Standing on 18. Ways for Casinos to Use Technology. Lee Schwartz Client Director

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1 Standing on 18 Ways for Casinos to Use Technology Lee Schwartz Client Director marketing + technology sundog fax: th st s floor 6 fargo, nd

2 Casinos have long been at the forefront of technology. The gaming industry s profitability has always been enhanced by its use of computers and cameras and calculators. In the past few years, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has been a buzzword casinos have been doing it since the first player walked in the door. But today s technology has moved fast, even by casino standards. In past years, casinos were always ahead of the curve, but as some casinos have actually struggled financially, they ve now lagged behind. Here are some ideas for casinos (actually, these apply to most businesses) to bring them back to the curve. The Internet No, it s not new technology but it s where people are and it s where you need to be, too. 1. Website Development. This seems like a rather boring place to start, but if your website isn t already the face of your casino it soon will be, even if you think your demographic isn t online. By 2013, you need to have your website mobile-ready. It needs to be as accessible from a smartphone or pad device as it now is via any laptop. Booking hotel rooms, buying tickets for events, checking out your restaurant information having it all accessible online will mean added check-ins and added cross-selling revenues that will return your investment back in spades pun intended. 2. How-To s & Games. Casinos can increase play at their table games dramatically by doing one simple thing: teach your players how to play the games. It seems obvious, but many players are intimidated by craps, roulette and poker. They don t want to lose money, sure but more importantly, they don t want to look foolish in front of other seasoned players. Having a fun, free version of these games on your website can teach them the basics and bolster their courage to play the next time they visit you. 3. Golf Course Features. Nope not talking about water hazards and sand traps website features. Booking teetimes online is now the standard for almost every public golf course in America it should be your standard, too. So should weather updates for your course and letting people know online if you re closed due to the weather or you re not allowing carts that day. Remember even those who ve booked tee times in advance want to know that morning what to expect when they arrive. And if you have great photos of your hotel rooms, why don t you have even better photos of each hole of your course? 4. Event Ticketing & Coordination of On-Sale Dates. Years of event promotion have still left a lot of uncertainty, but one thing you can count on: if you re not excited about your event, nobody else will be either. Careful coordination of the announcement of your event is key to getting that ticket-selling wave rolling. Your tickets should be for sale online at the exact time that your radio/media partner says they will be. To-the-second synchronization with your Facebook and Twitter pages will bring the interested ticket buyer the feeling that the starter s gun has gone off and they d better buy RIGHT NOW. Too often this is not seen as a priority, and without that early momentum, you re adding risk to an already-risky part of the casino business. 5. AdWords & Group Sales. One adage to remember going forward everybody Googles everything. This includes corporate event planners. Often charged with the impossible task of trying to top last year s seminar/ trade show/awards dinner, they re on Google trying to find the same three things everybody else is trying to 2

3 find: Unique. Better. Cheaper. To find the people who are trying to find you, Google AdWords can be a key marketing tool. AdWords is the advertising side of Google search. You re (of course) hoping your website alone will make you stand out but when you re talking about corporate events, you re competing with every hotel and event center around not just other casinos. To compete on this level, you need to be front-and-center with a strong message that you have everything they have plus the added fun of the casino environment. 8. Concert Meet & Greet Photos. Everyone wants a great following for their Facebook page because the more people you have following your page, the more value there is to each message you re delivering. And the great thing about Facebook fans? They ve already chosen to be loyal to you. Do you do meet & greets for your shows? How do you deliver the photos back to the participants? Recently, the 6. Online Research. Struggling to find new promotion ideas? (So is everybody else these days.) Luckily, what works in Oregon will likely work in North Dakota or Florida. There are hundreds of casino websites across the country to give you some ideas that might not be brand new but might be brand new to your players. Social Networks The majority of your biggest players might not be big Facebookers, but if you re not using social networks as part of your marketing now, you re going to be left in the dust. 7. Real-Time Winners. Look at casino advertising these days and you ll see a very common theme. People Win Here. Even if your casino pays out more consistently than your competitors, you could be losing the perception battle with your top players. With ipads, Xooms, and social media, you now have the ability to talk about your winners in real time. Gladys just won a huge jackpot on your progressive slots? Get a picture of her big smile onto Facebook within minutes of her win, for all of her friends to see, re-post, comment, and share. Put the virality of Facebook to work for you. Added bonus: doing this is FREE. casinos we work with stopped printing these photos, and told everyone to Like the Facebook page, and they are able to download the photos from there. (They do make exceptions for those not on Facebook). This works on many levels it increases the number of fans on their page. It also makes each meet & greet participant s photo viral they often make these photos their profile pictures, which in turn get lots of their friends talking about them. Not to mention it saves the cost of printing photos at each event. 9. Twitter and Your Community. Although Twitter might not yet have the impact of Facebook in your players lives, it can be a useful tool for casinos. You can talk about the same events and answer the same questions. It is as useful with it as Facebook, by simply re-tweeting local events to your many followers and building relationships with those businesses. 10. Facebook Promotions. This might be breaking news for some but you can t just say Like our Facebook page and get free tickets. It s a violation of Facebook s policy. Facebook has very strict rules about what you can and cannot do regarding promotions you can find those rules here. The way around these rules is to use a Facebookapproved third party vendor, such as Wildfire (wildfireapp. com). On a subscription basis, they will help you set up and run giveaways and promotions the right way. 3

