Five Mistakes Casino Marketers Make

By George Haldeman

I have been fortunate to have worked with some very bright and experienced marketing professionals over the years. I have seen some terrific success stories and I have seen some awful mistakes. There are a lot of specific mistakes I could list, but ultimately, I can categorize the most common ones into the groups listed below.

Fail to Plan

Having a coordinated and detailed plan, enables VPs of marketing to effectively delegate elements of the overall marketing plan with full confidence in the managers responsible for the efforts. A well throughout plan includes among other things:

• Agreed upon SWOT analysis and message themes based around the SWOT
• Offer structures and event schedules determined well in advance
• Mail drop dates and format selections predetermined
• Customer service goals tied to defined metrics

Work from Assumptions not Facts

Nothing could be further from the truth than when a marketer says “the customer knows what they are entitled to”. The other big assumption people make is that their opinion matches the opinion of the customers. As a marketer it is incumbent on you to work from facts and not make assumptions about what the customer knows.

The basic facts come from carefully planned and executed market research and granular understanding of customer play information gathered from powerful business intelligence tools. The only way to ensure the customer knows what you have to offer is by telling them in well thought out copy and appropriate image selections. 

Ignore the Competition

Very few casinos these days operate in a monopoly environment. We all have competitors. Your customer knows about your competitors and so should you too. You can get their SWOT information through market research.

You can get a pretty good idea of their offers and events by utilizing information given to you by your customers and by your employees. You have to work under the assumption that your competitors are also tracking you.

Over Promise

How many times have you seen claims of the loosest slots or the best food or outstanding customer service. It is  kind of like when consultants hold themselves up as a “world leading authority”. As a marketer, if you are going to make statements like that, you should quote someone of authority who has said it about you.

 If you craft your messages around what your customers tell you that you do well, you will be ok. This is yet another reason to rely on your market research. You have to be able to blow your own horn and highlight what you do well. It has to be true in the mind of the guest or you will be setting yourself up for failure.

Fail to Analyze

The absolute worst answer anyone has given me when I ask them why a program is configured in its current state is “This is how we always do it”. At Strategic Gaming Advisors, we use a RADAR approach to constant improvement. It stands for Report, Analyze, Decide, Act, Results. You have to constantly analyze your programs. Competitors,staff turnover, the economy and internal pressure are always changing and you have to know these programs are performing at peak efficiency.

I promise (not over promising), if you can avoid these 5 mistakes, you will be a more effective marketer and your efforts will be rewarded.

George is a principal in Strategic Gaming Advisors.