market Segmentation Management, which was published online and prepared for the Las Vegas conference, there are four main characters in the casino industry:
- Conference attendees;
- Package buyers;
- Regular tourists;
- Casino guests.
We’ve broken down the types of visitors in the casino industry in more detail.
To understand how targeted marketing works, we recommend you see the rating of Canadian Online Casinos on our portal. You will be able to see the top 10 best online casinos and their marketing strategy, for further analysis and integration into your project.
Gambler
Players regularly look for information related to online casinos. They want to know what table games you have, what new slot machines are available in the gaming room, how many poker games are available and what new bonuses are offered by online establishments.
To get them interested, you need to let them know what kind of experience they will have by clicking on the link to your online casino. Sign up online for your casino’s gameday club or other loyalty program. For example, online conversions for that individual. Unlike a newcomer who has to learn their first set of rules and steps, a player is confident in their decisions and knows what they are looking for.
Looking for fun
Concerts, events, restaurants, nightclubs, Internet gambling and other forms of entertainment attract new users. You want to attract them to online casinos, entice them with fantastic entertainment content and track conversions with deposits, clicks and other types of conversions.
The Vacationer
Vacationers want to have a good time in places like Las Vegas or Atlantic City, and they want a good mix of entertainment, such as
- Games, preferably gambling;
- Unbridled fun;
- Delicious food and lots of food;
- Beautiful sights;
- And most importantly, the spectacle.
This group can be measured by hotel reservations, trip sales, and other such metrics.
Business owner
Are your showrooms and conference rooms the curiosity of company and corporate executives? Let’s put it this way – they want to host business events for their clients in a place that combines great business event planning, a lively nightlife and a wide range of additional entertainment to surprise their guests.
You can use pricing requests and conference room reservations to track conversions for this business group.
What is casino marketing?
Casinos attract the most loyal customers who will come back again and again. To get these customers in the door, marketing to them involves – appealing to their emotions and closing needs.
For example, positive reviews can be a powerful motivator for valuable customers to visit your online casino. When some gambler wins big, any online casino or land-based casino is happy to report it to the world. The reason is that it allows customers to put themselves in the other person’s shoes and evoke the most important emotion, Greed and Envy, and that person’s thoughts will be “I want to and can win too” – this is the most effective motivator to keep playing.
Once they show up, there are some important local methods you can use to keep them going. People who spend a lot of time at online casinos want more than just playing games. After a few hours of playing, visitors want to eat or drink at the bar with friends after a big win or loss. Gambling industry marketers know that non-gaming entertainment keeps players in the room.
All of the methods described are common marketing strategies of any casino and online casino. How exactly do casinos serve their wealthiest customers? Let’s take a look at some of the crazy marketing ideas that have been implemented.
Best online casino marketing ideas
Casinos offer a variety of entertainment, as well as friendships between players and the chance to win real money. Although the odds are largely in the casino’s favor, since a casino cannot make money if customers do not play games. Brilliant casino marketing ideas can raise awareness of gambling establishments among potential customers and give regular players a reason to return. Let’s take a look at some crazy ideas for your online casino marketing strategies.
Loyalty Programs
Airlines and hotels, as well as grocery stores and other retailers, offer customers the opportunity to become members through an individual loyalty program and receive free bonuses or special discounts. Online casinos can do the same, giving their associates special treatment, free spins and other premium chips depending on how much they play. Some casinos are affiliated with hotels. In this case, members can get free hotel nights.
Free at first
New guests receive a new player card that contains a special promo code that provides a C$20 free game. When the C$20 is used up, players can top up their credit card or e-wallet account. The bonus C$20 can last several hours or disappear in less than 20 minutes, depending on which games each player plays.
Another alternative is to give customers a free game, as well as a discount on an additional game on their first visit. New guests must register an account to log into the online casino, followed by an account verification step, which makes it less likely that one person will abuse the free game. This is one of the most effective casino marketing ideas currently in existence.
More money
The more money, the happier the casino customers will be and the longer they will stay. The presence of a huge jackpot adds excitement to the game. You can tweak the slot machines so that they randomly distribute different payouts.
A good example, in our opinion, is the million dollar incentive. Solid prize fund encourages the player to continue playing further and further. For example, a popular game in one of the talk shows, where all the viewers are happy to watch the interception of the money. The host chooses one person at random from among the crowd. Then, that person enters a huge translucent plastic box containing crumpled bills in denominations of $1, $5, $20 and many $100 bills. The money flies around inside the box when the fan is turned on, and the player catches as many of them as possible.
