Games of chance have been around for centuries. In recent years, the online casino market grew larger than ever – especially with online casinos gaining more popularity. As players all over the world enjoy the convenience and variety of games available, there’s no reason why your platform shouldn’t be thriving. But that’s not always easy to achieve.
Attracting new players is always challenging; retaining them is even more difficult. Many factors influence a player’s decision to stick around or move to another online casino, but we’ve compiled a list of tips that will help you keep your players happy and playing longer.
What’s in the game?
The online casino market was valued at $57B not long ago in 2021 and according to Straits Research, it’s going to reach $153B by 2030, amounting to a CAGR of almost 12%.
The industry’s growth is fueled by many factors, such as:
- the constant development of technology,
- the comfort and convenience, at-home entertainment provides,
- the legality of iGaming changing, and
- the state of the economy to mention a few.
There are about 2,000 online casinos and three top-performing ones bring in more than $10B annually. Which ones? Flutter Stars Group is worth $5.28 billion, GVC Holdings is worth $4B and Bet365 is worth $3.5B
About 26% of the world’s population gambles – that comes to around 1.6B people, and about 17% of them gamble online. Most online casino users are between the ages of 18-39, making up about 70%.
Knowing some basic facts about the gambling community will be helpful to your marketing strategy. Understanding who the people are that you’re catering to and where they are from will make tailoring a campaign much, much easier. To learn more about specifics, check out this summary of gambling facts.
When I think about the sheer number of people gambling online I cannot think of a single reason why your online casino shouldn’t be thriving. It should. And I want it to happen for you so let’s go with the tips!
How to increase your audience
First, I’m gonna need you to focus on expanding your reach 🙂
Step 1: Catch the new users’ eye
A well-designed website or mobile app (if you have one) for your online casino is the first thing people notice about a business. The quality of the user experience cannot be underestimated here.
It’s all about first impressions and making it stick. If the mobile version of your page keeps crashing and the many popups about deals and new games keep interrupting the player, they might not be interested in giving you a second chance. The same goes for apps – slow loading times, and the app not being available for all major operating systems are going to deter potential users.
On top of that – make sure you’re active on social media. According to the latest data, the average time spent on social media reached 2 hours and 27 minutes a day in 2022. It’s 2,5 hours for you to make yourself known. Create profiles for a variety of channels where you can participate in discussions important to the community, and engage with potential prospects. This way you’re increasing your chances of attracting new players. And organic social media is always a great place to promote your business including online casinos.
Participate in industry events. If you’re not already doing it, that is. Join summits like Casino Beats Summit or Sigma Malta, you don’t have to be a speaker or exhibitor, it’s enough to use the old-fashioned networking strategy to strike up new connections and let people know what you’re doing.
Increase visibility (SEO optimization)
Make sure to use search engine advertising to your advantage. Create content and optimize it for keywords not only related to your online casino but also related to your amenities, location, unique offerings, and events. Focus on the things that make you stand out.
SEO for iGaming works differently from other niches – it’s a bit more tricky. With iGaming-related keywords, keep in mind that they change very fast and ones ranking higher today will quickly fall down the ladder. The competition in iGaming is cut-throat so, for your SEO strategy, put more emphasis on researching competitors.
And speaking of content, don’t shy away from creating blog posts or any other type of content for that matter. You can dive into webinars, promotional videos, ebooks, and so on. Do some research on what the most searched topics are and create helpful, educational content for all levels of gamblers.
Write content for beginners who are only starting to learn poker as well as more advanced players. Having content that answers people’s needs is necessary to make yourself an authority on the topic. That content also needs to be optimized so your blog can rank higher and reach a larger audience. There are plenty of tools and articles online explaining how SEO works, it’s not easy but it’s worth it. If you already have a blog but it’s not ranking there are also ways of changing that.
Use Paid ads
The word “paid” is seen as a deterrent for some. Many will think; why use paid ads when you have SEO marketing? Well, SEO, unfortunately, has some major limitations – otherwise paid channels wouldn’t be in such demand. SEO content can be optimized only to a certain degree, and sadly the number of blog topics isn’t endless.
