Slot Marketing

Coupons, Groupons and Daily Deals for Casinos – Which one works best?

In today’s economy it’s tougher than ever to acquire new players, re-activate old ones, and increase visitation to your casino.    To stay competitive in today’s market, and to maintain and build your property’s “share of wallet” many casinos are anxiously trying to reinvent themselves, and evaluating new business development opportunities. So how do casinos find and develop new business in today’s fiercely competitive market?  How do casinos retain their existing base without sacrificing the bottom line? And what is the best way to reactivate your existing base of customers who may be frequenting your competition?

One new tactic employed by businesses is the revolution of the “Daily Deal”.  This recent phenomenon led by Groupon and Living Social has changed the buying process for budget conscience consumers.  Many industries have adopted these models including the travel, restaurant, and salon and spa service industries.  You can even buy a coupon for a discount sky-diving jump.  So what they have proven is that with the right incentive, consumers are willing to try anything once.

With the overwhelming success of Groupon and Living Social, daily deal websites have popped up like wildflowers in the past two years.  These sites offer a no-upfront cost advertising opportunity to businesses that are willing to provide discounted products or services to be sold on the daily deal website.  They tend to focus on small businesses with small marketing budgets.  Oftentimes, it’s the small business owner who is also the marketing director, the advertising manager, and the bean counter, so the opportunity to reach a wide audience of potentially new customers is appealing. […]

By |October 12th, 2013|Casino Marketing, Free Slot Play, Slot Marketing, Slot Play Coupons, Slot Players|Comments Off on Coupons, Groupons and Daily Deals for Casinos – Which one works best?

When, Why and How to “Fire” a Customer

For those of you that continue to follow my series of articles on Casino Marketing, you have heard me over and over say that the casino business today is not about making money, it is about creating value.  I sincerely believe that because people are not stupid.  Human beings all are motivated by basically the same things.  Value is one of the top motivators when it comes to selection or shopping.  However, from the casino operator’s perspective, we do have to pay attention to bottom line profitability.  Creating “Value” will help to bring customers to your casino.  Managing that business properly to make a profit oftentimes involves a completely different set of criteria.

Nobody ever wants to lose business or lose customers.  However, not all business and not all customers are good for your casino’s overall well being.  For example, I don’t think anyone would ever dispute firing a customer or excluding a customer that is abusive to your staff.  We value our employees and want them to be treated fairly and appropriately by both fellow employees and by our customers.  We operate with a zero tolerance for any type of sexual, racial or physical abuse of our staff by customers as well as by fellow team members.  We also look very carefully at verbal abuse and warn customers that we do not appreciate nor tolerate inappropriate behavior directed at our staff.  We place customers on our exclusion list every week for such behavior.  They are given a formal warning that if they return to the property that we will consider it criminal trespass and that they will be arrested.  Once again, we view this seriously and we do arrest individuals who try to test our warnings and exclusion process.

There are also other times when a casino may want to end a relationship with a customer.  Ending a relationship sounds so much better than “firing” a customer but basically they are the same.  So, when does a casino want or need to fire a customer?  The answer is only after every method has been used to try to salvage the customer and the problem still exists.  Most of these problems are related to cheating or questionable behavior but some of them are also related to profitability.  Cheating is not always clear cut and conclusive.  Sometimes the player may make mistakes.  In those situations it is up to the Pit Boss to speak to the customer and explain what is considered to be appropriate and correct.  In other words, issue a warning.  We document all such warnings in our computer in the Comments Section of our Rating System.  This way we can track the patron to see if there is a pattern to their behavior. […]

By |February 7th, 2013|Casino Marketing, Marketing, Slot Marketing, Table Games|Comments Off on When, Why and How to “Fire” a Customer

Increase Slot Play and Earn More Money for Your Casino

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With correct implementation their method will help:

– Acquire New Players
– Reactivate Existing Players
– Increase Visitation
– Reduce Exposure (on existing Free Play offer)
– Stimulate Group Business

Slot Play Coupons help you target customers with interest in gaming.

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Coupons, Groupons, and Daily Deals
In today’s economy it’s tougher than ever to acquire new players, re-activate old ones, and increase visitation to your casino. To stay competitive in today’s market, and to maintain and build your property’s “share of wallet” many casinos are anxiously trying to reinvent themselves, and evaluating new business development opportunities. So how do casinos find and develop new business in today’s fiercely competitive market? How do casinos retain their existing base without sacrificing the bottom line? And what is the best way to reactivate your existing base of customers who may be frequenting your competition?

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By |January 25th, 2013|Casino Marketing, Marketing, Slot Marketing|Comments Off on Increase Slot Play and Earn More Money for Your Casino

Marci in Accounting is a Casino Marketing Machine

Pew research recently released a substantial report related to the connected nature of our digital world. Its focus was the impact that social media and digital connections have on the relationships held with our friends and family.  Most telling in their report was how the average person has 634 connections.   This article is about the need casinos have to reach out to these 634 potential customers who are friends and families of those who work at the casino.

