Online Gambling And How Operators Target Their Customers
Online gambling is big business and is getting bigger. That’s fair to say. Gross gambling yields (GGY) from remote betting, remote casino and remote bingo were all up from October 2018 to September 2019, according to the UK Gambling Commission. Not only that, these GGYs were higher than those of land-based facilities.
This is hardly surprising when you consider the amount of online gambling service providers out there. Online casinos are widely accessible and their marketing departments are doing a stellar job of promoting them. This article takes a look at the players and at the different ways operators target their customers and get them to step through the casino’s online doors.
Who gambles?
Research in recent years has found that the younger generation are the most popular age for gambling when not including the national lottery, with 40% of gamblers being between the ages of 25-34. A higher percentage of men had gambled than women in the last four weeks at the time of the research. Eighteen percent of adults had gambled online.
Demographic data gets even more interesting, too. Researchers have found that women seem to prefer playing on slots, rather than table games. The researchers’ data would also suggest that men have a higher level skill when it comes to playing at the tables (although some may well dispute this).
Young people enjoy gambling. Part of the reason may be that it’s so accessible now, thanks to mobile technology, and young people are more digitally savvy and connected than the older generations. In economies such as the US and the UK, smartphone use has been widespread among young people for a long time now, whereas older generations have taken longer to adopt it.
The younger generation are the main users of smartphones, a reason for why they are the target audience of many mobile games.
Targeting audiences
There’s a serious amount of competition out there. Operators know this. They also know that, for this reason, it’s important to target their customers appropriately. The days of a general approach are long gone. Online gaming operators and other businesses need to dumb down to a specific type of customer to get the results they want.
They need to have a clear focus and target the people who their products or services would serve best, rather than waste time and budget promoting their games to the wrong audience. When doing this, they must consider factors such as age, gender, technological familiarity and lifestyle. Once they’ve established who their target customers are, the operators can prioritise their resources.
Sites like Wink Bingo have realised how popular smartphone technology is, especially with young people, and make the most of mobile apps. They know by creating apps they can make life easier for the people they want to play their games. Women, in particular, are fans of online bingo, and the game has also gained popularity with young people in general.
This is just one of the ways that online gambling service operators target their customers. Here are a few more:
Targeting demographics
When you’re marketing, data and demographics can play a major part in how you promote yourself. The fact that women show a preference for bingo and slots allows operators to brand themselves or their products in colours that people perceive as more ‘girly’, such as pink or yellow. They can also create their marketing materials using language and themes which their target audience finds appealing, to which they relate or in which they’re interested.
Targeting gamers
Smart marketers have realised that people who like to gamble aren’t just the only ones who might enjoy the operators’ games. They’ve identified an additional niche: video gamers. As a result, some online casinos have introduced video games into their offering and you’ll see games such as Mission Impossible, based on the movie, as part of it. Note that the casinos realise they’re not targeting serious gamblers here; it’s more the case that they’re aiming these games at video game aficionados who don’t mind a bit of gambling.
TV shows and games
One of the main ways to draw in target customers is with games based on TV shows or movies — and there are plenty from which to choose. They can go for quizzes, historical dramas, action and adventure, horror… the world’s their oyster. Slots are particularly convenient for this tactic. Game developers and designers can take music and graphics from the show or film and incorporate them into the game. The colours of the theme may remind them of the movie or show. For instance, the red, white and blue of the Rocky slot game would remind players instantly of the movie in which we all followed the world’s favourite fictional slugger.
Social media
Many businesses have harnessed the power of social media to reach fans and attract new customers. Online casinos are no exception and use Facebook to drive engagement with contests and promos. Fans can win prizes such as free games or, if the casino is part of a resort, players can sometimes win a stay in the casino hotel. It’s a good way to attract customers when business is slow.
Of course, Facebook isn’t the only social media channel out there. YouTube is another personal favourite of the online casinos because they can create videos that go viral. Some casinos have asked customers and fans to post videos of their own in return for a potential trip to Vegas. Meanwhile, Twitter provides online casinos with a golden opportunity to post helpful tweets and show their customers they care.
Social media platforms like Facebook help businesses reach and attract new customers.
Online gambling has become increasingly popular, bringing in more revenue than their land-based counterparts. Young people have taken a shine to gambling in different forms, including online gambling, and operators have focused on their passion for smart technology to promote their products. Knowing who their customers are has enabled operators to tailor their marketing and sales strategy better to really attract customers.
