MRI Casino Marketing Blog
Recharge into Action

It’s 2:37 a.m., where are your batteries? 

This past weekend daylight savings time forced us to "spring ahead," and lose an entire hour of sleep. I, for one, still have to change the batteries in my smoke detectors. Likely I’ll forget and undoubtedly have my slumber disturbed at 2:37 a.m. to the sound of warning beeps.

Even though safety should come first, if you’re anything like me, the first beep might not snap you into changing your batteries. I'll make a mental note to buy batteries later, and typically forget until the next time it beeps. To be perfectly honest, I don't always take action until it starts beeping incessantly.

What does this have to do with casino marketing? Your smoke alarm's beeping is a lesson in communicating the right way with the right people. You will rarely change the battery after the first beep, or capture a customer with a single message. While no one wants their digital and social advertising to be annoying, we do want it to compel gamblers and entertainment-seekers into action.

You Can't Beep Once and Still Cut Through the Clutter

Digital and social marketing can be up to 61 percent cheaper than older forms of marketing. Plus, it's faster — you can publish new content to your mobile app or website a lot faster than you can secure and print a billboard. Digital works, but there's a great deal of content clutter out there. Your content has to fight for attention against a lot of poor-quality content from other brands.

How do you cut through the clutter? You can't just give off one beep. You need to be frequent without irritating your customers and potential leads. You need to find the sweet spot, your equivalent of 2:37 a.m., that generates the best results. Or maybe you're concerned that direct mail still reigns supreme — after all, it's a lot easier to fight for attention in a mailbox than it is online. Right?

Do You Know What Works for Your Customers?

Casino marketers are battling for business against an exploding digital marketing climate and increased competition. What gives?

You need to understand what your competitors are doing, and how you stack up. By understanding strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (a SWOT analysis, in marketing speak), you can develop messaging and messaging frequency that inspires your customers to be loyal.

Understanding what works shouldn't be based on instinct or what you've always done. Ideally, this is where market research helps. You need to understand what your customers want, how they feel about advertising and what makes them spring into action. With real data on their market and customer preferences, casino brands have achieved a 5 percent increase in rated play in declining markets.

Training Your Casino Customers to Find You Online

Customers of all ages are getting pretty effective at ignoring digital advertising; four out of five people have left a website because of a pop-up ad or auto-play video. You need to provide extreme value to your customers without being as irritating as a smoke alarm battery on its last legs, and train your customers to find you.

One of the keys could be personalized mobile app experiences. With the right push notifications and personalized content, like rewards programs and personal kiosks, you can entice your customers into engaging regularly with your casino's exclusive mobile app.

If you want to increase your casino's revenue, you need to take action.

Everyone wants their casino advertising to have a lot of pop and pizazz, but they also need to trust that their brand's existing style has forged a connection with their customers.

If your customers see you online enough, they know where to find you. They'll see your push notifications on their smartphone, and find you in their Instagram and Facebook feeds. With regular, consistent messaging, they'll know you're there. Even if they don't react to every message, they'll know where to find you.