The field of casino marketing abounds with smart, resourceful mavens. I recently had the opportunity to ask a few of them for their go-to casino marketing strategies.
A 25-year veteran marketing strategist Mary Loftness has spent a career driving the measurability of marketing and the need to track everything. Mary is ever-focused on yesterday. That is, she looks to beat last year's revenue each and every day. She suggests, 'Compare the similar day and look to creatively improve the promotion, special event, or direct offer to increase revenue. Keep a detailed library of business drivers each day with notes for successes and failures. Continuous steady improvement wins!' This daily focus makes big goals achievable as you look to improve step by step rather than through leaps and bounds.
Maybe the biggest challenge a casino has is getting patrons in the door. Casinos have lots of people getting paid lots of money trying to figure out how to lure you in the door. But like any player, we have our favorite offers. Here are 10 great promotions that can (and have) motivated me to make a trip to the casino floor. Free hotel room. Yes, it's red carpets all the way at the exclusive 888 VIP Casino Club as you get treated like the true VIP that you were born to be! On top of the personal VIP treatment that you will receive from the best of the best, you will also receive ongoing and exclusive maximum rewards, offers and promotions with the best benefits you can find. Posted in Casino Promotions, Family News, Health, Holiday Greetings, South Point Casino, Video Poker 7 Comments More on Resources Posted on November 13, 2020 by queen of comps.
Kristen Hansen-Carter is the Marketing Assistant for Odds On Promotions and their sister company, Hole In One International. She held this position from 2011 to 2013, then returned to the company in 2016. Kristen assists with email marketing, blog posts, social media, and video editing/production for both companies. Mar 13, 2019 - Exciting Casino promotions at Dover Downs Hotel & Casino in Dover, DE. See more ideas about casino promotion, casino, promotion.
USE YOUR DATABASE
My Casino Marketing Boot Camp co-founder Nicole Barker is a database and loyalty specialist committed to improving the industry's marketing skill set to court customers effectively. Her go-to strategy is to create a unique program for the customers that somehow seem to be off the competition's radar. 'Every database, be it large and small, has a gaming budget tipping point. $100 ADT is that tipping point. Programmatically, your competitors set their player development (PD) sights much higher. Mine the doldrums in between $100 ADT and your PD threshold for your greatest incremental revenue potential. The players will be delighted. Your reinvestment won't be that much. Moreover, long-tailed loyalty will abound.'
Lynette O'Connell has been both a co-worker and a friend for years. She is a fan of the classic Recency, Frequency, Monetary Model, commonly referred to as RFM
'One of the first places to start when leveraging your database is the RFM model. Sometimes, I also include Locality. These figures are critical in ensuring you are reinvesting in your players accurately. I have been to locations where the sole focus is on Monetary (usually ADT)' which does not account for the multitude of influences on a visit.
Casino Vip Promotion Ideas 2020
How to start? O'Connell suggests, 'My first recommendation is to add Frequency/Trip. Why? Let's look at two players: Player A comes in twice a month and plays to an ADT level of $100. Player B comes in 20 times a month and also plays to a $100 ADT. Which player is more valuable?
Obviously, Player B. However, if ADT is the only criteria in a segmentation matrix, then they are both being treated the same. To resolve this, I suggest looking into the database to find the average number of trips for your active players. Often, this is around four trips. If you have a highly frequented property, then it could be higher. Once you know the number, anyone below the Average Trip gets segmented by ADT, anyone above the Average Trip gets segmented based on Average Monthly Theo (AMT). With this in mind, you can begin treating the more frequent loyal players based on their true value and spend at your property.'
This is only the beginning. In addition to reinvestment, you can also begin to look at the goals of each of these segments. For lower frequency players, you may try to increase trips. For the higher frequency players, you could attempt to extend their length of play (since you probably won't get more trips out of them). Build your marketing offers around these goals to entice the behavior you are looking for from your customers.
'There are several more layers to segmentation, but this is a good place to start,' continues O'Connell. 'I always suggest doing an A/B test when you are making strategic changes to validate what is (or isn't) working. This will further aid in quantifying and reporting the ROI you see from the modifications.'
