“Welcome Back!”
Using Gamification to Re-Engage with Dormant Customers
Customer reactivation is one of the bigger challenges casino marketing professionals face, as traditional marketing efforts continue to prove the law of diminishing return. This is especially true for smaller, tribal properties that can be in somewhat remote locations.
One of our current clients, a popular northern California tribal casino and resort, was having difficulty reviving their relationship with dormant customers using traditional marketing methodologies. Unfortunately, the typical “one touch” method (sending out a single email or direct mail piece that essentially re-introduces yourself each time) was not proving effective as this group of players had been inactive for at least 12 months and were ignoring the outreach.
The casino decided, rather than completely abandoning them, to pursue a true and complete marketing gamification approach designed to create an engagement experience that would not simply re-activate them, but generate incremental revenue. To do so, they chose our award-winning and patent-pending REACH Platform of digital gamified marketing that daily engages folks and uses the same philosophies that are behind any players club – incentivization and behavior modification psychology structured to make players feel special and build up long-term commitment…aka true brand ambassadors.
Putting the Plan into Action
We got to work immediately tackling our client’s challenges by implementing a private-labeled re-activation strategy imbedded into the casino’s website. Designed as a short-term promotion, the program would be described as “invitation-only” and only made available to players for 12 weeks to give it a greater appearance of exclusivity.
Customers would receive interactive emails that automatically enrolled them and provided access through an online portal that featured a special welcome message from the GM, as well as a video that described the promotion.
Once inside, customers were offered a large variety of fun, exciting games and activities to play. Their participation earned them free “virtual currency” that could be exchanged for segmented prizes ranging from free slot play to BOGO dining specials. This “virtual currency” was designed to only be redeemed at the property, creating an “engage and reward” cycle that would significantly increase the perceived value of the rewards and drive incremental property visits. Players would be further incentivized with trophies, bonus codes, competitive leaderboards, instant rewards and other on-property redeemables.
In addition, the program would culminate with a $30,000 “Grand Getaway” promo that gave players a chance to win a VIP “staycation” at the casino resort. Players would earn entries into the promo drawing by participating in the same way as the other activities in the portal.
Everything about it would be fun, educational and, most importantly, award the players “free stuff”, with the only condition being that they had to redeem the rewards through a on-property visit. This would differentiate our program from their traditional players club that required a real spend in order to earn rewards, further enhancing the perceived value of rewards obtained through REACH.
Explosive ROI
The results we achieved were spectacular. REACH helped the property exceed its customer re-activation goals, driving up to 4 incremental property visits from players within the first six weeks of the program, as well as generating the highest total of re-activations ever achieved through a single campaign by the property. Because of the level of success generated from these and other ROI metrics, the casino is planning to implement our year-long program, REACH 365, and expand to its entire customer base.
A Proven Formula Easily Duplicated
What’s so great about REACH is that it works for anyone – regardless of size or location:
- It’s customized to match your property’s branding
- It’s scalable – one size does not fit all, so we adjust to you.
- Unlike a traditional players club, it’s free for the player to earn rewards. The only thing it costs them is their time to play some games on their smart devices and/or laptop…something they already enjoy doing each day. Time investment + Free to Participate = Greater Perceived Value
- They feel more important through special “exclusive” offers, invitations to participate, personalized activities and other subconscious triggers that permanently modifies their behavior and significantly increases their lifetime value to the property.
When combined, we help the property evolve their customer base from a simple list of single touchpoint emails into true brand ambassadors…and incremental revenue generators!
From a “Nice to Have” to a “Need to Have”
As this case study illustrates, an effective and ongoing gamified marketing platform is no longer a “nice to have, but a “need to have.” It’s a powerful tool for reconnecting with dormant customers, driving property visitation, building brand loyalty, acquiring new customers, boosting incremental revenue and so much more effective than traditional “one-touch” single eblasts and direct mail.
And who doesn’t want that?
