Sports betting and online casino gambling is a fast-paced, dynamic, and – above all, lucrative industry. The ongoing technological development and shifting regulations around the world make it one of the most exciting businesses to be in, with every day bringing new challenges and opportunities. Perhaps most importantly, the latest iGaming growth shows no sign of stopping – recent appraisals see global revenues topping $100 billion within the next five years.
When the unexpected happened in 2020, the iGaming industry was one of the less affected industries – in most cases, even picking up some of the slack left by the closure of land-based casinos. Now is looking like a perfect time to start an online casino business.
But while online gambling is a unique industry, one basic assumption holds as true for online casino platforms and sportsbooks as it does for fashion, entertainment, retail, and other businesses: the key to success is to know your target audience.
Getting a detailed picture of your target customer is especially important for newly arrived casino operators who are just starting their online journey. Let’s delve through the most effective ways of successful casino marketing aimed at engaging as many customers as possible and improving the bottom line.
1. Bonus Offers
These offers allow for new audiences and back up the curiosity and interest of constant visitors. Well-elaborated and decent offers are also able to return players to the platforms after a long break.
For Loyal Customers: By joining loyalty programs of online casinos, players obtain first deposit bonuses, automatic multiplying, and welcome points. Loyal customers can be provided with an extra scoring system, birthday and holiday offers, and gifts for regular website sessions.
Registration and reload Offers: Players are provided with deposit bonuses as motivation for registration. When the welcome bonus expires, you can implement an appealing reload offer (scores for deposit duplication, replenishment, and so on).
Free Spins: Free spins are quite effective to retain the target audience and increase their interest in certain slots. It is a financially decent option for resource owners, as customers perceive spins as cheap and beneficial.
Other Offers: There are dozens of other offers for players, except for welcome bonuses: Free Play games, loyalty scores for inviting new players, cashback promotions, and a chance to become a VIP client.
Different casino bonus programs should be well-thought as customers can waste all scores and move to another operator. To avoid this situation, casino operators should diligently elaborate bonus guidelines to give benefits to both loyal and newcomers.
2. Extensive Selection of Games
The wider the selection of games available on the platform, the greater audience it will engage. Apart from that, a list of slots should contain both highly specialized and popular game offerings. All online casinos have an extensive selection of games available, which means that the majority of customers are accounted for when they sign up. Unlike sports betting, where it’s necessary to have a number of accounts to get the best odds, online casinos require a whole different customer base.
The game selection that can be found on these platforms is unlimited, and it ensures that users don’t need to run from one competitor to another to play the games they want. Game selection lists should also cover a wider range of niches, with slots being a dominant example.
Slots games are also able to attract audiences no matter their interest, as there are slots themes based on movies, video games, and famous people. Enthusiast players that have a strong affinity for a certain musician should be able to play the slot game that they have while enjoying some of the most popular hits.
Prior to launching an online casino game, operators should consider the type of games preferred by the target customer. If a platform serves players from a different location, it should then offer the most popular games in the region.
3. Mobile-Friendly Design
Most online casino enthusiasts appreciate the opportunity to enter games of chance on smartphones while the mobile share grows on a yearly basis. It’s caused by technological development, the availability of powerful gadgets, and communication quality improvement. A casino platform that’s mobile-friendly allows players to get access to deposits and relish the latest casino games without a PC.
4. Secure Deposits and Withdrawal Methods
Online player loyalty goes due to quick financial transactions within the system. Money can be deposited and withdrawn using different payment systems, cryptocurrencies and credit cards. The more popular payment options, the better. Here are several ways of payment applied by online operators:
E-wallets: PayPal-like systems are pretty comfortable, yet some seem to be limited in certain regions.
Visa and Mastercard: One of the most popular options for online casinos. It’s safe, simple, and accessible for a wide range of customers.
5. SEO for Online Casinos
Online marketing on social media should be accompanied by complex search engine optimization (SEO). This strategy is applied by all notable casino and bookmaker websites to increase traffic. It implies the gradual increase of position in Google’s results and is considered to be a widely efficient promotion strategy.
- Technical SEO: A mandatory condition for an effective online marketing strategy. Gambling products should be seamless and user-friendly.
- Valuable Content: Engaging and valuable information allowing to create lists of keywords and engage a wider audience is important to brand development.
- Link Exchange: Placement of online casino links on dedicated platforms, websites, blogs, and social media increase the website traffic.
Forward Thinking
Online casino platforms are looking to the future, and there are many strategies that will lead to a larger audience. For example, many of the notable casinos now offer digital payment methods like cryptocurrencies as an accepted payment method. It’s widely considered that more brands will accept cryptocurrencies in the future, but gambling businesses are one of the first industries to truly embrace the currency.
Meanwhile, online casino platforms are also embracing other technology types that will be more popular in the future, such as VR or AR, and that will certainly appeal to the younger demographic.