Thinking back 20 years ago, we substantially engaged our friends & families through the mailbox, over the fence, across the picnic table, and in our workplace.  Events brought us together to discuss relevant conversational topics within our lives.  We had back yard cookouts, reunions, holiday parties or the chance meeting of two friends walking their dogs.  Today however, we have new on-line options that both complement and supplant these events from 20 years ago.  Facebook is arguably the largest, email, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, Blogs, YouTube videos, etc.  Within each of these social platforms is a whole new ecosystem of communication that profoundly changes how we as a culture communicate and connect with our friends and families.  The question now surfaces, can casinos tap into these connections, and if they can, how best does a casino optimize their brand?

As we consider the advertising efforts of our casinos, we see much interest in getting our promotions and event notices into the eyes and ears of these potential customers, many of whom are online.  Banner Ad Campaigns, Social Presence, On-line Re-targeting, Facebook Fan Acquisition, Microsites, Rich Media Content, YouTube Channel, Blogger Advocates are but a few of the buzz words the Digital & Interactive marketing professionals use to get marketing dollars moved towards the digital genre.  Each of these digital channels are important in the larger, holistic advertising strategies necessary to get our communities to spend at our casinos instead of buying a new sofa, or the “two for one special at Red Lobster” prior to going to the movies. […]

By |December 2nd, 2012|Casino Marketing, Casino Web Marketing, Marketing, Online Casino Marketing, Slot Marketing, Table Games|Comments Off on Marci in Accounting is a Casino Marketing Machine

Understanding Asian Casino Marketing

Asian Casino Marketing is not as easy as it sounds.  In fact, it is a fairly complicated process and if not performed properly it can actually be perceived as offensive to the intended recipients. Steve Karoul explains some of the basic principles of Asian casino marketing. One form of casino marketing in Asia consists of Junkets and VIP Room operations while another form of Asian casino marketing is much more generic and more appropriate for casinos located around the world.

There is an old expression in Asia that when translated goes something like this, “Asia is not Asia”.  When you think about it you begin to better understand its subtle message; one size does not fit all and Asia is neither one country nor one culture.  Asia is a vast melting pot of numerous different countries, languages and cultures.  Some of them have marked differences based upon thousands of years of history and cultural evolution.  Asians are extremely nationalistic and proud of their own cultures and customs.  Therefore, it is extremely offensive to generalize all Asians as one in the same.  They are not.  Successful casino marketers around the world will need to understand this up front and then make every effort to research their target market segments before jumping into any new Asian marketing campaign.

Chinese is normally the largest Asian culture in the United States, Europe and elsewhere but this may vary when segmented by geographic locations as well as from city to city even with the same country.  In some instances, Vietnamese or another Asian culture may dominate on a local basis close to a particular casino.  Never-the-less, many uninformed casino marketing managers still insist upon copying and implementing marketing strategies specifically developed to target and to satisfy Chinese gamblers.  However, this approach may backfire on you and actually be offensive if your Asian players are not Chinese.  The cultural mix of Asian players residing near your casino may vary dramatically. Do your homework first to determine if you want to attract Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, Filipino, Thai, Cambodian, Laotian, Malaysian, Indonesian or other Asian players. […]

By |November 6th, 2012|Asian Marketing, Casino Junkets, Casino Marketing, Casino Social Media Marketing, Casino Web Marketing, Marketing, Online Casino Marketing, Slot Marketing, Table Games|Comments Off on Understanding Asian Casino Marketing

Angry Upset Players: What do you do?

How do you diffuse conflict when a player becomes upset or angry?  It sounds like a simple question but the answer can often be quite complicated.  It also does not matter whether the player is a table game player or a slot customer.  Conflict is conflict.  My office was located on the casino floor at Foxwoods Casino which is the largest casino in North America and had approximately 380 table games, 6,700 slot machines, 1,500 hotel rooms and 11,000 employees at the time that  I worked there.  We averaged 30,000 to 70,000 customers per day coming through our doors.

Therefore, I had a lot of “opportunity” to deal with angry upset customers.  I say “opportunity” because this allows us a chance to save or salvage an upset player that may go away angry and go to your competition on his or her next trip. Often times this is a “face to face” experience but sometimes it is over the telephone.   Never-the-less, an angry upset player is usually going to be confrontational and come at you with an “us versus them” attitude.  Therefore if you recognize this upfront and are prepared for it you still have a chance of salvaging the customer.

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By |October 5th, 2012|Casino Marketing, Marketing, Slot Marketing, Table Games, Uncategorised|Comments Off on Angry Upset Players: What do you do?