Social responsibility and gaming promotions – getting the balance right

All gaming operators must comply with regulatory codes of practice for advertising and marketing their products. Codes are in place to protect the most vulnerable; children and those for whom gambling poses a problem, and their families and friends who might also be affected.

Thankfully, most people who use online gaming sites gamble responsibly. Whether they’re professional poker players or recreational users, they’re able to keep control of how much they spend and make the right decisions about when to stop. For gaming operators, these are the customers they want to retain and build customer loyalty.

Last year, 2018, the UK body Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) announced tougher standards on gambling advertising. These include:

• Restrict ads that create an inappropriate sense of urgency like those including “Bet Now!” offers during live events;
• Curb trivialisation of gambling (e.g. encouraging repetitive play);
• Prevent approaches that give an irresponsible perception of the risk or control (e.g. “Risk Free Deposit Bonus”);
• Provide greater detail on problem gambling behaviours and associated behaviours that should not be portrayed, even indirectly;
• Prevent undue emphasis on money-motives for gambling; and
• Provide more detail on vulnerable groups like problem gamblers that marketers need to work to protect.

Aimed at preventing problem gambling, these standards also force gaming operators to be more creative in the way they reach their responsible customers too.

When popular marketing techniques like creating a sense of urgency are no longer available, gaming operators need to more innovative and targeted. And by only marketing your products to customers you know are gambling responsibly, you have more opportunities to personalise and differentiate your brand from competitors.

Know your customer

To comply with social responsibility codes of practice, operators need to know their customers. Not just for new gaming account sign ups but also to ensure that your marketing campaigns are only targeted at responsible players.

How can MuchBetter help?

In the first instance, our device pairing and dynamic customer authentication technology makes players more visible and accountable. This not only deters under-aged players but also discourages fraudulent behaviour too.

Customer data provided through our open API (with consent) can also enable you to identify players and get insights into player behaviour. This data could help you spot problem behaviour and signpost that player to support. At the same time, as well as offering the player options such as self-exclusion or allowing them to impose restrictions on their account, you can also ensure they don’t receive inappropriate promotional content from your gaming brand.

With better KYC information, operators are also in a better position to target the right customers with gaming promotions and marketing content. With customer insights provided via our open API there’s an opportunity to develop more personalised and innovative campaigns that increase customer retention and differentiate your brand.

Standing out from competitors is always a challenge, especially when you have to ensure that your marketing is responsible and popular marketing techniques like creating a sense of urgency or money-motivating CTAs are out of bounds. That’s why MuchBetter is helping operators engage with their customers using the app as an additional marketing channel, ensuring the right customers receive the right messages in a different way. Rewards, bonuses and other incentives can be offered through the MuchBetter app, and our marketing team is on hand to help develop offline and online marketing campaigns to engage your most valued customers.

For more advice on retaining responsible customers, read our blog post – Strategies for customer retention in the online gaming industry