Casino marketing is an all encompassing term usually used to cover all things public facing at any given property. This includes nearly all printed material you’d see on the floor including slot toppers, standee signs, brochures, and the wayfinders pointing out your next adventure. (Not sure what those terms are? Check out my glossary of casino marketing terms!)
That broad term also applies to things created by salaried employees including the website, custom graphics, and email campaigns. The marketing department is where I call home as a digital marketer and accredited public relations professional. Digital marketing includes everything from social media management to placing paid advertisements on a variety of networks, including both long and short term formats.
The catch all continues with two more important subsets of the marketing team. The rather large umbrella also extends over the database team, those responsible for making sure you get the appropriate offer, and the special events team, those that know how to throw the appropriate party. These groups, with their specific set of skills, work together within the marketing department to plan, execute, report, and refine everything a player sees and engages with.
Outside of their every day functions, the marketing team also serves as emergency ambassadors for the property, activating for special circumstances. One of those circumstances that comes to mind from my own experience was when my downtown property experienced a power outage. Without power, players on the floor couldn’t cash out and tensions were building fast. Almost immediately, teams were dispatched to the floor, myself included, with a clipboard and a bag of money* to start paying people by hand.
*Please note: Security is also present during these times.
Speaking to more of my escapades, in more recent roles I’ve continued to step up when needed, hand placing decals on ATMs just before a grand opening, helping clear long lines, and having the distinct honor of holding a “filming” sign for no less than six hours.
Although my official title is all about the internet, a surprising amount of work that I’ve done while working on-site took me out of my cubicle. My “other duties as assigned” revolved around keeping the property presentable and in total working condition. This meant daily walks to make sure all the digital screens were operational, physical signs level, and there weren’t any other apparent red flags.
Our patrols also meant keeping our heads on a swivel for trash, slipping hazards, or anything else we’d need to “escalate” to the appropriate department (IYKYK). I’m almost ashamed to say that sometimes I still accidentally pick up a piece of trash off a random casino floor strictly out of habit.
Other duties as assigned aside (say that five times fast), at its core, the main goal of a casino’s marketing marketing department is to attract new customers all while keeping established customers engaged and fiercely loyal.
That can look like organizing events for high level players or creating a media familiarization tour (FAM) in attempts to reach a new target demographic. Media tours are becoming less and less common in my opinion, stepping aside for more intimate opportunities like one on one tours or individually planned itineraries. When working downtown, there were only a handful of traditional media events, but I made it a point to always invite slot creators to property – this is how I first met Brian! Working with creators on a one on one basis was something that was directly under my control, once blessed by the higher ups, and offered me the chance to track my efforts by the numbers (views, engagements, reach, etc).
Speaking of data, it feels important to confirm that the house really does operate by the numbers. The casino marketing department, specifically our friends in database, always rely on player data to inform and decide which players get which offers.
This by the numbers approach also bleeds into the marketing efforts when it comes to the all important budget. When properties can’t cut things like security or the hard costs with required software, the marketing budget becomes pretty appetizing.
While I can somewhat follow the logic that some things can’t be removed from other departments, I can’t wrap my head around how deep the cut backs get to marketing at times. If the marketing department is responsible for getting people in the door, I’d look to make additional cuts elsewhere instead of slice and dicing the player acquisition budget to within an inch of its life.
Let us know what you’d like to learn more about casino marketing in the comments and you could see it used as an article topic, or included in a future piece!
