Online casinos need to be able to pull players away from the dozens of other entertainment options that are at their fingertips, but they need to go about it in a way that makes good business sense. The problem they have is that they are able to offer bonuses and discounts to new players quickly, but they need to dive deep into the longer-term results. We’re going to be taking a closer look at how to balance entertainment and business so that we can gain a better understanding of how it all works.
An initial focus on entertainment
Players will only turn up and play if they think they are going to have fun, and they will only come back if they have fun. Online casinos regularly offer new themes, genres, and modes of gameplay so that they can continually refresh their offering. They are the experts when it comes to this and it’s something that a relatively small team of creative designers and software engineers can take care of. The key part is transitioning new players into repeat players. Before we get to that, we need to highlight a few of the ways online casinos show they can entertain brand-new players.
Free spins, signup bonuses, and attractive odds are all offered to entice web traffic into placing a bet and battling the odds. This is something traditional physical bookmakers and casinos have been doing for centuries, but now the massive size of online traffic complicates things. Attracting first-time players is relatively easy — you just offer bonuses and good odds — but is that sustainable?
Sustainability means business
A casino that pays out all the time will be very popular for a short amount of time and then quickly go out of business. A casino that never pays out will gain a reputation as a hard place to play just as quickly and will start to struggle for new players. Neither of these extremes makes for a good business — it’s the middle ground and the nuances that matter.
Players want to know that they have a realistic chance of winning so that there is something in it for them if they keep coming back to play. While online casinos cannot legally set up their systems so that first-time players win a small amount, increasing their odds of success goes a long way. A search at: askgamblers.com/online-casinos/countries/in/bonus shows online casino bonuses designed to drive player engagement.
Free spins and matched bets help increase the odds of a player winning on their first visit to the casino. They want to feel lucky, but not so lucky that it seems too good to be true, and this is what will bring them back for another round of action later in the week. This type of approach can be highly sustainable provided it doesn’t rely on constantly pushing bonuses months down the line.
Connecting with other forms of entertainment
You only have to look at the vast amount of online entertainment that is out there to see how much competition for eyes there is right now. One move that is becoming increasingly common with online casinos is to tie in their games with seasonal offers or media franchises. A game themed on the latest Hollywood release of a major sports tournament will naturally bring eyes to the casino because it is connected with something that’s in the news right now.
These types of tactics are one of the main reasons why the predicted average revenue per user of $440 is set to be met in the coming months. Casual players will be particularly attracted to these types of offers because they will feel like they can naturally trust the game they are playing. The odds may be no different from an unbranded game with a basic format, but they feel invested in the supporting cast of characters, soundtracks, and playable levels.
Looking to the future
For online casinos to remain entertaining they have to continually reinvest a portion of their profits into game development. Games will come into fashion and go viral before dying down just as quickly in many cases. Nothing is wrong here, it’s just the natural order of things when you’re trying to market a form of entertainment to a massive global audience.
Online casinos who see the need to reinvest in a proactive rather than reactive way will be the ones who allow the creativity of their developers to keep them ahead of the crowd. The result will be a continuous pipeline of new players and active monthly users, particularly from the casual section of the market.
We hope this quick guide gives you a clear understanding of how these types of businesses are constantly working to balance entertainment and profitability.