Some see money spent on advertising as a cost but I’m going to encourage you to shift that focus. Advertising budgets are investments in user engagement and your own time. After all, researching keywords, producing content, and actually climbing the ranks of SEO takes hours, days, and weeks off your life and work time.
By using paid advertising you’re pretty much buying advertising space from a publisher who usually has a few sites that they want to monetize and you connect on an ad network. Your paid ads can be adjusted to what you need and displayed only in certain countries or for certain devices. That’s it in a nutshell, this article explains the details of paid advertising for gambling sites in much more in-depth.
The best part is – you can accurately and precisely track which ads are bringing you clicks, conversions, and ultimately, profits. A tracker like Voluum will help make sure of that. By factoring in the price of buying ads into your budget, you can soon start earning more from new audiences and conversions bringing profits to your budget that you never saw before.
In case you’re worried about the legality of advertising online casinos, there’s no worldwide ban. Just a lot of information and details to work through like for example in the US where each state could have a different policy. Do the research properly for your choice of GEO. And make sure you’re following the ad networks and traffic source’s rules and you’re gonna be fine.
An ad tracker will be an indispensable tool to ensure profitable budgets with paid ads Through tracking, you can get detailed insights into who your clients are, and what they react to the best, and thanks to that you’ll be able perfect your targeting, squeezing every last drop out of your paid ads. With one like Voluum, you can truly make it work for you and test new approaches, as well as, optimize your work better.
Partnerships
Use connections strategically. Strike up cooperation with an influencer. There are plenty of content creators with Lady Luck, Vegas Low Roller, and Dave Dealer to name a few, who are very active on their platforms reaching millions of views a month. Reaching out to somebody and asking if they could mention your platform in a post is an easy way to become more visible to new people.
Various partnerships are great for getting yourself out there. Have you ever thought of having your online casino featured in a newsletter? For instance, the one from Casino Life Magazine or Casino Beats. Sure, they do something for you so you do something for them. But exchanging the occasional promo link for a publication pays off, and requires less effort than you probably anticipate.
Expand to new markets
The legislation around iGaming is different for each country and the overall situation is quite dynamic.
One day a certain market can be closed, another the laws might be loosened up and suddenly a new opportunity just opened up. Now, you scramble to advertise in that freshly opened market, frantically looking for ways to make your mark. If only there was something you could’ve done in preparation for this. The good news is, there is.
Let’s use the USA as an example: every state has a slightly different approach to gambling. In Nevada for instance, online poker and sports betting are legal, but in Hawaii on the other hand, gambling is completely illegal. But some states are kind of in the middle like Nebraska where social gambling is allowed.
Social casino games allow people to revel in the thrills of traditional gambling without any risks associated with spending real money in the process. That’s why it’s a great way to attract new players and get them acquainted with this form of entertainment. By advertising in places where it’s legal, you’re giving people a taste of the real deal, and getting them ready for when online gambling becomes legal.
Any time you advertise anything online, remember to track your results. Keep gathering insights about your clients and their behavior. Maybe you’ll find a pattern in how they engage with your offers based on which you’ll be able to scale your efforts. Knowing your audience from social gambling will surely be helpful when the legal shift happens.
Keep collecting the data
Implementing a couple of new steps or improving existing strategies is not enough to keep the momentum going. Without gathering proper insights, that is. As you go deeper into paid ads or content marketing you’re gonna need to take a data-driven approach. It’s necessary for knowing in which direction to take your marketing or to check if something works.
That approach is tracking. It’s simply the collection of data about events like clicks on ads or visits to the page along with accompanying information like browser details, language, or GEO. It gives you a great idea of who to advertise to and where.
And the best way to track is with a specialized tool, like Voluum. It not only records data for you but helps with optimizing and automating work. With its robust set of features, you can set rules and send traffic where it performs best or filter it out when it’s fraudulent, send your clients to different versions of landers, and a lot more. See what features Voluum has to offer and what it can do for you.
Step 2: Nurture the relationship
Once you have caught the attention of new gamblers, make sure you take your time to build and care for the new relationship. Gain their trust by applying a couple of tactics to keep them coming back for more.
Offer a variety of games
When preparing your offer, try going above just the classic well-known games. Sure, games like poker, roulette, or slots are still the most popular but that’s not all there is out there.
