Online gambling marketing tips: How to promote online casinos and sportsbooks

Players are the lifeblood of an online casino. But bringing in enough players to get a project started — and keep it going — is as daunting as it is necessary. And, it’s just the beginning. This article dives into the biggest trends in online casino and sportsbook marketing — acquisition and retention.

Without effective marketing, your online casino is dead in the water.

Today’s gambling industry is rapidly transforming and highly competitive. It takes a lot of effort to succeed in it. Creating a good online casino marketing strategy and testing different promotion tools can help with this task.

In an age where players have seemingly infinite options, catching their attention — and keeping it — is an uphill battle that has operators constantly searching for new ways to make their casino or sportsbook stand out.

To know more about how to promote online casino, read this article and get the most effective casino marketing ideas:

• SEO
• Affiliate campaigns
• Social media
• Traditional ads
• Digital ads
• Game selection
• Bonuses
• Tournaments
• Email campaigns
• Loyalty programs

Data analysis

The most efficient marketing efforts are based on proper research. Narrowing your focus to target only potential customers instead of casting as wide a net as possible will yield better results in less time. To do so, businesses identify their target audience, learn its demands, and select the most effective marketing tools.

Research and testing are good methods for determining the right strategy. Use your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) to collect data about your players’ behavior to learn what they respond to and create your marketing strategy based on this knowledge. Track metrics like conversions, signups, and deposits, and see how they correlate to the bonuses and other promos you offered at the time.

You can also learn from those who already know how to increase casino revenue. Study your competitors, especially well-established ones. They’ve already arrived at their strategy through trial and error, so if you have a similar region of operation, target audience, and overall concept, don’t reinvent the wheel; just use proven tactics.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is the (sometimes endless) process of calibrating your site to rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs) on search engines like Google. SEO is an essential part of a marketing strategy in a world where common wisdom dictates that if you’re not on the first page of Google’s SERPs, you might as well not exist at all. SEO is an affordable and effective online casino promotion tool, we don’t recommend avoiding such an opportunity.

Online casino SEO is a creative and technical process that usually requires a highly skilled professional.

When optimizing your site, it’s essential to bear in mind that while the requirements you must satisfy are dictated by algorithms, those algorithms are designed to satisfy searchers’ intent. Trying to appeal to everyone will only yield unappealing results. Common keywords with a high search volume will inevitably come with a high volume of competition. Instead, define an exact target audience, research them, and go after less competitive keywords that match their exact tastes.

The best keywords (and this is especially true for new casino brands) are longer, detailed, specific queries. These nearly sentence-length, lower-volume keywords will have you both facing less competition and zeroing in on your target audience.

There are a few tools you can use to find the best keywords for your platform.

Doorway resources are websites built for the sole purpose of ranking for a keyword and accumulating traffic, which the webmaster can then redirect. However, search engines view doorway resources as a form of search engine manipulation — like underhanded techniques such as keyword stuffing — and actively try to shut the sites down. For that reason, doorways are not reliable sources of long-term traffic (you never know when Google will de-index them) but they are a good indication of which keywords are valuable.

High bids on Google Adwords can also be another indication of keyword value. External links from other sites to yours give a big boost to your site’s authority. Link building is the process of acquiring these backlinks. The more backlinks you have, the higher your placement on the SERPs will be.

Some strategies for acquiring backlinks include publishing guest posts on other online resources, and including a link when contributing to online forums. Link building can be time-consuming and expensive, but it’s an integral part of SEO.

We don’t recommend generating texts using AI tools, such content is not met well by search engines. Quality content is not only better for your SEO parameters, it also demonstrates your attitude to information you provide.

However, whenever a strategy like this appears, another update to the search algorithm is never far behind. Webmasters who abuse the algorithm are likely to be penalized by the next update, so in the long run it’s best to stick to simply creating quality content that matches searcher intent.

Affiliate marketing

Online gambling platforms need a steady stream of new players in order to thrive. The most common and effective means of getting that traffic is through affiliate partnerships.

Affiliates create content that generates massive followings, and need a channel to monetize that traffic. Affiliate partnerships, when properly executed, can be a match made in heaven.

Affiliate marketing is a form of performance-based online casino marketing where affiliate partners earn a commission for redirecting their traffic to businesses. As businesses only pay for successful conversions, they’re better able to evaluate their marketing budgets. They can also compare the performance of various affiliate partners.

Affiliate online casino marketing for online casinos takes one of two forms.

In the first form, affiliates join a network. Online casinos sign an agreement with the network, and then the casino’s banners and ads appear on the affiliates’ online resources. In the second form, online casino brands have their own proprietary networks. Affiliates who join their networks direct their traffic exclusively to the same resource.

Who are affiliates?

Bloggers

Experienced players who want to share their tips, advice, reviews, and opinions about the world of online gambling often start their own blog. They can develop a loyal following as their readers come to trust their opinions and recommendations.

Streamers

Streamers are popular internet personalities who stream themselves playing online casino games such as slots. They provide commentary during gameplay, and often compare games and review them.

