Online casino advertising and marketing – the secrets of attracting customers to online casinos

The audience of gamblers is considered to be one of the most conservative and superstitious at the same time. A player may use the same website for years, even occasionally browsing the ratings at ukcasinosnotgamstop.com or reviews of other casinos. The main principle is that one should never look for the good from the bad. And it takes a lot of effort for marketers to lure a user to another resource.

Direct advertising

A problem for marketers is the bans on online casino advertising in many countries. Some have serious restrictions – for example, no deposit bonuses can be mentioned, users must be warned in advance about financial risks, and no image of success can be created or money can be shown. Writing scripts in such an environment is becoming increasingly difficult. There are several ways out:

1. Comply with all recommendations and advertise legitimately, counting on the most conscientious public. Compensate for such conditions by being able to talk proudly about licensing and consumer protection under the laws of a particular state.
2. Advertise on the same semi-legal websites and closed feeds that are not subject to the filters of the regulatory authorities. This is why gambling advertisements often pop up on 18+ sites – due to the need for formal age verification filters do not see them.
3. Use advertising on private feeds and blogs, where in the event of a complaint, liability can be shifted to a specific user and a minimal fine can be imposed.

In the latter two cases, marketers do not limit themselves in their pitch. The ads boldly talk about big profits and solving financial problems. But the website itself usually already has a line warning of financial risks.

The main argument of online casino advertising, where there is a no deposit bonus, usually becomes this fact. Omitting the need to work out the gift before withdrawal, the advertisement offers to take the money right now. Sometimes the adverts are accompanied by a counter, supposedly counting down the last minutes of the lucrative offer. The target audience for such banners is quite wide:

• New users who have never entered a casino but want to take some of the money on offer;
• Avid players who are temporarily bored due to lack of available funds, and are willing to change their room with a pumped account and an empty account for the sake of a new, but with money;
• Bonus-hunters – professional hunters of casino gifts, who register only for the sake of trying to get winnings without investing.

The latter do not need the gambling hall itself, but the emergence of this category of guests is inevitable. The only thing left for the administration to do is to track down duplicate accounts and tighten the voucher rules.

A disguised pitch

A favourite technique of marketers is to advertise through reviews and comments. Up to 90% of reviews, including those that look the most sincere, are written to order. It is difficult to reproach casino support for fraud in this case – if you do not dilute the negative reviews with positive feedback, it will be difficult to work many times over. At the same time, even the most honest and high-quality gambling halls receive negative reviews – the desire to express your dissatisfaction, vent your negativity and irritation after a bad gaming session is in people’s blood. Few gamblers are willing to admit that the roulette failed to come up with a personally devised strategy, and with the machine was unlucky because of poorly chosen bet size and self-confidence. Loser will blame the “dishonest” developer and the casino.

But if the game goes and the piggy bank personal account is replenished, the same player is unlikely to go to praise the arcade and thank the administration. In his mind, this is the right and normal course of things, and the merit of success is only his own. That is why most written reviews, wherever they are posted, are an order and a form of advertising that is hard to reproach for choosing. Also unobtrusively advertising casinos:

• Bloggers who mention a certain lounge in passing;
• The authors of ratings and tops directly showing selected brands;
• Ordinary players posting links in social networks and dialogues.

In some cases, some really high quality work is done – slots reviews are recorded, game principles and strategies are shown. The purpose of any such material is still the same – to promote the particular brand that paid for it.

Methods to retain players on the website

The only thing more important than attracting new customers is retention. Casinos that have not thought through a policy of working with loyal users lose them rather quickly. The reasons are all the same enticing offers for newcomers. A player, for whatever reason zeroed deposit, logically reasoning that all slots are provided by the same providers, that is, the mechanics and payout percentage are the same. There really is no difference which site to play on. And here two main motivators come to the fore – the fear of losing and the desire to gain. If there is nothing to lose, the user goes where they will be given points, freespins, first deposit insurance or other potential benefits.

Fear of loss is provided by benefits secured by status and seniority in the casino:

• Increased gifts for achieving new levels and even empty achievers;
• Accumulated comp points, or points that can be redeemed for cash;
• Increased cashback or interest on deposits;
• Access to a private club (tournaments for vip-persons, presale for new slots).

What is interesting is the fact that the status benefits, which have no tangible benefits underneath, are just as highly valued by players as the real rewards. An offer to collect stamps or change a nickname with an increase in status is just as stimulating as the promise of real money.

In good casinos, marketers use everything from unobtrusive reminders of new products in the mail, especially when a player is lost for a while, to direct gifts for VIP players. The bonus programme of such halls is balanced, and newcomers get no more than the backbone of the audience.