Games are also about trends, try staying on top of them and mix up what your players can choose from. Offering a wide selection of high-quality games is a great step toward keeping users interested. Different games appeal to different tastes, so make sure your online casino has something for everyone.
Customer Service
This one goes without saying, but here it is. Good customer service is key to keeping your visitors happy and loyal. You can have the best games – but bad customer service is still going to hurt you. Make sure you’re providing world-class support. It could be a 24/7 chat or email, what matters more is that your customer service team is responsive, helpful, and able to deal with a wide variety of requests professionally and efficiently.
On that note, make sure that the rules around pay-out times, gaining bonuses, or entering tournaments are easy to find and understand for your clients.
If your customer encounters an issue or has questions, and you fail to answer them, they will leave. As simple as that. Even worse, they could leave a bad review which can be detrimental depending on the strength of your brand’s reputation. So stay reactive to the player’s needs.
Welcome bonuses
Who doesn’t like a gift, right? Finding a new cool online casino to explore is great. What’s even better is getting that lovely sign-up bonus to make you feel even more welcome.
Add a bonus on a first-time deposit or offer new joiners a discount on the minimum amount, and free spins for games. Whatever works best for your business. Having an attractive bonus offer for new customers that’s advertised on the page before people start filling out the form could be the tipping point of your new customer’s decision-making. Where people can be convinced they’re getting a good deal conversions follow.
While developing your strategy, take a minute to research what your competitors have available as welcome bonuses, and try coming up with a competitive bonus. Articles with a summary of offers like the one from WRTV could come in handy.
Step 3: Cultivate loyalty
So, you’ve reached the new client, you got them to sign-up, and enjoy your iGaming site. It’s not over yet. Now you have to show them that staying with you long-term is worth it.
Release new games periodically
People usually stay loyal to a brand or platform when they’re given something to react to. By releasing new games every once in a while you’re keeping players’ interest and attention. After all, people will appreciate trying new things just as much as going back to the ones they know and love.
When you add something new, make news out of it. Include it in your newsletter or a special section on your website; throwing in a promo code for a limited number of people won’t hurt either.
Loyalty programs
Bonuses are a great tool for player retention. They help to re-engage regular customers who may start losing interest and give them a reason to return to the site. Create a bonus strategy that rewards all kinds of players. Reward active ones that reach great results. Support those who are on a losing streak.
Let people earn points and get rewarded every time they make a deposit. You can unlock new bonus levels for customers who have been with you the longest or base it on the size of their wins. It’s the strategic replication of experiences through gamification that keeps the users engaged. There are plenty of things you can do when creating attractive loyalty programs.
If you’re looking for help with creating great, customer-oriented solutions you could check out Slotegrator (a market-leading software supplier) which includes an improved bonus module. The feature allows online casino operators to independently manage bonuses and add them to their platform.
Tournaments
Organize fun events for your players. Online events are perfectly fine. Make them as exclusive or open as you want. It can be a great way to reward the most successful players with an invite-only event. Or make it available to anybody who wants to join for a more varied level of experiences.
The point here is that, by taking the initiative to create a fun experience for your players, you get to show them that you see and appreciate them. You’re giving them the option to have a more social experience while being online. You also get to re-engage your customers by tapping into their competitive side.
Transparency and safety
Players want to trust you. But they also want to know what’s going on and make sure you’re legit. Show them you are among the reputable online casinos.
Pay attention to your guidelines – are they easy to understand? Don’t play around with hidden costs or fine print. Surprising players with new upgrades or changes that affect their games could impact your business negatively.
Provide your players with security by ensuring that personal and financial information is encrypted to avoid any breaches. If you are based in the EU, make sure to comply with GDPR. The same goes for whatever relevant legislation applies in your given GEO.
And last but not least, show your players that you have all the licensing necessary for your business. When sharing that licensing information don’t forget to include which country issued it and what regulations it applies to exactly.
Wrap up
Maybe now you think you have a hard task ahead of you. Maybe you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed with the prospect of promoting your online casino. Take your time, and take your strategy one step at a time. Soon, you’ll start seeing results.
If you want to learn more useful advertising tips for iGaming, Voluum has loads of great content.
Enjoy and may your wins be bigger than ever.
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