Crafting an Effective Digital Marketing Strategy for Casinos

In the high-stakes competitive landscape of the casino industry, digital marketing has emerged as a low-risk and powerful tool that can help your odds of reaching and bringing in new visitors. 

And now is the perfect time to get started. Our e-book, “Taking Off: Understanding Today’s Leisure Traveler,” found that 94% of Americans plan leisure travel in the next 12 months, and the average number of overnight trips planned is 4. What’s more, most potential customers are spending significant time online and leveraging digital channels to learn about new places to visit.

Let’s embark on a journey through casino digital marketing, exploring strategies, ideas, and real-world examples that can take your casino to new heights.

Casino Digital Marketing Overview

With casinos seeing an influx of visitors – and a record $54.93 billion in revenue during the first 11 months of 2022 – the right digital marketing strategy can help attract more customers and foster engagement and loyalty. 

What goes into creating the right digital marketing strategy?

TEGNA’s e-book, “Understanding Today’s Leisure Traveler,” found that travel video content is undeniably popular. As a marketing medium, it’s unmatched in influencing travel planning and purchase intent. Plus, when marketed and advertised via digital channels, casinos can precisely target desired audiences with first-party data, which is more critical each day as the marketing industry moves away from third-party cookies for targeting. 

What to Consider For a Casino Digital Marketing Strategy

A successful casino digital marketing strategy requires careful planning and consideration. Here are the key aspects to focus on:

Audience

Are you targeting millennials seeking entertainment or seasoned gamblers looking for high-stakes games? Tailoring your strategy to your audience’s preferences and behaviors is paramount, and creating persona profiles and using data to understand your audience is one great way to learn more about them. 

Additionally, you’ll want to understand why your audience is looking to travel, whether for a stress-free vacation far away from home or if they’re a hometown tourist on a staycation. “Understanding Today’s Leisure Traveler” found that when it comes to spending on travel:

• 76% expect inflation to impact travel in the coming year, therefore
• 1 in 3 are changing travel plans, staying close to home in response to inflation
• 3 in 5 are swayed by deals and discounts when booking travel
• More travelers are booking directly with vendors to access benefits, like loyalty perks and special offers, and to avoid extra fees.
• Top-notch service is always expected, even without a five-star hotel rating.

Want to know more about the specific demographics of these travel-intenders? Download “Understanding Today’s Leisure Traveler” for a deep dive into their demographics.

Marketing Channels

Choose the proper digital marketing channels that align with your audience. Each channel serves a unique purpose in reaching and engaging potential customers, from social media platforms to online advertising.

Understanding Today’s Leisure Traveler found that when it comes to reaching travel-intenders, aligning your marketing and advertising with your local news outlets may be the best path to take. That’s because viewers, both via broadcast and online, rely on local news stations to educate them on nearby tourist activities and the latest travel trends. Viewers are also more likely to trust travel recommendations from local news over national news. This trust extends to brands who advertise within local news content, known as the halo effect, and local news viewers are more likely to take notice of those brands.

Timeline

Determine the timing of your campaigns based on your casino’s events, promotions, and peak visiting times. An effective timeline ensures your messages reach customers when they are most receptive.

E-Book Insight: Rescheduled family gatherings after years of postponement drive travelers to spend more on multigenerational events, with half of all surveyed travelers planning this type of vacation. Consider setting a timeline that factors school breaks and universal holidays into play.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Identify measurable KPIs that align with your casino’s goals. These could include website traffic, conversion rates, social media engagement, and customer retention. Additionally, if you partner with TEGNA for your campaign, we have tools to measure clear ROI from any campaign, including how many people visit, how long they stay, and where they travel from.

5 Casino Digital Marketing Ideas

Elevate your casino digital marketing with these innovative ideas:

1. Advertise Locally

More Americans are participating in activities closer to home to mitigate inflationary pressures. Tourist attractions that typically cater to out-of-town visitors can attract locals by promoting special exclusive discounts for residents.

With TEGNA, you can leverage local digital channels to reach hometown tourists, along with tactics that include:

• Leverage Location-Based Advertising: With geofencing, you can draw a virtual fence around specific areas, such as your casino location (or a competing casino’s location), and target those within that location with ads, offers, and promotions. Learn more about the ins and outs of geofencing here.
  
• Contextual Advertising: Contextual advertising delivers relevant ads to users based on their activity and online content viewing. For example, if you’re reading an article on “how to play poker” and see a display ad for a nearby casino, you’ve been served contextual advertising.
  
• Native Advertising: Native advertising, sometimes referred to as sponsored content, matches the visual experience of editorial content in an online publication but is intended to promote the advertiser’s product.  It’s designed to be more educational and informative; research indicates it’s effective. Survey data shows that 70% of internet users favor learning about products through content rather than traditional advertising, and purchase intent is 53% higher with native ads.
  
• Influencer Marketing: Partner with local influencers, such as your local news anchors and lifestyle show hosts, to promote your casino, tapping into their trusted networks and expanding your reach.

2. Align with Sports

Did you know NFL viewers are 36% more likely to have participated in casino gambling in the last 12 months? Newly released NFL guidelines allow casinos to have a more substantial presence in NFL programming, and a multiplatform campaign with broadcast, streaming, and digital elements could be the jackpot in reaching an interested and engaged audience.

3. Focus on Relaxation

Americans are traveling for wellness: to reduce stress, relax, and improve their mood. Travel brands and casinos would highlight a stress-free experience from initial booking to returning home and any spa or relaxation services available.

4: Five-Star Messaging

Offering top-notch customer service and cleanliness are cornerstones of the travel and tourism industry. More than ever, travel intenders rely on reviews to drive their decision-making. By utilizing genuine reviews and testimonials in messaging, your brand can showcase specific ways you exceed expectations, assuaging concerns around declining service levels.

5. Don’t Forget About Video

Video content is the ideal travel companion and heavily influences travel plans. Not only is travel video content consumed by 83% of Americans, but 79% find it entertaining, 66% say it helps them plan vacations, and 60% say it keeps them informed on the latest travel trends. Be sure to leverage the advantages of video’s visual, enticing, and influential properties.

Moving Forward with a Casino Digital Marketing Strategy

 It’s time to bet on digital marketing and watch your casino thrive in the digital age. Now that you have insights into casino marketing strategies and creative ideas, it’s time to take action and double down on your marketing and advertising.

With TEGNA, we ensure you’re dealt a winning hand with creative, end-to-end video experiences delivered to a travel-minded audience in any city you want to draw from. We can even measure clear ROI from any campaign, including how many people visit, how long they stay, and where they travel from.

Don’t roll the dice. Let’s get in touch today and cash out tomorrow.