THERE IS GOLD IN YOUR DATABASE
Your decliners and inactive customers might be your best source of revenue. For whatever reason, you have a segment of customers that have chosen to visit less often or not to return. It's fair to assume they experienced something unsatisfactory in their past visits. But, ask yourself, 'How much revenue can I bring in if I get only 1% of those customers back for a visit?' What if you can get 2%? 5%? 10%? This will take time and will likely be a test of your general manager's patience. To regain this customer, you may first need to do an internal audit of your offerings, services, facilities, and staff — an honest one. Then, audit your competitors. You must identify both the improvements you have made since their last visit(s) and the upgrades you can make now. This should be done before you drop an offer in the mail. Once you have a new story to tell, then bring in your direct mail team to understand what the optimal offer might be. Combine that with the right message to see an improvement in this segment.
REACH OUT AND TOUCH SOMEONE
From 'across the pond,' player development expert Jackie Parker recommends a warm welcome.
'We can all agree that a high-worth customer should be assigned a host and immediately go into the direct mail programs to keep them coming back,' starts Parker. However, should this be the first step in the relationship we are only just starting to build with them? 'We've become very proud of our industry processes and procedures, but too much reliance on automation can overshadow the value of a friendly voice. The key term to remember is relationship. Frankly, that requires a human touch,' stresses Parker. 'There is a big difference between a direct mail welcome and personal one.'
Parker continues, 'A valuable new player should receive a phone call within 24 hours if they met the threshold theo on the day that they enrolled. These top players expect personal recognition and to feel special; it isn't good enough to wait for the direct mail programs to catch up with them.'
These welcomes don't just have to fall on the shoulders of your host team. You can probably set up an easy report that can be split up between the players club staff, or anyone who would love to be a part of the welcome wagon.
Parker offers a second strategy: keep in touch. She says, 'You want your player development team to remind customers of your casino when they are missing events or you haven't seen them in a while, but you can't just call and ask, ‘Where y'at?' Hosts need a reason to call (RTC) because otherwise, the phone call is just a begging request to come back and play. You can take a strategic approach and include outbound calls in your overall marketing plan. For example, if you upgrade or add an amenity, then give your hosts a list of coded players that have not been in for 90 days along with a script. ‘Hey, Julia! I know you haven't been in for a while, so you haven't see the new seafood buffet! It is really special. We even have fresh lobster on Thursday nights. We have a special for the opening week, and I would hate for you to miss it.''
Another idea Parker offers is to double-down on your inactive offers to previously valuable players. 'Give the hosts a list of names and phone numbers, and a script along these lines: ‘Hey Julia, I know you get a lot of mail, just like I do. I would hate for you to miss your exclusive $50 midweek hotel offer. Plus! We have added a new Seafood Buffet that is amazing! When could you come in this month? I'd love to get you booked in.'' encourages Parker.
ANOTHER CASINO MARKETING STRATEGY? TAKE A PAGE FROM THE BOOK OF MEZCKA.
It's not enough to know WHO your customer is and what they are worth. You must understand their needs and desires to identify ways to keep them coming back time and time again. Mezcka Marketing Research Consulting President Michael A. Meczka has worked extensively with a variety of perspectives specific to the casino gaming industry, including those of patrons, governments, regulators, operators, and suppliers. The consistency in needs and desires expressed by patrons over many years has been astounding. They need to know there is a sliver of a chance of winning. Patrons repeatedly lament the inability to spend the same budget in the same way as they have in the past. I recognize there is a more significant discussion here regarding slot hold and pay tables, but the fact is casinos are in the entertainment business. Are we still entertaining customers or just providing quick ways for them to spend through their budgets?
'In a casino… The cardinal rule is to keep them playing, and keep them coming back! The longer they play, the more they lose. In the end, we get it all.'
GET FOUND ONLINE
With over 1500 casinos nationwide, standing out in a crowd is a daunting task. Alamaphetic President Matthew Capala recommends a results-focused online marketing strategy that incorporates digital marketing best practices combined with industry expertise to get noticed. 'The gaming industry often doubles down on traditional marketing media channels when the real jackpot is online,' says Capala. 'In a world where 80% of consumers search online before purchase, invisibility is a fate much worse than failure.' Having a website – even one with bells and whistles – is no longer enough. You must understand the target customers and begin crafting the keyword strategy that is relevant to them. Do you know the intent of a customer's online search? Have you buried the exact content they are looking for? Capala recommends you give your visitors what they want on your website. Answer their questions. Develop a robust content strategy powered by SEO and data-driven audience profiling and a keyword strategy based on their needs, questions, and concerns.