Casino portals and review sites

Online casino portals, which act as gateways to the world of online gambling, are a common choice for an affiliate partner. Players visit casino portals to look for news, reviews, and information on different kinds of bonuses. Portals also sometimes have a forum for complaints, and can serve as an intermediary to handle disputes between players and casinos.

Influencers

Gambling affiliates don’t have to be strictly gambling-related. Online casino players can have disparate interests, so cooperating with influencers and content creators in other spheres could effectively reach new pools of potential players. Musicians, professional fighters, auto enthusiasts, and anyone else whose audience might overlap with that of online casinos can be an effective affiliate partner.

But be careful not to cooperate with multiple affiliates of the same type — if their audiences overlap they might steal traffic from each other and complicate your efforts instead of augmenting them.

Affiliate compensation models

There are several common arrangements for how online casinos and sportsbooks compensate their affiliate partners.

Revshare

With the revenue share (RevShare) model, to calculate how much do online casino affiliates make

we take a percentage of the losses from each player directed from the affiliate’s resource to the online casino or sportsbook platform. This is the most common compensation model in the world of affiliate marketing, as it encourages affiliates to bring in long-term, loyal players. The more the players lose, the more the affiliates win, so they have every incentive to send the casino quality leads.

CPA

The Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) model is less common than the RevShare model. With CPA, affiliates receive a flat fee for each lead they direct towards the casino that performs a certain action — usually signing up or making a first deposit.

Hybrid

Some affiliate programs arrange a hybrid model of compensation where affiliates receive both a flat fee for players who perform a certain action and a percentage of the lifetime revenue generated by the player.

Social Media Marketing

It’s hard to overstate the power and reach of social media in gambling marketing.

Ads on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Telegram are sure to reach a staggering number of users. The detailed targeting offered by social media platforms enables advertisers to hone in on potential leads with pinpoint accuracy. Age, gender, and location are just the beginning of the criteria that advertisers can select.

There are a few guidelines for proper advertising on social media channels. First, you’ll have to abide by the platform’s policies for gambling advertising, which often involves registering with the platform and showing proof of license. Social media will also be subject to the gambling advertising regulations of the market where the ads will be shown, as well, so advertisers will have to keep that in mind.

Text copy should be snappy and to the point — in all likelihood, users are busy doomscrolling, so you can’t count on them puzzling out a paragraph of text. It’s necessary to pique their interest with both text and visuals. Users usually respond best to visuals featuring other people, with the frame as close as possible.

Other digital advertising

PPC

Pay Per Click (PPC) ads appear on the search engine results page above the organic search results. Keyword research for PPC ads follows the same principles as that of organic search — choosing less-used keywords that are in line with your target audience — with the added dimension of bidding on the chosen term.

One mistake that many start-ups make is neglecting to bid on their own brand as a keyword. If your competitor outbids you on your own brand name as a keyword, their site will pop up first when players search for you — the last thing you want.

Display ads

Display ads are text- and image-based ads that appear on various web resources. When users click on them, they are brought to a landing page — in this case, often a page where they can sign up for the online casino. Display ads can be banner ads at the top of the page, interstitial ads that are overlaid on the page the user is accessing, and other forms.

Reviews

Nothing beats word of mouth. People trust others who have been through the same experience.

That’s why one of the best acquisition strategies you can use is providing a quality gaming experience with fast, effective customer service and technical support. Slow withdrawals, technical issues during gameplay, and lackluster customer support are all reasons for players to leave a less-than-favorable review on a player forum or casino portal.

The power of players to influence each others’ opinions through reviews leads to a tried-and-true principle: the best online casino marketing strategy is a superior product, and no amount of marketing can compensate for a lackluster offering.

Traditional advertising: TV, billboards, radio

Television and radio advertising are still widely used to promote gambling businesses.

However, these forms of advertising are often tightly restricted. For example, it’s common for regulated markets to prohibit television ads from 6 am to 11 pm — or even to ban them altogether. In markets that do permit television and radio advertisements, their content is often tightly regulated.

Always make sure to adhere to the gambling advertising regulations in your markets of operation.

Game selection

Every player has their own taste.

Players have preferences for both game mechanics and game themes. Some games are perennial classics, but the popularity of others ebbs and flows.

Some players prefer a high RTP and a low volatility level for stable gameplay that balances excitement with a high rate of return. Others go all in for high-volatility games that string together long runs of losses only to deliver a massive win.

Offering a range of low, medium, and high volatility slots will make sure there’s an option for every player, whether they’re seasoned players who know exactly what experience they’re looking for or first-time depositors browsing your portfolio and looking for what suits their mood.

Players are attracted to a variety of themes. Norse and Egyptian mythology, classic fruit slots, and TV and film franchises are all very popular, and development studios are always looking for innovative (or even outright quirky) new angles. Offering a mix of themes will help ensure players can always find something to their liking.

