The gambling industry is thriving but it is also increasingly competitive. The more customers that enter the market, the more online casinos spring up all hoping for the lion’s share. As with any industry, in order to reap the benefits of the sector’s growth, they need to have a solid marketing plan in place. Forget the basics as you can bet your competitors are already doing it. We have identified four key areas that many casino marketing professionals should always consider.
Check out the competition
Whether you are in charge of website design, social media, content creation, or overall strategy, you need to see what the competition is up to. Of course, no good marketer should ever copy someone else’s strategy, but there are valuable lessons to be learned by researching.
On social media, you can analyse what has high levels of engagement and what doesn’t. You can see what things customers are responding to. You can even get inspired by their campaigns, styles, and rhetoric – giving you a good foundation to develop your own. Originality is important but there is no need to reinvent the wheel. Instead, draw on others’ experiences and create something of your own that works.
Website, website, website
This cannot be stressed enough: you need to make sure your casino website is absolutely top-notch. You can have the best selection of games, the savviest social media strategy, and the greatest customer service team, but if your website is naff, say goodbye to your customers.
Your website needs to be fast, aesthetically pleasing, and functional. It needs to be easy to navigate, concise and interesting without being garish. It needs to represent your brand and the preferences of your clients. Most importantly, your visitors need to be able to find what they want, in a couple of seconds.
If you fail in any of these areas, you can bet that your customers will be heading off somewhere better in just a couple of clicks. If website design, development and UX is not your speciality, don’t just wing it -bring in a pro.
Try it yourself
To be able to successfully market a product, you need to really understand it. You can read about it as much as you like but actually playing the games is the best way to put yourself in the consumer’s shoes. For example, the slots and games from Betfair come in a wide range: there are big-name slots in a variety of themes, and by browsing and playing, you can get a good idea of the standard your customers are expecting.
Take off your marketing head, imagine yourself as a typical customer, and play to understand what works, what doesn’t and what attracts you to each game. After comparing this with different providers and sites, you can really go deeper with your marketing strategy.
Harness the written word
One of the best ways to promote your online casino is through the written word. Content marketing and blogging are great ways to onboard quality customers. If you can create meaningful, intelligent, and informative content that is of value to those that read it, you are already miles ahead of competitors.
The key to successful content marketing is consistency. Keep your company blog up to date with relevant news and developments. Ensure you share across all your social media portals and consider a newsletter for clients. You can also promote them in forums and in specialist niche communities to maximise those that will click. Not only does good content marketing bring you more customers but it also increases retention, and offers them something a little bit extra.
Of course, there are other ways of getting ahead of the game, but these are four of the tips we consider are the easiest to implement and that are generally being neglected. Follow our advice and get ready for success.