EXPERIENCE FIRST
Try this fun audit. Think about your customers and the experience you WANT them to have. Ask yourself how often a top tier customer should be able to eat in the buffet or the coffee shop/cafe or steakhouse without opening their wallets, in other words by using comps, points or offers. Now, ask yourself what about the experience a $75 customer should have. What about a $25 customer? Then, look at all of your amenities. How are they being utilized? Who is using them? An exercise like this will help you identify motivators and detractors. They will help you identify the opportunities to create a great, well-balanced experience for both your operation and the customer.
OPERATIONALIZE YOUR BRAND
Most casino marketing plans include a section on 'the Brand.' This section might consist of a plan to tweak the logo or the tagline. Seldom does it involve making the brand consistent from the back of the house to the sign out front. Quite often the culture of the organization never makes it into marketing communications, and when customers visit, they may experience a pleasant surprise or a complete disconnect. Your external and internal messaging and experiences should be mutually reinforcing. Development of your brand should be an inclusive process rather than one reserved for the executive suite. When MGM Resorts adopted a strategy to reposition itself, it was more than an ad campaign. It was a story the company could tell consistently to all of its stakeholders. They transformed the culture first and then reinforced it with the messaging to external audiences.
There you have it ten easy, low-cost strategies to start driving revenue. Try one. Try them all. Let us know how they work out for you. Moreover, if you have your own favorite go-to strategies, let us know.
Drumroll drawings. Tricked-out trucks. Cash tornadoes. Pulling off a successful casino promotion is harder than it may seem. Here are 15 tips, tricks, and ideas to get you there, without breaking the bank. (Unless, of course, Break the Bank is your promotion of choice.)
1. Start with planning.
Let's start with the elephant in the room. It's definitely more fun to think about what kind of game show briefcase you'll use in that Deal-eo or No Deal-eo promo, or how the balloons will drop on the new car, but if your casino promotion idea is going to be successful, you need to set the fun aside and first ask yourself this: what, exactly, am I trying to do? Acquire new guests? Reward loyal guests? Increase guest spending? Increase visits? Once you settle on your goals, things get much easier.
Casino Vip Promotion Ideas Free
A good marketing calendar has balance, a mixture of mass and targeted promotions. Sometimes the goal is to see a big bump in revenue; other times the goal is to boost a certain demographic or daypart. Targeted promotions can also elbow their way in front of the competition. (See #4.)
One other thing: Do not start with how much you should — or have to — spend. Expense should be planned in line with potential revenue, and you're not going to know that until you define what you're trying to achieve.
2. Determine how you'll measure success.
You'll need to know what 'success' means in order to achieve it. This may sound like a 'duh,' but it can get a bit tricky. Be sure to isolate your base business, as sometimes traffic isn't driven by promotions. And in addition to traditional ROI calculations, you may want to check in on other less-obvious factors like customer satisfaction or conversion. Be sure to define how you'll measure those in advance.
3. Know thy audience.
In order to know the right day, the right way to spread the word, the right briefcase for that game show promotion, get to know your audience as well as you possibly can. Because no matter how enticing you may think your promotion is, if your audience hasn't heard, isn't interested, or can't come, you're in for a flop.
If, for example, drive time is short and your identified target audience isn't employed full-time, you may be able to bump that 50% slot floor occupancy on a Tuesday. Or, your audience demographics may tell you the smartest day to make the biggest bang for your buck is Friday, even though the slot floor occupancy is already at 60%.
4. Keep your guests close and your competition closer.
The more you know about your competition, the better you can react or — better yet — act proactively. Keep an eye on competitive websites, Facebook pages, newsletters, and mailers. Identify timing and details on promotional events big and small, as well as competitive strengths, weaknesses, and potential impact on your business. And then act.
Say, for example, your competitor has their big monthly giveaway on a Saturday. Knowing your audience has limited discretionary income, you encourage they spend that money on the Friday preceding the giveaway with an enticing offer.
Technology makes competitive tactics crazy easy. Let's say one of your high-spend customers is entering your competitor's parking lot, headed to their Big Bucks promotion. You can send a real-time text that says, 'Get over to our place in the next half hour and get a GUARANTEED 50 big bucks in FREE play.' Presto, guest-o. (Small Red Circle plug — we can help you get here. See #15.)
