In the high stakes world of online gaming, the aphorism ‘retention is the new acquisition’ has never been more pertinent.
Retaining existing players has emerged as a cornerstone strategy, more cost-effective and beneficial in the long run than constantly acquiring new users.
With the growing understanding of this concept, businesses are now striving to keep their players engaged.
But what are the keys to winning this game of loyalty?
Here we break down 3 key components to consider when boosting your retention rates, and keeping gamers engaged!
1. Personalised Marketing: Meeting Players Where They Are
Each player is an individual, each with unique preferences, habits, and gaming histories.
Harnessing this data to create personalised marketing campaigns can be a game-changer. Tailored promotions, custom game recommendations, and communication through preferred channels can elevate a player’s gaming experience and deepen their connection with your brand. Here the saying “Data is Key” has never been more pertinent. Understand your data, understand your gamers, and leverage those insights to launch DCO campaigns based on those metrics in a smart, programmatic way.
Do your campaigns currently reflect the individual preferences of your players? If not, perhaps it’s time to think about injecting a dose of personalisation into your marketing efforts.
2. User Experience: The Ace in the Deck
A seamless, enjoyable user experience is critical in ensuring player retention. This extends from intuitive navigation to fast load times, efficient payment processes, and timely customer support. Strive to remove friction at every step of the player’s journey, transforming it into a delightful experience that encourages them to return.
Remember the last time you interacted with a service that was easy, fast, and enjoyable? Didn’t you want to go back for more? That’s the feeling you want to create for your players.
3. Loyalty Programs: Rewarding Players for Their Patronage
Who doesn’t love being rewarded? Loyalty programs, offering incentives like points, bonuses, or exclusive content, can significantly increase a player’s engagement with your brand. Ensuring that these programs are simple to understand and genuinely rewarding can convert casual players into loyal patrons.
Does your platform have a rewarding loyalty program in place? If so, is it intuitive and enticing enough to keep your players coming back?
Turning the Tables – The Role Programmatic Plays
Retention is no longer an afterthought; instead, it has risen to the forefront of key marketing strategies to enhance the overall brands exposure in markets, globally. Programmatic advertising, however, can hold the key to unlock the full potential of our retention efforts, tying back to the 3 areas that we raised in this article.
In terms of personalization, programmatic advertising has an undeniable edge. It uses rich data insights to deliver ads that are carefully tailored to a user’s profile, gaming preferences, and behavioural patterns. It’s this relevance that piques a player’s interest, leading to prolonged engagement with your brand.
From a user experience perspective, programmatic advertising helps ensure a seamless and integrated user journey. By using real-time bidding, it places your ads in the right place at the right time, creating a smooth transition between gameplay and advertising content.
And when it comes to loyalty programs, programmatic advertising is the gift that keeps on giving. By studying user behaviour and preferences, programmatic systems help you devise rewards and incentives that truly resonate with your players, targeting individual users with the right creatives and loyalty programs that resonate with their gaming and engagement styles.
As we lean into this new era where retention reigns supreme, it’s those brands that harness the power of programmatic advertising that will be positioned for ultimate success.
Thinking about how to effectively integrate programmatic advertising in your retention strategy? Visit our resources page for more insights, or better yet, schedule a strategy meeting with our team.
Together, let’s redefine what it means to keep players engaged in the world of iGaming.