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A casino’s retention department is a big player in an online casino’s operations.

Did you know…

Attracting a new player is far more costly than retaining one, and players who leave after placing their first deposit actually cause a casino to incur losses – with the cost of bringing them back being significantly higher than the FTD amount. This is why retaining players on a casino platform is a casino’s most important task. In fact, increasing customer retention by just 5% can lead to a 25% increase in profits.

Retention extends far beyond attracting and keeping players on one’s platform. It involves a fully-fledged, well-planned and well-executed strategy for turning ordinary users and First-Time Depositors (FTDs) into VIP clients who can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars every month, as well as tactics of constant upsells.

In this article, Extendy’s Head of CRM dives deep into the retention department’s work. From how an ordinary player climbs the ranks from an FTD to a regular client and higher still, to the tools used each day by a retention department, and to why Free Spins don’t always cut it in traffic reactivation.

How and when does the retention process begin?

Traffic brought in by affiliates goes straight to the retention department as soon as a new player registers to the casino.  It’s almost like a sorting center: at this stage, players are segmented and divided according to Tiers in order to set up targeted retention chains.

This data is the foundation in primary player segmentation, and allows casinos to create Welcome Packages for new players.

What is a Welcome Package and how does it work?

After a player registers and places their first deposit, they receive a bonus. The size of the bonus depends on the chain followed by the player.

For example: A new user makes a deposit, receives a Free Spin bonus, but ends up losing the entire amount. At this point, the “balance utilization” trigger is triggered – the player immediately receives a bonus offer for the next deposit. Each bonus comes with a wagering requirement that the user must use in order to withdraw the gifted amount.

The content now changes dynamically: after the bonus has been used, the player receives a subsequent, similar offer, several times. If the player does not respond though, the retention department will try to bring him back to the casino by giving him other, more generous, or more gamified offers. This way, the user is led smoothly along the welcome package funnel. Seeing the new player completing their welcome package as their first gaming session is the casino’s main aim.

The content of the welcome package depends on the partner, GEO, Tier level and traffic source. During a player’s first three deposits, the retention department would actually be analyzing the player’s likelihood of becoming a VIP client.

• How does the Retention Department Work with Players:

Once the Welcome Package – with its basic bonuses – has been used up, the player is assessed through his deposit history and over 30 other metrics. The retention department then forms forecasts and hypotheses based on all these factors. The user is then placed in a segment and is given a new retention chain. Segments can sometimes be combined within the same campaign: similar users can be treated using the same approaches and offered identical offers.

Metrics Used to Segment Players

Two main metrics are used:

• Payments. This is the player’s average monthly deposit amount. For example, John bet €200 in December, €100 in January and €300 in February. Therefore, his payment segment is €200.
• Player activity. This is how often a player visits the platform. Each player segment comes with activity tags, such as:

When retention campaigns are planned, player segments and their activity are taken into account. For instance, it is a normal behaviour pattern for a low-segment player to be absent on a casino site for 10 days, and platform resources will not be used for these users. However, if a VIP player does not visit the site for three days, a retention department will take prompt measures to invite him to return so as not to run the risk of losing a high-paying client.

The 5 Main Tools of a Retention Team

The CRM department determines communication channels with players depending on the payment and activity metrics, and communicate with the player using these five options:

• Push notifications;
• Pop-Up;
• E-mail;
• SMS;
• Calls.

Their effectiveness is analyzed based on technical and marketing indicators.

Pop-Ups are one of the most effective communication channels. A pop-up appears while the player is still on the site. It’s a great tool for retaining users but it cannot reactivate them.

The effectiveness of emails and SMS depends on the GEO. For instance, the open rate of emails is high (40-50%) in Tier-1 countries, but low (only 10-20%) in Tier-3 countries. This is because PCs are used less often in Tier-3 countries, and sorting through emails from phones is considered inconvenient. Therefore, SMSs are the perfect channel for Tier-3 countries. Fortunately too, sending SMS messages in Tier-3 countries,  unlike in Tier-1 countries, is very cheap.

When and Why are Players called?

Calls are used selectively in situations where only personal contact can bring a player back or increase their LTV. Therefore, a call center’s priority are VIP players, high rollers, dormant users and players with a high chance of churn. Calls can have different goals:

• To reactivate: if the player has stopped making deposits and has become dormant;
• To upsell: to offer an exclusive bonus or VIP program;
• To onboard a new high-potential player to the platform;
• To help with a problem if there are difficulties with payments or verification.

How calls work: The CRM department decides which players need to be called depending on their player behavior — frequency of casino visits, number and amount of deposits. The call will usually follow a script but depending on the player’s segment, the conversation will be conducted with flexibility. For example, a casino might want to establish a connection with a high roller by focusing on emotions and player status, saying something like: “We are holding an elite tournament among our top players. We’d love to see you among the participants!”

A Retention Chain involving a Call Center might look something like this:

The number of attempts to contact the user also depends on the player’s payment segment: an ordinary user would be contacted once or twice, but a VIP player will be contacted up to 5 times. If a player is clearly not interested, he will be removed from the database so as not to be bothered.

As online casinos operate in markets of different countries, call centers are multilingual and work with users from all target GEOs.