5. Know when enough is enough.
A promotional calendar that's filled to the brim with exciting giveaways, gifts, and games will produce more profits than a calendar that has sporadic promotions, right?
Wrong.
A constant merry-go-round of promotions, and those ponies lose their luster. Guests are no longer excited. And, if you're always in promo mode, how can you calculate the bump a particular promotion creates? When you spend money you can no longer measure, you stop being able to adjust, react, and improve your bottom line. Plus, if you're not careful, those happy, excited guests become angry, entitled guests who wonder where their free meal is already.
When it comes to promotions, choose quality over quantity. Go back to the drawing board and remind yourself of your objectives. Evaluate if and when promotions fill those objectives, and get ahead of the game. Or the tournament. Or the drawing. You get the point.
6. Brand it.
If your promo name looks and sounds just like your competitor's promo name, you just might have spent your money giving them business. Brand colors, typeface, name, tone, personality — make sure that promotion speaks to guests in your voice. And the more unmistakably yours, the better.
7. Limit time.
We are predictable, we humans, and we assign greater value to limited-time offers. From an old-fashioned circus barker's 'hurry, hurry, hurry' to today's social media flash sales, time — or lack thereof — creates buzz. And buzz creates action.
Choosing the right start and end dates can have a big impact. Don't run the promotion long enough, and your guests won't have enough time to enter. Run it too long, and it loses its punch. Two to four weeks is usually the sweet spot, but it's important to experiment with your particular casino audience.
8. Create a sense of mystery.
We know gamers index high for risk-taking behaviors. So, while many of us love a good mystery, your audience really loves a good mystery. Unlike a typical promotion, use mystery, and you use a lever to create excitement separate from the actual prize. Through an intriguing, mysterious challenge or adventure, your guests are more engaged and more motivated, which leads to higher participation.
Another benefit to using mystery in your promotions? Cost containment. While a guest might not come in if he or she knows, statistically, she's likely to win a small bit of free play, that same guest may decide to visit if she's guaranteed a 'mystery' prize (that turns out to be that same free play).
9. Use theater.
These days, guests, hosts, staff, they're all busy. What's more, they're bombarded with lots and lots and lots of messages. So if you want to capture attention, generate enthusiasm, and otherwise engage, go a little wild and bring out the theatrics. A stage, an announcer, music, dancing, balloons, game show drama, whatever it takes. Out of the ordinary — and that can include downright wacky — is the name of the memorability game. In addition to kick-butt promotion results, memorable experiences have the added benefits of building a positive brand, getting great word of mouth, and, ultimately, creating a bigger audience for your next promotion.
10. So who's promoting this promotion?
The stakes are higher than you may think. If your crew buys in, understands, and is genuinely enthusiastic about a promotion, you just got yourself a lot of free PR. If, on the other hand, staff perceives taking part in the promotion as a chore — or they're in the dark about the specifics — no amount of promotional ad spend will make up for what happens when your guests walk in the door.
Moral: Promote your promotion. Sell your staff. In fact, treat your staff as your customer. If you do a good job, they, in turn, will pass on that enthusiasm, help create buzz, and be walking examples of your brand.
11. Spread the word wisely.
If you're encouraging participation in a mass promotion, it makes sense, of course, to buy mass media. If it's a targeted promotion, though, think outside the box for ways to get your message directly to your target.
Or another way to think outside the box: What about turning a big mass promo into an acquisition strategy by taking a winning car — or another prize so cool your target audience just has to check it out — and showing it off outside your casino? State Fair? Local mall? Where are the customers you want to acquire?
12. Check goals against data.
After the promo, it's time to dig into the data. Did the promotion create incremental revenue? Did you see a lift year over year? What type of players participated? Were expenses in line with revenue, or were they too high? Did the promotion attract new member signup on the day of the promotion? How was slot occupancy? Quickly get to the bottom of what worked and what didn't, so you can process the whole picture while it's fresh. If your data analysts are pulling manual reports, and getting your hands on data just isn't going to happen quickly, it might be time to get some help.
Casino Vip Promotion Ideas Online
13. Debrief already.
The numbers are one thing, but there's always more to the story. Within the week, while everything is still fresh, make sure to gather info from the people closest to the promotion. Ask what worked and what didn't. How were the lines? The weather? The logistics? How was the wait for the valet? Get the customer experience story that rounds out the numbers.