Don’t stop at slots. Roulette, blackjack, craps, poker, crash games and live dealer games have just as many devotees, and there’s always a chance you can cross-sell a slot player on a table game. When rounding out your portfolio, keep your market in mind; Teen Patti and Andar Bahar are popular in India, while Sic Bo and Dragon Tiger are big in China and other Asian countries.

As for sportsbooks, football betting is nearly universal. But there are plenty of other sports to bet on. Cricket, rugby, horse racing, baseball, basketball, and other sports have plenty of followers, from Ireland to India to Australia.

Offering a variety of sports not only opens your doors to a wider variety of bettors, it creates opportunities to cross-sell during off-seasons. But even the widest range of games and sports won’t impress if they don’t satisfy some basic expectations.

A fast loading time is an absolute must. Speed, excitement, and the thrill of the bet are all a part of the gambling experience. Technical glitches that interrupt gameplay are also a problem. Not only will they disrupt the gaming experience, they’ll create customer service issues if the game glitches at the wrong time and leaves the game’s outcome up in the air.

Overall, giving your players a poor gaming experience is like redirecting them to a competitor’s site. Make sure they stick around by cooperating with high-quality game developers and making sure your platform can maintain fast loading speeds — especially on mobile, where more and more players are spending their time.

Staying up to date

While some game preferences are eternal, players also like to try out new trends. This applies not only to types of games, but also new technologies that appear in the industry.

We covered the use of blockchain technology, NFTs (non-fungible tokens), and metaverses in iGaming here and ChatGPT in gambling and betting here to give you a basic understanding of these technologies. Cryptocurrency has already become commonplace; it’s no longer just a matter of certain subsets of players hunting for the best crypto casino — average players now expect platforms to accept their preferred coins.

RTP

Return to player (RTP) rate is usually fixed, but some developers provide the option for operators to set the RTP as they see fit. Casino players expect an RTP of around 96%-99%. With some research, they can find what the expected RTP of a game should be. If players feel like an operator is drastically adjusting RTP, they’ll warn each other.

Bonuses and tournaments

Bonuses are a great and very effective tool for attracting players (deposit bonus) but they can also be used for retention, both by prolonging their lifetime on the site and by reactivating churned players.

Understanding your audience is key. Analyze players’ demand and set acquisition and retention promos accordingly. Proper player segmentation — best achieved through using a CRM system — can inform your bonus strategy.

Massive sporting events cause a massive spike in betting. Even casual fans are more likely to put money down on the outcome of the World Cup or the Grand National. It’s common for online sportsbook digital marketing to offer special promotions, like matching player deposits or doubling player bets, to encourage them during peak wagering periods. Tracking player data will clue you in when the time is ripe to offer football bettors a special promotion.

Some platforms also offer a variety of promotions depending on the day of the week. If a casino notices their traffic slumping on Mondays, they might offer free spins or other bonuses to help players handle the start of the workweek.

With both, initial sign-up bonuses and maintaining a good relationship with players, clear, specific terms and conditions are critical to prevent bonus abuse. Make sure rollover requirements and withdrawal limits are straightforward and transparent.

Bonuses can also be used to activate churned players. If a player becomes inactive for a long period of time, sending them a special offer of a deposit bonus might be the nudge they need to come back and bet.

Tournaments bring a more competitive and communal element to the iGaming experience. Over a set time period, players earn points by hitting the slots, and their losses contribute to the jackpot.

Operators can run tournaments and choose which of their games to include in the tournament.

Developers can also run tournaments. These will usually focus on a single game or group of games and reach an international audience.

A key step in running or participating in a tournament — and one that operators frequently neglect — is proper promotion. Don’t just sign up for a developer-run tournament and hope the players follow suit; push it hard, with a banner at the top of your home page.

Email marketing

Email marketing is a tried-and-true method of getting in touch with prospective, current, and lapsed players. Advantages of email marketing include the ability to personalize the message and the fact that players won’t wonder why they’re hearing from you if they voluntarily submitted their contact info on one of your landing pages.

Be careful, though; few things are as universally hated as spam. Stay up to date with lists of words that trigger spam filters and make sure you don’t wind up blocked.

VIP and Loyalty programs

VIP and loyalty programs offer rewards for long-term players. The more time and money they spend on the platform, the more valuable the platform becomes for them. Rewards that increase over time are a powerful and effective casino marketing tool for player retention; promising players a brighter future is a great way to get them to stick around for it.

Commonly, players get points for wagering and can redeem the points for bonuses.

These programs are organized into tiers. At each level of the hierarchy, players receive greater rewards and increasingly personalized service. To begin with, casinos will often have a separate customer service department for their loyalty program; at advanced levels, VIPs will often have their own personal VIP manager.

VIP segmentation goes according to deposit size. As players make bigger monthly deposits, they move up the rungs of the VIP ladder, receiving better rewards and more personalized service.

How can Slotegrator help?

Online casino marketing is a continuous process. Attracting new players is just a beginning. If you have more questions about gambling promotion or would like to learn more about what solutions Slotegrator offers contact our team.