99 problems but B&M ain't one

There’s an old joke saying that in real estate, the 3 most important words are: “stay dressed, please.” But the naked truth is that reality is even simpler: it’s all ’bout location. Now, why would an iGaming CRM consultant—emphasis on the “i”—even be remotely interested in anything outside of the good old internet? To me, "location, location, location" simply means that I hold a workshop in a different country three times a month. Well, you may have heard about this COVID thing? It’s even been on the news a couple of times.  

Although I mostly work with online gambling operations, some of my clients also have an offline presence, mainly in (god forbid) regulated markets. Clearly, 2020 was a stellar year for anything that’s digital, but the bricks-and-mortar (B&M) aspect of any omni-channel activity dramatically declined—if not put on a complete halt—throughout the vast majority of the previous year or so. Yeah, people and their ridiculous desire to remain safe and healthy. Go figure.  

Fast-forward to Q2 2021, and as the world is learning to slowly beat that damn pandemic and trust the scientific community (everybody knows the Bill Gates-backed vaccinations don’t contain any 5G microchips… you get those from Space Lasers), came the need to start driving traffic back to the casino halls. WHAT? Send MY players AWAY from their gaming devices, just so they could get drunk in front of masked dealers?? It's funny, and you know it’s true.

FACT: players who are active on several verticals/venues are more loyal, and internal cross-selling increases wallet size rather than generating product cannibalism. We CRM people aim to do exactly that. You’ve got something that can somehow contribute to Lifetime Value (and honestly, such a campaign surely does)? We won’t ask questions, and we’ll do it. Period. Even if, in this specific case, what we’ve got here is a User Journey from the Upside-Down dimension. As far as LTV goes, CRM is just like Karma in that famous phrase…

The case in question is within a single state (so yes, US), in which nearly all players are using native apps rather than Web/HTML5 (so, definitely US). Furthermore, the regulator requirement is that each user must also install a 3rd-party GPS tracking app that allows location monitoring to prevent unlawful play from across the designated borders. Again, the request from CRM was to come up with a personalized campaign for existing users and help push players back to visit the resort itself—specifically during off-peak days (i.e., mid-week). The main communication channel is going to be the push notification capability embedded within the official gaming app. LET’S ROCK. HARD.

What are the “stay dressed, please” rules when it comes to Geo-Marketing? Here are my 3 P’s:

Location is dynamic, at least with other people who actually lead some kind of social lives. As such, we can’t treat all users the same without first considering their whereabouts. So, first of all, let’s build “hoops” around the final destination: half a mile, 3 miles, and 10 miles. The “Entry Point” can’t be too far away; otherwise, our messages will lose their relevancy. Speaking of which, now we need to create different messages to be served according to the various “hoops” the user is “breaching.” That’s right—changing the tone according to their (hopefully) shrinking distance, as the content should differ between 10 miles away versus walking distance. It’s simply a matter of jumping through different hoops.  

The key would be to personalize the communication and make it more attractive based on the relevant info that we already have stored under their profile. It doesn’t have to be super-segmented or advanced, but if we could have different sets based on male/female, high/casual spenders, and maybe even a preference toward slots or table games, it will help us boost the conversion ratio. Again, in this weird marketing funnel, the stages are based on distance, and the target is reached once the player is sitting next to an old lady playing Buffalo Slots, losing 1% of her fast-approaching will at a time. Much like the online experience—in which we alter the messages according to the time passed since the users’ registration, combined with additional factors (logged-in/offline, demo game session result, failed deposit attempt, KYC status, etc.)—this extra layer of personalization allows us further flexibility with the content we create.  

In order to make it effective, we will have to apply certain rules, something like: “no further communication for X weeks between Y and Z hours.” We gotta keep it fresh, y’all. Since we are now in the realm of reality and outside the virtual domain, we need to remember that some rude people may be going through our “hoops” on their way to work, the supermarket, a yoga lesson, or some other activities that non-gaming humans occasionally do. Unless, of course, your players are yoga instructors with a day job as a cashier in the supermarket; that could somewhat skew the analysis process. Anyway, we want the message to arrive not only to the right player but, obviously, also at the right time.

To summarize, we should keep it fresh, relevant, and interesting. Our “User Journeys” are now based on different messages according to how far the players are from the property, who they are, and send-out times that fit the segment's habits. Here we go:

• 10 miles away: “Missing some reels activity? Every TUE we run tournaments with thousands of dollars in giveaways!”

• 3 miles away: “Easiest 20 free spins you have ever had—join our Tuesday Slots Tournament tonight!”

• ½ a mile away: “We are just a few walking minutes away… Come and claim what’s rightfully yours!”

Now comes the fun part—playing with the many parameters:

• Adapting the content according to the day/time (late evening communication can even be slightly raunchier; #ThatsWhatSheSaid).

• Focusing on Roulette/Blackjack instead of Slots and adjusting the “start at as little as…” with their recorded gaming history.

• Labeling it as “Ladies' Night” instead of a tournament, or offering a group discount on drinks.

Such a campaign is quite heavy on resources. There are many different options required to fit the exact time and positioning, and to begin with, there’s also a need to access the players’ device GPS and trigger movement through “hoops” as part of a hyper-real-time journey. It’s not just Big Data—much like your waistline after a year at home, it’s huge. The key problem is not even with data storage; it’s with the way you can “weaponize” the connection between the different bits of info, which takes on an entirely different meaning according to the user’s dynamic location.

To conclude: the above is a very good way to begin unlocking a new aspect in our already super-sexy and vibrant lifestyle as CRM experts, simply by paying attention to an additional parameter we tend to otherwise disregard: Life.