14. Present findings in a way that engages your audience.
Think about it. You just thoughtfully intrigued a target audience enough that you created a desired response. You now need to turn around and approach your managers, board, or tribal leadership the same way.
We're guessing you have a small window of time in a room full of busy, sometimes impatient people. So get to what they care about right away: high level findings, recommendations, and an action plan. Keep it short and on-point. Create summary slides. And be prepared for those questions you know are coming.
Casino Vip Promotion Ideas 2019
USE YOUR DATABASE
My Casino Marketing Boot Camp co-founder Nicole Barker is a database and loyalty specialist committed to improving the industry's marketing skill set to court customers effectively. Her go-to strategy is to create a unique program for the customers that somehow seem to be off the competition's radar. 'Every database, be it large and small, has a gaming budget tipping point. $100 ADT is that tipping point. Programmatically, your competitors set their player development (PD) sights much higher. Mine the doldrums in between $100 ADT and your PD threshold for your greatest incremental revenue potential. The players will be delighted. Your reinvestment won't be that much. Moreover, long-tailed loyalty will abound.'
Lynette O'Connell has been both a co-worker and a friend for years. She is a fan of the classic Recency, Frequency, Monetary Model, commonly referred to as RFM
'One of the first places to start when leveraging your database is the RFM model. Sometimes, I also include Locality. These figures are critical in ensuring you are reinvesting in your players accurately. I have been to locations where the sole focus is on Monetary (usually ADT)' which does not account for the multitude of influences on a visit.
Casino Vip Promotion Ideas 2020
How to start? O'Connell suggests, 'My first recommendation is to add Frequency/Trip. Why? Let's look at two players: Player A comes in twice a month and plays to an ADT level of $100. Player B comes in 20 times a month and also plays to a $100 ADT. Which player is more valuable?
Obviously, Player B. However, if ADT is the only criteria in a segmentation matrix, then they are both being treated the same. To resolve this, I suggest looking into the database to find the average number of trips for your active players. Often, this is around four trips. If you have a highly frequented property, then it could be higher. Once you know the number, anyone below the Average Trip gets segmented by ADT, anyone above the Average Trip gets segmented based on Average Monthly Theo (AMT). With this in mind, you can begin treating the more frequent loyal players based on their true value and spend at your property.'
This is only the beginning. In addition to reinvestment, you can also begin to look at the goals of each of these segments. For lower frequency players, you may try to increase trips. For the higher frequency players, you could attempt to extend their length of play (since you probably won't get more trips out of them). Build your marketing offers around these goals to entice the behavior you are looking for from your customers.
'There are several more layers to segmentation, but this is a good place to start,' continues O'Connell. 'I always suggest doing an A/B test when you are making strategic changes to validate what is (or isn't) working. This will further aid in quantifying and reporting the ROI you see from the modifications.'
THERE IS GOLD IN YOUR DATABASE
Your decliners and inactive customers might be your best source of revenue. For whatever reason, you have a segment of customers that have chosen to visit less often or not to return. It's fair to assume they experienced something unsatisfactory in their past visits. But, ask yourself, 'How much revenue can I bring in if I get only 1% of those customers back for a visit?' What if you can get 2%? 5%? 10%? This will take time and will likely be a test of your general manager's patience. To regain this customer, you may first need to do an internal audit of your offerings, services, facilities, and staff — an honest one. Then, audit your competitors. You must identify both the improvements you have made since their last visit(s) and the upgrades you can make now. This should be done before you drop an offer in the mail. Once you have a new story to tell, then bring in your direct mail team to understand what the optimal offer might be. Combine that with the right message to see an improvement in this segment.
REACH OUT AND TOUCH SOMEONE
From 'across the pond,' player development expert Jackie Parker recommends a warm welcome.
'We can all agree that a high-worth customer should be assigned a host and immediately go into the direct mail programs to keep them coming back,' starts Parker. However, should this be the first step in the relationship we are only just starting to build with them? 'We've become very proud of our industry processes and procedures, but too much reliance on automation can overshadow the value of a friendly voice. The key term to remember is relationship. Frankly, that requires a human touch,' stresses Parker. 'There is a big difference between a direct mail welcome and personal one.'
Parker continues, 'A valuable new player should receive a phone call within 24 hours if they met the threshold theo on the day that they enrolled. These top players expect personal recognition and to feel special; it isn't good enough to wait for the direct mail programs to catch up with them.'
