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Keep ‘Em Happy: The Art of Online Casino Player Retention
Customer retention is the backbone of any revenue-generating business, and the online casino industry is no different. Even in traditional markets, where one-off purchases were the normal way of doing business, there is now a shift to subscription models. Everyone wants to make money - and then keep making money, preferably with not as much spending as it costs to get customers in the door in the first place! At online casinos, customer acquisition costs can be high, where customers are offered a huge amount of free rewards to play at the casino. But since casino play can be addictive, or at the very least a weekly behavior for people, this customer acquisition cost is offset if you know the player will stay on and be a loyal player for years to come.
Yes, offering casino games for real money will definitely incentivize players to register and gamble using your platform. But we all know it goes far beyond that. It’s a given that keeping customers happy will guarantee that they will remain loyal to your brand. There are various techniques that online casinos use to keep customers returning to their shop instead of the competition - even with juicy welcome bonuses on offer. Here are some of the tricks of the trade in customer retention for online casinos.
Range of Games and Price Points
An online casino must have a competitive range of games and price points for a player to feel like they are getting their money’s worth. While a good welcome deal will snag a customer in the first place, they are likely to look elsewhere if they become bored with the range on offer at a given casino. The broader the range of games and prices, the less likely it is a customer will feel like they’re missing out.
VIP Clubs
VIP or loyalty clubs are a staple across industries for customer retention and online casinos are no different. VIP clubs for casinos often offer different levels of VIP-ness, where the bonuses and rewards increase as the levels climb. Casinos should look to remain competitive in this space, too. Rewards can be physical items that are shipped out to the player, cashbacks and super deals, free spins on slot machines, or other in-house treats.
Weekly Player Bonuses
Casinos will often also have weekly and even daily or hourly deals to see players returning week after week or on a given time or day. Simply having a player return during this time can spark a frenzy of play. Some lures may be an in-house competition which any player who plays during a certain time is in the draw to win, or certain bonuses are awarded during that time. These sorts of weekly player bonuses may also be combined with the VIP club to see the player’s rewards skyrocket.
Push Notifications
Lots of players will use their phones or tablets for online casino play, which can present the opportunity for the casino to send push notifications to the device - even if the player is only accessing the casino via the browser. By sending push notifications, the casino will be able to grab the attention of the player and hopefully lure them back into the casino to play. Casinos must be careful not to send too many notifications - there is a fine line between a welcome distraction and overdoing it and becoming annoying.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is another staple for customer retention. Emails may be sent weekly with all the deals available at the casino on offer for players. Casinos may also trigger an email to be sent when a player hasn’t logged in for a while, offering a new returning player bonus. There can also be emails sent during holidays and other events to try and capture the attention of the reader. Various techniques like A/B testing subject lines for emails can help determine what’s effective in making people open emails and click through to the site.
New Games
Casinos that stay on top of the latest and greatest games in the world are the ones that wind up keeping customers. New slot games that offer existing jackpots, for instance, are an instant lure to returning players. Casinos that utilize a stable of different game providers, rather than just one provider, will be able to offer the largest range and snap up all the latest games. Setting deals for new games is a popular technique for getting new and returning players to try out the game and see if they like it. Often a player will have favorite games they play all the time, and casino game providers produce new titles in the hopes that this one will become the latest and greatest biggest hit of the year.