4 11. Monitor Your Competition. How many Facebook or Twitter fans do you have compared to your competition? What can you learn from their website that can help you compete with them? In every case, be proactive with your marketing. Part of any marketing plan is understanding your competition and you can make several comparisons just by visiting their websites. Those comparisons can be a marketing advantage. Mobile According to Twistimage.com s president, Mitch Joel, the move toward mobile is already astounding. you simply can t deny what s happening here: app analytics firm Flurry says that it saw 6.8 million new ios and Android devices activated on Christmas Day (2011) alone. 12. Mobile Apps. A mobile app such as the one Caesar s Palace has already developed (see Resources section for link) will soon be the norm for all casinos. The ability to book rooms, see menus, buy event tickets, and make a tee time will soon be expectations of casino players. 13. Internal Mobile Apps. Internal mobile apps such as the one built for Dakota Magic Casino in North Dakota can help build the relationships between floor managers/ ambassadors and their VIP players. Managers and ambassadors upload the personal and playing information of their top players before their shift, or the information loads via a secure wifi signal in real-time. They can then use this information to have better conversations with those players leading to better relationships. The app will also have the ability to book a room for the VIP, make a dinner reservation, a tee-time, or buy/comp event tickets. Using the ipad platform creates better buy-in from the floor personnel they like using it, and in turn the VIP s get better service, which leads to increased play. 14. Text Message Campaigns. It s not expensive. It can be set up as an ongoing campaign (multiple messages over time), or a single promotion (sent once). Customers all have to opt-in to receive the messages, and can optout at any time. Here are a few ways it can be utilized: Polls Quiz/Trivia Contests RSVP for Events Build/Add to your existing database of names/ s Some ideas how it could be used: Have your players club members text when they arrive, to immediately receive that day s daily perk or coupon. Give away remaining tickets to events by having everyone text, and pick winners from those that texted in...even the losers could still be sent something like, Sorry, you did not win tickets for tonight s Joe Diffie concert, but show this text to your server and receive 10% off your meal. Highlight games like, We currently have seating in our poker room. Put the text message # up on billboards near the casino, so visitors can text to receive a special offer. Congratulations! Sign up for our Players Club when you arrive and receive $20 in Blackjack Match Play! The messages could be varied. Have your guests text you with immediate feedback about how their experience was, Text 444 to Magic and type 1 Star to 5 Stars and tell us about your stay in our hotel...random 4

5 winners will get a free night s stay. Get people to come inside during outdoor events by having your PA announcer (or message board) suggest people text to win something inside the casino,. Example: Text 333 to DakotaMagic and you ll have a chance to win! Winners would receive the prize. Losers would still get a nice, You didn t win this time, but show this text inside the casino for $10 in Blackjack Match Play! or Show this text and get a free drink in our lounge with any drink purchase. Internal and Outdoor Advertising 15. A Real-Time Winning Wall. If your idea of showcasing your winners is to have a hallway full of photos in frames, it s time to upgrade. Create a real-time Winning Wall where you showcase winners as they happen while they re still in the casino. On the aforementioned ipads given to floor personnel, they can instantly snap a photo of the winning player, and then upload that photo (and the winning jackpot information) directly to your winning wall AND directly to Facebook. 16. Digital Billboards. If your community has digital billboards (many communities have laws against them because they are deemed too distracting, which speaks to their effectiveness), you should consider migrating your outdoor (billboard) advertising in their direction. Why? produce the vinyl for just one poster billboard is usually over $1000. Third, the installation time for digital is almost instantaneous. No waiting for the regular posting week with your sign company, and information is current. The cost for digital billboards can be expensive, but they re a better solution for the future due to the benefits mentioned here Surveys. There are several good choices for marketing these days. Constant Contact, Exact Target (exacttarget.com) and others can provide more detail and depth than their predecessors. They allow you to almost instantly survey your players and get feedback about which concerts they d like to see, what menu items they d like on the buffet, and provide you some high-level customer service feedback. By asking the questions, you re getting buy-in from those players, and quite possibly, some support if changes are made due to their suggestions Newsletter. Although the current casino playing crowd is still fitting the demographics with newspaper and direct mail, they are becoming more tech-savvy every day. Nearly all of them are using . It makes perfect sense to turn your monthly newsletter into a PDF. This would save you thousands of dollars each month in mailing costs, allow the players to update their contact information and allow players to print off the coupons/ offers they want to use. Conclusions Casinos have always been out front in terms of using technology, but now the use of technology is universal not just among businesses, but with all people. In most cases, casinos have the resources available to implement any idea worthy of its ROI. But, many are held back by their past success of using outdated methods to reach their players. Often, implementing new technology has a significant upfront cost, but saves money in the long run. First, they re usually in high-traffic locations often better locations than available for posters. Second, the cost to 5

6 Implementing technology into your marketing brings with it new ways to measure as well better ways to track an ad s effectiveness, and better ways to analyze and make changes to an ongoing ad campaign, such as this dashboard. Being partners with an ad agency is no longer enough for most casinos. To be truly effective and remain proactive with your marketing efforts, you need to have people on staff and partners who truly understand the necessity of combining marketing and technology. 6

7 References Caesar s Palace App: Found at the itunes Store at: TwistImage s CEO Mitch Joel s blog The Year of Mobile? Sounds Like the Month of the SmartPhone: twistimage.com/blog/archives/the-year-of-mobile-sounds-like-the-month-of-the-smartphone/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_ medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed%3a+twistimage+%28six+pixels+of+separation+-+marketing+and+communicati ons+insights+blog+-+mitch+joel 7