These welcomes don't just have to fall on the shoulders of your host team. You can probably set up an easy report that can be split up between the players club staff, or anyone who would love to be a part of the welcome wagon.
Parker offers a second strategy: keep in touch. She says, 'You want your player development team to remind customers of your casino when they are missing events or you haven't seen them in a while, but you can't just call and ask, ‘Where y'at?' Hosts need a reason to call (RTC) because otherwise, the phone call is just a begging request to come back and play. You can take a strategic approach and include outbound calls in your overall marketing plan. For example, if you upgrade or add an amenity, then give your hosts a list of coded players that have not been in for 90 days along with a script. ‘Hey, Julia! I know you haven't been in for a while, so you haven't see the new seafood buffet! It is really special. We even have fresh lobster on Thursday nights. We have a special for the opening week, and I would hate for you to miss it.''
Another idea Parker offers is to double-down on your inactive offers to previously valuable players. 'Give the hosts a list of names and phone numbers, and a script along these lines: ‘Hey Julia, I know you get a lot of mail, just like I do. I would hate for you to miss your exclusive $50 midweek hotel offer. Plus! We have added a new Seafood Buffet that is amazing! When could you come in this month? I'd love to get you booked in.'' encourages Parker.
ANOTHER CASINO MARKETING STRATEGY? TAKE A PAGE FROM THE BOOK OF MEZCKA.
It's not enough to know WHO your customer is and what they are worth. You must understand their needs and desires to identify ways to keep them coming back time and time again. Mezcka Marketing Research Consulting President Michael A. Meczka has worked extensively with a variety of perspectives specific to the casino gaming industry, including those of patrons, governments, regulators, operators, and suppliers. The consistency in needs and desires expressed by patrons over many years has been astounding. They need to know there is a sliver of a chance of winning. Patrons repeatedly lament the inability to spend the same budget in the same way as they have in the past. I recognize there is a more significant discussion here regarding slot hold and pay tables, but the fact is casinos are in the entertainment business. Are we still entertaining customers or just providing quick ways for them to spend through their budgets?
'In a casino… The cardinal rule is to keep them playing, and keep them coming back! The longer they play, the more they lose. In the end, we get it all.'
GET FOUND ONLINE
With over 1500 casinos nationwide, standing out in a crowd is a daunting task. Alamaphetic President Matthew Capala recommends a results-focused online marketing strategy that incorporates digital marketing best practices combined with industry expertise to get noticed. 'The gaming industry often doubles down on traditional marketing media channels when the real jackpot is online,' says Capala. 'In a world where 80% of consumers search online before purchase, invisibility is a fate much worse than failure.' Having a website – even one with bells and whistles – is no longer enough. You must understand the target customers and begin crafting the keyword strategy that is relevant to them. Do you know the intent of a customer's online search? Have you buried the exact content they are looking for? Capala recommends you give your visitors what they want on your website. Answer their questions. Develop a robust content strategy powered by SEO and data-driven audience profiling and a keyword strategy based on their needs, questions, and concerns.
EXPERIENCE FIRST
Try this fun audit. Think about your customers and the experience you WANT them to have. Ask yourself how often a top tier customer should be able to eat in the buffet or the coffee shop/cafe or steakhouse without opening their wallets, in other words by using comps, points or offers. Now, ask yourself what about the experience a $75 customer should have. What about a $25 customer? Then, look at all of your amenities. How are they being utilized? Who is using them? An exercise like this will help you identify motivators and detractors. They will help you identify the opportunities to create a great, well-balanced experience for both your operation and the customer.
OPERATIONALIZE YOUR BRAND
Most casino marketing plans include a section on 'the Brand.' This section might consist of a plan to tweak the logo or the tagline. Seldom does it involve making the brand consistent from the back of the house to the sign out front. Quite often the culture of the organization never makes it into marketing communications, and when customers visit, they may experience a pleasant surprise or a complete disconnect. Your external and internal messaging and experiences should be mutually reinforcing. Development of your brand should be an inclusive process rather than one reserved for the executive suite. When MGM Resorts adopted a strategy to reposition itself, it was more than an ad campaign. It was a story the company could tell consistently to all of its stakeholders. They transformed the culture first and then reinforced it with the messaging to external audiences.