Holiday festivities
Although those under the age of 18 are strictly prohibited from entering gambling establishments, most online casinos and land-based casinos hold holiday events for people of all ages outside of the casino. The Fourth of July may be celebrated with fireworks. Christmas is celebrated with a visit from Santa Claus and his real reindeer.
Inform your customers and potential players about the holiday events through press releases and commercials on popular platforms.
Charity
Dennis Conrad, the head of a marketing firm that specializes in gambling organizations, advises, for example, timing Thanksgiving with a fundraiser to benefit a Native American charity. The charity should not be limited to Native Americans to become a marketing strategy for other casinos.
Tournaments
Various tournaments attract not only participants, but also other spectators, whether the action is at a blackjack table or a slow and lingering game of poker. Almost any game can be played in a tournament setting.
Because slot machine tournaments don’t require the same features as blackjack, they attract new customers. Each tournament participant pays an entry fee and chooses a slot machine. Points are awarded automatically. When a guest presses the spin button, they either win or lose points. At the end of the tournament the guest with the most points wins.
Casino Marketing Strategies
Five ways casino marketers build a deck in favor of long-term relationships with consumers with these winning marketing strategies:
Be welcoming
Free prizes, sometimes referred to as “bonuses and promotional offers,” are a staple of marketing at any online casino. According to marketing expert John Rulin, who works with several major casinos on key accounts, only 42 percent of organizations in various industries donate to customers or potential customers.
The most typical “compensation” at online casinos is free spins, a deposit bonus or cashback. On the other hand, casinos give away everything, such as cash prizes, to top-ranked customers.
Think about what your customers need most. If you offer a hammer, a few extra types of nails can make a big difference in the final average check.
Invite them to community events
Giving your best customers inside information about brand events is another way to make them feel like VIPs. Regular customers probably have a lot in common with each other. Why not bring them together for a fun night out?
When Primm Valley Resort & Casino announces a concert, a Facebook ad is sent to customers who liked the social media group. This not only shows guests that Primm Valley Resort & Casino is thinking of them, but also draws them to play before or after the concert.
Examine demographic preferences
Despite the general interest in gaming, not all casino visitors are the same. According to research, Generation X and boomers spend more than 80% of their casino money on slot machines and table games, leaving 20% on food and entertainment, while millennials spend about 30% on gambling and 70% on non-gaming activities.
Examine the demographics of your top consumers for similarities. Compare their buying habits to those of others. Invest first in the products or services that your most ardent supporters want.
Are working parents your daily bread, say, if you own a grocery store? A look at their buying habits might indicate that they buy prepared foods. Stock up on items and then see if those customers spend more.
Emphasize community efforts
Most high rollers know how much money they spend. While they enjoy it, they also want their money to be put to good use in their community. Much of casino marketing revolves around spreading these benefits.
Pennsylvania, for example, is not a gambling hub, but its 12 casinos generate more than $6 billion in economic activity each year. Tax revenues generated from such properties are also outstanding, totaling $2.4 billion.
Make high-spending clients feel good about doing business with you. Donations to charity are good, but in-kind contributions are even better. Invite your best customers to join you for a day of service or offer to direct their donations to the charity of your choice.
Form a group
Even the most avid gamblers do more than just bet. Casino marketers know this, so they partner with other companies to make deals for valuable customers.
Because of this, Caesars Entertainment Corporation, the casino giant, recently renewed a 20-year agreement with Wyndham Destinations Hotel Group. Caesars customers get discounts on Wyndham’s travel and entertainment services, while Wyndham can promote Caesars customers.
Consider whether additional brands or products are popular with your major customers. Before you offer a partnership, make sure you have something to trade, such as a marketing list or a discount on your own products.
People don’t invest their money in cars all the time unless there’s a compelling incentive to do so. Apply these five casino marketing techniques to your own customer retention plan to play yourself a winning hand.
Online casinos and bookmakers
While land-based casinos may remain conservative, online casinos actively use the latest technology. The already traditional marketing tools of online casinos include the following:
- Social media marketing – allows you to find and attract new customers;
- SEO-optimization – brings online casinos to the top of search queries;
- Mailings by e-mail – also help to attract new players and inform the permanent ones about certain updates;
- CRM systems – are a tool to effectively manage all online casino processes and customer interactions;
- Affiliates – play the role of intermediaries and attract new players through their own web resources;
- Loyalty programs and bonuses – maintain interest in signing up or continuing to play;
- Advertising in media – gives access to the audience, which is little interested in gambling.
