New tools to attract online casino players

Your marketing strategy should focus on acquiring new customers, retaining existing customers, while also encouraging the re-activation of disengaged customers who have stopped playing somewhere along the way. In this article, we describe efficient tools that will help to achieve these goals.

Promotions

Promotions can be used when launching new games. Offering free plays or free spins, for instance, will pique the players’ interest.

The most popular promotions are as follows: 

• Bonuses, such as free spins (casino) or free bets (sports betting), various deposit bonuses such as welcome bonuses and reload bonuses, refer-a-friend bonuses. You can use other types of incentives that encourage players to sign up, deposit and play.
• Freeplay, allows players to play the games (typically poker and casino) for free or fun, without staking real money.
• Cashback promotions, which return a portion of losses.
• Frequent Player Points (FPP), loyalty programs that let players earn points for their activity on the gaming site, which in turn can be spent on various rewards.

When developing promotions, remember that today players are becoming “savvier” when it comes to comparing offerings from different companies, so you must always stay one step ahead. It is imperial that you make use of creative promotions and offer surprise promotions in order to trigger the desired behavioural change.

The number of top spenders in online sector is on the increase. To be successful, you must know how to properly attract and retain such players. 

You should provide them with VIP services; offer them privileges, including extra bonuses, free tickets for various events and a VIP manager, all the things that highlight this customer against other players.

Promotions are perfect for cross selling. For instance, players who start out playing slots or casino games may be offered promotions meant to encourage them to bet on sports.

Limited time in-game events

A retention strategy is great. While participating in in-game events, players can be offered rewards for completing certain tasks and be encouraged to keep on playing. One such example is offering players ticket-based tournaments held during a certain period of time (24 to 48 hours).

Seasonal events (Easter, Christmas, Women’s day, and the like) can inspire creative ideas. You can offer promotions with an increase in value as time goes by. Players keep depositing and playing until they can receive the final promotion. These types of promotions attract new users and keep old ones coming back, provided that they are attractive enough for the player.

Sending push notifications

Push notifications should be fun, not spammy, and serve to remind players of a game they used to play or that something requires their attention. Sports betting and casino apps should definitely employ this clever strategy as a way to communicate and engage with existing players. Some gambling apps send customers push notifications reminding them of upcoming races or games and encouraging them to place a quick bet, based on the player’s gambling history. As experience has shown, push notifications can increase engagement by 40% and drive retention up by 116%.

Employing CRM systems

CRM or Customer Relationship Management means an ability to retain the best players and maximize returns on their marketing investments. CRM systems can help to establish closer relationships with the customers and treat players differently based on information collected regarding their spending patterns and general in-game preferences.

CRM systems are extremely valuable in online gaming because they can store and provide detailed information about player statistics (the time spent in a game window, average bet, wins and losses, or how far in the future the user projects betting on sporting events). This information can be used to predict visit frequency and desired rewards, and create personalized offers.

Affiliate marketing

This tool represents a partnership between an online gaming operator and a network of affiliates, with the affiliate promoting the operator using links, banners, or other types of content on their website and earning a commission.

Types of affiliate marketing available for iGaming:

• PPC advertising — ads are displayed above and to the side of organic search results for certain keywords;
• SEO — providing new, relevant content meant to improve a site’s ranking for specific keywords;
• Community affiliates — driving traffic to a certain website and engage players through online forum activity. They are also used to build and strengthen relationships with players and keep them coming back to your site;
• Bonus sites — where players receive gifts, greatly build customer loyalty.

Be aware that useful content that players enjoy reading is important to the affiliate marketing. It is also important to see the bigger picture and seek long-term partnerships with reputable sites. 

Forming your strategy to attract new customers, make no mistake by including losing tools: spam of any kind (email, forums) and black hat SEO techniques.

Remember that the smaller your online gaming business, the more you need to make clever use of various types of promotions. However, instead of focusing solely on bonuses and other types of incentives, try to provide your players with a one-of-a-kind experience that they would not find anywhere else. This can only be achieved after you have studied your competition, have gained detailed knowledge about the particular market you are targeting, and have explored the market as a player yourself.

Online gaming businesses may also want to consider expanding their target audience (young males with medium-high income) or even separating from it and focusing more on attracting new audience (women, for instance) by better catering to its needs.

Participants of the IX International Gambling and Entertainment Exhibition and Forum Russian Gaming Week Moscow, to be held on June 3-4 at Sokolniki Exhibition and Convention Centre, will learn more information about these tools and how to use them.

There will operate a section dedicated to online casinos, where leading experts will talk about the present and the future of iGaming, ways of conquering the domestic and world market. They will also reveal the secrets of anti-fraud and share other important thematic information. 

Hurry up to take your place among the participants of the best events of the year in the gambling industry. The tickets are already on sale at the website!