The Price of Tools, and Tracking Indicators

The following image compares the cost of different communication channels:

Each communication within one channel (Push/SMS/Email/ Calls) is assigned a UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) tag which allows you to see the promotions that produced results. The CRM department evaluates the costs of each campaign and its results through the number of clicks, and the amount and number of deposits. If the campaign turns out to be expensive and does not produce results, the retention department will change its strategy.

Player upsell

Retention is also focused on increasing casino revenue from each player, and trying to turn regular users into VIPs. Only taking action and trying to reactivate a player after he or she has already left the casino only results in a massive profit loss.

In a previous article, which you can read here, Extendy discussed VIP players at some length explaining how and why VIP players generate 45% of online casino GGR, and make up only 20% of the total number of players.

Extendy’s retention department creates a special promotional plan for active players taking into account factors like GEOs, and specific events like local holidays and paydays.

How it works. Let’s say a certain segment in a certain GEO has an average deposit amount of €40. As part of a promotional campaign to celebrate a local holiday, the player will receive a push notification along the lines of: “Today only, get 100% of your deposit when depositing €50 or more.”

The only players  who are not upsold are the inactive ones. Rather, the approach to take when attempting to bring inactive players back to the site is to first, offer plenty of bonuses for a small deposit amount. When the player gets a taste for it and returns to the platform, he’ll be placed into a segment, and then, can be upsold.

Gamification: a Bonus Level for Advanced Players

An underrated tool in retaining and engaging online casino players is gamification. At Extendy, we implement gamification through a separate gamification module with a variety of mechanics:

• A specific bonus when picking from a set of three different slots;

• A scratch card where you need to uncover matches at certain intervals during gameplay;

• A shop where a player can buy Free Spins or receive bonus money on their balance;

• Lotteries and tournaments;

• Cashback and Rakeback: the user receives a percentage of the total balance amount and can withdraw it once a week. The cashback percentage is dynamic and depends on the active player. The rakeback percentage however, is always fixed;

• Dynamic Prize Egg: The player places bets and fills the scale to “crack open” the egg and receive a prize.

How it works. The player can be offered 100% of the deposit, or given a Free Spin on the Wheel of Fortune where a similar bonus will be won. If the player opts for the Wheel of Fortune the conversion rate will be higher than that of a regular bonus.

Gamification also allows for smooth onboarding on the platform. With new players, this involves a list of onboarding missions, such as completing the steps of verifying their email or phone number, making a deposit, or placing their first bet. Thanks to the game mechanics, the user would get a hang of the product and becomes motivated to play more often and place higher deposits, bringing profit to the casino.

Behavioural Analytics in Retention: How Data Drives Player Retention

The casino retention department doesn’t just hand out bonuses — it works with statistics. Deep player behaviour analysis allows casinos to not only retain players, but to also predict churn, select personalized offers, and increase LTV.

Predictive Analytics: Who’s going to leave the site?

All players leave a digital trace: through the frequency of their deposits, their choice of games, bet size, time between sessions… If a VIP player usually makes a deposit every two days, but is late one time, the system will send a trigger offer. However, if a low-tier player doesn’t log in for 10 days, he’ll likely be left alone.

Example. A player regularly places deposits of $100 every two days, but suddenly misses a payment. This is the first alarm signal. Three days later, the system sends him a push with a deposit bonus, and five days later, a personalised increased cashback offer by email. If there is still no reaction from the player, he is transferred to the risk segment and alternative scenarios are tested: SMS, VIP offers or exclusive bonuses.

Activity Heatmap: When Players Are Most Engaged

Let’s say that in some GEOs the peak of activity is on Friday evenings and Saturdays. Knowing this, the retention department will attempt to spark  interest in advance by sending out push notifications with exclusive offers, activating special tournaments or launching personal quests.

Example. Analysis showed that most players in a certain GEO visit the casino on Fridays from 20:00 to 23:00. To increase the average amount spent on the site, three hours before the peak, players are sent a push notification along the lines: “Just for today we’re giving 100% back on your deposit.”

Triggers and Automated Scenarios

Retention campaigns are launched after careful planning, and each campaign is tied to specific behavioral metrics.

Example.  If a player loses $50, instead of receiving a standard bonus, he’ll receive an offer to choose from a 50% deposit bonus, or 100 Free Spins on their favorite slot. This motivates the player to make a repeat deposit as his chances of winning back money are higher.

A/B Testing of Offers: Which Offers Work Best?

A 100% bonus on a deposit? 300 Free Spins? A Wheel of Fortune with prizes? The retention department tests different scenarios on different user segments to test which option would give the best conversions.

Example. A casino wants to understand what would work better for an audience in Tier-1 countries: a 10% cashback, or a 50% deposit bonus. Players are randomly divided into two groups, each receiving its own offer. After two weeks, the data is analyzed: which group made more deposits, which had a higher LTV. The best offer is scaled to the entire segment.

Conclusion

Retention in online casinos is not just a set of bonuses and standard tools, but a fully-fledged ecosystem. Retention will allow casinos to:

• Increase reg2dep conversion;
• Onboard new players with a welcome offer and gamification mechanics;
• Increase the average amount spent by players, conduct upsells and transfer players to VIP status;
• Notice and reactivate “dropped out” users and players at risk;
• Collect and analyze data for marketing campaigns in different GEOs.

A retention department worth its salt is able to extract the maximum from its existing player base resulting in generating the maximum revenue for the online casino and directly impacting GGR.