In the competitive world of today, lagging behind the competition in any industry will simply get you nowhere, and the same applies to online casino operators. Everyone is fighting for their slice of the pie, and to be successful, they need to demonstrate their A-game. Otherwise, a prospective customer will flock straight to another brand, which hardly anyone can afford.
Today, we will dive into what many online casino platforms are willing to do to get a prospective client’s attention, and above all, keep it by offering lucrative rewards in exchange for the player’s continued loyalty.
The power of freebies
Now who doesn’t love freebies? The concept of getting something valuable free of charge is practically guaranteed to get people’s attention. In fact, it’s so powerful that online casinos often use this strategy to get people to sign up. By offering them a chance to earn real money without risking any of their own funds, anyone’s curiosity can take the better of them. Just take a look at this extensive list of free bets with no deposit to see how many reputable establishments essentially let people gamble with the house’s money (at least in the beginning). That’s how important it is to secure a client in this competitive industry.
Of course, this is only half the battle – the next step is to retain that customer for as long as possible. This is where loyalty programs come in.
Loyalty programs reward continued business
With so many casinos fighting over their market share, what’s the best way to retain a paying customer? The answer is loyalty programs and the lucrative rewards they pay out to the players over time. In a typical scenario, this involves giving them the opportunity to earn VIP points or tokens they can exchange for cool prizes or services later on.
A traditional brick & mortar casino might offer free meals, parking, complimentary drinks, and hotel stays, whereas online casinos tend to gravitate towards rewarding their players through cashback, physical prizes, free spins, tournament tickets, and similar. The takeaway is that players need to feel justified spending their time playing, because the grass always seems to be greener on the other side of the fence. And that’s a strong pull.
Substantial jackpots are a force to be reckoned with
After hundreds and hundreds of bets a player may make, the initial spark tends to wear off over time. Since most casino operators study their customers’ behavioral patterns, they know this very well. Thus, they’re almost forced to put on their thinking hats and conjure up a solution to keep them motivated and engaged. While any innovative approach to customer retention can either succeed or fail, there has always been the one go-to solution in this industry – jackpots!
Jackpots can come in various types, shapes, and sizes. But one of the most popular variants by far are the progressive jackpots you can track the size of. When one of these is on the verge of bursting, a player would be insane not to grab the opportunity by the horns and keep playing as to maximize the chances of claiming it. And when everyone’s eyes are set on the prize, who has the time to even think about jumping over the proverbial fence and check out another casino?
Leaderboards are soothing to one’s ego
To make any kind of progress in this industry, it’s imperative to understand how a human mind operates. Deep down inside, we all want to feel validated, and any kind of accomplishment that soothes our ever-so-fragile egos can feel quite pleasing. Online casino operators, too, are catching up to this psychological phenomenon. As such, they’ve introduced various types of leaderboards that update in real-time. These can be daily, weekly, monthly, etc. But the gist of it is two-fold; not only do they give a feeling of achievement, they are also used as a basis of distributing rewards.
As it goes without saying, the most successful players will typically be the ones who spend the most time playing or bet the largest amounts, all of which is what online casinos are aiming for. They not only want to attract large spenders but also keep them around for as long as possible.
A human psyche craves accomplishment, and implementing leaderboards is a crucial part of every casino’s customer retention strategy.
Inactivity bonuses are a potent secret weapon
Technically, no online casino is looking to reward inactivity per se – they want an active player base. However, the reality is, no player will keep on playing forever. If not for any other reason, it could be due to other responsibilities in life, hobbies, and similar. To regain their attention and win back their loyalty, a gentle nudge can often be all it takes to get a returning customer.
In the online casino sphere, this is typically accomplished by sending out a weekly newsletter with the ongoing promotions, but the winning strategy tends to be even more ironed out than that. In concrete terms, tracking the last time a player has logged in to the casino platform is simple as pie. With today’s technology, integrating this crucial piece of data into the casino’s email marketing campaign is an important piece of the puzzle. Then, all it takes is to email that person once a predetermined period of time has passed and offer a “bribe”. Something along the lines of free spins works very well.
Conclusion
Customer retention is key, and online casinos would be foolish not the realize the value of their clients. If you know how to play your cards well, you, the player, can reap numerous rewards by capitalizing on this knowledge.
