As we’ve covered in our last article about them, Millennials, or as we call them nowadays, Gen Y, are people who were born between 1981 and 1996. In the EU, this generation is accountable for 24% of the overall adult population of the region in 2013. They are also said to be the biggest generation in U.S. history with a population of 92 million, exceeding that of the baby boomers, which is around 77 million. Being raised with internet and technology at their fingertips, they are the first ever generation to be coined as “digital natives.”
However, why should the iGaming industry care about them? Unless you didn’t remember how big of a population Gen Y is accountable for, they are transitioning into or already are working adults and better yet will have more spending power than any other age groups by 2017 but with lower money to spend individually. This also means that there will be a much different wave of impact upon the economy due to their unique spending behavior.
That’s why it is essential for iGaming operators and online casinos (or even land-based industry players) to tailor their iGaming marketing strategies to attract such a significant consumer base.
What do millennials want?
Tackling this question could probably be one of the biggest dilemmas of the iGaming industry. However, it certainly is not the biggest mystery in the world when we can track and analyze their online behaviors with a click of a button. Before you dive deeper into it, here are five essential things you should know about iGaming marketing for millennials.
Mobile platforms
It is beyond obvious that millennials cannot live without their mobile devices. In fact, 97% of them own at least one smartphone in 2018 according to Global Web Index. This evidence suggested that your next digital marketing strategy should definitely be mobile-friendly.
Successful brands tailor their marketing strategies for offline, online and mobile platform to capture the attention of their targets. Optimizing your online product for smartphones and tablets down to a device level delivers nothing less than smooth user experience – and communicates exactly one thing: that you care about your customers’ needs.
The iGaming market has been booming recently, and based on 2014 data reported by MECN, mobile revenue of casinos has grown to 49% of their total income in the second half of that year. For online sportsbook businesses, the mobile platform alone generated approximately 65% of the revenue.
Social Media
If you are thinking about engaging your casino/betting services with the Gen Ys, then the answer is social media. There are more than 3 billion active Social Media Users worldwide as of 2018 in the numbers are expected to soar higher in the upcoming years. According to Facebook Q2 2018 Results, there are approximately 279 million Daily Active Facebook Users in Europe and this figure is roughly 1.5 times higher than that of the U.S. and Canada combined.
This high usage of social media is a clear reflection of the high level of mobile usage nowadays due to ease-of-access and increasing availability of internet access. That is why businesses tend to have higher visibility on those platforms, and social media marketing is equally important as other marketing strategies.
Multi-platform and Multi-devices
Gen Ys are also multi-platform users. Their craving to explore the world of social media will not stop with just Facebook and Twitter. Youtube and Instagram seem to be having higher user rates during the recent years with 1.5 billion and 800 million Monthly Active Users respectively in 2018.
Moreover, while placing mobile devices as a priority for product/service innovation, it is also important to keep in mind that the branding and content of your business must be consistent across all devices. After all, a seamless user experience is what every user including millennials is seeking.
Personalized Marketing
When it comes to advertising, generic online ads certainly won’t make the cut. Marketing messages are not convincing enough for this younger generation anymore; they instead seek more relatable services/products and meaningful experiences.
That is why marketers are focusing more on geo-targeted/language-targeted ads and campaigns as a more personalized approach.
Gamification
User Experience is KING, and engagement is the key to it. There is already a wide variety of online gaming options available nowadays, but iGaming operators seem to be struggling with connecting to the new generation.
We all know that they are more tech-savvy than the previous generations and value their user experience over anything else. It is not just about playing “Poker” or “Roulette,” it is about “HOW” they can play it and how “FUN” it is.
In the new gambling world, you have to blur the line between social gambling and real money. Gen Ys have a very different approach towards gambling experiences and are not as much interested in traditional casino games or going to land-based casinos as the older generations. Hence, more innovative products and contents are being produced for online platforms to appeal to the millennial crowd.
For instance, Tropicana, a land-based casino, has started to use social gaming apps to acquire new users and to retain old ones. This tactic is called “Gamification,” and so many other industries like sports, education, business, banking and so on have already adopted it successfully.
Gamification can be implemented throughout the whole betting experience; from choosing the game and placing the bets to as far as winning the game. Additional features like rewarding the users for reaching a milestone or showing the progress provides a unique fun experience and create higher user retention at the same time.
However, Editor of Casumo Design – Chris Scicluna, would like to phrase “Gamification” in a slightly different term, that is – “Motivational Design.” Casumo is one of the most trending online casinos, and it boasts a very modern flat interface design to mainly attract the younger crowd. It grasps the concept of “Motivational Design” well and enhances the interactive betting experience.
Once you have created your Casumo account, just like any games, you will be given a profile that displays a series of trophies and badges that you will claim throughout your Casumo adventure. Some examples include rewarding the players according to the number of times they have logged in as well as depending on how regularly they play. These are small trigger points that motivate players to keep using this platform, thus raising the user engagement bar high.
The dawn of a new era for the casino gaming world has arrived. Digitalizing the betting process and gaming experience are showing a positive trend, and you should always be on a lookout to modernize your products and services. With advanced technology such as Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence on the rise, the possibilities for iGaming are endless!
Header Image Source: Photo by rawpixel.com on freepik
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