As much as we like to think the casino industry is out in front of technology, it’s not always the truth. It took even the largest casinos years to embrace social media. Social media can be a great way to build your guests’ loyalty and add to your bottom line. (We’ll get into that in a bit)
Key however, is that social media has to be done correctly. When done wrong it can easily cause more damage than good. When you make a mistake and mess up, it will be twice as much work to make up your lost ground. Imagine, if you had a friend you really trusted suddenly start selling you a product over and over again? How long would it take for you to trust them again?
- DON’T BE THAT BRAND – Social Media is not advertising. You can buy advertising ON social media…but your brand’s business page is NOT advertising. It is a conversation between your business and your customers. Imagine taking that friend to dinner. How would it feel if everything that came out of your friend’s mouth was “buy my insurance”…”but how’s your appetizer? You ask. “Buy my insurance”….”how’s the wine?” you question – but only -“Buy my insurance”…keeps coming out of his mouth. I think you get the point. Social media is NOT where you re-size print ads and post them over and over again.
“An extensive promotion without audience engagement is akin to social media suicide.” Follow the 80/20 rule (at least that was the rule last year) Share 80% of your content that is NOT promoting your brand…just 20% should relate to your brand. As recently as last month Guy Kawasaki (former Chief Evangelist for Apple) suggested changing that rule to 90/10…with just 10% of your content promoting your brand. Remember, it’s a conversation between friends. Do you really sell your services every time you talk to your friends?
10 Years ago there used to be a saying, “Don’t buy advertising on a radio station just because it is the General Manager’s favorite station.”….I’d like to update that a bit and say, don’t let non-marketing people, or even old school marketing folks decide your social media strategy. It’s too new for anyone to have mastered it…but don’t disregard the studies and data we DO have at our disposal.
- It’s cliché, but if you’re failing to plan. Then your plan IS to fail. Set up a schedule for posting. Include different types, times, etc. We’re fortunate atHouse Edgeto have access to great tools that will monitor and measure when the best times are to post. But you can get a lot of this information from repeated testing etc.
See how your posting calendar lines up with your casino promotions, entertainment and events. How does it fall in line with your direct mail pieces? Did you know you can upload your email list directly to Facebook and target just those people? (It is extremely powerful when you can coordinate a mail piece and then have that same guest see an advertisement for that promo on their social networks. How many touches do you need before you have that customer? Hopefully we all know the famous Harrah’s study on the concept.
- Measurement! Sure there was a time…all the way back in 2010…maybe 2011 when we couldn’t measure the profit correlated with our social media efforts. Those days are over. You can now track a player from your gaming floor…all the way through their online habits...through your website and on to Facebook. The revenue circle is finally closed.
- I’m throwing a bonus tidbit in here as well. If you’re not advertising through Facebook you are missing out. Your demo is on there – 50+. with the age continuing to skew higher. You can target more preciously than any other medium available, its dirt cheap, and you can track the sales funnel from initial interest, all the way through the purchase cycle. You can’t do that with a billboard! Did you know that you could pull a list of your top players from your gaming database, and then find new potential customers that fit that same profile? From Education level, zip code, income level, to favorite bands and hobbies – you now know more about your players than ever! Use this information! I can even help you target customers that JUST go your competition. Perhaps they warrant a larger incentive to try your casino? You wouldn’t offer that same large incentive to someone you already know enjoys your establishment right? What a waste. There really is a dazzling array of use case scenarios for all of this data. House Edge can link it all together for you so that you can take action and benefit
If we can help, or even just answer a question or two – drop us a line! info@houseedgedigital.com