“Welcome Back!”
Using Gamification to Re-Engage with Dormant Customers
Customer reactivation is one of the bigger challenges casino marketing professionals face, as traditional marketing efforts continue to prove the law of diminishing return. This is especially true for smaller, tribal properties that can be in somewhat remote locations.
One of our current clients, a popular northern California tribal casino and resort, was having difficulty reviving their relationship with dormant customers using traditional marketing methodologies. Unfortunately, the typical “one touch” method (sending out a single email or direct mail piece that essentially re-introduces yourself each time) was not proving effective as this group of players had been inactive for at least 12 months and were ignoring the outreach.
The casino decided, rather than completely abandoning them, to pursue a true and complete marketing gamification approach designed to create an engagement experience that would not simply re-activate them, but generate incremental revenue. To do so, they chose our award-winning and patent-pending REACH Platform of digital gamified marketing that daily engages folks and uses the same philosophies that are behind any players club – incentivization and behavior modification psychology structured to make players feel special and build up long-term commitment…aka true brand ambassadors.
Putting the Plan into Action
We got to work immediately tackling our client’s challenges by implementing a private-labeled re-activation strategy imbedded into the casino’s website. Designed as a short-term promotion, the program would be described as “invitation-only” and only made available to players for 12 weeks to give it a greater appearance of exclusivity.
Customers would receive interactive emails that automatically enrolled them and provided access through an online portal that featured a special welcome message from the GM, as well as a video that described the promotion.
Once inside, customers were offered a large variety of fun, exciting games and activities to play. Their participation earned them free “virtual currency” that could be exchanged for segmented prizes ranging from free slot play to BOGO dining specials. This “virtual currency” was designed to only be redeemed at the property, creating an “engage and reward” cycle that would significantly increase the perceived value of the rewards and drive incremental property visits. Players would be further incentivized with trophies, bonus codes, competitive leaderboards, instant rewards and other on-property redeemables.
In addition, the program would culminate with a $30,000 “Grand Getaway” promo that gave players a chance to win a VIP “staycation” at the casino resort. Players would earn entries into the promo drawing by participating in the same way as the other activities in the portal.
Everything about it would be fun, educational and, most importantly, award the players “free stuff”, with the only condition being that they had to redeem the rewards through a on-property visit. This would differentiate our program from their traditional players club that required a real spend in order to earn rewards, further enhancing the perceived value of rewards obtained through REACH.
Explosive ROI
The results we achieved were spectacular. REACH helped the property exceed its customer re-activation goals, driving up to 4 incremental property visits from players within the first six weeks of the program, as well as generating the highest total of re-activations ever achieved through a single campaign by the property. Because of the level of success generated from these and other ROI metrics, the casino is planning to implement our year-long program, REACH 365, and expand to its entire customer base.
A Proven Formula Easily Duplicated
What’s so great about REACH is that it works for anyone – regardless of size or location:
- It’s customized to match your property’s branding
- It’s scalable – one size does not fit all, so we adjust to you.
- Unlike a traditional players club, it’s free for the player to earn rewards. The only thing it costs them is their time to play some games on their smart devices and/or laptop…something they already enjoy doing each day. Time investment + Free to Participate = Greater Perceived Value
- They feel more important through special “exclusive” offers, invitations to participate, personalized activities and other subconscious triggers that permanently modifies their behavior and significantly increases their lifetime value to the property.
When combined, we help the property evolve their customer base from a simple list of single touchpoint emails into true brand ambassadors…and incremental revenue generators!
From a “Nice to Have” to a “Need to Have”
As this case study illustrates, an effective and ongoing gamified marketing platform is no longer a “nice to have, but a “need to have.” It’s a powerful tool for reconnecting with dormant customers, driving property visitation, building brand loyalty, acquiring new customers, boosting incremental revenue and so much more effective than traditional “one-touch” single eblasts and direct mail.
And who doesn’t want that?