Online casino customers: how to acquire new and retain old ones

17.12.2018

The number of highrollers is constantly growing in the online gambling sector. This affects the economic situation in the market: according to the statistics of the Conversion website, the online gambling market has grown by €4.3 billion over 2018, and expects a €3.9 billion increase in 2019. The article forecasts that the market will be gaining momentum with every subsequent year, including by the number of new casinos among other things.

However, this niche is extremely competitive now. How to attract new customers and retain old ones in the increasingly difficult conditions? How to improve the player conversion at an online casino? Read further in the article.

Drawing attention: which role software plays in casino reputation?

If you consider the western online casino market, you may note that most of leading companies use software produced by one or several large suppliers. Here are the most popular gambling software developers:

Microgaming;
Net Entertainment;
Novomatic;
Playtech;
RTG;
Betsoft;
NextGen;
Cassava;
Play'n Go;
Yggdrasil;
Quickspin;
Rival.

High-quality software helps to attract new customers. User-friendly interface, quick app performance, and intuitive navigation can make the name for you, specifically, in contrast to competitors whose apps work poorly and always freeze up.

Although software is essential, it does not play a key role in casino recognition. Nick Rudenko, chief marketing officer at FavBet, recollects the time when he worked as an affiliate:

“Brand awareness brought better results – I earned more with lower CPA rates. You should not chase after tools; that is not the most important thing. The brand is more significant for online casinos than software.”

Reliability plays one of vital roles for players when they choose an online casino. This is the reason why brand awareness and good reputation even irrespective of the software can play a key role when choosing a gambling house.

The most popular online casinos in the CIS include Bitstarz, ТТР, Bob casino, Casumo, Videoslots.

Bitstarz is an app optimized for highrollers. It has no withdrawal restrictions; winnings can be cashed out within several minutes, and players have their personal VIP managers.

The ТТР casino enables the withdrawal of winnings within several minutes using Accentpay. The bonus program is not rich and for this reason, the app is an ideal match for those who do not like playing with bonus money.

Bob casino offers a great variety of bonuses, reloads, and different special offers. The casino offers 40хplaythrough, high withdrawal limits (€40,000per month) and quick withdrawal procedures.

Casumo is a conservative and reliable European operator. It has no withdrawal limits; money come to your wallet within 12 hours, there is an incentive program and licensed games from Novomatic.

Videoslots casino offers 2000 games. It has almost all famous slots from all developers. Winnings are paid out within three hours; the withdrawal limit is €30,000 per month. The welcome bonus has 20х playthrough, which is good for bonus hunters.

Retainment: how to work with players to earn trust

Payer acquisition is a difficult task in highly competitive conditions. Earning player trust is even more complicated. There are several methods that allow retaining an online casino player such as restricted time of in-game events, push notifications, CRM systems, special offers.

In-game events

During such activities, users receive rewards for fulfilling of definite quests not directly related to the game. They can be tournament tickets, which can be valid for a restricted time, themed quests dedicated to holidays, etc.

Push notifications

The main thing for push notifications is not to look like spam. They should remind customers about the game or inform about decent things such as special offers, discounts, etc. Betting houses and online casinos will find this tool useful, as it allows interacting with active players.

CRM systems

CRM will help to establish close relations with customers, classify them basing on their transaction history and general preferences inside the game. All of it will come in handy when drafting marketing and advertising campaigns.

Using a CRM system, one can gather statistic data about players: time spent on playing the game, average bets, wins and losses, plans on the future bet on sports events, etc.

This information allows forecasting preferable rewards for every player and creating personalized offers.

Special offers

Special offers can be used as a cross-selling tool. Customers that play slots or table games may get interested in special offers for betting. Such offers are beneficial to use when launching new games. Here are the most popular kinds of special offers:

Bonuses – free spins (online casino) or free bets (betting), different deposit bonuses, etc.;
Free play (regular or trial version) that allows playing without making real-money bets;
Cashback – aspecial offer that returns a part of your losses;
Frequent player points (FPP) – loyalty programs that allow players to earn points for being active on the gambling website or app.

When developing special offers, do not forget that copying of rivals’ offerings is a bad idea. Come up with creative offers that have not managed to bore the player and can still provoke an interest.