All these tools are actively used by both online casinos and online bookmakers.
Technological progress annually helps to expand the advertising tools. For example, it is worth highlighting such technology as virtual reality (VR). It was developed primarily for computer games, but has become quite an interesting tool for gambling.
VR allows the player to visit a land-based casino without leaving home. Also, when using a VR helmet, the player can communicate with other users, which gives the technology a social component.
However, virtual reality has a significant disadvantage – the high price of the equipment, which can be a serious obstacle for those who want to play virtual poker or blackjack.
Another factor that could increase the attractiveness of an online casino or bookmaker is artificial intelligence and machine learning. The implementation of such a solution will make it possible to analyze the preferences of players and provide those offers that are to their liking. Also, this technology can be used to communicate with customers.
Some casinos already have automated chat rooms where a trained bot can provide answers to common questions. The use of artificial intelligence allows the implementation of new security protocols and the detection of cheating players and fraud, and this becomes a good promotional move, as users are always worried about the safety of the game, their funds and personal data.
A similar innovation will also be useful for monitoring addicted players: the system can analyze their behavior and detect signs of gambling addiction. Thus, the owner of an online casino or betting company avoids unnecessary reputational losses.
Blockchain is also actively used in the casino industry. But it is worth distinguishing between online casinos with blockchain technology and casinos with cryptocurrency payment options. The former work with a cryptoplatform on an open, decentralized system. This ensures complete anonymity and speed of all transactions, which are stored in a transparent smart contract. At the same time, neither the operator nor the player is able to manipulate the data of such transactions in any way. In addition, an independent audit of these casinos will be as transparent as possible, because it is noticeable that the combinations of slots are generated directly by the smart contracts of the casino.
Mobile applications are a trend that is mostly used by bookmakers. Many online casinos offer play on a smartphone, but it is browser-based and not a separate app. But due to the coronavirus pandemic, improvements in this technology should accelerate, as customers are interested in playing from their mobile device without having to visit a land-based establishment or log in to the casino from their computer.
Marketing experts believe that the proliferation of mobile applications will spawn a community of players specifically on smartphones.
Another innovation that is gaining popularity in gambling is casinos based on the Telegram messenger. Developers can use the API and source code of Telegram to create free programs that resemble the messenger itself. Certain casinos have even introduced gaming bots for the Telegram audience.
There is one reason for such popularity: in the messenger all users’ actions from start to finish are encrypted to exclude their transmission to third parties. That is why Telegram has become a platform for players, traders and blockchain experts. A large community, ease of app creation, and simple authentication are what make such casinos comfortable for users. In addition, these apps can be hybrid platforms where the user is encouraged to play, read news, and send messages at the same time.
Also, some companies have started to pay more attention to players’ skills and introduce games where the skill factor rather than randomness dominates. This is reinforced by the notion that future generations of gamers will be much more adaptable to technology and more accustomed to the new immersive gameplay experience. And it is these kinds of hybrid professional games that may attract new users to gambling in the future.
Risks and challenges of gambling marketing
The problem is that gambling marketing is largely limited by territory – the physical boundaries and legislative features of countries. And if in one jurisdiction a bookmaker can broadcast his advertising during sports events, in another it may cost a license.
Each country, where gambling business is legalized, has its own peculiarities and requirements to operators, including those concerning marketing. For example, in the United States the legislation and requirements for the operation of gambling operators differ from state to state.
Every year, the number of jurisdictions where gambling is legal is increasing, which increases the burden on the marketing departments of operators and encourages them to find new ways to fight the competition. On the other hand, violations of the law to promote gambling threaten sanctions from the state regulator.
The pandemic has led to many changes in the work of gambling operators – both land-based and online. And if land-based gambling establishments simply closed, the online casinos began to make big profits. Because of this, they attracted the attention of regulators in different countries, particularly in terms of advertising, and received significant restrictions. For example, the Lithuanian government took a rather radical approach to the issue, banning licensed online operators during the quarantine period.
Accordingly, it is to be expected that even after the pandemic is over, the marketing of online casinos and bookmakers will be more closely supervised. The European Gambling and Betting Association (EGBA) has already published a code on responsible gambling advertising that will be in force in the European Union. But representatives of operators even before the pandemic complained that significant government control and a growing number of licenses prevented rapid innovation.