Promotions have long been successful for casinos, but are yours as successful as they could be? Intentionally planning your promotion will ensure that you’ll get the expected results and won’t miss any important elements. Here are 10 steps that will help you plan your next casino promotion:
- Set specific goals. What are you trying to accomplish? Are you trying to acquire new customers, reward loyal customers, increase play with existing customers, etc.? Make sure you’re clear about the outcomes you expect.
- Choose your target audience. Depending on your goals, you may elect to run a mix of mass and specifically targeted promotions. Intentionally decide on the audience for each promotion; it probably isn’t “everyone”.
- Back into the budget. It’s very difficult to fix the budget before you design the program. Expenses should be based on the potential revenue, so outline the promotion first – then decide on the budget that will be necessary to get the desired results.
- Decide what & how to measure. Again, based on the goals that you’ve set, decide what elements to measure and how you’ll measure them. Do you need additional software? Who will be responsible for tracking progress and measuring results? How will you announce and celebrate winners?
- Maximize your data. Audience demographics can help you choose the appropriate day(s) and time(s) to run the promotion to get the best results. If you use a marketing or communication platform that has artificial intelligence built in, use it to full advantage.
- What’s the competition doing? If you are following your competitors, you know the promotions they’ve got coming up. Assuming that customers have a limited amount of disposable income, they’ll be deciding where to spend it – they may not be able to participate in every casino promotion they see. If you’re nimble enough, you may be able to run your promotion a day or so before your competitors to make sure the customer is participating in your
- How much is too much? As you might imagine, gamers are bombarded with a multitude of promotions from various sources. Choose quality over quantity. Psychological studies tell us that intermittent reinforcement is effective. Focus on objectives and don’t let your promotions become predictable.
- Brand it! Make sure your promotional materials are consistent with your branding. Don’t make it easy to confuse your promotion with another casino’s. It should be readily recognizable as yours.
- Out-of-the-box promotion of your promotion. In addition to traditional mailings or eblasts, consider less conventional ways to promote your promotion. Where else do your customers spend time? At shopping centers? At local events? Consider advertising your promotions in new places. Don’t forget social media as an inexpensive way to reach your audience in new places. (Remember that your employees are advocates. Involve them in the communication of the promotion to generate additional excitement.)
- Measure, debrief & regroup. At the end of the promotion, measure the results against your objectives, but also discuss the results. Did the promotion get you the results you expected? Why or why not? What outside factors contributed to the success (or not) of the promotion? What could you do differently next time? Even a less-than-successful promotion can provide useful information for the future.
Sound like a lot of work? Hire a professional! Firms like ours are experienced in designing effective casino promotions and can also call on the experience of the manufacturers that we represent. We’ll guide you through the planning process to ensure that your next promotion delivers results!