Why to Market Across All Worth Segments

Why you need to diversify your marketing strategy …

across all worth segments

Not so long ago, in a neighborhood similar to yours, there stood a property named Camelot Casino. Locals and patrons from the nearby metropolitan area frequented the casino regularly. Customer service was good, and the café did well. Plans were drawn for a hotel and loans were secured for expansion. Then a dark wind blew through the region and several competitors popped up, cutting Camelot off from its big city patrons. All efforts shifted to players with the best ROI. Costs were slashed by ending all mailings and benefits to players with less than $50 ADT. Player Development efforts were boosted. “The Best” players were courted heavily. Camelot soon became the most profitable ghost town around.

VIP players look nice on paper, but your courtship will fall short if your regulars leave en masse. They won’t do so overnight. The silent losses will erode your bottom line as the frequent players love you less, to the tune of eight trips per month instead of ten trips per month. You won’t necessarily notice, but eventually you’ll feel the dire effects of the Slow Bleed.

The moral of the story of Camelot Casino is to diversify your strategy across all worth segments. You need a healthy cross section of player types in order for your casino to sustain itself.

Recognize your Joe Blow Frequents

Joe Blow Frequents are the players who come every day. Their low ADT precludes them from high point earnings and juicy Direct Mail offers.

Here are a few tips to avoid leaving this segment out in the cold:

• Run a report that evaluates this group’s Total Monthly Theo
• Ask yourself when a significant amount of spend affects your monthly revenue
• Throw parties to celebrate the longevity of the relationship with this customer and to recognize his recurring monthly patronage
• Inform this group regularly about property changes and survey them for feedback to acknowledge their status as a property ambassador

Prompt your Dashing Dan Playas to return

Dashing Dan Playas are the players who register a healthy ADT during their trip, but they visit less than four times per month. The band that this customer resides in is finite. Direct Marketing has a starting and stopping point of utility. The band also changes considerably based upon the unique market that a casino serves.

Here are a few tips to avoid misfiring at this segment:

• Do not try to make Direct Mail solve every revenue problem
• A coupon that is too small will not be a motivator
• A coupon that is too large zaps reinvestment that can be delivered personally as part of a loyalty-building package from your Host department
• Drive towards a weekly visit, then let other marketing tools reward and recognize greater frequency

Find alternative ways to reach out to VIPs

Get an incremental trip from a VIP and you’ve scored a big win. Ask that same VIP every time you need an incremental trip and each player will grow tired of your entreaties.

Here are a few tips to avoid going to the well too frequently:

• Aim lower
• Develop ways to communicate with $100 or $200 ADT players to make them feel like VIPs without committing to a one-to-one relationship
• Develop triggers that prompt touch points that recognize VIP behaviors to a larger group of people
• Gift benefits that are delivered only to high tiered customers as one-off coupons to give a potential VIP a taste of what’s to come as they wait to earn the next level of status

If you put all of your eggs in one basket, your entire marketing strategy will become a scrambled mess. As you focus on building incremental revenue, be sure to diversify your strategy to maintain your customer base, as well as the cream on top.