Small window, big potential: Why real-time engagement matters

The old adage ‘You never get a second chance to make a first impression’ could have been invented for an industry where between 50 and 70% of players are one-timers. Even after they’ve chosen you over your competitors, up to 70% of the players you’ve spent time and money attracting play once and don’t come back. That’s a startling, even disheartening, statistic.

The traditional re-engagement approach has been scheduled mass communications, usually the day after the player’s last (and first) game. But the day after is too late. And here’s another tough statistic – up to 50% of players opt out of marketing at sign-up. The players you want to tempt back can’t even be contacted.

These figures paint the picture of an uphill battle. But what if you could tackle poor player experience as it happens rather than afterwards?

Even your best offer isn’t good enough if the player experience is disappointing. One key common factor in the experience of one-time casino players is a noticeably low ‘return to player’ (RTP). Players may feel they receive poor entertainment value for their money; they may even decide a particular casino isn’t ‘lucky’.

What’s increasingly clear is the need to connect with players while they’re playing; to turn that moment of disappointment into the moment of connection. You don’t have long, so it’s vital to make that opportunity count. For example, we’ve recently partnered with Beehive to give our operators enhanced real-time engagement capabilities; the power to use big data to create an interaction that feels personal.

Operators can identify whether it’s a player’s first visit, their RTP – and, crucially, whether they’re likely to be making their final bet soon. This is the optimum moment of intervention – miss it, and you’re back to the challenge of re-engaging an already disengaged player.

So, we’ve covered the when – what about the how? The obvious answer is to simply use your existing marketing plan in real time. But if you’re reassessing the timing of customer engagement, it makes sense to test different methods too. Gamification can be a highly effective way to add a different, compelling dimension to what was previously a disappointing experience.

We’ve partnered with Captain Up to give our customers access to a range of gamification tools (level up bonuses, unlockable achievements) and in-depth analytics. Test and learn is a vital part of both real-time engagement and gamification strategies. Done properly, players who engage with missions and challenges can become  your most loyal and valuable.

An example of gamification

Crucially, the principles of real-time engagement can also apply to tackling problem gambling. You can use the same mechanism you use to engage with players to suggest they take a break, for example. Playtech’s recent acquisition of BetBuddy, pioneers in leveraging ‘big data’ to identify and address potentially harmful play patterns, is key to our drive to proactively assess and address player risk.

Whether it’s retaining player interest, or helping to create a safe and entertaining playing environment, the value of real-time engagement is clear. The window may be a small one, but the size of the opportunity is something no operator can afford to ignore.