There you have it ten easy, low-cost strategies to start driving revenue. Try one. Try them all. Let us know how they work out for you. Moreover, if you have your own favorite go-to strategies, let us know.
Drumroll drawings. Tricked-out trucks. Cash tornadoes. Pulling off a successful casino promotion is harder than it may seem. Here are 15 tips, tricks, and ideas to get you there, without breaking the bank. (Unless, of course, Break the Bank is your promotion of choice.)
1. Start with planning.
Let's start with the elephant in the room. It's definitely more fun to think about what kind of game show briefcase you'll use in that Deal-eo or No Deal-eo promo, or how the balloons will drop on the new car, but if your casino promotion idea is going to be successful, you need to set the fun aside and first ask yourself this: what, exactly, am I trying to do? Acquire new guests? Reward loyal guests? Increase guest spending? Increase visits? Once you settle on your goals, things get much easier.
Casino Vip Promotion Ideas Free
A good marketing calendar has balance, a mixture of mass and targeted promotions. Sometimes the goal is to see a big bump in revenue; other times the goal is to boost a certain demographic or daypart. Targeted promotions can also elbow their way in front of the competition. (See #4.)
One other thing: Do not start with how much you should — or have to — spend. Expense should be planned in line with potential revenue, and you're not going to know that until you define what you're trying to achieve.
2. Determine how you'll measure success.
You'll need to know what 'success' means in order to achieve it. This may sound like a 'duh,' but it can get a bit tricky. Be sure to isolate your base business, as sometimes traffic isn't driven by promotions. And in addition to traditional ROI calculations, you may want to check in on other less-obvious factors like customer satisfaction or conversion. Be sure to define how you'll measure those in advance.
3. Know thy audience.
In order to know the right day, the right way to spread the word, the right briefcase for that game show promotion, get to know your audience as well as you possibly can. Because no matter how enticing you may think your promotion is, if your audience hasn't heard, isn't interested, or can't come, you're in for a flop.
If, for example, drive time is short and your identified target audience isn't employed full-time, you may be able to bump that 50% slot floor occupancy on a Tuesday. Or, your audience demographics may tell you the smartest day to make the biggest bang for your buck is Friday, even though the slot floor occupancy is already at 60%.
4. Keep your guests close and your competition closer.
The more you know about your competition, the better you can react or — better yet — act proactively. Keep an eye on competitive websites, Facebook pages, newsletters, and mailers. Identify timing and details on promotional events big and small, as well as competitive strengths, weaknesses, and potential impact on your business. And then act.
Say, for example, your competitor has their big monthly giveaway on a Saturday. Knowing your audience has limited discretionary income, you encourage they spend that money on the Friday preceding the giveaway with an enticing offer.
Technology makes competitive tactics crazy easy. Let's say one of your high-spend customers is entering your competitor's parking lot, headed to their Big Bucks promotion. You can send a real-time text that says, 'Get over to our place in the next half hour and get a GUARANTEED 50 big bucks in FREE play.' Presto, guest-o. (Small Red Circle plug — we can help you get here. See #15.)
5. Know when enough is enough.
A promotional calendar that's filled to the brim with exciting giveaways, gifts, and games will produce more profits than a calendar that has sporadic promotions, right?
Wrong.
A constant merry-go-round of promotions, and those ponies lose their luster. Guests are no longer excited. And, if you're always in promo mode, how can you calculate the bump a particular promotion creates? When you spend money you can no longer measure, you stop being able to adjust, react, and improve your bottom line. Plus, if you're not careful, those happy, excited guests become angry, entitled guests who wonder where their free meal is already.
When it comes to promotions, choose quality over quantity. Go back to the drawing board and remind yourself of your objectives. Evaluate if and when promotions fill those objectives, and get ahead of the game. Or the tournament. Or the drawing. You get the point.
6. Brand it.
If your promo name looks and sounds just like your competitor's promo name, you just might have spent your money giving them business. Brand colors, typeface, name, tone, personality — make sure that promotion speaks to guests in your voice. And the more unmistakably yours, the better.
7. Limit time.
We are predictable, we humans, and we assign greater value to limited-time offers. From an old-fashioned circus barker's 'hurry, hurry, hurry' to today's social media flash sales, time — or lack thereof — creates buzz. And buzz creates action.
Choosing the right start and end dates can have a big impact. Don't run the promotion long enough, and your guests won't have enough time to enter. Run it too long, and it loses its punch. Two to four weeks is usually the sweet spot, but it's important to experiment with your particular casino audience.
8. Create a sense of mystery.
We know gamers index high for risk-taking behaviors. So, while many of us love a good mystery, your audience really loves a good mystery. Unlike a typical promotion, use mystery, and you use a lever to create excitement separate from the actual prize. Through an intriguing, mysterious challenge or adventure, your guests are more engaged and more motivated, which leads to higher participation.
Another benefit to using mystery in your promotions? Cost containment. While a guest might not come in if he or she knows, statistically, she's likely to win a small bit of free play, that same guest may decide to visit if she's guaranteed a 'mystery' prize (that turns out to be that same free play).
9. Use theater.
These days, guests, hosts, staff, they're all busy. What's more, they're bombarded with lots and lots and lots of messages. So if you want to capture attention, generate enthusiasm, and otherwise engage, go a little wild and bring out the theatrics. A stage, an announcer, music, dancing, balloons, game show drama, whatever it takes. Out of the ordinary — and that can include downright wacky — is the name of the memorability game. In addition to kick-butt promotion results, memorable experiences have the added benefits of building a positive brand, getting great word of mouth, and, ultimately, creating a bigger audience for your next promotion.
10. So who's promoting this promotion?
The stakes are higher than you may think. If your crew buys in, understands, and is genuinely enthusiastic about a promotion, you just got yourself a lot of free PR. If, on the other hand, staff perceives taking part in the promotion as a chore — or they're in the dark about the specifics — no amount of promotional ad spend will make up for what happens when your guests walk in the door.
Moral: Promote your promotion. Sell your staff. In fact, treat your staff as your customer. If you do a good job, they, in turn, will pass on that enthusiasm, help create buzz, and be walking examples of your brand.
11. Spread the word wisely.
If you're encouraging participation in a mass promotion, it makes sense, of course, to buy mass media. If it's a targeted promotion, though, think outside the box for ways to get your message directly to your target.
Or another way to think outside the box: What about turning a big mass promo into an acquisition strategy by taking a winning car — or another prize so cool your target audience just has to check it out — and showing it off outside your casino? State Fair? Local mall? Where are the customers you want to acquire?
12. Check goals against data.
After the promo, it's time to dig into the data. Did the promotion create incremental revenue? Did you see a lift year over year? What type of players participated? Were expenses in line with revenue, or were they too high? Did the promotion attract new member signup on the day of the promotion? How was slot occupancy? Quickly get to the bottom of what worked and what didn't, so you can process the whole picture while it's fresh. If your data analysts are pulling manual reports, and getting your hands on data just isn't going to happen quickly, it might be time to get some help.
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13. Debrief already.
The numbers are one thing, but there's always more to the story. Within the week, while everything is still fresh, make sure to gather info from the people closest to the promotion. Ask what worked and what didn't. How were the lines? The weather? The logistics? How was the wait for the valet? Get the customer experience story that rounds out the numbers.
14. Present findings in a way that engages your audience.
Think about it. You just thoughtfully intrigued a target audience enough that you created a desired response. You now need to turn around and approach your managers, board, or tribal leadership the same way.
We're guessing you have a small window of time in a room full of busy, sometimes impatient people. So get to what they care about right away: high level findings, recommendations, and an action plan. Keep it short and on-point. Create summary slides. And be prepared for those questions you know are coming.
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15. Get help if you need it.
If your data analyst is pulling manual reports, and you're not getting information for weeks, you can't possibly gather great insight and react to that promotion in a timely or effective way. And if you have to analyze mail, email, and mobile communications separately, you're probably sinking fast. How can you check goals against data across platforms, factor in guest experience, and recalibrate when you're already well on your way with another promotion?
You can say goodbye to the slow going and heavy lifting — without a big cha-ching out of your bottom line — with database marketing software that does the work for you. We happen to know just the one. It's a database marketing software suite designed for casino marketers, by casino marketers, and it's called RECON. This little genius projects your profit margin before your promotion even runs. RECON mines, schedules, and replicates across mail, email, and mobile. It's easy so you save lots of time. And it's affordable because you'll be able to create and streamline more and more cost-effective programs. If you'd like more info about RECON, our proprietary database marketing software, click here or call Angel Suarez at 612-875-7131.
